Credit: Spotify Spotify is turning up the volume on personalization with a new feature that lets Premium users make real-time music requests using just their voice. The music streamer has officially launched DJ requests, an interactive update to its AI-powered DJ feature, now available in over 60 markets worldwide.According to Spotify, this upgrade comes in response to growing user demand for more control and interactivity during listening sessions. Now, instead of passively enjoying a curated mix created by AI, listeners can shape the vibe on the fly, asking for anything from a specific genre or artist to a soundtrack that fits their current mood or activity.How DJ requests workTo try it out, Premium users can simply go to the Search tab in the Spotify app and type in "DJ." After pressing play, the AI DJ kicks off a personalized mix complete with commentary. When it's time to switch things up, users can press and hold the DJ button in the lower right corner until a beep sounds. That’s the cue to speak a request, such as:"Play me some electronic beats for a midday run.""Surprise me with some indie tracks I’ve never heard before.""Play modern country songs for my cowboy era.""Play something chill for a rainy afternoon.""Give me K-pop hits with strong choreography vibes." If you’re not sure what you want, Spotify has you covered: a quick tap of the DJ button skips to the next section for a fresh vibe without needing a specific command. Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! As audio platforms race to deepen engagement, Spotify’s voice-interactive DJ could redefine how users experience music on demand. By merging personalization, ease of use, and interactivity, the company aims to keep Premium users tuned in and tuned up, wherever they go.Sure, voice recognition in a music app isn’t groundbreaking tech, and early users may find that the novelty wears off if the feature doesn’t consistently understand or deliver on more nuanced requests. Still, Spotify's move into voice interactivity signals a larger trend in streaming: shifting away from passive listening toward more dynamic, AI-driven engagement. For Premium users, it’s another tool in an increasingly complex listening toolkit, one that aims to turn Spotify from a simple music streaming platform into a more conversational, almost companion-like experience.So whether you're heading out for a run, hosting a dinner party, chasing a vibe, or just need the perfect track for your "main character moment," your Spotify DJ is now ready to take your requests, no searching required. Just say it, and let the DJ handle the rest. Crystal Bell Digital Culture Editor Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities. She was formerly the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped the brand expand its coverage of extremely online fan culture and K-pop across its platforms. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet. She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie. Source: https://mashable.com/article/spotify-ai-dj-now-takes-requests #spotifys #now #takes #requests

doops. Member Jun 3, 2020 5,053 Hello, yes, it's me again with another GTA thread lol! Apologies if your personal fave isn't a poll option, there are only so many options that you can have for one poll. Anyway, the answer is Niko Bellic. Followed by Franklin and then CJ/Trevor (they're tied for third).  Redis Member Mar 1, 2025 195 CJ   MadJosh04 Member Nov 9, 2022 2,712 Niko is my boy   Shin Kojima Member Oct 27, 2017 4,062 The guy from 3 because silent characters are my favorite. Otherwise Trevor because his personality fits with how most people seemingly play GTA.  mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 33,107 Gongaga I'm not a GTA dude, but CJ has the best memes so him   Exist 2 Inspire Powered by Friendship™ Member Apr 19, 2018 4,655 Germany CJ and Tommy, modern GTA protagonists just aren't as good.   BasilZero Member Oct 25, 2017 39,846 Omni Niko most relatable despite being in the worst GTA Tommy vercetti a close second in terms of personality and character After that for me it's CJ, Michael and Franklin I hate Trevor  Baphomet Member Dec 8, 2018 21,721 CJ.   Whisu Member May 19, 2021 820 CJ   AuthenticM Son Altesse Sérénissime The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 35,064 Exist 2 Inspire said: CJ and Tommy, modern GTA protagonists just aren't as good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah. I'm hoping that gta vi changes this.   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,627 Melbourne, Australia   disgraciau Member Oct 27, 2017 2,070 Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain Niko Bellic, love his character.   OP OP doops. Member Jun 3, 2020 5,053 Exist 2 Inspire said: CJ and Tommy, modern GTA protagonists just aren't as good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... AuthenticM said: Yeah. I'm hoping that gta vi changes this. Click to expand... Click to shrink... How come? (genuine question)  astroturfing Member Nov 1, 2017 7,530 Suomi Finland only 3 votes for Michael? wth? he's like clearly the best. such a funny wreck of a man with some hilarious family interactions. and the voice actor Ned Luke is just perfect as him. i don't think Lucia or Jason will have a chance to replace him as my favorite either.. they dont seem funny at all sadly :/  OP OP doops. Member Jun 3, 2020 5,053 astroturfing said: only 3 votes for Michael? wth? he's like clearly the best. such a funny wreck of a man with some hilarious family interactions. and the voice actor Ned Luke is just perfect as him. i don't think Lucia or Jason will have a chance to replace him as my favorite either.. they dont seem funny at all sadly :/ Click to expand... Click to shrink... They haven't said nearly enough to be sure of this yet lmao  Roxas The Fallen Oct 28, 2017 4,855 Buenos Aires, Argentina Niko was the most relatable, yes. I always thought that the main character of a GTA game being a war vet made perfect sense for all the stupid chaos you do in these games (which, granted, is still unrealistic for a vet), and his arch was pretty great. Too bad if you play that game you have to endure Roman's constant calls to go bowling or something like that   mute ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 25, 2017 29,270 CJ   astroturfing Member Nov 1, 2017 7,530 Suomi Finland doops. said: They haven't said nearly enough to be sure of this yet lmao Click to expand... Click to shrink... yeah im keeping an open mind, but so far i dont like the vibes i get from them.. and the absolute last thing i want to see in a GTA is a goddamn romance. i hope they break up in the intro lol. but yeah we'll see..  MarshallLaw Member Oct 19, 2023 1,493 Niko. CJ second. Multiple protagonists in V didn't work for me, personally   RichieMythic Member Oct 27, 2017 2,147 England, UK astroturfing said: yeah im keeping an open mind, but so far i dont like the vibes i get from them.. and the absolute last thing i want to see in a GTA is a goddamn romance. i hope they break up in the intro lol. but yeah we'll see.. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I hope they break up asap so I can get Jason on GTA Grindr  Shivam Member Sep 17, 2022 368 Niko Bellic, the ending when Niko is alone on the bridge still leaves me with many emotions.   AuthenticM Son Altesse Sérénissime The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 35,064 doops. said: How come? (genuine question) Click to expand... Click to shrink... I don't care for Niko and thought that gta iv's story was overrated. The guys from V aren't as boring but they still are somewhat boring, and I didn't care for their story. I prefer Tommy and CJ simply because they were both more fun. Of the two I prefer Tommy because of Ray Liotta.  Beelzebufo Member Jun 1, 2022 5,817 Canada Niko>Tommy>CJ Don't give a shit about V's  DRock Avenger Oct 25, 2017 1,398 CJ's the best. He's reluctantly thrown into fucked up situations due to the harsh world he lives in, all the while complaining about how fucked up it is through the game.   OP OP doops. Member Jun 3, 2020 5,053 astroturfing said: yeah im keeping an open mind, but so far i dont like the vibes i get from them.. and the absolute last thing i want to see in a GTA is a goddamn romance. i hope they break up in the intro lol. but yeah we'll see.. Click to expand... Click to shrink... lol they won't. also you're saying that as if trevor and patricia's fling isn't the best part of gta 5 ;) Besides, having a central romance, or even a romance at all, is not really something Rockstar has done outside of GTA 4 and Bully, at least to this extent. It's something different at least, and we love to see that.  stn Member Oct 28, 2017 6,387 Niko, followed very closely by CJ.   Raygun Member Aug 13, 2024 222 CJ and it isn't even close   Dev Member Oct 25, 2017 1,147 Australia My boy Trevor.   seroun Member Oct 25, 2018 5,273 CJ and then Tommy. I don't think V has anything appealing story or character wise.   ozumas Born to be Wise and Corrupted by Vengeance Member Dec 15, 2020 4,660 Arthur Morgan, if Arthur Morgan was a GTA protagonist. Nico Bellic   The Unsent Member Oct 25, 2017 22,371 I guess Trevor, he's repulsive but often funny, the most memorable out of these selection of awful people.   Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,368 Argentina CJ sweeps.   Source: https://www.resetera.com/threads/who-is-your-favorite-gta-protagonist.1187853/ #who #favorite #gta #protagonist

Unite 2023 is coming to Amsterdam, the new LTS is launching, and generative AI continues its buzz. Read on to discover what Unity creators are doing to advance development in the interim, including the latest game releases made with Unity.May saw plenty of exciting games created with Unity share the spotlight.To start, Riot Forge and Double Stallion Games released CONV/RGENCE: A League of Legends Story™, taking us through the streets of Zaun, while tha ltd.’s Humanity put the fate of humankind in our paws. The month also saw Tuatara Games’s hilarious Bare Butt Boxing finally become available in early access, then Plot Twist Games sent us looking for clues in The Last Case of Benedict Fox (below).Rounding out creator milestones for the month were Wishfully’s highly anticipated release of Planet of Lana and Bossa Games’s early look at Lost Skies.We share new game releases and milestone spotlights every Monday on the @UnityGames Twitter and @unitytechnologies Instagram. Be sure to give us a follow and support your fellow creators.Like every month, we were lucky to have another developer take over our Twitter channel to share their best #UnityTips. For May, @samyam_youtube shared a variety of tricks – from pixel art in Unity to simple keyboard shortcuts. Some highlights include:A thread to import your pixel art with the best settingsWhy you should use TryGetComponent instead of GetComponentA guide for the new Unity Input SystemSome quick productivity tipsGreat learning resources and advice for learning UnityOther members of our community also added great tips to the conversation, including @MirzaBeig’s hack for calculating FPS and @kronnect’s useful trick for multiple object positioning.Keep tagging us and using the #UnityTips hashtag to share your expertise with the community.We continue to be stunned by what Unity creators make week to week, and you certainly kept the amazing projects coming in May. If we missed something that you meant to tag us in, be sure to use the #MadeWithUnity hashtag next time.On Twitter, @EvaBalikova was busy creating some beautiful embroidered art (see above), and @DevFatigued’s little caterpillar friend was on a jumping journey.Meanwhile on Instagram, @ShimpleShrimp was in full focus underwater, and Mr. Mustard Games’s (@MrMustardGames on Twitter) robot couldn’t resist smashing some boxes. Finally, @kng_ghidra traveled through different dimensions, and we ended the month with chill skateboarding vibes from @stokedslothinteractive.Finally, for a bit of bonus content, Project Ferocious dev Leo Saalfrank spoke with Shacknews on YouTube about using Unity to the fullest. (For a Ferocious throwback, head to our GDC 2021 showcase for a peek at the WIP.)We’re always here to continue the #MadeWithUnity love. Keep adding the hashtag to your posts to show us what you’ve been up to.On May 25, we hosted a Graphics Dev Blitz Day, covering topics like global illumination, shaders, SRP, URP, HDRP, GfxDevice, texturing, and more. The event was held in both the forums and on the Discord server. Throughout the day, we had more than 150 threads with 49 experts answering questions, and we’d like to thank everyone who participated.Keep an eye on Discord and our forums for future Dev Blitz Day announcements, and don’t forget to bookmark the archive of past Dev Blitz Days.May really took things up a notch on Twitch with the continuation of our Scope Check Let’s Dev series, releasing parts four, five, and six. We also took time to stream a Creator Spotlight showcasing Thomas Waterzooi’s Please, Touch The Artwork (watch above).To close out the month, we hosted Lana Lux on the channel to hear her Unity Tales and held a Nordic Game Jam Let’s Play session.If you don’t already, follow us on Twitch today and hit the notification bell so you never miss a stream.Are you interested in becoming an Asset Store publisher? Maybe you’re a publisher looking to enhance your marketing, community building, or customer support skills? Check out our freshly updated Publisher Resources page for tips on how to turbocharge your publishing journey.Taking things to social media, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite creator showcases from Twitter in May:TOON Farm Pack (coming soon!) | @steve_sicsFast Food Heaven Pack | @NekoboltTeamModern Studio Apartment 3 | NextLevel3DOn YouTube, we shared videos with Renaud Forestié about More Mountains‘s Feel and Freya Holmér about Shapes – two extremely popular assets.Looking to be noticed by the Asset Store team? Tag the @AssetStore Twitter account and use the #AssetStore hashtag when posting your latest creations.For our final update, here’s a non-exhaustive list of games made with Unity that released in May. Do you see any on the list that have already become favorites or think we missed a title? Share your thoughts in the forums.World Turtles, Re: cOg Mission (May 1 – early access)KILLBUG, Samurai Punk and Nicholas McDonnell (May 3)Tape to Tape, Excellent Rectangle (May 3 – early access)Toasterball, Les Crafteurs (May 3)Bare Butt Boxing, Tuatara Games (May 4)Darkest Dungeon® II, Red Hook Studios (May 8)Pan’orama, Chicken Launcher (May 9)Blobi Sprint, ChOuette (May 12)Humanity, tha ltd. (May 15)Tin Hearts, Rogue Sun (May 16)Greedventory, Black Tower Basement (May 17)Inkbound, Shiny Shoe (May 22)Planet of Lana, Wishfully (May 23)CONV/RGENCE: A League of Legends Story™, Double Stallion (May 23)Sunshine Shuffle, Strange Scaffold (May 24)Diluvian Winds, Alambik Studio (May 25 – early access)Evil Wizard, Rubber Duck Games (May 25)Friends vs Friends, Brainwash Gang (May 30)Everdream Valley, Mooneaters (May 30)Doomblade, Muro Studios (May 31)If you’re creating with Unity and haven’t seen your projects in any of our monthly roundups, submit here for the chance to be featured.That’s a wrap for May. For more community news as it happens, follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitch. المصدر: https://unity.com/blog/news/made-with-unity-monthly-may-2023-roundup

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)Retro-inspired games have reigned supreme for some time now in the indie scene, but one niche that’s been getting increasingly more attention in recent years is modern projects that aim to replicate the primitive 3D games of the fifth console generation. There’s something distinctly appealing about the roughness of releases from that key transition point in the industry, and few games showcase that appeal better than New Zealand dev J. R. Hudepohl's Labyrinth Of The Demon King. A dim and disturbing dungeon crawler, this fresh release offers up a potent blend of difficulty, action, dread, and intrigue. Labyrinth of the Demon King is set in “the Age of Dharma”, a Feudal Japan-inspired period in which war and famine have utterly ravaged the land and demons torture humanity. You play as a lowly ashigaru foot soldier who’s taken it upon himself to kill the titular ruler following a ruinous battle where the Demon King slaughtered your army and lord in an ambush, leaving you as the sole survivor. Beyond this basic premise, there really isn’t much more plot to speak of, but the labyrinth is full of creepy and dubious figures whose assistance you’ll need to move deeper. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked) Gameplay feels a bit like a slightly more modern take on FromSoft’s cult classic, King’s Field, and we do mean slightly—Labyrinth of the Demon King is the sort of game that just dumps you in and expects you to figure things out with minimal handholding once it’s taught you the basics. The main gameplay loop centres on you simply crawling through a few different themed and interconnected dungeons, solving puzzles, bashing baddies, and discovering secrets along the way. It’s slow, brutal, and unforgiving, and if you happen to make a big enough mistake, you’ll be sent straight back to the last shrine you prayed at so you can do it all over again with the freshly (and randomly) respawned enemies. When you stumble across a foe, combat plays out in a very measured and simple melee-focused system that stresses the importance of timing and stamina management. It’s not quite full-on ‘Soulslike’ combat, but it has a lot of that energy as you carefully determine from moment to moment whether to push your foe hard or play things safe and hang back. Most enemies can kill you in a matter of a few hits, so learning how to parry and stun to break guards is absolutely critical, and even then, you’re almost sure to accrue some damage even when you perform well in a battle. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked) Though we certainly appreciated the weightiness and difficulty of the combat, it does feel like the stamina bar limits combat a bit too much. You can permanently expand stamina via limited pickups found while exploring, but even a fight against one relatively low-level goon will leave your hero absolutely gassed as he leans against a nearby wall to catch his breath. If more than one enemy jumps you, running away and hoping you can kite just one of them is effectively your only viable option because the stamina bar just takes so long to refill. Some may enjoy this commitment to uncompromising old-school design, but this is one element that we feel could’ve been a little more forgiving without really taking anything away from the tense nature of encounters. Combat aside, this still isn’t an experience for the faint of heart, as a lot of your time will be spent cursing as you try yet another locked or jammed door, wondering how on earth that cryptic key item could possibly be part of progression, and trying not to get lost as you roam yet another floor that you haven’t found the map for yet. It's clearly designed to be disorienting, anxiety-inducing, and mysterious, and it does a masterful job of doing so in a way that feels fair. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked) When you finally stumble upon the solution to that puzzle that had you stumped, or find yourself stealing your way down a hidden hall that doesn’t show up on your map, there’s a thrilling rush of dopamine as you feel like you’re maybe just starting to get the hang of this. Then it throws you another curveball with a new enemy type or yet another twisted and unmapped floor that you swear doesn’t have you going in circles. If you like to get lost in your games, then Labyrinth of the Demon King is certainly one for you—its simplistic appearance hides a magnificently complex maze that’ll take you a long time to solve if you try to do so without any help. As for its visuals, Labyrinth of the Demon King leans hard into the lo-fi PSX aesthetic, which it executes masterfully. The gritty, gloomy design of the labyrinth lends a tremendously oppressive atmosphere, and this is perfectly accentuated by the intentional roughness. Between the 4:3 aspect ratio, the simplistic UI, animated FMV door loading screens, and heavy dithering effects, there’s a palpable sense of unease that runs through this experience as you creep your way through the halls and question every movement at the edge of your vision. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked) Complementing this perfectly is the sound design, which keeps you on the edge of your seat with all its environmental and atmospheric effects. It’s never completely clear whether the footsteps you’re hearing belong to you or an unseen enemy just out of frame, and all sorts of unnatural noises occasionally pierce the silence to remind you that you’re not alone as you shuffle through another bloody corridor. There’s admittedly not much of a soundtrack here aside from the assorted strings and bells woven in along with the sound effects, but this works to strengthen the experience by giving the labyrinth halls that extra bit of immersive realism. Conclusion Labyrinth of the Demon King does a great job of providing an authentic action-horror, dungeon-crawling experience that feels like it’s straight out of 1997 in all the best ways. The eerie, lo-fi visuals, punishing combat, and disorienting dungeon layouts all combine to make for a maze worth solving. We’d give this one a strong recommendation to any fans of Soulslike games who want to try something with similar traits, but that also feels different in some key ways. This is a great experience if you’re willing to stick it out and learn its intricacies. Lo-fi visuals add a lot to the atmospherePunishing, but fair combatLots of secrets and collectibles to uncover Stamina system is a little too unforgiving Great 8/10 المصدر: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/labyrinth-of-the-demon-king #Review #Labyrinth #The #Demon #King #Switch #FromSoft #ampamp #Horror #Vibes #Straight #Out #03997

Free Project Files: Death Eater FX ☠ Check out a project by Senior FX Artist, Mo Gamal, who recreated a death eater from Harry Potter and added some demon vibes to the mix. The creator set up this work for a music video in Houdini. You can get the files for free here: https://www.doublejumpacademy.com/community-files/death-eater #houdini #vfx #3dart #3dmodeling #gamedev #indiedev

This 3D motorcycle is something else 😍 🏍 Hard-Surface Artist Yaroslav Lohvinov shared a look at a stunning 3D motorcycle model with post-apocalyptic vibes inspired by one of FNA Custom Cycles' real-life bikes. The creator used Blender, ZBrush, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, Marmoset Toolbag, CameraTrackAR, and Megascans.

Upcoming Unreal Engine-powered shooter with Max Payne vibes 🔫 VRESKI offered a new look at their upcoming first-person shooter that is filled with Max Payne vibes. Check out this action-packed teaser with slow-motion action and satisfying blowouts. #unrealengine #UE5 #gamedev #indiedev #3dart #games #videogames

Explosion generator in Blender with Geometry Nodes 💥 Hiroshi Kanazawa presented an updated version of a Geometry Nodes-powered anime-style 3D explosion generator which can now automatically create a crater at the epicenter of the explosion. Cool Akira vibes here.

Explosion generator in Blender with Geometry Nodes 💥 Hiroshi Kanazawa presented an updated version of a Geometry Nodes-powered anime-style 3D explosion generator which can now automatically create a crater at the epicenter of the explosion. Cool Akira vibes here.