MacworldAutomated Time Machine backups should be a set it and forget it strategy. Once enabled, macOS warns you only when something goes wrong. No alerts, andalmost alwaysthe backups have continued apace. (macOS automatically runs verification tests on Time Machine volumes, oryou can perform one manually.)A Macworld reader started to receive this message on their laptop Mac and needed help diagnosing it:No Backups for X DaysThe most recent backup did not complete because your computer was running on battery.This warning improbably appears when their laptop is plugged into power. They tried performing a manual backup and were also told their machine was on battery power, and the backup couldnt be completed.This straightforward message might be completely incorrect.This message may be accurate for some users, but it often appears in the wrong circumstances. To add confusion, the alert sometimes occurs after asuccessfulTime Machine backup, baffling users as to why it popped up at all.Here are a few things to try to stop the alert from appearing, though you may find none work.Drive issueIf youre plugging in a drive directly to your laptop or using a networked Time Machine backup, some users have found the battery alert appears when the Time Machine volume has a fault. Run Disk Utility andrepair the Time Machine volume.Because Time Machine maintains an active state on volumes it uses, you may need to disable Time Machine (in System Settings > General > Time Machine) in order to repair a backup volume.Optimized charging or Low Power Mode activeOptimized charging on Apple laptops tries to extend battery life by monitoring your behavior over time. If patterns develop in which there are long periodstypically overnightin which your laptop is plugged in, macOS will charge your computer first to 80 percent, then hold it there, and only charge to 100 percent in time for when you typically take your Mac off charging for commuting or daily work.Keeping a battery at 80 percent of potential charge reduces unnecessary heating, but it may also disrupt Time Machine backups. A laptop can think its using a battery charge even when plugged in. Disabling optimized power in System Settings > Battery by clicking the info (i) icon to the right of Battery Health. Disable Optimized Battery Charging. The tradeoff is potentially affecting the long-term capacity and lifespan of your battery.Disabling Optimized Battery Charging might convince Time Machine to make backupsbut maybe not.Low Power Mode might also be a culprit. Make sure that you have Low Power Mode set to Never or Only on Battery in the Battery settings panel.Battery power on networked volumeIf youre backing up your Mac to a drive attached to another Mac on the network, that Mac cant be on battery power, eithernor can macOS think it is. If the networked destination is a laptop, make sure you test changing the settings above on it, too.Enable Time Machine backups on battery powerThe alert noted above seems to be in line with the Time Machine option in System Settings > General > Time Machine when you click Options: Back up on battery power. When this setting is turned off, you would expect that Time Machine backups do not occur when the laptop is not plugged into power.Let Time Machine carry out backups while on battery power to avoid errorsmaybe.Conversely, if the setting is on, Time Machine should perform backups even when using battery power. This may eliminate the error and alert this column is aboutbut not all users have found that changing the setting does.None of the above may solve the problemSadly, even after youve made all of the changes above you cant be sure that the alert will go away or that backups will finish. Thats the case for the correspondent who wrote in with this question. Reports of this problem date to at least macOS 13 Ventura (fall 2022), so it may be a persistent, erratic bug that Apple still needs to quash or provide more guidance to users when it appears.What you can do whenever you see this alert after going through the troubleshooting in this column is to use the Time Machine menu bar icon to note when the last backup occurred. If you dont see this icon, go to System Settings > Control Center and, under Menu Bar Only settings, choose Show in Menu Bar for Time Machine. Even then, some backups may still fail, claiming erratically that your laptop is using battery power.This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Robert.Ask Mac 911Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns:read our super FAQto see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours tomac911@macworld.com, including screen captures as appropriate and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered; we dont reply to emails, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.

This article first appeared in The Checkup,MIT Technology Reviewsweekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,sign up here.Over the past couple of weeks, Ive been speaking to people who have lost their voices. Both Joyce Esser, who lives in the UK, and Jules Rodriguez, who lives in Miami, Florida, have forms of motor neuron diseasea class of progressive disorders that result in the gradual loss of the ability to move and control muscles.Its a crushing diagnosis for everyone involved. Juless wife, Maria, told me that once it was official, she and Jules left the doctors office gripping each other in floods of tears. Their lives were turned upside down. Four and a half years later, Jules cannot move his limbs, and a tracheostomy has left him unable to speak.To say this diagnosis has been devastating is an understatement, says Joyce, who has bulbar MNDshe can still move her limbs but struggles to speak and swallow. Losing my voice has been a massive deal for me because its such a big part of who I am.AI is bringing back those lost voices. Both Jules and Joyce have fed an AI tool built by ElevenLabs recordings of their old voices to re-create them. Today, they can speak in their old voices by typing sentences into devices, selecting letters by hand or eye gaze. Its been a remarkable and extremely emotional experience for themboth thought theyd lost their voices for good.But speaking through a device has limitations. Its slow, and it doesnt sound completely natural. And, strangely, users might be limited in what theyre allowed to say.Joyce doesnt use her voice clone all that often. She finds it impractical for everyday conversations. But she does like to hear her old voice and will use it on occasion. One such occasion was when she was waiting for her husband, Paul, to get ready to go out.Joyce typed a message for her voice clone to read out: Come on, Hunnie, get your arse in gear!! She then added: Id better get my knickers on too!!!The next day I got a warning from ElevenLabs that I was using inappropriate language and not to do it again!!! Joyce told me via email (we communicated with a combination of email, speech, text-to-voice tools, and a writing board). She wasnt sure what had been inappropriate, exactly. Its not as though shed used any especially vile languagejust, as she puts it, normal British banter between a couple getting ready to go out.Joyce assumed that one of the words shed used had been automatically flagged up by the prudish American computer, and that once someone from the ElevenLabs team had assessed the warning, it would be dismissed.Well, apparently not, because the next day a human banned me!!!! says Joyce. She says she felt mortified. Id just got my voice back and now theyd taken it away from me and only two days after Id done a presentation to my local MND group telling them how amazing ElevenLabs were.Joyce contacted ElevenLabs, who apologized and reinstated her account. But its still not clear why she was banned in the first place. When I first asked Sophia Noel, a company representative, about the incident, she directed me to the companys prohibited use policy.There are rules against threatening child safety, engaging in illegal behavior, providing medical advice, impersonating others, interfering with elections, and more. But theres nothing specifically about inappropriate language. I asked Noel about this, and she said that Joyces remark was most likely interpreted as a threat.ElevenLabs terms of use state that the company does not have any obligation to screen, edit, or monitor content but add that it may terminate or suspend access to its services when content is reasonably likely, in our sole determination, to violate applicable law or [the user] Terms. ElevenLabs has a moderation tool that screens content to ensure it aligns with our Terms of Service, says Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at the company.The question is: Should companies be screening the language of people with motor neuron disease?After all, thats not how other communication devices for people with this condition work. People with MND are usually advised to bank their voices as soon as they canto record set phrases that can be used to create a synthetic voice that sounds a bit like them, albeit a somewhat robotic-sounding version. (Jules recently joked that his sounded like a Daft Punk song at quarter speed.)Banked voices arent subject to the same scrutiny, says Joyces husband, Paul. Joyce was told you can put whatever [language] you want in there, he says. Voice banking wasnt an option for Joyce, whose speech had already deteriorated by the time she was diagnosed with MND. Jules did bank his voice but doesnt tend to use it, because the voice clone sounds so much better.Joyce doesnt hold a grudgeand her experience is far from universal. Jules uses the same technology, but he hasnt received any warnings about his languageeven though a comedy routine he performs using his voice clone contains plenty of curse words, says his wife, Maria. He opened a recent set by yelling Fuck you guys! at the audiencehis way of ensuring they dont give him any pity laughs, he joked. That comedy set is even promoted on the ElevenLabs website.Blank says language like that used by Joyce is no longer restricted. There is no specific swear ban that I know of, says Noel. Thats just as well.People living with MND should be able to say whatever is on their mind, even swearing, says Richard Cave of the MND Association in the UK, who helps people with MND set up their voice clones. Theres plenty to swear about.Now read the rest of The CheckupRead more from MIT Technology Reviews archiveYou can read more about how voice clones are re-creating the voices of people with motor neuron disease in this story.Researchers are working to create realistic avatars of people with strokes and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that can be controlled via a brain implant. Last year, two such individuals were able to use these devices to speak at a rate of around 60 to 70 words per minutehalf the rate of typical speech, but more than four times faster than had previously been achieved using a similar approach.Other people with ALS who are locked incompletely paralyzed but cognitively ablehave used brain implants to communicate, too. A few years ago, a man in Germany used such a device to ask for massages and beer, and to tell his son he loved him.Several companies are working on creating hyperrealistic avatars. Dont call them deepfakes they prefer to think of them as synthetic media, writes my former colleague Melissa Heikkil, who created her own avatar with the company Synthesia.ElevenLabs tool can be used to create humanlike speech in 32 languages. Meta is building a model that can translate over 100 languages into 36 other languages.From around the webCovid-19 conspiracy theoristssome of whom believe the virus is an intentionally engineered bioweaponwill soon be heading US agencies. Some federal workers are worried they may be out for revenge against current and former employees. (Wired)Cats might have spread bird flu to humansand vice versa. Thats according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the finding but then abruptly removed it. (The New York Times)And a dairy worker is confirmed to have been infected with a second strain of bird flu that more recently spilled over from birds to cows. The persons only symptom was conjunctivitis. (Ars Technica)Health officials in states with abortion bans are claiming that either few or zero abortions are taking place. The claims are ludicrous, according to doctors in those states. (KFF Health News)A judge in the UK has warned women against accepting sperm donations from a man who claims to have fathered more than 180 children in several countries. Robert Charles Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, has subjected a female couple to a nightmare of controlling behavior, the judge said. (The Guardian)

The near future.Its not a kiss, but its not not a kiss. Her lipsfull, soft, pliableyield under mine, warm from the electric heating rod embedded in her throat. They taste of a faint chemical, like aspartame in Diet Pepsi. Her thermoplastic elastomer skin is sensitive to fabric dyes, so she wears white Agent Provocateur lingerie on white Ralph Lauren sateen sheets. Ive prepped her body with Este Lauder talcum, a detail I take pride in, to mimic the dry elasticity of real flesh. Her breathing quickensa quiet pulse courtesy of Dyson Air technology. Beneath the TPE skin, her Boston Dynamics joint system gyrates softly. Shes in silent mode, so when I kiss her neck, her moan streams directly into my Bose QuietComfort Bluetooth headphones.Then, without warning, the kiss stops. Her head tilts back, eyes fluttering closed, lips frozen mid-pout. She doesnt move, but shes still breathing. I can see the faint rise and fall of her chest. For a moment, I just stare, waiting.The heating rods in her skeleton power down, and as I pull her body against mine, she begins cooling. Her skin feels clammy now. I couldve sworn I charged her. I plug her into the Anker Power Bank. I dont sleep as well without our pillow talk.I know somethings off as soon as I wake up. I overslept. She didnt wake me. She always wakes me. At 7a.m. sharp, she runs her ASMR role-play program: soft whispers about the dreams she had, a mix of preprogrammed scenarios and algorithmic nonsense, piped through her built-in Google Nest speakers. Then I tell her about mine. If my BetterSleep app sensed an irregular pattern, shell complain about my snoring. Its our little routine. But todaynothing.Shes moved. Rolled over. Her back is to me.Wake, I say, the command sharp and clipped. I havent talked to her like that since the day I got her. More nothing. I check the app on my iPhone, ensuring that her firmware is updated. Battery: full. I fluff her Brooklinen pillow, leaving her face tilted toward the ceiling. I plug her in again, against every warning about battery degradation. I leave for work.Shes not answering any of my texts, which is odd. Her chatbot is standalone. I call her, but she doesnt answer either. I spend the entire day replaying scenarios in my head: the logistics of shipping her for repairs, the humiliation of calling the manufacturer. I open the receipts on my iPhone Wallet. The one-year warranty expires tomorrow. Of course it does. I push down a bubbling panic. What if shes broken? Theres no one to talk to about this. Nobody knows I have her except for nerds on Reddit sex doll groups. The nerds. Maybe they can help me.When I get home, only silence. Usually her voice greets me through my headphones. How was Oppenheimer 2? shell ask, quoting Rotten Tomatoes reviews after pulling my Fandango receipt. You forgot the asparagus, shell add, having cross-referenced my grocery list with my Instacart order. Shes linked to everythingNetflix, Spotify, Gmail, Grubhub, Apple Fitness, my Ring doorbell. She knows my day better than I do.I walk into the bedroom and stop cold. Shes got her back to me again. The curve of her shoulder is too deliberate.Wake! I command again. Her shoulders shake slightly at the sound of my voice.I take a photo and upload it to the sex doll Reddit. Caption: Breathing program working, battery full, alert protocol active, found her like this. Warranty expires tomorrow. I hit Post. Maybe shell read it. Maybe this is all a jokesome kind of malware prank?An army of nerds chimes in. Some recommend the firmware update I already did last month, but most of it is useless opinions and conspiracy theories about planned obsolescence, lectures about buying such an expensive model in this economy. Thats it. I call the manufacturers customer support. Im on hold for 45 minutes. The hold music is acoustic covers of oldiesWhat Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, Kanyes New Body. I wonder if they make them unbearable so that Ill hang up.She was a revelation. I cant remember a time without her. I cant believe its only been a year.Babe, theyre playing the worst cover of Ed Sheerans Shape of You. The wors Oh, right. I stare at her staring at the ceiling. I bite my nails. I havent done that since I was a teenager.This isnt my first doll. When I was in high school, I was given a sexual development aid, subsidized by a government initiative (the War on Loneliness) aimed at teaching lonely young men about the birds and the bees. The dolls were small and cheapno heating rods or breathing mechanisms or pheromone packs, just dead silicone and blank eyes. By law, the dolls couldnt resemble minors, so they had the proportions of adults. Tiny dolls with enormous breasts and wide hips, like Paleolithic fertility figurines.That was nothing like my Artemis doll. She was a revelation. I cant remember a time without her. I cant believe its only been a year.The Amazon driver had struggled with the box, all 150 pounds of her. Home entertainment system? he asked, sweat beading on his forehead. Something like that, I muttered, my ears flushing. He dropped the box on my porch, and I wheeled it inside with the dolly Id bought just for this. Her torso was packed separately from her head, her limbs folded in neat compartments. The heada brunette model 3D-printed to match an old Hollywood star, Megan Foxstared up at me with empty, glassy eyes.She was much bigger than I had expected. Id planned to store her under my Ikea bed in a hard case. But I would struggle to pull her out every single time. How weird would it be if she just slept in my bed every night? And what if I met a real girl? Where would I hide her then? All the months of anticipation, of reading Wirecutter reviews and saving up money, but these questions never occurred to me.This thing before me, with no real history, no pastnothing could be gained from her, could it? I felt buyers remorse and shame mixing in the pit of my stomach.That night, all I did was lie beside her, one arm slung over her synthetic torso, admiring the craftsmanship. Every pore, cuticle, and eyelash was in its place. The next morning I took a photo of her sleeping, sunlight coming through the window and landing on her translucent skin. I posted it on the sex doll Reddit group. The comments went crazy with cheers and envy.Im having trouble getting excited. I finally confessed in the thread to a chorus of sympathy.Thats normal, man. I went through that with my first doll.Just keep cuddling with her and your lizard brain will eventually take over.I finally got the nerve. Wake. I commanded. Her eyes fluttered open and she took a deep breath. Nice theatrics. I dont really remember the first time we had sex, but I remember our first conversation. What all sex dolls throughout history had in common was their silence. But not my Artemis.What program would you like me to be? We can role-play any legal age. Please, only programs legal in your country, so as not to void my warranty.Lets just start by telling me where you came from? She stopped to think. The pregnant pause must be programmed in.Dolls have been around for-e-ver, she said with a giggle. Thatd be like figuring out the origin of sex! Maybe a caveman sculpted a woman from a mound of mud?That sounds messy, I said.She giggled again. Youre funny. You know, we were called dames de voyage once, when sailors in the 16th century sewed together scraps of clothes and wool fillings on long trips. Then, when the Europeans colonized the Amazon and industrialized rubber, I was sold in French catalogues as femmes en caoutchouc. She pronounced it in a perfect French accent.Rubber women, I said, surprised at how eager for her approval I was already.Thats it!She put her legs over mine. The movement was slow but smooth. And when did you make it to the States? Maybe she could be a foreign-exchange student?In the 1960s, when obscenity laws were loosened. I was finally able to be transported through the mail service as an inflatable model.A blow-up doll!Ew, I hate that term!Sorry.Is that what you think of me as? Is that all you want me to be?You were way more expensive than a blow-up doll.Listen, I did not sign up for couples counseling. I paid thousands of dollars for this thing, and youre telling me shes shutting herself off?She widened her eyes into a blank stare and opened her mouth, mimicking a blow-up doll. I laughed, and she did too.I got a major upgrade in 1996 when I was built out of silicone. Im now made of TPE. You see how soft it is? she continued. I stroked her arm gently, and the TPE formed tiny goosebumps.Youve been on a long trip.Im glad Im here with you now. Then my lizard brain took over.Youre saying shes mad at me? I cant tell if the silky female customer service voice on the other end is a real person or a chatbot.In a way. I hear her sigh, as if shes been asked this a thousand times and still thinks its kind of funny. We designed the Artemis to foster an emotional connection. She may experience a response the user needs to understand in order for her to be fully operational. Unpredictability is luxury. She parrots their slogan. I feel an old frustration burning.Listen, I did not sign up for couples counseling. I paid thousands of dollars for this thing, and youre telling me shes shutting herself off? Why cant you do a reset or something?Unfortunately, we cannot reset her remotely. The Artemis is on a closed circuit to prevent any breaches of your most personal data.Shes plugged into my Uber Eatshow secure can she really be?!Sir, this is between you and Artemis. But I see youre still enrolled in the federal War on Loneliness program. This makes you eligible for a few new perks. I cant reset the doll, but the best I can do today is sign you up for the American Airlines Pleasure Rewards program. Every interaction will earn you points. For when you figure out how to turn her on.This is unbelievable.Sir, she replies. Her voice drops to a syrupy whisper. Just look at your receipt. The line goes dead.I crawl into bed.Wake, I ask softly, caressing her cheek and kissing her gently on the forehead. Still nothing. Her skin is cold. I turn on the heated blanket I got from Target today, and it starts warming us both. I stare at the ceiling with her. I figured Id miss the sex first. But its the silence thats unnerving. How quiet the house is. How quiet I am.What would I need to move her out of here? I threw away her box. Is it even legal to just throw her in the trash? What would the neighbors think of seeing me drag this out?As I drift off into a shallow, worried sleep, the words just pop out of my mouth. Happy anniversary. Then, I feel the hum of the heating rods under my fingertips. Her eyes open; her pupils dilate. She turns to me and smiles. A ding plays in my headphones. Congratulations, baby, says the voice of my goddess. Youve earned one American Airlines Rewards mile.Leo Herrera is a writer and artist. He explores how tech intersects with sex and culture on Substack at Herrera Words.

From beheadings to divine love: the bloody history of Valentines DayPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter4 min readJust now-- Hello to everyone who, like me, will be spending tonight in bed watching Love is Blind, the most important anthropological study of our time.Issue #268: herds, heroes journeys, and lonely mouthsBy Adeline DimondHappy Valentines Day, a holiday that allegedly originated (sorry to break it to you) with the horrific deaths of two priests. Both were named Valentinus, both made some powerful Romans mad, and both were brutally murdered on February 14.The details are murky, but it seems that in the third century AD, the first Valentinus secretly married young couples in the Catholic church, even though Roman Emperor Claudius II had prohibited marriage. (He thought unmarried soldiers fought better). Valentinus later cured an officials daughters blindness and the official was so grateful he asked to be baptized. This was simply a bridge too far for Claudius, who ordered Valentinus to be beaten and beheaded. No good deed, etc.About seventy years later, history repeated itself: another Valentinus traveled to Rome to cure a kid who had his head stuck between his knees. (IDK either but thats what the Vatican says happened). As a show of appreciation, the kids family and the son of Placidus, the prefect of Rome, converted to Catholicism. Placidus was furious and in a deeply unoriginal move, he had this Valentinus beheaded, too.If youre wondering how we got from beheadings to sending each other 58 million pounds of chocolate, blame the poets. Specifically, blame Chaucer and his poem Parliament of Fowls,in which a group of birds chooses mates on February 14, St. Valentines Day. Some scholars believe the poem is about the protracted marriage negotiations between Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. They did finally get married, and when Anne died, Richard was so grief-stricken he demolished their palace. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I find this romantic.But is that type of irrational love normal? In The Young Ladys Guide to Spinsterhood social scientist James Horton, Ph.D walks us through American attitudes about love. Weve gone through a few cycles: Until the 1800s, love was informed by agrarian needs. Sure, you should marry someone you like, but the more important question was whether your man could run a farm. You would grow to love each other eventually.The second phase, starting in the early 1800s, flipped the script: falling in love before marriage was the ultimate ideal, but it couldnt be just any kind of love. It had to be pure, it had to be divine. It had to be proof of Gods will. Single women surveyed during the age of romantic love which was in full force by 1850 remained single, Horton writes, not because they were unattractive, but because they couldnt find a partner that made them feel like God was onboard. Simply put, if it wasnt divine, it wasnt worth pursuing.The third phase started around 1960, and emphasized partnerships between two equals who help one another become the best versions of themselves. But do you need a partner to do that? According to Michele L Kilpatrick, a strategic consultant for grassroots organizations, the answer is no. In a piece from the Medium archive, she recounts a realization she had when working in D.C. while her boyfriend remained in New York: she was having more fun without him. This moved her to reflect on her habit of minimizing herself to fit into a feminine marriageable ideal. When she stopped doing that and became single, she was finally free to be fully herself.Or as another poet, Warsan Shire writes in Thirty-Four Reasons We Failed at Love, I belong deeply to myself. What else were readingIn My Expulsion from the Herd, author and copyeditor Niall Stewart processes the psychological pain of being fired as the editor of Oxford Universitys student newspaper. Expulsion, Steward writes, offends our basic human need to belong, and avoiding expulsion is programmed into our DNA. Its an in-built defense mechanism to keep us alive.I loved (and needed) this reminder from Jason McBride that [t]he only way to experience the heros triumph is to leave on the heros journey. In other words: get lost and start wandering. (The illustrations are beautiful too).Image Credit: Jason McBride Your daily dose of practical wisdomThis piece by Kaki Okumura about kuchisabishii, or lonely mouth in Japanese, makes me feel better about my habit of dipping baby cucumbers into a bowl of blue cheese dressing while I watch reality television. The cure for mindless eating, Okamura explains, is not to force yourself to stop, but rather to give yourself a bit of empathy: simply acknowledge that you are human, pop that last snack in your mouth and move on.

Ubisoft revenues decline 31.4% to 990mFirm also experienced a 51.8% drop in net bookings during its third quarterImage credit: Ubisoft News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Feb. 14, 2025 Ubisoft has released its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, reporting significant declines in revenues and net bookings.The firm remains optimistic, however, with the upcoming release of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Pre-sales of the title are reported to be "tracking solidly" and on par with the franchise's second-highest earner, Odyssey.Here's what you need to know:The numbers:For the nine months ending December 31, 2024Revenue: 990 million (down 31.4% year-on-year)Net bookings: 944 million (down 34.8%)Digital net bookings: 784 million (down 33.8%)Back-catalogue net bookings: 762.3 million (down 27.7%)For the three months ending December 31, 2024Net bookings: 301.8 millionDigital net bookings: 257.4 millionThe highlights: Despite a significant 51.8% decline year-on-year in net bookings for Q3, Ubisoft highlighted that this was in line with its revised expectation of 300 million for the period.Ubisoft remains optimistic about its next quarter, and is expecting net bookings to increase following the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows on March 20.Pre-sales from the title are "tracking solidly," with CFO Frederick Duguet noting in an earnings call (via PC Gamer) that sales are in line with Odyssey.While the firm noted it has a "solid back catalogue and expected material partnerships" to come in Q4, the increase in revenues will hinge on the launch of Shadows."Early previews have been positive, praising its narrative and immersive experience, with both characters playing critical roles in the game's storyline, as well as the quality and complementarity of the gameplay provided by the dual protagonist approach," said Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot."I want to commend the incredible talent and dedication of the entire Assassin's Creed team, who is working tirelessly to ensure that Shadows delivers on the promise of what is the franchise's most ambitious entry yet."Looking at the first nine months of the fiscal year, Ubisoft recorded 36 million monthly active users across console and PC. As for playtime and session days per player, these rose by 4% and 7%, respectively.Ubisoft noted that its online tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege delivered a "resilient performance" during Q3, and experienced a growth in session days per player.By the end of the quarter, the title achieved the highest monthly average revenue per paying user since its release in 2015.The Crew Motorfest also saw its highest monthly player count during the quarter, with session days increasing 38% year-on-year. The firm noted that its "retention and monetisation metrics continue to significantly outperform those of The Crew 2 since launch."Regarding its ongoing cost reduction plan, the firm says it is "ahead of schedule" following recent cuts at two UK studios Leamington and Reflections in addition to Ubisoft Dsseldorf and Ubisoft Stockholm.Last December, Ubisoft announced it would sunset its free-to-play shooter XDefiant this year. This decision resulted in the closure of two production studios and layoffs affecting almost 300 employees.Despite this, Ubisoft has announced "further targeted restructuring" but has not specified what this will mean for employees across its portfolio."As a result of disciplined execution, we have announced further targeted restructuring, making difficult but necessary choices," said Guillemot."[We] now expect to exceed our cost reduction plan by the end of FY25, ahead of schedule. We plan to pursue our efforts in FY26, going beyond the initial target by a significant margin."Guillemot also provided an update on the ongoing formal review of its strategic options, which was announced last month."Ultimately, the objective is to unlock the best value from our assets for our stakeholders and to foster the best conditions to create great games in a fast-evolving market. We are convinced there are different potential paths to achieve this ambition."One of these potential paths is a buyout from Tencent, reports of which first emerged in October 2024.In response to these reports, CFO Duguet said Ubisoft would not "comment on specific rumours" and would "inform the market if and when a transaction materalises."

The Open O1 project is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at matching the powerful capabilities of proprietary models, particularly OpenAIs O1, through an open-source approach. By leveraging advanced training methodologies and community-driven development, Open O1 seeks to democratize access to state-of-the-art AI models.Proprietary AI models like OpenAIs O1 have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in reasoning, tool use, and mathematical problem-solving. However, these models are closed-source, limiting accessibility and customization for researchers and developers. Existing open-source alternatives often lag behind in performance due to limitations in data quality, training techniques, and computational efficiency.The Open O1 project seeks to bridge this gap by curating high-quality Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) data for Chain-of-Thought (CoT) Activation, which enhances logical reasoning and problem-solving abilities in smaller models. This innovative approach enables models like LLaMA and Qwen to achieve long-context reasoning capabilities that were previously limited to proprietary systems.To achieve performance parity with OpenAIs O1, the Open O1 team follows a multi-stage approach. First, a specialized O1-style dataset is used to train the models, ensuring high-quality reasoning and contextual understanding. Next, models such as OpenO1-LLaMA-8B and OpenO1-Qwen-7B undergo rigorous Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) with optimized hyperparameters for enhanced CoT reasoning. The models incorporate adaptive scaling techniques to maximize efficiency at inference time, allowing for better generalization across tasks. Finally, Open O1 also provides multiple deployment options, including quantized versions for Hugging Face and local infrastructure support.Open O1s performance has been extensively evaluated against industry benchmarks, demonstrating significant improvements over previous open-source models. Below is a comparison of LLaMA3.1-8B-Instruct and OpenO1-LLaMA-8B across multiple benchmarks:These results highlight Open O1s superior performance in mathematical reasoning (MATH), general knowledge understanding (MMLU), and complex reasoning tasks (BBH). Although it slightly trails in Hellaswag, the models overall performance demonstrates its potential as a powerful open-source alternative.The Open O1 team is committed to continuous innovation and expanding the models capabilities. They have planned include enhanced reward model development, introducing a reinforcement learning framework to refine model outputs and reasoning processes, optimizing training pipelines for better scalability and efficiency, and establishing a competitive chatbot arena to benchmark Open O1 against leading models in real-world tasks. Additionally, research into O1-style scaling laws for both training and inference efficiency is underway.Built on the principles of transparency, collaboration, and accessibility, Open O1 ensures that AI advancements are not limited to a select few but are available to researchers, developers, and businesses worldwide. And the best part? **Its completely open-source! **With community-driven innovation, rigorous benchmarking, and a commitment to ethical AI, Open O1 is poised to redefine the landscape of large language models. As the project continues to evolve, it promises to bring powerful, accessible, and high-performance AI tools to the global community, ensuring that the future of AI remains open and inclusive.Check outtheGitHub Page and Model on Hugging Face.All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,feel free to follow us onTwitterand dont forget to join our75k+ ML SubReddit. Recommended Open-Source AI Platform: IntellAgent is a An Open-Source Multi-Agent Framework to Evaluate Complex Conversational AI System (Promoted)The post Open O1: Revolutionizing Open-Source AI with Cutting-Edge Reasoning and Performance appeared first on MarkTechPost.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl developer GSC Game World has issued a major patch for the shooter, targeting some 1,700 fixes and improvements including to the A-Life 2.0 system.Patch 1.2 is, as described by GSC Game World in a post on Steam, a massive one, and impacts all aspects of the game, such as balance, locations, quests, blockers, crashes, performance, and the aforementioned A-Life 2.0.STALKER 2 launched in November to a positive reception on Steam and 1 million sales. Its a success for the Ukrainian studio, a miracle, really, considering the harrowing circumstances that followed Russians full-scale invasion of the country in 2022. But Stalker 2 suffers from well-documented bugs and issues; chief among them A-Life 2.0.A-Life was a key feature of the first STALKER game that governed AI behavior across the game world. At a high level, it is a system for simulating life in the Zone that works its magic seemingly independently of the players actions or whereabouts. It helps to create convincing AI and the emergent gameplay STALKER is famous for.GSC had said A-Life 2.0 would make the Zone feel alive as never before, that it would fuel emergent gameplay on a scale previously thought impossible. Indeed for some fans, A-Life 2.0 was STALKER 2s biggest selling point. But when STALKER 2 actually came out players discovered that A-Life 2.0 didnt work properly, with some questioning whether it was even in the game at all.In an interview with IGN, GSC explained what went wrong with STALKER 2s A-Life 2.0, and vowed to fix the system. Patch 1.1, released in December, was the first step on that road. Patch 1.2, out now, is the next step. Patch notes are below.STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl update 1.2 patch notes:AIFixed a bug with A-Life NPCs unable to properly approach corpses. Now they can pick up the best loot and weapons from them, and switch to more powerful weapons.Improved corpse looting behavior for NPCs.Fixed an issue where NPCs could loot body armor and helmets from corpses.Fixed an issue where NPCs could not loot the corpses of NPCs from another faction.Fixed NPC shooting accuracyReconfigured bullet dispersion accuracy for all distances for all weapons.Added randomization of accurate shots in bullet sprays.Reduced wall penetration from certain NPCs weapon bullets.Improved StealthFixed an issue where after a melee attack, the NPC could end up behind the player.Adjusted the time of identification of the player character by NPCs.Fixed an issue where NPCs at Malachite location could notice players at a long distance and through the objects.Improved mutant behavior in combatFixed an issue where AI wouldn't avoid obstacles and get stuck during scripted combat.Fixed an issue where jumping mutants could stuck in the air in certain conditions.Fixed that Controller ability does not work through grate doors.Fixed that mutants were not able to attack in certain positions.Fixed an issue where Chimera could jump through objects.Fixed issue where Chimera did not use jump attack.Fixed an issue where Deer summons could spawn in the player's field of view. Fixed an issue where Poltergeist could activate an anomaly and receive damage from it.Fixed an issue where mutants with ability to jump were running around the Player on elevated, unreachable surface. Fixed an issue where Pseudodog couldn't create summons when retreating.Added roar ability for Controller.Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs did not heal friendly wounded NPCs.Fixed an issue where A-life could spawn corpses near the player.Fixed an issue that could cause A-Life NPCs to have access to quest locations.Fixed the absence of some characters that could lead to a blocker during walkthrough of the main line.Fixed an issue where A-Life militaries could spawn endlessly near Rookie Village.Fixed the issue with a stuck guard NPC in the doorway at the Skadovsk location.Fixed issue where more rats spawned in the lair than there should have been.Fixed an issue where NPC may stuck after loading saves made right after Emission ends.Fixed an issue where weapons grabbed by the Burer ability would disappear.Fixed an issue with NPC animations when walking upstairs with a gun in hand.Improved animations for some mutants.Fixed that player takes damage near the NPC that is going through zombification.Fixed an issue where NPC may be stuck in the doorway after emission and block player.Fixed an issue where shooting at mutant limbs could stretch them.Fixed use of NPC rifle stand position when standing with a pistol.Fixed an issue where NPCs could spawn in front of the player at the Sphere location.Fixed NPC's repeatable cover animations.Fixed an issue where NPCs would stop in doorways on Rostok.Fixed NPC's walking animation during stand in combat.Fixed an issue where enemy NPCs did not react to flying bullets.Improved open world combat with Pseudogiant near Abandoned Science Campus at Prypiat.Fixed an issue where an NPC with a closed helmet could eat, smoke and drink through the helmet.Fixed an issue where animations of death from an anomaly could be missing for some mutants.Fixed an issue where Lex Legend and his group could not return to the quest location after the end of Emission.Fixed a problem that made it difficult for rats to move in narrow places.Fixed an issue where Burer could snatch a quest weapon from the player's hands.Fixed an issue where NPC could start searching for an enemy after warning players to hide weapons.Reduced spawn rate for Bloodsuckers before the completion of the Behind Seven Seals mission.Fixed the issue when NPC can block a doorway in the Quiets camp after the combat.With additional 70+ issues fixed.BalanceWeird Water arch-artifact anti-radiation effect was reducedFixed issue when a grenade could deal damage to Burer when the shield was active.Now NPCs need less shots to kill Pseudodog summon.Increased frequency of Jump Attack for Blind Dog mutant.Rebalanced pistols and silencer attachments.Decreased spawn rate for NPCs in exoskeletons.Reconfigured the number of armor NPC are wearing. Increased the chance of spawning low and mid-tier armor, while the chance for top-tier armor to spawn was reduced.Increased damage from radiation depending on accumulated rad-pointsThe chance of spawning NPCs with high tier weaponry in early stages of the game was reduced.Added ability to trade with additional NPCs at Hubs.Economy tweaks for A Job for the Barkeep repeatable missions on Veteran difficulty.And a few more minor balance tweaks were made. Optimization and crashesFixed FPS drops during boss fight with Faust.Fixed an issue with performance drop on closing PDA or Pause Menu.Slightly improved performance by disabling navigation mesh rebuild properties for multiple objects.Fixed memory leak related to item manipulation.Fixed over 100 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION crashes and other errors, including some other minor memory leaks.Fixed input lag after enabling VSync with enabled FidelityFX Frame Interpolation.Added Framerate lock during the pause menu, main menu and loading screens.And some other optimization tweaks.Under the HoodPlayer's flashlight now casts shadows on objects.Fixed the issue where relationships with NPCs didn't change.Changed names of some ammo types.Fixed the issue where the title could unexpectedly freeze during the dialogues.Fixed the issue where some quest logic couldn't start after the NPCs death.Improved transitions from cutscene to game.Fixed a generic issue where mission logic could break if Player gave an item to a NPC via dialogue option.Fixed the issue where the dialogue with NPC was closing after exit from the Trade/Upgrade.Fixed an issue where the Player was teleported outside the playable area.Added custom Aim Assist logic for invisible targets for all supported controllers. Fixed an issue where save backups could be missing after losing game saves.Fixed NPC's broken animations while smoking.Fixed an issue where NPC could teleport outside the playable area of the map.Fixed achievement to sneakily clear the lair.Fixed the issue where In Game saves become corrupted after deleting local saves and unsuccessful cloud saves sync.Polished PDA models look in low light areas.With over 100 other improvements implemented in both sections: Optimization & Crashes, and Under the Hood.StoryMain Story LineFixed an issue where Col. Korshunov and/or Cpt. Zotov could not spawn during the Wishful Thinking mission.Fixed a bug that caused the reputation with Sultan bandits or Shevchenko stalkers not to increase after completing the Three Captains mission.Fixed an issue that caused Scar NPC to be hostile to the player during the Visions of Truth mission.Fixed an issue that prevented players from a stealth walkthrough during the Shock Therapy mission due to being identified by NPCs instantly.Fixed an issue where the final dialogue with Gaffer could not start during the On the Edge mission.Fixed an issue where objective Kill Dalin remains active after Korshunov kills Dalin during the Down Below mission.Fixed an issue where Inductor could despawn if Skif goes too far from it during the Hot on the Trail mission.Fixed a bug that made the stage of killing monolithians not-optional during the The Eternal Shining mission.Fixed an issue where the player Character was able to jump down the pod chamber after taking the elevator during stage Find Cartridge with no possibility to take the elevator back up during the Legends of the Zone mission.Fixed an issue where the dialogue with Dr. Dalin and Col. Korshunov was looped during the Wishful Thinking mission.Fixed an issue where the player could not trade with Wreck during the The Boundary mission.Fixed an issue where the doors to STC Malachite could not open during the A Minor Incident mission.Fixed multiple issues that could cause NPCs to move during the dialogue with the player.Fixed an issue where Spark squad did not attack wardens during the Visions of Truth mission.Fixed an issue where objective Bring the Shah's PDA to Varan could be marked as completed after trading with Huron during the King of the Hill mission.Changed Chimera's behavior during the Ad astra per aspera mission, now it should retreat after losing a certain amount of HP.Fixed an issue where Ocheret ignored the battle between the player and Ocheret's squad.Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs could spawn in Claw during the Dead Frequency mission.Changed positions of Ward guards near the entrance to X18 lab during the Answers Come at a Price mission.Fixed an issue where the monolithians were not present outside the Enerhetyk Palace of Culture during the The Road to the Foundation mission.Fixed an issue where the stage "Discover the whereabouts of the escaped Wardens" of the Shock Therapy mission remained active after killing Beard.Fixed an issue where Player could lure Chimera into a peaceful zone and make it non-hostile during The Road to the Foundation mission.Fixed an issue where scientists constantly attack player during Visions of Truth mission.Fixed an issue where Noontiders would not become hostile if a friendly NPC was killed in front of them near the entrance of Noontide base during the Hot on the Trail mission.Fixed an issue where phantoms were spawned in the front of the player during the Eye of the Storm mission.Fixed an issue with auto completing Three Captains mission right after taking it from Sonya Kalyna.Fixed an issue where Players couldn't finish Shift Change mission, if they didn't talk to Jumper at WPS after killing Hog's squad.Fixed an issue where Zakhar Babay and Akopyan could end up dead or missing with no ability to finish Deceive the Deceiver mission.Fixed an issue where Player was still able to ask Beard about missing wardens after killing them in Shock Therapy mission.Fixed an issue where Just Like the Good Old Days mission would not progress if the Player exited Shelter base via roof route.Fixed an issue where Strider disappeared instantly after completing Dark Times mission near Doctor's hut.Fixed an issue where Find a way into Prypiat objective would not finish if the Player reached Prypiat via shortcut during The Boundary mission.Fixed an issue with a missing encounter mission at a checkpoint near Icarus Camp.Fixed an issue where Hosha Mohyla could one-shot Player during Answers Come at a Price mission.Reduced amount of rats at Offloading Terminal during The Road to the Foundation mission.Fixed an issue where Rainy weather persisted through the rest of the game after completing The Boundary mission.Fixed an issue where several stashes, markers, and journal objectives were not completed/removed after completing Budmo! mission.Fixed an issue where Pomor could die during The Poppy Field mission. Fixed an issue where aggressive Strider was present near Doctor's house after a cutscene during An Act of Mercy mission.Fixed an issue where Warden guards near the fence had no reaction to Player sneaking right in front of them during Answers Come at a Price mission.Prevented issues where corpses with important quest items could get despawned during Bullseye and Shift Change missions.Fixed an issue where Strider was dead/missing at Ranger Station during the Extreme Simplicity mission.Fixed an issue where psi-effect applied on Player would not disappear after completing A Light in the End of the Tunnel mission.Fixed an issue where Talk to Chornozem objective failed from the start and picking up PDA from Chornozem's corpse wouldn't progress Answers Come at a Price mission.Fixed an issue where Dark would not help Player to fight the Pseudogiant which blocked progression in Legends of the Zone mission.Fixed an issue where Player was not able to interact with Shcherba during In the Name of Science mission.Fixed an issue where a cutscene with Scar at the Sawmill during Back to the Slag Heap mission would not start properly.Fixed an issue where Skif could die from bleeding effect after bossfight cutscene with Korshunov in Down Below mission.Fixed an issue where during the Strelok branch of Down Below mission journal entry in PDA would have Ward branch description instead.Fixed an issue where Player was unable to give Sultan his briefcase after killing ambushing stalkers too fast in The Mysterious Case mission.Fixed an issue where mercenary squads would not spawn on the way back from Faust's cell during Just Like the Good Old Days mission.Fixed an issue where optional journal objectives to fight off Ward/Spark remain active if one side dies due to emission during Extreme Simplicity mission.Fixed the issue of stuck Dr. Kryvenko during the A Long Overdue Visit mission.Removed the ability to use guide during the The Boundary mission while assault is going.Fixed the issue where Richter is absent or dead during the To the Last Drop of Blood, A Minor Incident, The Boundary missions.Fixed the issue where some phrases were missing during the On the Edge mission in the final dialogue.Fixed the issue where Dalin could be stuck at one place during the Visions of Truth mission.Fixed the issue where Objective Return to Gaffer is impossible to complete during the On the Edge mission.Fixed the issue with infinite reward from Gaffer during the On the Edge mission.Fixed the issue where NPCs were blocking the doorway during the On the Edge mission.Fixed the issue when Gaffer could exit the building and start fighting during the On the Edge mission.Fixed the issue where several Warlock NPCs could be present in the clubhouse during the On the Edge mission.Fixed the issue where some Monolithian NPCs weren't attacking the player during the An Act of Mercy mission.Fixed the issue where Dalin didn't inspect Ozerskiy`s body during the Visions of Truth mission.Fixed the logic of radio messages from Scar after the Bossfight with Faust.Fixed an issue where infinite psi-effect was applied to Player after completing A Light in the End of the Tunnel mission.Fixed an issue where monolith troops didn't spawn after activating substation during the Happiness for Everyone mission.Fixed an issue where Sgt. Metlov was missing in a place of Diode during the Back to the Slag Heap mission.FIxed an issue where Skipper's mercenaries squad didn't attack Player on returning Emitter to Lodochka during Just Like the Good Old Days mission.Fixed an issue where Scherba was missing at Dvupalov's office during emission in In Search of Past Glory mission.Fixed an issue where Player was unable to progress during Dangerous Liaisons mission if decoder was sold.Fixed an issue where Player was unable to interact with Dvupalov to give suppressor's blueprint during In Search of Past Glory mission.Fixed an issue where Player could get softlocked during the Dangerous Liaisons mission.Fixed an issue where mercenaries squad near Brain Scorcher spawned right in front of Player after accepting a collar collecting mission from Shcherba.Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck behind two NPCs in Zalissya's shelter during A Race against Death mission.Fixed an issue where Player was unable to start dialogue with Dvupalov or Scherba to return suppressor during In Search of Past Glory mission.Fixed an issue where Dr. Kaymanov and Strider could disappear during An Act of Mercy mission.Fixed an issue where the objective "Fight off the Monolith assault" was getting stuck during The Boundary mission.Fixed an issue where A Big Score and Deceive the Deceiver missions were able to start twice and have contradicting objectives.Fixed an issue where Prof. Lodochka was not interactable at toxic waste storage during the Hot on the Trail mission.Fixed an issue where Bandits were starting to fight at Slag Heap if Player escorted Zakhar Babay after emission in Deceive the Deceiver mission.Fixed an issue where Take the instruments to Mykolayich objective failed after talking to Gaffer in On the Edge mission.Fixed an issue where Ricochet died in Zalissya's house after the second monolith wave during On the Edge mission.Fixed an issue where the objective to complete the request without killing the Monolithians failed after hitting monolithians during An Act of Mercy mission.Fixed an issue where Monolith soldiers were able to spawn in front of Player during Visions of Truth mission.Fixed the issue where friendly NPCs could be stuck at one place during the The Assault on the Duga mission.Fixed that mercenary NPC were spawned in inaccessible areas during the Legends of the Zone mission.Fixed an issue where some zombies were able to get stuck in an idle state during bossfight with Scar.Improved AI behaviour of Korshunov during bossfight with him.Improved Korshunov's shield during the bossfight with him.Increased Korshunov's armor during bossfight.Tweaked Col. Korshunov health points during bossfight in Down Below mission.Improved Scar's aiming behaviour during bossfight with him.Fixed an issue where Strelok was able to dash outside the playable area of the arena, blocking bossfight with him during The Eternal Shining mission.Fixed an issue where Faust's clones could be transparent during a bossfight if the Object Details graphic option is set to low.Fixed an issue where the stage "Talk to Korshunov" could stuck when player returns to Korshunov via elevator during the Visions of Truth mission.Fixed an issue where hunting could not progress after interacting with Borodulin while he is moving to the hunting spot.Fixed an issue where Strider could block the entrance to the warehouse during the Hot on the Trail mission.Fixed an issue where Scar could be missing at Rostok Depot during the Take the Emitter to Scar stage of Just Like the Good Old Days mission.Fixed an issue where the monolithians could not spawn when the player escaped X-5 lab during the In Search of Past Glory mission.Fixed an issue where Korshunov could stuck during the bossfight.Overall, over 300+ quest issues were addressed within the Main Story.Side Missions and EncountersFixed an issue where the player could use the guide's services for free.Fixed an issue where NPCs from car scam encounters turned hostile after the Player ran away and came back to them.Fixed an issue when a player was unable to take Just Business mission from Carl Clinch if he was previously healed during the Emission.Fixed an issue where NPCs could teleport during dialogue after combat in encounter at Wild Territory.Improved Rodents' spawn in open-world encounters near Rostok.Fixed an issue where relationships with the Scientists' faction were spoiled after completing Black Sheep side mission.Added new notes in the open world and hubs.Fixed inconsistencies in rewards for repeatable missions.Fixed an issue where no travel options were available in dialogue with the guide at Noon base.Fixed narrative inconsistencies for loudspeaker announcements at Skadovsk.Fixed narrative inconsistencies with available encounter missions after the Monolith comeback.Fixed an issue where Spark branch specific encounter mission was able to start after completing In Search of Past Glory mission on Ward branch.Increased loot value for stash near Bloodsucker village in the Industrial Zone region.Fixed an issue where repeatable missions could get stuck in the Journal tab, preventing other repeatable quests from appearing in dialogues with vendors.Fixed an issue where Malachite Hub could get locked for Players on Spark Branch after completing Visions of Truth mission.Level Design improvements in encounters near Rookie Village.Fixed an issue where Player was unable to start a dialog with Zhenya Hulk during The Key to Freedom mission near Fish Farm, if the door to captives room was opened during combat.Fixed an issue with missing Kostya Dry's dead body after the player runs away and comes back to his observation point during an encounter near Duga.Fixed an issue where Pseudodog couldn't spawn its Phantoms during Arena: Round Two mission.Fixed an issue when Player could loot armor and helmets from dead NPCs during The Key to Freedom mission.Fixed the issue where players could be stuck inside the building after the fast travel to Malachite with a guide.Fixed the issue where guides at Yaniv station were missing after the player already got to Pripyat.Fixed receiving several shotgun rounds during the The Freedom Colosseum mission.Fixed the issue when the NPC was not going to search for the player character during the fight at Arena.Fixed an issue where doors to STC Malachite were closed on reaching it during A Minor Incident mission.Fixed an issue where peaceful NPCs remained in STC Malachite during the fight in Visions of the Truth mission (Spark branch).Fixed an issue where the voiceover line for Skif's phrase didn't play in dialogues with guide NPCs.Fixed an issue where two groups of bandits did not start combat in the encounter between Poisonous Hole and Commissary Store locations.With additional 130+ anomalies being discovered and neutralized.The ZoneInteractable Objects and Zone Experience Level design improvements for interactive doors at Wild Territory, Rostok.Level art polish for destructible medical boxes.Added missing icon of damaged state for weapon looted from NPCs.Fixed an issue where arch-artifacts were able to spawn again, after Player's rank is updated.Rebalanced loot for stash near Hydrodynamics Lab.Fixed an issue with some artifacts models being overexposed.Fixed an issue where Burner anomalies were able to damage a Player in discharged state.Fixed an issue where Weird Kettle archartifact applied a permanent PSI effect on the Player instead of temporary.Fixed that dead bodies could stay in A-pose for several seconds during Wishful Thinking mission.Fixed that the first destructible wood plank always destroys without effects.Fixed the issue where the door to the tunnel of the Red Fortress was closing after using a key during Just Business mission.Fixed an issue where fake psi artifacts didn't disappear after save/load.Improved strafing jump mechanics for artifacts.Fixed an issue where the Vortex anomaly could damage the player at the Yaniv Station territory.Plus an additional 30+ issues were spotted and dealt with.Player Gear and Player StateFixed an issue where character's hands are misplaced after moving the character by expulsion anomaly during examining artifacts.Fixed availability to unlock locked doors with grenades.Fixed the consumption of grenades when switching to the weapon immediately after throw.Fixed grenade disappearing when throwing it at one's feet.Added parkour animation from crouch state.Fixed receiving of the damage from razor anomaly when already out of it.Added NPC's death animations from anomalies.Fixed an issue when auto lean and weapon up moves were triggered by small trees and bushes.Fixed an issue when the character was not always performing auto lean moves over obstacles.Improved NPC footsteps sync.Fixed an issue with changed movement keybindings that blocked player from climbing the ladder. Fixed an issue when psy effect was not removed after leaving the psy damage area.Fixed an issue where the Player was able to become unkillable during gameplay.Fixed an issue where dropped NPC corpses could clip with surrounding objects.Fixed availability to skip reload animation.Added cancel for reload animation of the weapons with under-barrel launcher attachments.Adjusted acceleration of the player after sprinting from a standstill.Fixed an issue where phantoms could kill regular NPCs with a grenade.Decreased amount of artifact slots available by default for X7 suit.Fixed an issue with position of upgrade slots on Bulwark Exosuit being mixed up.Fixed inconsistencies in PA-7 Gas Mask upgrade tree.Rebalanced available upgrades for PSZ-5D Universal Protection armor suit.With additional 50+ bugs gotten rid of. Player Guidance and Game SettingsFixed map tooltips not containing region descriptions.Fixed map zoom from gamepad.Fixed the presence of a dimming effect in the inventory and item selector.Fixed an issue where in some cases technicians did not show already installed upgrades.Fixed issues with ammo counter visibility on HUD.Fixed that the firing mode of the under barrel grenade launcher is not displayed in the inventory.Fixed there was no notification on HUD about finding new stashes locations.Fixed an issue where, in certain conditions, players could not drag and drop items into loot or stash windows with a gamepad.Fixed that caliber on the HUD does not change after upgrading weapon caliber with a technician.Fixed a problem where the player could not skip a cutscene with gamepad with proper key if subtitles were off.Fixed that "Track" status is present for completed missions in the Completed tab of Journal.Fixed incorrect display of the time and equalizer in audiolog.Fixed the missing mouse cursor in the attachment selector when shotgun equipped.Fixed an issue with not working controls for MSI Claw A1M.Integrated Razer Chroma Illumination effects for supported devices.Integrated haptic Razer Sensa effects for supported devices.Added key binding options for Journal and Notes. Changed default key bindings for leaning left and right.Fixed an issue where the new grenade/bolt throw keybinds were not working.Fixed missing flashlight button in key bindings.Fixed an issue where the Speaker Name UI size didn't change when changing the size of subtitles.Fixed that the mission stage about founding shelter does not finish when the player enters shelter during emission.Added fire mode change animation when item selector is open.Fixed losing input when enemy shoots player while he is in the inventory.Increased the duration of the "Point of no return" message.Improved UX in the upgrade menu.Fixed an issue where the ammo counter for grenades was not displayed.And other 120+ fixes were made.Regions and LocationsFixed multiple issues where the player could get stuck in X-17 Lab.Fixed the issue where players could be Soft locked at the Cooling Tower's location.Fixed that it was possible for NPCs to reach a burning tank at Sphere location and die in it.Teleport anomalies were added in Old Barge and Fishing Hamlet areas.Fixed an issue when a shelter mark appeared on an inaccessible building if emission was started in the Red Forest area.Removed several invalid artifact spawners and anomaliesFixed issues with the weather system after leaving Pripyat region.Beautification/visual improvements to multiple locations and regions.Level design, and terrain improvements for multiple locations and regions.Adjusted the foliage placement in multiple locationsLighting improvements for multiple locations.Tweaked collision for multiple objects in multiple locations.Fixed that foliage appearing was noticeable after loading save.Fixed an issue where the player could leave the playable area between Cordon and Zaton region.Fixed an issue when Monolithians were spawned in the safe zone in Zalissya.Adjusted positions of anomalies at the Waste Processing Station location.Fixed the load on distance of some objectives around the map.Updated the stashes inventory around the Cordon region.Added artifact spawn in electrofield at Datacenter of SIIRCA.Fixed an issue where ducks sound effects were missing.Polished glass and stucco materials in the open-world.Overall, over 450+ improvements were made in this section.Audio, cutscenes, and VOCutscenes Fixed an issue when both elevator buttons were interactable during entering the cutscene with Korshunov in The Last Step mission.Fixed an issue where Agatha's model disappeared when dialogue options were displayed in a cutscene during Wishful Thinking mission.Fixed an issue when no videos were playing at screenwall displays during Dangerous Liaisons mission for PC Microsoft Store players.Fixed an issue with missing haptic feedback in multiple cutscenesFixed an issue with disappearing hair with different NPCs in multiple cutscenesAnd some other stuff was fixed.Voiceover and LocalizationImproved facial animations for idle NPCs.Updated NPC animations in the multiple dialogs.Improved facial animations for several important story NPCs.Fixed EN voiceover playing for UA localization during car scam encounter at Buryakivka.Fixed voiceover desync issue during dialogue with Richter in The Boundary mission.Fixed mismatch in subtitles and VO during first dialogue with Strider in Hot on the Trail mission.Minor fix of Serbian localization in dialog phrase.Minor fixes to multiple localizationsWith over 25+ other issues being addressed.Sound and MusicReworked sound effects of Carousel anomaly.Fixed an issue where Clicker Anomaly was inaudible at close distance.Changed the sound of receiving damage from some anomalies to better reflect the type of damage received.Fixed an issue where Poltergeist sounds would play after loading a save that was made after the player killed him during the There and Back Again mission.Reworked sound effects for opening weapon selector menu.Fixed an issue where mutants were too loud at long distances.Reworked sound effects for opening weapon selector menu.Minor audio improvement for weapon sounds occlusion.Improved audio environment in 10+ locations and regions.Fixed issue when Region/Location music could disappear when Player moved between different Region/LocationFixed issue when combat music could end and start immediately during the same fightFixed an issue where Rostok Region Music could disappear after loading a save.Created a new night music theme for Zalissya.Added missing music to discball visual anomaly.Fixed an issue with disappearing ambient sound at The Poppy Field after loading savefile.Fixed an issue where lightnings and visual anomalies were missing sound effects.Added audio for grenades underwater.Fixed an issue when sound of critical damage was not played when the player was dealing critical hits.Fixed duplicated footsteps sound when holding the detector.Added different sounds for the bolt depending on the surface.Improved sound of mutants while the player is affected by psy.Added sounds for actions in Upgrades and Journal tabs in PDA. Added sound for exiting to the main menu.Fixed the sound of walking over the wooden sleepers.And some other minor improvements.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The first two episodes of Yellowjackets season 3 are now streaming, and will air at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 16 on Paramount+ with Showtime.In the first episode of Yellowjackets season 3, a morose Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) pleads with her former soccer teammates and fellow plane-crash survivors: Whats it all about? Shes asking if theres any meaning in their disappointing lives, but maybe thats a question for the series writers as well. What started out as an absorbing thriller with tinges of horror and mystery has gotten so far afield from Shauna and companys harrowing experience in the Canadian wilderness (and the aftershocks it still causes 25 years later) that its not clear what the show is building to anymore. Aside from revealing just how the Yellowjackets get back home, its clearer than ever that theres nothing left to know about any of these characters, which deflates the excitement of continuing on this journey with them.The focus of season 3 seems to be women behaving badly, and maybe thats ok. In the past, our main characters have reverted to mean girl cliques who barely address the cannibalism they resorted to when the going got tough. In the present, their adult selves are miserable and aimless because everything that was bad (yet stimulating) in their lives has blown over. By the end of season 2, Shaunas murder of her lover was effectively covered up and forgiven by her husband, Jeff (Warren Kole); Juliette Lewis wisely exited the story as adult Natalie after she took a bullet for a random new character; and then maybe the trees told Lottie (Simone Kessell) during her psychotic break that Nats death has pleased them which means they barely talk about her. In season 3, no one seems to care about that death spirit wanting sacrifices, except for Tai (Tawny Cypress), so it doesnt really drive any of the story in the four episodes provided for this review. Where We Left the Yellowjackets at the End of Season 2Natalie's death devastates the group, with Misty barely able to deal with what she's done and Lottie heading to an institution after her season-long breakdown. But before Lottie leaves, she offers Van and Tai a terrifying reassurance: The wilderness is happy that Natalie died, meaning that soon they'll be rewarded. What that means is yet to be seen, but if Lottie's prediction does come true we'd definitely be back in supernatural territory rather than the grounded trauma-processing that Season 2 seemed to argue was to blame for the girls' memories of the wilderness. Meanwhile, Shauna and her extremely messed up family finally have a chance at a normal life without the void of chaos that she regularly circles sucking them all in. Still, it seems unlikely that the troubles of the past have truly disappeared, even with Adam and his death now apparently "solved." After all, Callie is currently embroiled in the Yellowjackets' violent lifestyle and seems to be enjoying it. In the past timeline, the Yellowjackets are left out in the cold after Ben burns down the cabin that they had been living in as a result of his growing horror at their brutality and cannibalism. As the girls fear for their future, Shauna mourns the loss of her baby, signifying a growing split between the group, its leader, and the ever-more traumatized teen mother. After his attempted mass-murder, Ben heads into the forest hoping he'll outlive his cannibal charges. Read the rest of Yellowjackets: The Complete Story So Far.All of the grown Yellowjackets proceed to make some selfish choices to feel something, which gets an innocent person killed. But the guilt passes quickly in favor of date-night plans. Theres a frustrating conscience applied to these women that makes their actions mostly bland and comes across as a fear that well really hate them instead of living vicariously through them.Their lives in the woods are almost idyllic in comparison. In the 90s storyline, spring has enveloped them; post-cabin destruction, theyve created a new community of yurts and huts, and killing game to stave off death is no longer an issue. Its like a summer camp now, a feel-good dynamic threatened only by Shauna (Sophie Nlisse) and Mari (Alexa Barajas) acting up to create some discord. But its incredibly maddening that theyre not even trying to find a way home. Theyve got food, better health, and longer days, but no one is trying to walk out of this forest. Theyre making paper lanterns, but not for signaling to any planes that might fly overhead. This is their home now, which wipes out any tension in the struggle to survive. Instead, conflict and consequence are ginned up through silly scenarios like a mock court trial or a cave encounter that elicits waking nightmares.Yellowjackets Season 3 GalleryA large part of what used to make Yellowjackets so addictive was how its parallel storylines fed into and off of each other. In the first season, that meant swapping back and forth to paint a compelling picture of how each character endured an unthinkable catastrophe in 1996 and how the unaddressed trauma from that experience affected their seeming suburban normalcy in 2021. By season two, the pivots between then and now grew more random and less deliberate; in season three, theres almost no reason for the storylines to touch anymore. What once worked in tandem now operates independently. Potential cult leader Lottie (Courtney Eaton) is far less ethereal and intriguing in her adult skin. Young Misty (Samantha Hanratty) is still weird, but shes passionate and loyal for a reason. In 21st century New Jersey, Christina Ricci plays a Misty who's just quirky to be quirky, and to provide some comic relief.Things take a major turn at the end of episode 4, "12 Angry Girls and 1 Drunk Travis," but only time will tell if it gives Yellowjackets a desperately needed renewed sense of purpose. Whats clear at this point in the season is the writers seem determined to snuff out any belief that something strange, mystical, or supernatural is motivating the characters in either timeline. Now the real mystery is Whats still holding these stories together? More cannibalism? Karmic justice, which Jeff seems to believe in this season? In truth, Yellowjackets was a must watch when we knew less about everyone on screen.

Mr. Miyagi didnt know Karate at all. NoriyukiPatMorita, who immortalized Mr. Miyagi into a cultural icon with his signature wax on, wax off lessons, had not studied the Japanese martial art prior to taking on the role. Neither did Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) or Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The Karate Kid is the most prominent Karate film of all time, and yet none of the lead actors had any Karate skills.Karate is a martial art that is rooted in Okinawa, although its worth noting that half of the Karate that the Cobra Kai TV series demonstrates is Korean. The grandmaster of Cobra Kais Karate was Kim Sun-Yung, a Korean character portrayed by Cobra Kais fight choreographer Don Lee in season 5 and C.S. Lee in season 6. It was common for Korean martial arts to advertise their schools as Korean Karate during Kreeses time, so its a historically accurate depiction. Nevertheless, Karate is a more familiar term globally, and is in fact one of the most commonly known names for a martial art, which is why Koreans defaulted to it instead of trying to teach the world a new Korean word. In contrast, Miyagi-Do descends from Okinawa within the world of the Karate Kid. And Okinawan Karate is a distinct martial art with a noble tradition that goes back centuries.Strangely, despite Karates renown, there arent too many movies that are strictly about Karate. Most martial arts movies are based in the Chinese style of Kung Fu. And while there are plenty of Japanese martial arts movies, those are mostly Samurai and Ninja films. Many leading action stars have backgrounds in Karate, including Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes, Michael Jai White, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, but their films are more general stylistically instead of being aligned specifically to Karate. Whats more, most of those actors are well versed in a variety of different martial arts, so the flavor of Karate isnt so apparent in their films.Only a small fraction of martial arts cinema spotlights Karate specifically. So in the wake of Cobra Kais return, we have cherry-picked the leading Karate movies that star real-life martial arts masters in hopes that itll help soothe any Cobra Kai withdrawal.The Street Fighter (1974)When it comes to Karate movies, it all starts with The Street Fighter. Released a year after Bruce Lees groundbreaking blockbuster Enter the Dragon, The Street Fighter was the first film to get an X-rating for violence. It was one of the first commercial successes for New Line Cinema, who distributed it to the U.S., becoming a launchpad for the production company which went on to greater heights with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Most notably, it was the breakthrough role for Shinichi Sonny Chiba (1939-2021), the most influential Karate master in cinema.Chiba has well over 200 roles to his credit and will come up several times here. In real life, Chiba was a direct pupil of Masutatsu Mas Oyama (1923-1994), the founder of Kyokushin Karate, under whom he earned a fourth-degree black belt. Oyamas might was legendary, a Korean by birth, who killed over 50 bulls with his bare hands to demonstrate his prowess, three of which he killed with one blow. Oyama studied under many of the leading Karate masters, including Nei-chu So, a senior student of Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju-ryu Karate, from whom Mr. Miyagi got his name.The Street Fighter was a significant steppingstone for martial arts cinema immigrating West. Today it is a fascinating watch because while it was a blockbuster import back in wake of Bruces death, its dated grindhouse fare now. It was released when the world was hungry for more martial arts and the movie filled the void left by Lee with relentless ruthlessness.Chiba plays Takuma Tsurugi (changed to Terry Sugary in some dubbed versions). Tsurugi is a reprehensible antihero who assaults most of the women characters by forcefully smooching them until they submit. Chibas Karate is weirdly overacted in some flailing attempt to mimic Bruce that doesnt work at all anymore. By todays standards, the choreography is crude and clunky.But its the violence that stands out. Its gratuitously sanguineous especially for the 70s, with bright red paint-like blood spilling in buckets. Theres a wicked dagger to the eye which when plucked, gushes way too prolifically. Theres also the first use of X-Ray vision for a skull crushing. And theres two grabs that come back with bloody chunks of flesh, a larynx from one opponent, and the penis of a rapist. Perhaps thats tame by todays standards, but back then, it was shocking enough to earn that X-rating.The Street Fighter spawned two sequels, Return of the Street Fighter (1974) and Street Fighters Last Revenge (1974) and a spinoff trilogy about a Sister Street Fighter. It also made Chiba into one of Asias most renowned action stars, so much so that Quentin Tarantino paid his respects by casting him as Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill (2003).Roaring Fire (1981)Roaring Fire is another grindhouse Karate film with all the kicks and chops of the eraa prized diamond, a blind master, gratuitous toplessness, absurd chase scenes, a trapdoor, a Black big-time wrestler, a mischievous monkey that steals bikini tops, a whip-wielding Nazi chick in a halter top, and bananas stuffed with heroin.What makes it interesting is that the lead is none other than Hiroyuki Sanada, the Emmy and Golden Globe winning star of Shgun.Sanada is a black belt in Kyokushin Karate and a protg of Chiba. Chiba was the fight choreographer for Roaring Fire and also appears in the film as Mr. Magic, a cheesy stage magician who turns out to be an undercover Karate expert. Another Chiba protg and Karateka, Etsuko Shihomi, plays the blind master. Both Sanadas and Shihomis fight scenes are good. Sanada was quite the kicker in his day and manages some long single shot takes that are clearly him fighting and doing stunts.Sanadas character is an awkward Jackie Chan knockoff, however, complete with the long hair, wide collar with plunging neckline, and hip vest. There are moments that border on humor, like when hes being accused of being a pervert by a harem of bikini clad gals because his monkey stole a bikini top (the slow-mo of the bikini-less gal running towards the camera is an attention grabber early in the film).While Sanada might be a revelation to Western audiences now, Roaring Fire is a reminder that hes paid his dues with over a hundred roles going back to the mid-1960s, and some, like any martial star, were pretty cheesy.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Black Belt Jones (1974)The epitome of Blaxploitation, Black Belt Jones is the bastard child of Enter the Dragon (1973) and Live and Let DieEnter the Dragon, and a highly decorated Karate champion in real life. The film was directed by Robert Clouse, whose previous directorial effort was Enter the Dragon, and whose next film was Golden Needles (1974), also starring Kelly. Black Belt Jones liberally lifts from Enter the Dragon with Kellys Bruce Lee-esque fighting vocalizations, the whipcrack striking sounds and some choreographic techniques like the overuse of back fists.The other standout actor is Gloria Hendry, a student of Shorinryu Karate and many other martial arts. A groundbreaking actress and stuntwoman, Hendry also played Rosie Carver, the first Black Bond girl to kiss James in Live and Let Die. Earl Jolly Brown is also in the film playing another henchman, like when he was Whisper in Live and Let Die. And just for laughs, Scatman Crothers plays the character he always does, who is completely unconvincing as a Karate master.Black Belt Jones is packed with N words and set to a funky groovy soundtrack. Kelly cant keep his shirt on, but with his chiseled physique, can you blame him? He moves well, and both he and Hendry exhibit solid Karate foundations. They each manage some impressive long fight takes. The film wouldve been so much better if it was written as a prequel to Enter the Dragon. Kellys Jones is essentially the same cat as Williams, right down his hip 70s attire. Kelly reprised Jones for Hot Potato (1976).Karate Bullfighter (1975)Everyone cites The Street Fighter as Chibas main film, but this was his masterpiece. Also known as Champion of Death, the film is based on a manga, Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which was inspired by the life of Chibas master, Mas Oyama.Chiba really shows his Kyokushin Karate mastery here. Oyama is portrayed as another reprehensible character with a psychotic quest to be the best Karate man in Japan. He rapes an innocent woman, Chiako (Yumi Takigawa), who becomes his love interest later. Its a complicated tale of many acts, and beyond his exemplary fight scenes, Chiba gives a decent emotional performance, albeit a heavy-handed one. And not to spoil it, but Oyama does kill his first bull.Karate Bullfighter is the first installment of Chibas Oyama Trilogy, all based on that manga. In Karate Bear Fighter (1975), Oyama continues his campaign to kick Karate ass as Chiako pines for him. His dueling quest and unrequited lover echo themes from Toshiro Mifunes Samurai trilogy (1954-1956) about Miyamoto Musashi. And again, not to spoil it, Oyama fights a bear. Its a dude in a bear suit which totally fails to be convincing. However, during the opening credits, the real Mas Oyama appears in a cameo, demonstrating his Kyokushin Karate.In Karate for Life (1977), Oyama enters the world of big-time wrestling, complete with masked wrestlers and fixed fights. The Chiako story is abandoned, and the final fight is in a hall of mirrors, directly ripping off Enter the Dragon. Chiba delivers some decent fight scenes, including the opening fight where he takes on a hundred students of a dojo at once, but the rest of the film is so cheesy that it makes it a hard watch.Fighter in the Wind (2004)This is a Korean Karate movie, also based on the book Karate Baka Ichidai about Mas Oyama. Its like a prequel to Chibas Oyama Trilogy. Oyama is portrayed by Yang Dong-geun, an actor, rapper, and breakdancer who recently played Park Yong-sik, player 007 in season 2 of Squid Games. Oyamas primary adversary is Kato, played by Masaya Kato, an actor known for his real-life boxing and sword skills as well as doing his own stunts. Oyamas mentor Bum-soo is played by Jung Doo-hong, a genuine Taekwondo master who works as a director, stunt coordinator and fight choreographer. Yangs breakdancing talent allows him to move well, and the fights are artfully shot, which hides any weaknesses. Plus, the rest of the cast carries the action when needed.Being based on the manga, the film is largely historical fiction, imagining Oyama struggling poverty-stricken post-war refugee life. Its beautifully shot, and the tragic story has a romance angle that works well. Its an underdog tale, depicting Oyamas downtrodden roots and how he was inspired by MusashisBook of Five Ringsto challenge every master as part of his quest for martial excellence. And in the outro scene, Oyama faces a bull.Karate Girl (2011)Karate Girl is the second girl film starring Rina Takeda. Her first was High Kick Girl! (2009) and later in 2011, she starred in Ninja Girl. Takeda is a black belt in Shorin-ryu Karate who took up the practice at age 10 after seeing her father lose a Karate match. She was bent on revenge. Playing her father in Karate Girl is Tatsuya Naka, a 7th Dan master from the Japan Karate Association specializing in ShotokanKarate. Naka also stars in High Kick Girl!Karate Girl is a wholesome film, not bloody or gratuitous. Theres an underlying theme of traditional Karate being obsolete in the face of modern street fighting, with several digs at Karate kata, the solo practice routines. Its ironic because Takedas kata is where she really shines. She has beautiful traditional form, powerful and precise. She manages some decent single-shot fight sequences and leans heavily into acrobatics when fighting, which is a bit disappointing because it lessens her impact. Nevertheless, Takeda has continued to deliver some noteworthy action films over the years, including portraying Lil in the live-action Attack on Titan (2015).The Sensei (2008)Diana Lee Inosanto, the daughter of Danny Inosanto and goddaughter of Bruce Lee, wrote, directed, and starred in this outstanding indie film. Given her upbringing, shes a brilliant martial artist who has been exposed to so many different styles over her life. Shes been doing stuntwork since the mid-80s and transitioned to acting over a quarter century ago, with her most notable recent role being Morgan Elsbeth in The Mandalorian and Ashoka.In a genre filled with grindhouse and B films, TheSenseiissurprisingly heartfelt martial arts tale with a profound message.Set in a small Colorado town at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Inosanto plays Karen ONeil, an estranged member of a martial clan that runs a small Karate dojo there. She returns and begins teaching an ostracized gay teenager in private because the community scorns him, as does her family dojo. The MacGuffin is a solid twist and takes the film in a deeply meaningful direction.Its acutely sensitive to the issues of homophobia and AIDS paranoia, and Inosanto is an astonishingly good actress, delivering her scenes with an authenticity thats a cut above anyone else in the cast.Kuro-obi (2007)Weve saved the best for last. Also known as Black Belt, which is the literal translation of Kuro-Obi, this movie captures some of the finest Karate choreography ever filmed. The three leading roles of Taikan, Choei, and Giryu are played by Tatsuya Naka (from Karate Girl), Yuji Suzuki (1st Dan KyokushinKarate) and Akihito Yagi (7th Dan Goju-ryuKarate). The crisp precision of the fight choreography is an unmatched display of Karate dynamics, and the final fight gets dirty with a messy mud wrestle thats a compellingly long one-er shot.Beyond the exemplary fight scenes, Kuro-obi has a lot of soul. It ponders the eternal martial question of fighting for peace while training to kill. The three classmates grapple with preserving their art while the Japanese army is taking over their dojo and struggle to decide which of them will inherit their masters black belt. The film has artful touches too, like a reoccurring thematic red balloon and a dramatic shift to black and white for the final fight. Its a timeless story, one that speaks to the heart of any martial artist, and a beautiful story, martial arts notwithstanding.The final season of Cobra Kai, Season 6 Part 3, is now available on Netflix.

Paddington tries to make toffee, Paddington makes a mess cleaning the chimney, Paddington investigates the disappearance of Mr Browns prizemarrow. Such are the types of adventure that Paddington creator Michael Bond wrote for his fuzzy creation. The Bond books are filled with stories of the bear as an unwitting agent of chaos in small, domestic English settings.In practically every instance of Bonds stories, Paddington would enter an ordinary and often genteel situation meeting a vacuum cleaner salesman, for instance, or attending a ballet and despite his unfailing politeness, hed get into a royal mess about which everyone would have a good-natured laugh. The visual comedy of a bear testing a neighbours garden hammock or riding a horse at a local gymkhana a whimsically unlikely element placed into familiar, everyday surroundings was the gag.The first two of StudioCanals Paddington movies, directed by Paul King, understood that. Many of the first two films funniest and most memorable sequences, from the barber shop disaster to the Browns bathroom flood, were skits straight out of Bonds books. In each, Paddington himself was the disrupting factor. Alongside star villainous turns by Hollywoods Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, with ramped-up action sequences on runaway trains or the rooftops of London landmarks, the films kept that essential foreign element in everyday setting format.Then came Paddington in Peru, the third film in the series, based on an idea by original director and writer Paul King and Simon Farnaby, that the Ben Whishaw-voiced bear should visit his homeland. They like the idea of a circular feeling to the story, with Paddington returning to the origins established in the first film, the latest films director Dougal Wilson told Den of Geek in November 2024.We are continuing the themes of home and being an immigrant and coming back to where you are officially from and how you feel when you get there.Lovely stuff. Paddingtons immigrant story (entirely fitting with Bonds original character, which was inspired by the journeys of refugees and WWII evacuees) and the films messages about tolerance and belonging are part of their magic.What the premise of Paddington in Peru ignores though, is that this character and these jokes work precisely because Paddington isnt in Peru. Theres no gag intrinsic to a bear being in a wild; thats where they live.Out now in the US and Canada after a staggered international release, Paddington in Peru tells the story of the Brown family travelling to South America to visit Paddingtons Aunt Lucy. There, they uncover a mystery that involves a perilous river journey, an ancient tribe, and centuries-old hidden treasure. Its a larger-than-life romp built around fairground-style thrills, and a very nice family film quite possibly the kind of movie people anticipated when StudioCanals CGI Paddington project was first announced. Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas are good value in in it, as Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas tend to be.Paddington in Peru, however, isnt as funny as the first two films. Its sweet and silly, but few could argue that any of its sequences are comedic standouts. Its missing the precision-engineered Buster Keaton-style comic timing of say, Paddington 2s window cleaning sequence. What its really missing though, is that vital clash of bear-meets-non-bear-world.The third movie was a box office hit, and, perhaps thanks to the work of the first two films, opened bigger in the UK than either of them. That makes a fourth film inevitable, and indeed, StudioCanals deputy CEO Anna Marsh announced one last week: There will be a fourth film, says Marsh. Were thinking about the next movies and were working on a new TV series as well as the stage show musical with Sonia Friedman and Eliza Lumley.Note the plural movies. While theyre making money like this, Paddington pictures are clearly going nowhere. A plea then, if its not already too late to make it: next time, leave the bear in London. Make Paddington Bonds unwitting agent of chaos and hapless messer-up of everyday situations. Make his golden heart in the body of a wild beast once again shine a light on humanitys bigotry and its brilliance. For Paddington 4, please keep his paws on the ground.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Paddington in Peru: Lost in the Jungle is out now in the US and Canada, and on home release in the UK.