Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is finally here, and making some massive waves at that. Much of this is due to how much it has committed to improving on the formula of the original, although this has involved streamlining a lot of its systems and all but giving the people what they want. Nevertheless, Death Stranding 2 is already proving to be a fulfilling continuation of the first game's legacy. #unwritten #rules #death #stranding #explained

"AI is inevitable."That's a phrase that's rattled around my head for a month. Not willingly mind you. It's taken up lodging in my grey matter after hearing it in meetings, reading it in emails, and seeing it buffeted back and forth across Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Discord.It's not a convincing phrase. If you hear it from AI boosters it's easy to brush off as raw hype, and if you hear it from doomsayers it can lull you into a sense of fatalism. But as the philosopher Natasha Bedingfield told us in 2004, today is where the book begins, the rest is still unwritten. Nothing, for better or worse, is inevitable.But in those various calls another phrase—one you may have heard at your studio—has slipped past more unnoticed: "AI is just a tool. It can be used for good or evil, like any other tool."After all this is a business where we use tools for good or evil, right and wrong, correctly and incorrectly. We debate the effectiveness of Unity, Unreal, or Godot. We agonize over whether to use procedural versus hand-crafted content. We debate and discuss the topic so much that Game Developers Conference has a whole Tools Summit dedicated to craft of making game development software.Viewing generative AI through the neutral lens of tool assessment is natural—and I'll go so far as to say admirable—for our community. It's a method we use to get past hype and bombast, to try and take technology on its own terms and see how it fits our purposes. And as the 2025 GDC State of the Industry report tells us, some developers are adopting generative AI, plenty of them not bought in on the hype but through the act of seeking the right tool for the job.Related:But looking at generative AI as 'just a tool' is a deeply flawed lens. That phrase betrays a quiet cynicism. Because nothing—not generative AI, not a firearm, not even a hammer—is "just a tool."The function of tools is influenced by their formConsider two tools found in many American households: the claw hammer and the handgun.Normally Game Developer restricts itself to the craft of making video games but I promise this is relevant. Guns are another tool where neutralizing rhetoric is deployed to downplay a tool's negative effects. I grew up in a gun-owning house in a gun-owning neighborhood in suburban Maryland. There were probably four handguns sitting in lockboxes across two rooms, a few rifles and shotguns in a vault in the basement, and one questionably legal World War I firearm tucked away in a closet. The NRA's mantra of "guns don't kill people, people kill people" was commonplace. A neighbor of mine laughed when I advocated for stronger regulations on gun ownership on the basis of "guns are meant to kill." "Guns aren't meant to kill," I recall him saying. "Cars can kill people. Does that mean cars are meant for killing?"His point boils down to this: The outcome of the tool's use is not worth considering when discussing regulation, only its potential use. A gun is a tool and the user has control over a tool is used.Cars are already tightly regulated and cost thousands of dollars, making his point moot, so we'll break down the construction of the claw hammer instead. We generally refer to hammers as being used to pound nails into wood, but I mainly use mine for hammering anchors into drywall because I'm a theater kid and was taught in crew to trust screws.In either case, the physical shape of the claw hammer dictates its most common purpose. The handle extends into a metal object that is blunt at one end, and clawed on the other. The design follows the swing of the human arm, transferring kinetic energy generated by the bicep, down the elbow, through the wrist, and into the blunt end.We also know that claw hammers are not useful for every form of transferring this energy. Variations on hammer design like the ball-peen hammer show how this basic purpose needs to be altered for different tasks. The shape and the material changes depending on the purpose. To sell more hammers, companies invest in better materials and affordances like rubber grips to make their use more comfortable.Like a firearm, hammers can be used as weapons. That same transference of force can be used to harm another living being. Video games sometimes place hammers in a players' loadout alongside guns, grenades, and weapons of war.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that.But. The shape of the hammer is not an efficient way to inflict harm. This is supported by data from the FBI Crime Statistics survey, which gathers data filed by police departments that participate in assembling data. "Handgun" is the most common weapon used in homicides, and "knife/cutting instrument" ranks higher than "blunt objects." That's because handguns are an incredibly efficient means of wounding living beings.Let's break down the handgun the way we did the hammer. Handguns are assembled from an assortment of components that transfer the squeeze of a trigger into the strike of a hammer against a firing pin, which strikes the primer of a bullet's cartridge and sends it propelling out of the tube. Though some bullets seen in larger firearms are meant to penetrate metal, a handgun's bullet is envisioned and designed to cut through flesh.Image via Adobe Stock.These constraints make handguns efficient at few other tasks. In a pinch you could use the butt of a handgun as a hammer. I can't find any data about them being used for that purpose. I can only wander onto a construction site and count the number of firearms in toolboxes as a general sample size.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that. Firearm advocates oppose this process through neutralizing language because it's difficult to dispute the correlation between the number of guns versus the number of murders and assaults with guns in a geographic area.Generative AI proponents sometimes regurgitate that language when defending this new technology. Because like the gun lobby, they don't want the purpose of generative AI decided by its outcomes, only its potential.What is that purpose? It may be the death of truth itself.Generative AI is broadly used to deceive through mimicryGenerative AI is a tool for deception.That's not what its biggest backers will tell you. It's broadly pitched as a tool for efficiency. But efficiency is hard to measure and easy to game. Deception is loud and obvious. Students are using it to cheat on papers. Scam calls with AI-generated voices are on the rise. The Department Human Health and Services published a study citing secretary Kennedy's unfounded health views that cites nonexistent studies, likely generated through AI. There was that cadre of YouTubers creating AI-generated fake movie trailers to attract clicks and make money off people who don't follow entertainment use. Apple marketed Apple Intelligence with advertisements showing people deceiving their neighbors, family, and coworkers. Activision Blizzard used generative AI to advertise games that don't exist.Now here's the rub: games—and all of entertainment—are also a form of deception. We use the phrase "magic circle" to describe how we attract players into our worlds. We use camera tricks, rendering technology, and even VO barks to simulate digital worlds. People engage with games, film, TV, books, and especially magic shows because on some level they want to be not just deceived, but lied to. AI has also been sold as technology that will let every player make their own perfect experience tailored for them by generating worlds, visual assets, and audio on the fly. But the best pitches I've heard for AI tend to "hide" the presence of the LLM, only mildly asking the player for prompts in order to accomplish behind-the-scenes computing tasks. These lies can make shared realities, not wholly distinct ones.That is the difference between telling lies to make virtual worlds and and telling lies to shape the real one. Lies in virtual worlds create shared realities. Lies in the real world tear them down.How appropriate that one such "shared reality," the Star Wars show Andor, recently warned us about the price we pay with treating AI as "just a tool." "The loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous," said the character Mon Mothma in a climactic speech decrying the whitewashing of a carefully executed genocide."When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest."Game Developers Conference and Game Developer are sibling organizations under Informa. #generative #really #039just #tool039

Ongoing Regent’s Park Estate Story Trail Regent’s Park Estate, London NW1Regent’s Park Estate Story Trail is a public art trail. Artworks include Unwritten by Polish artist Rafal Zajko, which excavates the history of a clandestine LGBTQ+ bar located beneath St Mary Magdalene church and You Are Here by Ocean Stefan, a queer, trans and non-binary artist based in Margate. olddiorama.com Unwritten by Rafal Zajko. Photography: Nick Turpin 22 May AJ goes OUT sixteen3’s showroom, London EC1Advertisement Sponsored by UK furniture designer sixteen3 and held at its showrooms in Clerkenwell as part of Clerkenwell Design Week, the AJ is holding a party to celebrate the release of this issue. Expect music, drinks, posters, copies of the AJ and lots of networking with co-collaborators and contributors. sixteen3.co.uk 24 May Queer Archi* Social London LGBT+ Community Centre, London SE1Organised by Queerscapes, Queer Archi* Social is a meet-up for queer and trans people working in the architecture, landscape, horticulture and built environment sectors. Not a formal networking event, it’s a chance to meet others who get it, swap stories and find new collaborators. londonlgbtqcentre.org queerscapes.com Still from E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea. Credit: Rise And Shine World Sales 31 May Linden Archives Museum of LiverpoolStuart Linden Rhodes established Instagram account @Linden_Archives during Covid, digitising hundreds of 35mm photographs he shot for All Points North and Gay Times in the 1990s. This talk covers his books on the pub and club scene from Birmingham to Newcastle, as well as Pride events across the whole of England. liverpoolmuseums.org.ukAdvertisement 7 June Queer Realms – Zine Workshop Ada Haus, London SW8Part of The London Festival of Architecture, this zine workshop, organised by and for LGBTQ+ people, invites attendees to explore how their identities shape and are shaped by the London landscape, using zine-making as a creative tool. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org You Are Here by Ocean Stefan. Part of Regent's Park Estate Art Trail. Photography: Nick Turpin 9 June-14 September The Painted Picnic – A Summer Pavilion Citypoint, London EC2Designed by artist John Booth, Citypoint’s plaza will be transformed into a vibrant scene from an outdoor party. Inspired by the LFA’s 2025 theme Voices, the installation reimagines a still-life composition at an architectural scale that visitors can interact with. Digital illustrations by Booth celebrating Pride month will also be on display on the screen at Citypoint throughout June. Brookfield Properties as the commissioners. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org 14-18 June Queer Frontiers 1 Customs Wharf, EdinburghHeld over five days of the 2025 Architecture Fringe in Scotland, Queer Frontiers is a project that explores the ‘corporate capture’ of the queer as we progress towards a future where queer has become the norm. The event includes an exhibition and talks, organised by designer and researcher Kirsty Watt, designer Samuel Stair and Architecture Fringe co-director Andy Summers. architecturefringe.com Still from E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea. Credit: Rise And Shine World Sales 18 June E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea Museum of BathAs part of Queer Bath 2025’s festival and in partnership with FilmBath, this screening sheds light on Irish designer and architect Eileen Gray’s story and the significance of the Modernist villa E.1027 in queer architectural history. The screening will be followed by a discussion on gender, space, and visibility in design. queerbath.co.uk June, date TBC Architecture LGBT+ Life Drawing HOK, London W1Architecture LGBT+’s next free-to-attend monthly life drawing class is being held at HOK’s offices near Warren Street. A queer model will do a variety of poses throughout the evening for attendees to draw. Drawing supplies, music and drinks are all included. The event is aimed at those who work or study within the architectural field. architecturelgbt.com Life drawing at Heatherwick Studio. Photography: Daniel Innes and Joe Stancer 21 June Soho Queer History – Walking Tour Trafalgar Square, London WC2A two-hour walking tour exploring the history of London LGBTQ+ life. It takes you through the West End, sharing stories of drag queens of the 1700s, gay soirées of the 1920s, and the development of this queer neighbourhood. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org 4 July Queer Nightcrawl Through the City NLA, The London Centre, London EC2Dani Dinger and Dan de la Motte of Queer Tours of London shine a light on London's hidden queer stories. The tour strolls down Sodomites Walk, heads to the docks to discover the secret lives of the Mollies of 18th Century Wapping and minces down Old Compton Street to navigate the danger and dalliance of 1930s Soho. thelondoncentre.org 5 July Architecture LGBT+ London Pride Celebration 2025 London, location TBCArchitecture LGBT+ hosts a breakfast and drinks ahead of the London Pride parade to gather architects and built environment professionals together before joining the parade with the official architecture float. architecturelgbt.com London Pride Float competition winning scheme Proudspeaker by oo office. Credit: oo office 5 July London Pride Float Hyde Park Corner, LondonIn March this year, the LFA, Architecture LGBT+ and Freehold announced an open call for the annual £8,000 pride float competition, which is backed by Brookfield Properties and will celebrate the contributions of LGBTQIA+ architects to the built environment. The winner is oo office. architecturelgbt.com November, date TBC Queer Places: The Exhibition 2.0 Liverpool, location TBCLaunching its second round, exhibition Queer Places, a growing archive of Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ spaces past, present and future, opens its doors again in November. The exhibition will be filled with art, architectural models, maps, photographs and artefacts celebrating queer heritage. New this year are interactive 3D models of historic queer spaces. queerplaces.co.uk Queer Places exhibition. Credit: Queer Places Organisations, initiatives and platforms Architecture Foundation Young Trustees’ Spatial Queeries Spotlight Sunday A weekly spotlight on LGBT+ practitioners, design initiatives and queer spaces. @youngtrusteesArchitecture LGBT+ Not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. It aims to provide an inclusive and prejudice-free environment for LGBT+ architects and those working and studying within the profession through learning, mentoring and networking events – including life drawing and yoga. architecturelgbt.com @architecturelgbtArchitecture LGBT+ Academic Champions NetworkAn alliance of academic champions – one per architecture school in the UK – working to improve representation and understanding of queer identity and action in architectural education. architecturelgbt.com/academic-champions-networkBuilding Equality UK-wide member association with resources for built environment consultants, engineers, developers, contractors and institutions – plus events. buildingequalityuk.comFirst Brick Community-led, democratically run housing organisation aiming to build housing and community spaces for LGBTQ+ people who want and need it. firstbrickhousing.co.ukFreehold Networking hub for LGBTQ professionals and allies in the UK’s real estate industry. freeholdlgbt.comFriends of The Joiners Arms: The JOIN Project Collaboration with community partners to explore how LGBTQIA+ venues and organisations can help create inclusive spaces and better opportunities for work, training and volunteering. friendsjoinersarms.comHomotopia Arts and social justice organisation based in Liverpool supporting local, national, and international queer and trans creatives, artists and makers. homotopia.netInterEngineering A professional network aiming to connect, inform and empower lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender engineers and their straight allies. interengineeringlgbt.comLondon LGBT Community Centre Based in pop-up premises in Southwark, this centre is a safe, sober space that welcomes and supports anyone identifying as LGBTQ+. The space was fitted out by the design and architecture community, who rallied around to support the space. londonlgbtqcentre.orgOpen Plan Scotland A volunteer-led advocacy and support network for all who identify as LGBTQIA+ and study or work across architecture in Scotland. openplan.scot @openplanscotlandOutwardly Creative A new event in Brighton bringing together queer members of the arts and creative industries, including architects. outwardlycreative.co.uk @outwardlycreativePlanning Out Network for LGBT professionals in the town planning and planning sector. @planningoutPride of Place: England’s LGBTQ Heritage Resource and interactive map uncovering and celebrating the LGBTQ heritage of buildings, places and landscapes across England. historicengland.org.ukThe London Queer Housing Coalition Specialist steering group made up of by-and-for LGBTQ+ housing and homelessness organisations working in the capital. stonewallhousing.org/lqhcThe Outside Project London’s LGBTIQ+ community shelter, centre, domestic abuse refuge and trans night shelter. lgbtiqoutside.orgThe Proud Place, Manchester Manchester’s LGBT+ Community Centre hosting The Proud Trust in a purpose-built building. theproudtrust.orgTonic Community-led, not-for-profit organisation focused on creating vibrant and inclusive urban LGBTQ+ affirming retirement communities to address issues of loneliness and isolation of older LGBTQ+ people. tonichousing.org.ukRIBA Collections: LGBTQ+ spaces Research guide to a few of the historical spaces that have formed sites where LGBTQ+ communities have explored, celebrated or concealed sexual and gender identities. architecture.comQueerscapes A platform and community for queer and trans spatial practitioners, including architects, designers, landscape architects, urbanists, builders, gardeners, artists and anyone working with space. queerscapes.com @_queerscapesQueercircle Charity founded to fill the gaps and advocate for systemic change where other arts, health and education institutions fail or actively perpetuate harm, based in the Design District in a David Kohn-designed building. queercircle.orgQueer Design Club Online platform where LGBTQ+ designers can celebrate queer contributions to the design industry and visual culture, share their work and connect with each other. queerdesign.clubQuEAN: Queer Educators in Architecture Network Network of queer spatial design educators – with a focus on queer theory, pedagogies, identities and intersections with spatial design – founded by Gem Barton. @quean_the_networkQueer Places A growing, free digital archive celebrating the vibrant LGBTQ+ spaces of Liverpool’s past, present and future. queerplaces.co.uk @queerplacesQueer Scenarios A research, practice and dissemination community that explores and supports queer identities and queer approaches within critical spatial practices, working collaboratively between teaching staff and students. Based at Central Saint Martins. @queer_scenariosThis list is by no means comprehensive and there are plenty of other resources available. If you are doing something in this field, the AJ would love to hear from you. #goes #out #upcoming #events #calendar

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s legendary game designer and the creator of Mario, Zelda, and more, is a busy guy these days. He’s helping Nintendo make movies while also being involved in the construction of Mario theme parks at Universal Studios. But really, it seems like Miyamoto just wants to make more Pikmin games, movies, and other stuff. Suggested ReadingThe Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Pikmin 4 Share SubtitlesOffEnglishview videoSuggested ReadingThe Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Pikmin 4 Share SubtitlesOffEnglishIn a recent and lengthy interview with IGN, Miyamoto talked about his work on the upcoming Super Nintendo World and Donkey Kong Country areas of Universal Studios Orlando. But when the interviewer mentioned spotting some hidden Pikmin in the theme park, Miyamoto couldn’t stop talking about how great the little creatures are and how he wants more people to love his odd creations which first appeared in 2001's Pikmin on the GameCube. The latest main game in the series was released in 2023 for Switch.“I spent a lot of time the past five, six years really wanting to grow Pikmin,” said Miyamoto. “Obviously a lot of that is focused around Pikmin Bloom and there was also new Pikmin titles that released. But I wanted to see if there’s other ways that we can have people engage and get to know Pikmin that’s outside of the population that plays video games, for example.” Miyamoto continued, apparently having waited years to unleash all his Pikmin thoughts on the first person lucky enough to ask him about the strange franchise featuring a tiny alien man controlling an army of small, cute critters. “And it really stems back to 20 years ago when we did a presentation where it starts off with, there’s a Pikmin next to you,” said Miyamoto. “And so in Nintendo there’s sort of like an unwritten rule. Mario needs to stay in the Mario universe, or Splatoon needs to stay in Splatoon, and we don’t use different characters in the same place. But Pikmin has this kind of unwritten rule where they’re okay to appear with other characters.”Pikmin- E3 2001 TrailerWhen asked if Pikmin could ever appear in movies or TV shows, Miyamoto couldn’t say yes or no, of course, but explained that he would love for that to happen one day. “I really see Nintendo as sort of like a talent agency and we have within our roster a lot of talented characters,” said Miyamoto. “So we create a game with a certain gameplay concept, gameplay experience, and then we look at the roster and see who would best fit this gameplay concept or experience.”“So looking at things from that perspective, I think Pikmin has a lot of potential to be used in many different occasions. When you’re looking at small kids, they have a certain appeal for things that are cute and when they grow older, maybe in their twenties, they start to lose appeal for that. But I think Pikmin has this unique ability to have appeal across a broad range in that it’s still appealing for both younger audiences and older audiences and in Japan. And so I’m hoping that we can expand that globally. So whether it’s some kind of a movie or show, things like that would be really fun.”Look, Nintendo, Miyamoto has done so much for you and your company. I say you give the man a few million dollars and a team and let him make all the weird Pikmin crap he wants to make while he’s still able to do so. It’s the least you can do. And the world would be a better place if we had more Pikmin stuff in it. . #miyamoto #just #wants #make #more