Do you find yourself typing the same things over and over?If the answer is yes and if you type enough text during the workweek, it almost certainly will be Id highly recommend you install a text expansion application. These text shortcut tools are a must-have productivity upgrade for many knowledge workers, and they can even help you at home. If you havent given one a go yet, youre missing out.There are am wide variety of text expanders to choose from. Many are paid tools intended for businesses, complete with pricey subscriptions and features that only make sense for large teams and complex professional workflows.(These types of apps are particularly relevant in the PC arena; text shortcut tricks are built into Android phones and Apple devices, but on Windows, you need a third-party application to take advantage of them.)Ill cover the text expanders I recommend easy-to-use, free solutions for Windows PCs. If your workplace pays for a different one, thats great. Otherwise, I suggest starting with one of the options here.Want more Windows PC tips in just a few minutes each week? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Youll get free Windows Field Guide downloads as a special welcome bonus!Beeftext: A free Windows text expanderUp first is Beeftext, a completely free, open-source, and as-simple-as-it-gets text expansion tool for Windows PCs. My colleague Jared Newman recommended it at PCWorld and for good reason.After installing and launching Beeftext, youll see a little red Bt icon in your system tray. Open it to get started.In Beeftext, combos are text expansion shortcuts. Youll click Combos > New to create a new one. Then, youll just need to enter a Snippet and a Keyword. When you type the keyword in any application, Beeftext will replace it with the snippet.For example, you might want to try creating the keyword /add and specifying your address. Then, you can type that keyword in any application on your PC to quickly insert your address.While creating a combo, you just need to fill in the Snippet and Keyword boxes.Chris Hoffman, IDGIts really that simple. You could enter /# and associate that with your phone number. You dont have to use a slash its just an easy way to create memorable shortcuts that you wont type accidentally.You can do a lot with this type of tool. If you often find yourself responding to a customer, client, or even just a friend with a specific message, you might create a snippet for that message so you can quickly type it in emails. If you often end up inserting some kind of signature or disclaimer message, you might create a snippet for that. Its really up to you.Autocorrect: Built right into Office appsIts worth noting that Office apps like Microsoft Word, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook have a text-expansion-style feature built right into them. It will only work inside those Office apps. But, if you only need this feature while working in those specific applications, its perfect. And it might be the only solution for workers who cant install anything else on their PCs.First, open the application you want to use such as Microsoft Word or OneNote. Click the File menu and select Options. Click the Proofing option in the left sidebar, and then click the AutoCorrect Options button.The AutoCorrect window will appear. Under Replace text as you type, add something you want to replace at the left and the text you want to replace it with at the right. Then, click the Add button to add it to the list, and click OK.For example, as in the above example, you could enter /add and have Office replace that text with your address when you type it.AutoCorrect is incredibly convenient. I wish it worked elsewhere in Windows, too!Chris Hoffman, IDGWant to use formatted text or text with multiple lines? Type some text in your document, and then select it with your mouse. Then, click File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options. The text you selected will be prefilled there, and you can associate a text shortcut with it.Text Blaze: An extension for Chrome and EdgeLast but not least, Text Blaze is another exceptional option for Windows-based text replacement. (We use this application at our newsletter-focused small business The Intelligence.) While its not completely free, it does offer a free plan for individuals. That plan gives you up to 20 snippets, which is plenty for many people.Text Blaze installs right in modern browsers like Chrome and Edge as a browser extension. (Unfortunately, it doesnt work with Firefox.) Its a speedy and simple way to quickly replace text in your browser I heartily recommend it.Text Blaze lets you specify a shortcut that will be replaced by a snippet when you type It on any web page in your browser.Chris Hoffman, IDGOn the business front, the tool has some useful features that work well for our team, such as sharing snippets with other people and dynamically entering information in snippets. Thats more than many users will need, though. The paid subscription wont be necessary if you just want some quick text shortcuts in Google Chrome for your own use.Text Blaze does have a Windows application, too but, in my experience, it works better and faster as a Chrome extension.More text expansion options for Windows PCsWith all the text expansion tools available, its hard to narrow the list. If you do some web searches, youll see a lot of other similar options. Here are a few other popular possibilities and what you need to know about them including why they didnt earn one of my top recommendations:Espanso is a completely free and open-source text expander that works on Windows as well as other platforms. However, it doesnt have a convenient graphical interface, so youll have to write out your matches and replaces in a text editor. If that works for you, go right ahead it will be the tool of choice for many geeks.TextExpander is incredibly polished and feature-filled. But this tool doesnt have a free version. While it might be a great fit for some businesses who want to use the sharing functionality with their team, the $40/year subscription here isnt a great fit for the average individual.Phrase Express is another application with a long history. But, starting at $100 per license, its probably not the ideal choice for most people.I cant emphasize enough: There are many other text expansion tools thatll work with Windows. Lots of them likely work well, too, but most arent free or have other issues that make them not-entirely-optimal choices for most common purposes.Bonus: Pin text to Clipboard History in WindowsDont want to install a text expander? You can also pin items to your clipboard history in either Windows 11 or Windows 10. To open it, press Windows+V and choose to enable clipboard history if you havent already done so.Then, after copying some text or an image to your clipboard, you can press Windows+V and use the pin option to save it to your clipboard history for later. You can then press Windows+V in the future and select a pinned item to quickly paste it.The Clipboard History tool is useful for both text and images.Chris Hoffman, IDGIts not a text expander, exactly but it is a way to quickly insert some saved text. And its that end result that counts the most.Theres more where this came from: Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter! Youll get three new things to try every Friday and free in-depth Windows Field Guides.

Its going to be a long four years for Microsoft as the company tries to navigate the stormy chaos and pledges of retribution that follow wherever President Donald J. Trumps mind wanders. Though hes been president for only a little more than a week, Trump has already unleashed a tsunami of actions that could affect the company: declaring war on diversity (DEI) efforts, removing the guardrails former President Biden placed around AI, and demanding undying fealty as far as his eyes can see.CEO Satya Nadella has clearly been planning how the company can make it through the years as unscathed as possible.Lets look at how hes handled Trump so far and what he might do over the next four years.Avoiding AI warsMicrosoft is the worlds largest and most valuable AI company, and one of Trumps primary goals for AI is to unleash its power, for better or worse. So, his actions will have outsized effects on Microsoft.Trump wasted no time getting to the worse part on his first day in office,he rescinded former President Bidens executive order putting guardrails around AI, including safety and security measures, as well as issues related to bias, civil rights, and how generative AI (genAI) is produced.Microsoft and many other AI companies welcomed Bidens order when it was issued in 2023,because it was good for tech companies, not just for people affected by AI. With guardrails in place, Microsoft and other companies believed more people would use AI, which would meanbigger profits for them.After killing Bidens order, Trump signed his own,asking that an AI action plan be developed by the feds in the next 180 days. The order isas much an attack on Biden as it is anything else its first bullet point called Bidens move a Dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI innovation and imposes onerous and unnecessary government control over the development of AI.We dont know what the Trump Administration plan will be. But its clear it wont target the dangers of AI. Microsoft, as well as other AI companies, have remained silent about the action. It was a smart move for Nadella to hold his tongue Microsoft can always impose its own guardrails on AI, despite Trumps order.Nadella has also stayed on the sidelines in the controversy aroundTrumps Stargate project, a joint initiative by OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, and the US government to raise $100 billion to build AI data centers and power plants, and then up the ante all the way to $500 billion. Top Trump tech advisor Elon Musk claimed OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank dont actually have the money for the project, called OpenAI CEO Sam Altman a swindler, and said the entire initiative was fake.Altman fired back, telling Musk he was wrong, as you surely know and taking another shot at Musk, writing,just one more mean tweet and then maybe youll love yourself.Nadella sidestepped the fight when asked about it in an interview on CNBC, saying that Microsoft was spending $80 billion on Azure so customers can count on Microsoft with OpenAI models being there everywhere in the world, serving OpenAI models and other models. I am good for my $80 billion, he added.Again, this is a smart move. No matter what happens with Stargate, Microsoft wins. Its a big OpenAI investor, so if Stargate succeeds, it pays off for Microsoft. And if it doesnt, Microsoft can sell more AI-related infrastructure. Joining the tit-for-tat wouldnt have helped Microsoft.Staying the course on DEITrump was elected in part because of his attacks on DEI efforts and since hes become president, hes gone on an anti-DEI rampage. Not only has he shut down the federal governments DEI programs,hes also threatened to investigate companies that continue to pursue DEI goals.Many tech titans joined Trumps crusade, notably Metas Mark Zuckerberg, who killed Metas DEI efforts, and Jeff Bezos, who scaled back Amazons. Google has downsized its DEI program as well.Microsoft hasnt followed suit. Nadella in October said in Microsofts annual report on DEI that the efforts ensure our work force represents the planet we serve, and that the products we build always meet our customers needs.In December, more than a month after Trumps election, Microsoft Chief Diversity Officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyr doubled down on that in a post on LinkedIn, noting that not only are DEI efforts the right thing to do, but theyre essential to Microsofts success.She wrote on LinkedIn, Im thinking about the importance of continuing our diversity and inclusion work, expanding empathy, and anticipating the needs of all our stakeholders, both within Microsoft and beyond.The business case for D&I is not only a constant, but is stronger than ever, reinforcing our belief that a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial for innovation and success.Once again, Nadella handled this in a low-key way, promising the company will stay true to its values, but not going out of his way to take on a fight with Trump about it.Not singing in Trumps amen chorusBeyond individual issues like AI and DEI is the larger issue of pledging fealty to Trump and all he stands for. Trump has made tech one of the cornerstones of his plans for the future and is using his relationships with tech moguls as a way to provide cover for the ways in which he wants to reshape the country and its politics.Many of the worlds most powerful tech titans are only too happy to sing along in Trumps amen chorus. To show their support, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Musk were all seated in prominent positions at Trumps inauguration. (Note that Apple CEO Tim Cook attended as well, but Apple still fully supports DEI efforts.)Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote: Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trumps inauguration. They have even better seats than Trumps own cabinet picks. That says it all.Noticeably absent was Nadella. His non-attendance made clear hes not in on Trumps agenda.The upshotWhat weve seen in the earliest days of the Trump administration from Nadella is likely how hell try to safely navigate Microsoft through the coming years. Hell stay out of the public eye as much as possible, wont comment on political and cultural issues, and when it comes to tech wont engage in the kind of chest-banging that Musk, Zuckerberg, Altman, and other tech titans haveengaged in.All that is easy to say and tough to do. But if Nadella can do it, Microsoft will be a stronger company four years from now, with its culture intact.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.Mice with two dads have been created using CRISPRWhats new: Mice with two fathers have been bornand have survived to adulthoodfollowing a complex set of experiments by a team in China. The researchers used CRISPR to create the mice, using a novel approach to target genes that normally need to be inherited from both male and female parents. They hope to use the same approach to create primates with two dads.Why it matters: Humans are off limits for now, but the work does help us better understand a strange biological phenomenon known as imprinting, which causes certain genes to be expressed differently depending on which parent they came from. Read the full story.Jessica HamzelouThree reasons Meta will struggle with community fact-checkingSarah Gilbert is research director for the Citizens and Technology Lab at Cornell University.Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will cut back on its content moderation efforts and eliminate fact-checking in the US in favor of the more democratic approach that X (formerly Twitter) calls Community Notes.The move is raising alarm bells, and rightly so. Meta has left a trail of moderation controversies in its wake, and ending professional fact-checking creates the potential for misinformation and hate to spread unchecked.Im a community moderator who researches community moderation. Heres what Ive learned about the limitations of relying on volunteers for moderationand what Meta needs to do to succeed.MIT Technology Review Narrated: Is this the end of animal testing?Animal studies are notoriously bad at identifying human treatments. Around 95% of the drugs developed through animal research fail in people. But until recently there was no other option.Now organs on chips may offer a truly viable alternative. They look remarkably prosaic: flexible polymer rectangles about the size of a thumb drive. In reality theyre triumphs of bioengineering, intricate constructions furrowed with tiny channels that are lined with living human tissues. And as they continue to be refined, they could solve one of the biggest problems in medicine today.This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, whichwere publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released.The must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 DeepSeek has AI investors spookedTheyre worried theyve wasted their money after the Chinese startup proved that powerful models can be created on a shoestring. (NYT $)+ Its success has also shed light on how little we know about AIs power demands. (FT $)+ DeepSeeks rapid rise is great news for Chinas AI strategy. (WP $)+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)2 OpenAI has accused DeepSeek of using its AI models to train R1Just hours after Sam Altman claimed it was invigorating to have a new competitor. (FT $)+ DeepSeek has been telling some people that its made by Microsoft. (Fast Company $)+ Italy is investigating how the firm handles personal data in relation to GDPR. (TechCrunch)3 Alibaba claims its new AI model surpasses DeepSeeksThat was fast. (WSJ $)+ Heres what sets DeepSeek apart from its competition. (NBC News)4 RFK Jrs niece is trying to stop him being appointed the top US health officialShes shared private emails in which he makes false covid and vaccine claims. (STAT)+ His cousin has also denounced him as a predator. (NY Mag $)+ A weaker vaccine policy will lead to the resurgence of dangerous diseases. (The Atlantic $)+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)5 Donald Trump has threatened new chip sanctionsIn a heavy-handed attempt to force manufacturers to relocate to the US. (WP $)6 Women seeking fertility treatment in the US are being left in the darkClinics dont publicly declare how many times egg retrieval has gone wrong. (Bloomberg $)+ Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos. (MIT Technology Review)7 Spotify claims that streaming has made the world value musicIm not convinced artists will agree. (The Verge)8 Supersonic commercial flights could be staging a comebackMore than two decades after Concorde ceased operation. (New Scientist $)+ How rerouting planes to produce fewer contrails could help cool the planet. (MIT Technology Review)9 LinkedIn has booted AI-generated jobseekers off its platformTheir accounts were created by a company peddling AI agents. (404 Media)+ How one developer fought back against AI crawler bots. (Ars Technica)10 The future of food is bacteria and algaeMmm, delicious. (Undark)+ Would you eat dried microbes? This company hopes so. (MIT Technology Review)Quote of the dayI dont have technology. Ive never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered.Actor Christopher Walken isnt a fan of modern gadgetry, he tells the Wall Street Journal.The big storyDeepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese businessMay 2024Once a week, Sun Kai has a video call with his mother, and they discuss his day-to-day life. But Suns mother died five years ago, and the person hes talking to isnt actually a person, but a digital replica he made of her.There are plenty of people like Sun who want to use AI to preserve, animate, and interact with lost loved ones as they mourn and try to heal. The market is particularly strong in China, where at least half a dozen companies are now offering such technologies and thousands of people have already paid for them.But some question whether interacting with AI replicas of the dead is truly a healthy way to process grief, and its not entirely clear what the legal and ethical implications of this technology may be. Read the full story.Zeyi YangWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet em at me.)+ Happy Chinese New Year to all those who celebrate! + These robots do a passable job dancing to mark the celebration.+ If you havent seen A Real Pain in the theater yet, why not?+ Coolarchaeologists have uncovered an ancient Roman mask that may depict Medusa.

If Apple's AirPods Max are too pricey, maybe these knockoff cans are a better, more affordable option. Let's compare these bargain bin headphones to Apple's latest.Apple's AirPods Max go against the $5 iConcept headphonesRecently, while running our usual laundry list of errands stock up on Coke Zero, drop off old kids toys at Goodwill we stopped by our local dollar store. While there, we saw what looked like spot-on clones of AirPods Max.Carrying a hefty price tag of $5 whole American dollars, they were an instant buy for us to get them home and see how they compare to the real deal. Needless to say, it wasn't close. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The votes are in for Archinect's popularity contest of the 18 architecture school lecture posters featured in our Fall '24 Get Lectured series.Out of 544 responses in our most recent online reader poll, the UCLA Architecture and Urban Design series of poster designs by Alyssa Tohyama raked in a dominating 35.1% of votes and took home the top prize, followed by the GIF-animated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo College of Architecture and Environmental Design poster in second place with 23%, and the Pratt Institute School of Architecture design coming in third with 15.4% of votes.Joining the three winners were top-ten poster designs from Florida Atlantic, UT Knoxville, Penn, UW-Milwaukee, Waterloo, U of Hong Kong, and East Los Angeles College.Thanks to our readers for participating, and congratulations to all the winning designs and their creators.First Place: UCLALecture poster design by Alyssa Tohyama. Courtesy of UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design.Second Place: Cal Poly...

Following our previous look at an opening for an internship at KieranTimberlake, we are using this weeks edition of ourJob Highlights seriesto explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Exhibition Designer at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.The role, based in Los Angeles, calls for an individual who will develop exhibition designs, participate in planning meetings, and contribute towards LACMAs permanent collection reinstallation project. Among the responsibilities will be designing temporary gallery exhibitions and permanent collection installations, as well as developing design criteria with curatorial and exhibition staff. Among the qualifications required are a minimum of three years experience in a related field and a professional degree in architecture.Rendering of the David Geffen Gallieries. Image credit: Atelier Peter Zumthor/The BoundaryWhy the role interests usThe open role at LACMA comes as construction continues on the anticipated David Geffen Gallerie...

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work throughArchitizerand sign up for ourinspirational newsletters.Despite being used for a range of spatial types from basic multi-generational residences, grand palaces, temples and government buildings over eons, siheyuan design has remained a fixed approach to building. The term refers to a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides.Translated into English as courtyard house, to give an idea of their prevalence, particularly in Beijing and the nearby-ish rural Shanxi province, in 2008 the United Nations Human Settlements Programme estimated 400,000 of these historic complexes were still being used as homes. And, the citys own Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage still maintains 500 historic courtyards that are protected as Cultural and Historical Conservation Areas. These include prominent memorials such as Xun, Go Moruo, Mao Dun, Mei Lanfang and Lao She.Offering seclusion even in the heart of a dense metropolis like Beijing, today many of these enclaves used for housing provide private outdoor space that can only be used by you and your neighbors. Suffice it to say, as urban populations have boomed so too has the market for the benefits these properties deliver, albeit often at a price. As a result, there are now plenty of stunning examples of modernized, renovated and upgraded siheyuan. For proof, weve pulled together a collection of nine historic Chinese courtyard house renovations.Twisting CourtyardBy ARCHSTUDIO, BeijingThe design aims at getting rid of the solemn and stereotyped impression given by siheyuan, ARCHSTUDIO explains of the inimitable Twisting Courtyard. A traditional, historic example of this topology in residential form, a bold conversion turns a private retreat into public realm with houses that can be rented out for events and meetings, and areas built-in for more informal gatherings. What really stands out, though, is the exterior ground forming the roofs and walls of some spaces, and extending indoors. A complex that seems to invite us to explore deeper and deeper the more it reveals of itself.Courtyards Renovation of the Moshikou NeighborhoodBy Beijing AN-Design Architects, Beijing Unlike most of the projects in this collection, the Courtyards Renovation of the Moshikou Neighborhood purposefully invites the close quarters of the city into a private sanctuary. This district experienced a commercial boom in ancient times thanks to its role as a caravansary, before declining as trade moved elsewhere. Spaces still reflect this, and AN-Design maximized their potential with a multi-purpose site reflecting the density of working class communities. Areas for workshops, concerts, coffee breaks and meetings occupy one half, tightly packed residential corner in another, together they represent a way of life that has existed here for longer than anyone can remember.Courtyard 35 Hutong CloudscapeBy WAY Studio, Beijing Located close to imperial residences, at one point Courtyard 35 would have been home to extended members of the royal family. Multiple piecemeal renovations left the site a hotchpotch of styles without unity or coherency and by the 1990s it was in a mess. With the cloudscape concept, WAY Studio redirects attention upwards through the installation of bridges. These elevated paths double up as sites of interaction and socializing, and help bring the complex into a uniform aesthetic thats anything but conservative. Playing with expectations about what a traditional courtyard house should look like, in what was a stronghold of aristocratic aesthetic orthodoxy.Qishe CourtyardBy ARCHSTUDIO, Beijing Nature and sky play a big part in the principles of siheyuan. You can see this in each of this collections projects but few have the impact of Quishe Courtyard, or Seven House in English (a reference to the buildings street number). A badly run down site on the brink of collapse has been neatened, reinforced, and repaired, with reproductions of original architecture expanding living spaces significantly. Thoughtful curvature means this has happened while bringing in the most amount of open air and light, and working around existing trees and foliage.Courtyard KindergartenBy MAD Architects, Beijing A 1990s building and a 400-year-old courtyard: Whats the worst that could happen? Two seemingly opposing traditions are brought together under one unified design by MAD Architects in a genuinely playful way. Pre-existing houses are now surrounded by a protective perimeter structure. This facilitates interaction between modern mid-rise and historic structures. The outdoor space is largely moved to roof level, offering a large recreational area incorporating landscaping, rethinking the overall footprint in light of increasing pressure for space, without sacrificing area.Courtyard House Redevelopment ProjectBy J Architects, Beijing Siheyuan often connotes a level of wealth and position in society. Thats true whether we consider historic homes of hereditary monarchs or urban escapes now selling for millions. J Architects Courtyard House Redevelopment is neither. Before renovation began, this was a dilapidated hutong (back alley) building people had to stoop to get inside. Raising its height, levelling ground and introducing a second outdoor area above, the result is a clean, light and spacious modern building to serve a variety of purposes.A Small CourtyardBy COLORFULL YUJING, ShanghaiXinchang is one of few living Jiangnan water towns remaining settlements that incorporate rivers, canals and dense alleyways in their masterplans. Distinct from other examples thanks to the shop in font, residence in middle, garden spanning the river building design, this three-entry point blueprint dictates A Small Courtyard. Coffee shops, cultural venues, restaurants, and boutique accommodation are laid out in a way that follows the same model, helping this 2024 development fully integrate with the historic surroundings.Dongcheng Courtyard HouseBy JSPA Design, Beijing Situated in an ancient corner of Beijing, Dongcheng Courtyard House sympathetically expands on Ming Dynasty construction and addresses our complex relationship with the modern city without disrupting a heritage area. Introducing two new parallel buildings, three courtyards are created from one, each offering a different degree of privacy. Bathrooms are concealed within opaque boxes and plugged-in to the structure, while an underground extension provides space for a pool and gym.The Walled Tsingpu Yangzhou RetreatBy Neri&Hu Design and Research Office Neri&Hus 20-room boutique hotel design is nothing short of seductive. The firm also perfectly defines siheyuan with both the in-real-life project and the description of its own work. The inspiration for the design originates with the vernacular Chinese courtyard house, which gives hierarchy to the spaces, frames views of the sky and earth, encapsulates landscape into architecture, and creates an overlap between interior and exterior.Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work throughArchitizerand sign up for ourinspirational newsletters.The post 21st Century Siheyuan: 9 Chinese Courtyards Renovated With Contemporary Flare appeared first on Journal.

With the recent announcement that Ninja Gaiden 4 was in the works during the recent Xbox Developer_Direct, according to Team Ninja producer Fumihiko Yasuda, the idea for the company to team up with PlatinumGames for the development of Ninja Gaiden 4 was Phil Spencers idea.Speaking to Game Watch, Yasuda credits Spencer for coming up with the idea for the team-up, while also talking about how difficult it was for Team Ninja to come up with a plan regarding the development of the game. Yasuda also mentions that Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma and PlatinumGames president Atsushi Inaba being good friends was important.I think everyone knows that the Ninja Gaiden series has been on hold for more than a decade, but Team Ninja has been considering making a new title for a long time, Yasuda said according to a rough translation of the interview. However, we were having difficult deciding on a plan. Then Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma and PlatinumGames president Atsushi Inaba, who are from the same generation and are good friends, had a chance to discuss the matter.Yasuda then spoke about the collective experience both the developers had with making fast-paced action games, with Team Ninjas own experience with the Ninja Gaiden franchise, and PlatinumGames being well-regarded for titles like Nier: Automata and Bayonetta.After that, Phil Spencer from Microsoft suggested that the three companies PlatinumGames, Koei Tecmo and Microsoft work together on a new numbered title in the Ninja Gaiden series, and thats how the project got started, he continued. We have developed action games ourselves, but because we were going to be making a new Ninja Gaiden for the first time in over a decade, PlatinumGames had already made a number of great action titles, such as Bayonetta and NieR: Automata, so we wanted to work with them, and thats how the collaboration began.Spencer himself revealed in an interview earlier this month that plans for a new title in the Ninja Gaiden franchise actually started around six or seven years ago. He spoke about the relationships he had with various game publishers in Japan, and after a lot of conversations in-person as well as online, the plans for a Ninja Gaiden 4 were put into motion.Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced with a trailer, and will be making its way to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S this Fall. The title will also be available through Game Pass.The latest entry in the franchise will feature a brand new protagonist in the forum of Yakuma a young ninja from the Raven Clan. Series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa will also be present in the story, and will likely play a pivotal role in the games events. The announcement trailer also indicated some level of rivalry between Yakuma and Hayabusa.Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced alongside the launch of a remake of Ninja Gaiden 2 based on Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Titled Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, the game is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

Bungies third episode for Destiny 2 following The Final Shape arrives on February 4th, and it returns to a familiar location: Oryxs Dreadnaught. Its not quite the same massive ship orbiting Saturn that fans know and love, as detailed by narrative architect Nikko Stevens.Whats significant about the Dreadnaughts return for Heresy is that its going to be changing, and were going to be fighting through it in ways weve yet to experience, he said on the PlayStation Blog. The Dreadnaught has reawakened for the first time in almost a decade, spurring the Vanguard and Guardians across the system to take notice. We finally get to see what has become of the Dreadnaught years after Oryx was felled and its halls were left to corrode, without a Navigator.Heresy introduces a new activity called The Nether, which combines patrols, multiple bubbles full of challenging enemies, and boss fights. Once these bubbles are complete, enemies will increase in Power. However, new boons help even the odds.Minor boons improve stats; major boons provide passives like sprinting to accumulate Static Charge stacks; and corrupted boons. The latter will affect you negatively, but the pay-off can be worth it, like massively increasing damage dealt and received.Senior designer Ryan Harris added, Weve also experimented with player modifiers, with increased health pools, no regenerating of health, low ammo drops and revive tokens, and a modification on healing in the sandbox throughout play. Players should look to build their loadouts geared for survivability as the game mode modifiers increase health pools of players significantly while also stopping all health regen.Players can also look forward to new weapons, including a new Support Frame Auto Rifle, Origin Perks, gear, and more. Interestingly, the livestream for the episode noted Oryx, the Taken King, as returning in some capacity. Perhaps he plays a role in the next dungeon, which launches on February 7th.