article_text
stringlengths 294
32.8k
⌀ | topic
stringlengths 3
42
|
|---|---|
In a nutshell: If you're old enough to remember when gaming was considered more of a niche pastime, especially among those over the age of sixteen, it might bring a smile to your face to know that 3.2 billion people, almost half the world's population, will play games this year. They'll spend a combined total of $184.4 billion on their hobby, and while that is down slightly compared to last year, it's the result of the pandemic-induced gaming boom of 2020/21. Newzoo's latest Global Games Market Report shows that the number of people playing games around the world is up 4.6% this year. That's especially impressive given how more people were gaming during the lockdowns when stay-at-home entertainment, such as video games and streaming, exploded. Not only were more people trying games for the first time, but lapsed players were also returning. The Middle East & Africa saw the largest jump in players, up 8.2% to 488 million this year, followed by Latin America with 4.8%. North America saw the smallest rise (2.6%). The pandemic also saw a huge jump in games revenue—growth between 2020 and 2022 was $43 billion more than Newzoo predicted. Unlike player numbers, that hasn't been sustained post-lockdown, with the $184 billion figure down -4.3% YoY; the first decline in 15 years. However, it's important to note that gaming has still managed to weather 2022's economic turbulence better than many other industries. Almost half of all global game revenue came from the Asia-Pacific region ($87.9 billion), while North America was responsible for just over a quarter ($48.4 billion). As usual, most of the money came from mobile games, which generated 50% of the overall revenue, or $92.2 billion, in 2022. It was followed by console games with 28% ($51.8 billion), downloaded/boxed PC games on 21% ($38.2 billion), and browser PC games with 1% ($2.3 billion). The report shows that non-browser PC games saw the smallest yearly decline, down by just 1.8%. It's expected that both the number of worldwide gamers and the amount they spend will increase year-on-year going forward. Newzoo predicts more than 3.5 billion people could be playing games by 2025, spending around $211.2 billion. | Video Games |
Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have a small foothold in the video game industry, but that's already too much for some gamers. Backlash over the possibility of any prominent game company indulging in digital tokens has been quick and fierce, leading to some developers backtracking on grand plans almost immediately.Gamers have traditionally pushed back on what they see as exploitative content designed to extract cash from their wallets. From downloadable content, or DLC, to loot boxes, the games industry is always searching for innovative ways to monetize products. Despite pushback from gamers, experts say that NFTs in video games, just like DLC, are here to stay because tokens like these could be potential moneymakers for major game companies. DLC's early days have a lot in common with the current state of NFTs. One particular piece of content was especially notorious and represented the beginning of a new era in video game monetization. It all started with a horseContent available via download was somewhat commonplace in the late '90s with the first DLC made for the real-time strategy PC game Total Annihilation. Developers would make new maps, units and other in-game content that PC players could download for free. Things changed dramatically in April 2006 when Bethesda Game Studios released the notorious Horse Armor Pack for its popular game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Priced at 250 Marketplace points, or roughly $2.50, the Horse Armor Pack was the butt of jokes for years after its release. Serving no purpose beyond cosmetics, it was a precursor to in-game skins, similar to what can be found in games like Fortnite today. These low-priced in-game items, referred to as microtransactions, were part of Microsoft's new revenue model for the Xbox 360, which was released in 2005. We take microtransactions for granted today, but back then the reaction was instantaneous. And dramatic.The backlash against the Horse Armor Pack spread across online message boards like wildfire. Many worried about the precedent being set. Despite the criticism, the DLC was a big seller for Bethesda. "[Horse Armor] was one of the most popular [DLC packs] we've done, believe it or not," Todd Howard, game director and executive producer for Bethesda Game Studios, told IGN in 2016. "What's funny is, we went away from Horse Armor, and the rest of the industry has gone toward Horse Armor."In its wake, microtransactions have since become a big moneymaker for game companies bringing in more profit than the games themselves. In 2020, video game analytics firm SuperData estimated that the industry made more than $92 billion from them in 2020. In comparison, full-game purchases accounted for almost $12 billion.It's deja vu all over againWhen it comes to video games, NFTs serve a slightly different purpose than traditional downloadable content like Horse Armor. NFTs are digital tokens for mostly digital assets. That digital asset can be anything from a JPEG image of a "bored ape" to a pixelated image of a bird. Some examples of NFTs in gaming include Pokemon-like creatures you can trade in a game called Axie Infinity or in-game equipment in Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The latter didn't work out, making a reported $400 when released last December. While the former has been a big moneymaker for some -- one player was able to buy two houses with his winnings last year, although the value of the Axie Infinity NFTs has been on the decline for most of 2022. Game companies are still trying to figure out their strategy for NFTs. They've decided to take the cautious approach so far. "Initially, they were presented by publishers as tokens that represent things already offered for sale in games, like weapons in shooter games," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. "Gamer response was that calling in-app items offered for sale 'NFTs' didn't change what they were, and responded as if this was just a cash grab by the few publishers who floated the idea. Those publishers quickly retreated."Ubisoft, the publisher behind Ghost Recon Breakpoint, has since pulled back on NFTs. EA and Square Enix are two other major companies that signaled interest in the digital token business but have yet to unveil their plans. So far, NFT plans from major game publishers have yet to excite gamers. "What needs to happen is [NFTs] need to allow gamers to do things and experience things that they couldn't otherwise experience and do, and those things and experiences need to be compelling," said Lewis Ward, research director for IDC. "NFTs have to answer the question, 'What's in it for me?' from the gamer's perspective, and the answer to that question better be cool." Even game developers are skeptical about NFTs. In the State of the Games Industry 2022 report from the Game Developers Conference, 70% of developers surveyed had no interest in digital tokens. Still, the skepticism was the same for DLC, and, billions of dollars later, microtransactions aren't going anywhere. "NFTs will eventually be a natural part of games," Pachter said. "I think it will start as user-generated content to make games better, like artists making skins, and will expand to brands. After that, it will be the Wild West." | Video Games |
LOS ANGELES — Growing up in Mexico City, Fernando Reyes Medina was involved in video games "every step of the way."As a teen, Medina — now an award-winning game designer at 343 Industries, the Microsoft studio that creates Halo games — and his friends would rent an Xbox for 50 cents an hour at internet cafes to play Halo 2 split-screen. After connecting to Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online multiplayer gaming service, he saw how gaming served as a tool to connect people from across the world. As a result, his passion for Halo and gaming grew into a career ambition.But with few visible Latino gaming figures to draw inspiration from and limited gaming-related pipelines in Mexico, Medina's dream of working for the Halo franchise seemed increasingly out of reach.“I didn’t understand how difficult the path was going to be,” he told NBC News. “I was just like, this is the thing I want to do and I just don’t see myself doing anything else.”Medina, one of two Latino gaming trailblazers NBC News spoke to recently, is drawing from his experiences and helping to increase Latino representation across the global industry by providing mentorship opportunities and access to resources, events and a centralized hub for Latino gamers.Fernando Reyes Medina is a multi-award-winning game designer currently working at 343 Industries, the Microsoft studio that creates Halo games.Courtesy of Fernando Reyes"I felt like I was the only person there"Danny Peña, better known as "Godfree," is the founder and co-host of the award-winning video games podcast show Gamertag Radio and the first Latino to be inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame. He was introduced to gaming when his grandmother purchased an Atari 2600 for him. He later started his first gaming business as a teen, charging people per controller to play video games on his Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis consoles in the city of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.Shortly after the release of SEGA's Dreamcast, he began experimenting with internet radio and finally decided to pursue gaming and podcasting as a career after playing Fuzion Frenzy with Bill Gates at an Xbox pre-launch event in New York."He's not a great gamer but it was fun playing with him," Peña said jokingly. "That moment was when I realized like, you know what, I want to really do this and take this serious."After launching Gamertag Radio in 2005, Peña began attending more events and handing out media kits and CDs of his broadcasts. At events outside of New York, he noticed he would often be one of a few people of color in attendance."I felt discouraged because I felt like I was the only person there — that was different than everybody else," he told NBC News. "I felt like I had to work 100 times more than anybody else."Hosted by Peña, Peter Toledo and Parris Lilly, Gamertag Radio is now in its 17th season with more than 1,000 episodes released and has earned millions of listeners since its inception. Peña credits companies like Microsoft for giving him a chance. Now he wants to do the same for the next generation of creators through mentorship and by speaking at schools and colleges."I learned everything on my own. There wasn’t someone there telling me what to do back then," he said. "Right now everybody is trying to become that No. 1 creator — I think the best thing to do is to be yourself but, at the same time, stand out.""A golden age of video games"With no signs of slowing down, the gaming industry has grown into a market worth more than $180 billion with mobile game revenues accounting for 52 percent of the global market.While diversity remains an obstacle, 72 percent of U.S. Hispanics aged 13 and older self-identify as gamers, with 40 percent saying they had used multiple devices for gaming, according to a Nielsen report.“Technology has become a lot cheaper, tools to make video games have become a lot more accessible” Jose Zagal, a professor at the University of Utah’s entertainment, arts and engineering program, which features video game education and research, told NBC News.“I do think we’re living in kind of a golden age of video games, in the sense of how many video games are out there and how much access you can have to video games that are free,” he said.Members compete during the four-day Insomnia Gaming Festival in Birmingham, England, on April 17.Oli Scharff / AFP via Getty Images fileGame design tools like Unity or Epic Games' Unreal Engine, once worth thousands of dollars to license, are now free, opening the doors for rising game developers in Latin America.In the U.S., Hispanics or Latinos accounted for 8.1 percent of video game developers. Comparatively, their white counterparts accounted for more than 70 percent.Pathways to gaming-related careers have traditionally been haphazard where people "were falling into games" through technology, friends or nerdy hobbies in the 1980s and '90s, Zagal said."If you're not connected to any of these networks, it's going to be really hard for you to land in them," Zagal added. "This applies extra for Latin America where it's not Silicon Valley."Despite not being able to formally study game design, Medina's education at the Monterrey Institute of Technology gave him an edge as he was still able to learn programming and earn a bachelor of science degree in computer, technologies and engineering.After several summer internships at Xbox, he was able to become a full-time engineer on the Xbox platform and eventually landed his dream job of helping shape multiplayer experiences on the latest Halo game, Halo Infinite. "I got very lucky that my family supported me in this decision — it's not as common, especially in Latin culture," Medina said. "It was such a drastic dream that there was no way of knowing if it was a good thing or a bad thing, if you would make a lot of money or not."Like Peña, Medina noticed the lack of Latino representation and visibility across the industry. He helped co-found Latinx in Gaming, an organization dedicated to help other Latinos break into the industry and gain access to education, competition and networking opportunities through career fairs with recruiters and friendly social events.“The door shouldn’t exist, but while it exists, we’re going to teach you how to open it,” Medina, who serves as the organization’s Latin America director, said. “It’s just basically try to offer all the resources that we wanted to have when we were starting our careers and that would have made it easier for us to to succeed and to be where we are today.”For those interested in a gaming-related career, Medina recommends finding a part-time job or internship earlier in one's college education to boost the chances of finding a full-time position post-college.Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | Video Games |
Image: HBODeadline reports that Simon McQuoid will return to direct the Mortal Kombat sequel, which does not currently have a release date. The 2021 pandemic hit was McQuoid’s first feature film after a career spent working on video games and directing commercials for ad agencies. HBO used the film to gauge audience’s interest in returning to theaters, and after the success of both in-person and screening numbers, it was quick to order a sequel. There’s no hints yet on what plot the sequel will follow, and a new screenwriter, Jeremy Slater, is currently on the hook for a sequel script. Slater was most recently attached to Moon Knight as the lead writer, and also helped develop The Umbrella Academy for Netflix.Mortal Kombat is, of course, based on the video game franchise which first debuted in 1992. There have been other attempts to embody the property on film, but both the 1995 and 1998 attempts were considered rather poor, if not without a certain cheesy charm. We’ll bring you more on HBO’s plan for the future of Mortal Kombat on the big screen as and when we learn it.Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.G/O Media may get a commissionClear and crisp TVThe apps are intuitive, the playback is crystal clear, and the newly redesigned remote finally works like it’s supposed to: as a TV remote. | Video Games |
Image: Running PressThis week marked the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII’s North American release—and a new book by Aidan Moher, out October 4, examines the game’s scope of influence, not just on its legions of fans, but on the realm of Western pop culture itself. io9 is pleased to share an exclusive excerpt from Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West, including a special introduction by the author.OffEnglish“Twenty-five years ago this week, Japanese RPGs exploded in North America thanks to the latest release in a long-running series. That game, Square’s legendary Final Fantasy VII, lies at the heart of my new book, Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West. Its release is looked upon as the moment when Japanese RPGs went from niche eccentricity to mainstream darling, a meteoric rise in popularity that even its bullish creators didn’t see coming.From its early 8-bit days with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy on the Nintendo Entertainment System to its first Golden Age on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, the genres brightest minds—from Hironobu Sakguchi to Reiko Kodama, Soraya Saga to Yuji Horii—searched for the creative and technical limits of a genre obsessed inviting players into sprawling worlds, dangerous quests, and finicky gameplay systems. They were immediate hits in their home country of Japan, but no game managed to find similar success in Europe or the Americas. Until Final Fantasy VII.This excerpt from my Fight, Magic, Items explores Final Fantasy VII’s risky origins, its unique visions, and, ultimately, examines why it did what so many other games couldn’t: popularize Japanese RPGs with Western gamers.”Image: Running PressG/O Media may get a commissionChapter 14JRPGs Break Out: Final Fantasy VIIThere are moments in a person’s life when they know with certainty that things have changed and a new era has begun. That they’re taking a step forward in history. Drenched in the glow of a CRT, a group of friends explored the slums of Midgar and knew, with absolute certainty, that things would never be the same again. That night lasted forever and was over in the blink of an eye. When they stepped out into daylight the next morning, Midgar’s Sector 7 was burning at their backs, and they set forth into a new era of JRPGs.Such was the impact of Square’s Final Fantasy VII. It changed not just the kids in my friend’s basement, but the entire genre its predecessors had helped establish a decade and a half earlier, crossing the threshold of a new era of JRPGs without looking back.I had been a Nintendo die-hard my whole life, but later that morning, blurry eyed and sleep-deprived, I somehow convinced my dad to take a multi-hour trip by ferry and car to the Sony Store and lay down a few hundred bucks. We left with our very own PlayStation and a beautiful, shrink-wrapped copy of Final Fantasy VII— the allure of Square on PlayStation was irresistible.Sony’s gamble had paid off.This little Nintendo fanboy was now a PlayStation fan.“When it debuted in 1997, the world had never seen anything like it,” wrote Matt Alt in his book Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World. “Though blocky and primitive by current standards, it was fully rendered in three dimensions—a major technological feat for the era. Even more groundbreaking, it dared to presume something new: that a videogame could have the dramatic pull of a Hollywood blockbuster.”But it wasn’t a Hollywood product at all, he continued. “It was a Tokyo blockbuster, and it would inject a megadose of Japanese sensibilities into the American mainstream: big-eyed, bushy-haired anime characters and their manga-style melodrama; androgynous heroes; the very idea that videogames could be meditative explorations as well as thrill rides.”Previous games in the series set the player up against evil knights and fascist empires, but Final Fantasy VII offered a new villain: capitalism. Though it would eventually circle back to the genre’s favorite trope of a big, magical baddie trying to rule and/or destroy the world, Final Fantasy VII kicks off with a group of ecoterrorists called AVALANCHE facing off against an antagonist familiar to anyone crushed by capitalism and climate change: the planet-destroying Shinra Electric Power Company. Final Fantasy VII went on to sell an astonishing ten million units worldwide—more than three times its predecessor. Square expected big things from the first PlayStation Final Fantasy, but not even they expected it to become a worldwide phenomenon. How did it become far and away the series’ most successful title to date? The complex answer lies in new technologies, aggressive marketing, a Western audience with anime fever, and the cinematic ambitions of series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.King SakaguchiSakaguchi was well known by colleagues for his intense drive and as a creator who was often unsatisfied with the limitations placed on his work, always looking to the future. Sakaguchi’s earlier entries in the Final Fantasy series hinted at his grand desire for cinematic, movie-like storytelling in video games, but it wasn’t until his partnership with Sony that he would finally have the tools needed to execute the vision he’d been chasing through six previous titles.“In the late ’90s, all the game companies had lots of money—especially Square, of course,” recalled Final Fantasy VII’s movie director Motonori Sakakibara in an oral history of the game. “So Square prioritized quality rather than obsessing over costs.” As Sakaguchi’s budgets and teams grew in size, so did his grand vision for cinematic gaming.“I think calling him a god would be going too far,” said programmer Tatsuya Yoshinari, “but it kind of felt like that. He was a superstar.”“I remember us calling him ‘The King,’” responded assistant marketing director Kyoko Higo. Just… never to his face.“Yeah, ‘king,’” agreed Yoshihiro Maruyama, executive vice president of Square USA.Though he laughs now, Maruyama recalled Sakaguchi’s iron-tight grip on the project. “Without him, there were no decisions made.” By this point, Sakaguchi had unilateral control over the project, dictating development timelines and even the game’s marketing direction. “So yeah, he was the king. He was controlling the entire operation.”President and CEO of Square, Tomoyuki Takechi, estimates that Final Fantasy VII cost $40 million to develop, with about a quarter dedicated to the game’s graphics. Nowadays it’s standard for video games to use cutting-edge technology to produce impressive visual experiences, but Sony and Square’s willingness to invest that amount of capital in a JRPG that had no guarantee of corresponding success (especially outside Japan) was unprecedented, Alt told me. “No other company had that kind of technology or was even attempting it.”The game’s breakout was a perfect storm of luck, gambles paying off, and a good read on the rising interest in anime among American teenagers. By pumping an enormous amount of money into new, unproven tech, giving Sakaguchi free rein to chase the vision he’d lusted after for over a decade, and priming the market with a huge media blitz, Sony and Square positioned the series to become a mainstream success—but at great financial risk.And it worked.A Game of LifeFilm has “He sees dead people.”For books, it’s “They all did it.”“It was all a dream” is ubiquitous with television pop culture.For games? Nothing comes close to replicating the shocking moment when protagonist Cloud Strife’s counterpart and love interest Aerith Gainsborough is killed midway through the game. The cut scene is comically melodramatic nowadays, but at the time it proved Sakaguchi’s ambitions and set the genre on its cinematic path. It feels impossible now to describe the cold dread that washed over millions of gamers as Sephiroth’s sword emerged from Aerith’s impaled chest. The unrepairable hollowness of melancholy as we watched Cloud release her body to the Forgotten City’s subterranean lake. The absolute certainty there was a way to revive her.How cheeky—how bold, and clever, and awful—of Final Fantasy VII’s creators to never give players that chance.Aerith’s death was a watershed moment for JRPG narrative. It changed the genre by proving its storytellers could take risks and shock players—they allowed the player to fall in love with a character, and then used that as leverage as they twisted the knife deep. This was the equivalent to spilling your popcorn halfway through A New Hope when Leia’s killed by Vader. Imagine if the Jurassic Park dinosaurs ate Tim and Lex?Gather a group of mid-’90s gamers together, and chances are they remember Final Fantasy VII, even if they didn’t touch another JRPG afterward. Its explosive sales numbers were the direct result of buy-in from players who’d never experienced the genre before, and its momentum shifted expectations of success for the genre.There’s an apocryphal tale about the passing of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s mother during Final Fantasy VII’s development. Supposedly, this contributed to Aerith’s death and the game’s concept of the Lifestream. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking—but only half true. Sakaguchi’s mother passed away while he was working on Final Fantasy III, several years earlier, and Aerith’s death was actually proposed by visual director Tetsuya Nomura. The game’s theme of “life,” however, was all Sakaguchi.“Life exists in many things,” he said in a 1997 interview, “and I was curious about what would happen if I attempted to analyze life in a mathematical and logical way. Maybe this was my approach in overcoming the grief I was experiencing.”Long after the decision to kill Aerith was sealed, and development had progressed well past that point in the story, Nomura recalls visiting composer Nobuo Uematsu in his room “just to hang out and talk about random things.” Soaked in guilt at killing off someone who was sure to be a fan favorite, Nomura asked Uematsu whether they had made the right decision.“I was really surprised when she died so early on,” said Uematsu, a mirror image of the millions of heart-shattered fans playing the game. “Everybody probably thought she was going to be one of the main popular characters, but then she just died right away. Maybe that’s the reason why everyone remembers it so much.”“When a character in a video game dies, no one thinks it’s that sad,” said Nomura. “They’re just characters in a game, after all—you can just reset the game and try again, or you can always revive them somehow. I felt that their lives just didn’t have much weight. With ‘life’ as our theme for FF7, I thought we should try depicting a character who really dies for good, who can’t come back. For that death to resonate, it needed to be an important character. So we thought killing off the heroine would allow players to think more deeply about that theme.”Final Fantasy VII was the first time I felt a true empathetic connection with characters in a video game. The theme of “life” is woven throughout the entire game, supported and expanded upon by villains trying to redefine the concept of human life and heroes trying to preserve the life of the planet. The team had a personal story to tell—and it all traced back to Sakaguchi’s years-long journey to unravel the impossibility of life.The Only ConstantBack in the late ’90s, a fierce debate raged about whether video games would ever look as good as Pixar’s 1995 film Toy Story. It was the first impressive use of CGI for a feature-length film, featuring pre-rendered computer graphics at a level far beyond what contemporary gaming consoles, or even powerful personal computers, could produce. Though Final Fantasy VII’s blocky polygonal characters and enemies were nowhere close to Toy Story’s fidelity and detail, it was clear the creators wanted to get there one day. Two decades later, what stands out about Final Fantasy VII aren’t the elements we’ve see replicated in so many JRPGs since, but how it boldly ventured forth without a blueprint.Change.That’s Final Fantasy VII’s true legacy. It brought change to the JRPG genre and the video game medium by altering our understanding of the types of stories video games could tell—and the ways in which they could tell those stories. In 1997, Final Fantasy VII was the most creative and bold video game I’d ever played. Its merging of 3D characters with highly detailed pre-rendered backdrops changed the way we explored fantasy worlds. Its settings and themes were unlike anything that had been seen in gaming, intriguing a generation of millennials with its critical exploration of anti-capitalist environmentalism. Its legacy has no doubt shaped video games by providing a blueprint for a genre that was in flux while also touching the lives of its players.And the genre took that blueprint and ran with it. Future JRPGs, including Square’s own Final Fantasy sequels, would continue to build off what Final Fantasy VII created and oftentimes doing it better—which is to be expected. The growth of the series and the genre doesn’t invalidate Final Fantasy VII’s achievements. Change came at a rushing gallop in the mid-’90s but did not stop with Final Fantasy VII. You cannot look at a JRPG from the past two decades and not see its fingerprints. Smudged, perhaps, but still there.Final Fantasy VII was flawed, ambitious, bold, unafraid, and raw. It changed JRPGs by proving they could be a financial success on par with any other genre. It changed gaming by redefining how they told stories.And it changed me.Excerpt from Aidan Moher’s Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West reprinted by permission of the author and Running Press.Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West by Aidan Moher will be out October 4; you can pre-order a copy here.Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. | Video Games |
NEW YORK -- The virtual cat hero from the new video game sensation "Stray" doesn't just wind along rusted pipes, leap over unidentified sludge and decode clues in a seemingly abandoned city. The daring orange tabby is helping real-world cats as well.Thanks to online fundraising platforms, gamers are playing "Stray" while streaming live for audiences to raise money for animal shelters and other cat-related charities. Annapurna Interactive, the game's publisher, also promoted "Stray" by offering two cat rescue and adoption agencies copies of the game to raffle off and renting out a New York cat cafe.Livestreaming gameplay for charity isn't new, but the resonance "Stray" quickly found from cat lovers is unusual. It was the fourth most watched and broadcast game on the day it launched on Twitch, the streaming platform said.Viewers watch as players navigate the adventurous feline through an aging industrial landscape doing normal cat stuff - balancing on railings, walking on keyboards, and knocking things off shelves - to solve puzzles and evade enemies.About 80% of the game's development team are "cat owners and cat lovers" and a real-life orange stray, as well as their own cats, helped inspire the game, one creator said."I certainly hope that maybe some people will be inspired to help actual strays in real life - knowing that having an animal and a companion is a responsibility," said producer Swann Martin-Raget, of the BlueTwelve gaming studio in Montpellier, in southern France.When Annapurna Interactive reached out to the Nebraska Humane Society to partner before the game's launch on July 19, they jumped at the chance, marketing specialist Brendan Gepson said."The whole game and the whole culture around the game, it's all about a love of cats," Gepson said. "It meshed really well with the shelter and our mission."The shelter got four copies of the game to give away and solicited donations for $5 to be entered into a raffle to win one. In a week, they raised $7,000, Gepson said, with the vast majority of the 550 donors being new to them, including people donating from Germany and Malta. The company also donated $1,035 to the shelter."It was really mutually beneficial," Gepson said. "They got some really good PR out of it and we got a whole new donor base out of it."Annapurna also bought out Meow Parlour, the New York cat cafe and adoption agency, for a weekend, as well as donating $1,000. Visitors who made reservations could buy "Stray" themed merchandise and play the game for 20 minutes while surrounded by cats. (The game also captivates cats, videos on social media show.)Jeff Legaspi, Annapurna Interactive's marketing director, said it made sense for the game's launch to do something "positively impactful and hopefully bring more awareness to adopting and not shopping for a new pet."Annapurna declined to disclose sales or download figures for the game, which is available on PlayStation and the Steam platform. However, according to Steam monitor SteamDB, "Stray" has been the No. 1 purchased game for the past two weeks.North Shore Animal League America, which rescues tens of thousands of animals each year, said it hadn't seen any increase in traffic from the game but they did receive more than $800 thanks to a gamer.In a happy coincidence, the shelter had just set up a profile on the platform Tiltify, which allows nonprofits to receive donations from video streams, the week the game launched. The player channeled donations to the shelter, smashing her initial goal of $200."We are seeing Tiltify and livestreaming as this whole new way for us to engage a whole different audience," said Carol Marchesano, the rescue's senior digital marketing director. Usually, though, organizations need to reach out to online personalities to coordinate livestreams, which can take a lot of work, she said.About nine campaigns on Tiltify mention the game "Stray," the company's CEO Michael Wasserman said. JustGiving, which also facilitates charity livestreams, said it identified two campaigns with the game.For his part, Gepson from Nebraska reached out to an Omaha resident who goes by the name TreyDay1014 online to run a charity livestream. Trey, who asked that his last name not be used, has two cats, one of which he adopted from the shelter.Last week, he narrated to viewers watching live on the platform Twitch as his cat character batted another cat's tail and danced along railings."If I found out my cat was outside doing this, I'd be upset," Trey said, as his character jumped across a perilous distance. Moments later, a rusty pipe broke, sending the tabby down a gut-wrenching plunge into the darkness."That is a poor baby," Trey said somberly, "but we are okay."A $25 donation followed the fall, pushing the amount raised by Trey for the Nebraska shelter to over $100 in about 30 minutes. By the end of four and a half hours of play, donations totaled $1,500. His goal had been to raise $200."This has opened my eyes to being able to use this platform for a lot more good than just playing video games," Trey said.ALSO READ | 4 MTA heroes helped save passengers from overturned bus----------* Get Eyewitness News Delivered * Follow us on YouTube * More local news* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alertsCopyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. | Video Games |
It’s been a giant week for video game news. Nintendo announced a release date of 5 May 2023 for the next Legend of Zelda game (now titled Tears of the Kingdom, certainly not an intentional reference to the death of the Queen); we’ve seen a new God of War: Ragnarok trailer in which The West Wing’s Toby Ziegler shouts at Kratos; and we learned that the beloved N64 shooter GoldenEye 007 is finally, finally coming back. But it was all overshadowed on Sunday, when a hacker posted more than 50 minutes of in-development footage from Grand Theft Auto VI, stolen from Rockstar’s internal Slack channel. The hacker claims to have possession of the game’s source code, too. This is, along with the theft of Half-Life 2’s source code from Valve in 2003, one of the biggest data breaches in video game history. Here’s an explainer, if you’d like to get caught up on all the details. It’s Grand Theft Grand Theft Auto.Rockstar confirmed the leak late on Monday, saying that a third party had illegally downloaded confidential information, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto. “At this time,” Rockstar said, “we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services or any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.”The leaked footage shows animation tests, level layouts and one robbery mission, featuring a female lead protagonist (a first for the series) and her accomplices. It also shows a modern-day Vice City, Rockstar’s version of Miami. Debug commands and technical information are prominently overlaid on everything – voice acting is in place, but the game is nowhere near finished. This leak will have disrupted years’ worth of marketing planning: Grand Theft Auto VI has been in development in some form since 2014. It also represents a financial loss for the publisher, as investigations are launched and plans upended.Quite apart from those things though, a leak like this will affect how a game is perceived. Unfinished video games almost universally look and play like trash, because game development is delicate choreography between about 200 different dancers who only come together right at the very end. If you got a glimpse of, say, Red Dead Redemption 2 or Assassin’s Creed even six months before they were finished, and you weren’t aware of the final sprint that gets all of the right graphical and sound effects and bug fixes into place, you’d probably think it was garbage. Some of the uninformed takes on the GTA breach on social media are so blindingly stupid that they beggar belief, from “Now someone’s stolen the source code maybe they can do a better job with the game than Rockstar” to “Devs this lazy deserve a leak like this.”This is extremely demoralising for video game creators. It’s like hacking into a novelist’s laptop and stealing a first draft, then posting excerpts from it online. I’m not one to lament a loss of corporate profits, but I can’t help but feel for the people making this video game – which, if it’s anything like what Rockstar has made before, will be one of the most complex and ambitious game development projects ever undertaken.This comes at a strange time for Rockstar, too: since Grand Theft Auto V was released in 2013 and broke every sales record going, co-founder Dan Houser has moved on. (His brother, Sam, remains president of the company.) In 2016, another founding member, Leslie Benzies, sued the company for tens of millions in denied royalties, claiming he was forced out. During the development of the exquisitely detailed Red Dead Redemption 2, there were allegations of working conditions at its studios, particularly at Rockstar Lincoln, which handled quality assurance, notoriously one of the most unremitting areas of game development. The developer that made GTA V does not exist any more, and there is so much anticipation riding on GTA VI. It’s hard to imagine that this leak won’t knock employees’ confidence.Will Rockstar bring forward its timetable now? Though it can’t hurry up development, it can accelerate its marketing machine – at which point it will be rather easier to get excited about it.What to playReturn to Monkey Island. Photograph: Devolver Digital via Tinsley PRIt’s finally here! Return to Monkey Island takes us back to the golden days of Lucasarts point-and-click comedy games. I am about to fire it up as soon as I finish writing this newsletter, having read Oliver Holmes’s review: “The result of the old team getting together again is a tale that retreads old paths but also clearly wants to be more than just an ode to a bygone era of video games. When [adorably shambolic pirate Guybrush] Threepwood goes to an oracle, Voodoo Lady, for advice, she summarises the paradox this game faces: ‘You must walk the path, yet you have already walked the path.’ Return to Monkey Island pulls this off by looking backwards and forwards at the same time, reminding us that the point-and-click adventure will never really die: it’s a zombie pirate that won’t stay in the ground for long.”Available on: PC, Nintendo SwitchAverage playtime: 7-11 hoursWhat to read Alongside a trailer and release date for the next Zelda, last week’s Nintendo Direct presentation delivered some surprises. These include Pikmin 4, a game that’s been in development for so long that I’d become convinced it no longer existed. If you’ve never played this odd and rather heartbreaking game about miniature alien plant people trying to survive our planet’s terrifically dangerous gardens, you’ll have the chance next year. GoldenEye 007 is coming back! Hooray! Except that online multiplayer is only available on the Nintendo Switch, and a 4K graphical upgrade will only apply to the Xbox version. I haven’t seen this kind of feature split in years, and it must be the product of some tortuous licensing conversations. Bonus fact: GoldenEye 007 was remade years ago for the Xbox 360, but was never released. Arena-battle game League of Legends has employed the inimitable gay pop star Lil Nas X as its new president as a marketing stunt, and I must reluctantly admit that this celebrity content partnership is actually very funny. The Sims 4 will be free to play from October, which will doubtless draw even more helpless teens and students into its diabolically compulsive mix of life management and house designing. The Sims 2 was responsible for me almost failing my end-of-school exams, so best of luck to them. Last Friday’s Wordle managed to enrage absolutely everyone with its solution: parer – a word that not even my phone’s autocorrect, with its pathological need to turn every sentence I write on my phone into word salad, acknowledges is real. If you were furious, know that you’re not alone: the New York Times tweeted that only 41% of players actually solved it, compared to a usual 99%. Great news for fans of open-world action games set in Japan: in addition to a new Assassin’s Creed, there are also three new Yakuza games coming from Sega: Yakuza 8, the next in the long line of Tokyo gangster epics; a smaller-scale spinoff game; and Like a Dragon: Ishin, a remake of a PS3 game that transports Yakuza back to 1860s Kyoto. Unfortunately, I have not yet found the 1,000 hours necessary to complete all of the existing Yakuza games – the last one I actually finished was Yakuza 2, in, er, 2006. A further interesting detail: after almost two decades, Sega is dropping the name Yakuza in the west, and the series will now be known as Like a Dragon, which is closer to the Japanese title. What to clickGrand Theft Auto 6 leak: who hacked Rockstar and what was stolen?The Nintendo DS was more than just a console – it’s part of my family history – Dominik DiamondSplatoon 3 review – Nintendo’s new squid game is ink-redible funReturn to Monkey Island review – this comeback game is not just a greatest hits rehashQuestion blockThere is no Question block this week because this week’s issue is already giant, but please send me your questions, particularly silly ones. You can do so by hitting reply on this newsletter. Until next week! | Video Games |
Why there is skepticism surrounding video game 'addiction' 02:47 - Source: CNN CNN — Some parents fear that video games might be detrimental to children’s well-being, but a new study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health finds that gaming may help with both cognition and impulse control. The study was published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Other studies have had similar findings, but this research involves the largest group of children to date. It found that kids who played video games for three or more hours a day did better on tasks associated with memory and impulse control than children who didn’t play video games at all. The gamers also had higher levels of activity in parts of the brain associated with attention and working memory. However, the researchers note that they did not find evidence of a direct causal relationship between video games and cognitive improvements. The research involved data from nearly 2,000 9- and 10-year-olds from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which is following about 12,000 children for the country’s largest long-term study into brain development and child health. The new study divided the children into two groups: those who gamed more than three hours a day and those who never gamed. Each group took two tests that measured impulse control and short-term memory while undergoing brain imaging. Lead study author Bader Chaarani said the researchers controlled for factors like sex, age and socioeconomic status. They found that video gamers not only did better on the tests, they “have more brain activations in regions linked with attention and working memory,” he said. “That was very nice to see, because it’s a way to explain why they performed better,” said Chaarani, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont. The study didn’t distinguish between the types of video games played, but Chaarani noted that the majority of kids tended to play more fast-paced shooter and action adventure games rather than slower-paced logic games like puzzles. One takeaway may be that parents should consider opting for video games over television, Chaarani said. “Maybe video gaming is not worse than watching TV.” Dr. Jenny Radesky, director of developmental behavioral pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, told CNN in an email that “Parents and teens who see these results should know that most research suggests that some daily video gaming (like 1-2 hours on weekdays) is linked with better mental well-being.” Radesky, who was not involved in the new research, also noted, “We can’t extrapolate these results to assume, however, that more video gaming will lead to better impulse control or working memory in non-screen contexts, such as classrooms or doing chores at home. Supportive teachers/caregivers and social-emotional skill-building approaches help with those skills in more naturalistic environments.” | Video Games |
Step into a computer classroom after school these days, and you might feel like you’re stepping into a different world. Esports is now official in Colorado. DENVER — Step into a computer classroom after school these days, and you might feel like you’re stepping into a different world.For the first time ever, Esports is now an officially sanctioned sport under the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA).Classrooms across the state of Colorado are now becoming competitive arenas for Esports, which is short for "electronic sports" and generally involves video game competitions.Just ask the students themselves. Esports explodes onto scene in Colorado high schools, now official CHSAA sport Lux Vang, a junior at Cherry Creek High School (CCHS), said it's "awesome" to see the rise of Esports. Riley Walker, a junior at Highlands Ranch High School (HRHS), called it a "set in the right direction." Josh Rosales, a senior at STRIVE Prep in Denver, said his school's team is "pretty competitive" and doesn't shy away from "trash talk."Rashaan Davis, assistant commissioner for CHSAA, said it has been huge to take games the students are already playing and put them under the CHSAA umbrella.“It’s another access point for belonging on a campus," Davis said. "So, this is big.”Head Esports coaches echoed the same sentiment. “(It's) such a positive change in so many kids' lives,” said Jason Cross, the head coach at Ponderosa High School. Esports a real sport? Just ask these Colorado students Alexandra Bak, head Esports coach at CCHS, agreed, adding that it takes a tremendous amount of skill and dexterity to be able to play these games at the level the students are playing at. Denver7 is going 360 on this growing phenomenon with the players, the coaches, the strategy and teamwork involved, and the debate about whether Esports belongs. We start with the explosive popularity.At CCHS, there are more than 160 players and other students involved in some way with Esports.“We have people that stream to our Twitch channel. We have people running our social media and designing our website,” Bak said.HRHS also has a large team. Dennis Sierra, head Esports coach at the high school, said the team just rostered its 51st student. Even smaller schools, like Strive PREP, have growing rosters. The school's head Esports coach, Joseph Maderick, said it currently has 30 kids coming in. “The kids are always in here and they’re competing and they’re setting up on their own and going at it," Maderick said.Low barrier to entry to EsportsOne of members' favorite aspects about Esports is that the barrier to entry is low, and the cost of adding a team is minimal.CCHS's Bak explained that all you need is a computer. So far, more than 100 Colorado high schools have launched Esports programs and it’s a list that keeps expanding.Davis, assistant commissioner for CHSAA, added that students at both small schools and large schools are involved. Bak said the great thing about Esports is its accessibility to big and small schools.“You don’t need a ton of equipment or fields or space. You just need a computer and kids that have a passion for the game,” she said.Does Esports belong?The mindset amongst Esports critics is changing, too.Sierra, head Esports coach at HRHS, said a few years ago, three students came up to him and asked if he would sponsor their Esports group. At that time, he was guarded, he said. “At first I was like, ‘You know, we have a video-game club,’" Sierra said. "And they were like, ‘No, no, no. This is different than that.'"Ryan Hollingshead, a former head high school football coach and now principal at Ponderosa High School, said he initially thought Esports in CHSAA was "crazy.""My own teenagers play video games and that seemed kind of like a distraction," he said. Now, he is fully behind the school's Esports team. “I was 100% against it and within a year, I was 100% behind it,” Hollingshead said. “To get kids connected to the school, to get them to be part of something bigger than themselves, and to learn some of those life-skills – they’re totally getting that in Esports. We’re jumping in all the way.”Beyond high school, Esports has hit center stage in colleges and even at the pro level.“With opportunities for scholarships — this is definitely big," said Andrew Wykes, senior at Ponderosa High School.Ponderosa High School even has a direct connection to Western Colorado University in Gunnison.“Their Esports team actually talks to our Esports team,” Ponderosa head coach Cross said. “They come through on our screen and actually give advice and help us out.”Adarsh Boddeda, senior at CCHS, plays a game called Overwatch and said there's even a collegiate league for it. Bak explained even the Navy has a team — it's for a game called League of Legends. Sophia Larrea, senior at HRHS, said she plans to attend CU Boulder with hopes of pursuing a career as a video game programmer, developer, or something along those lines. A new generation of students are unlocking pent-up potential in the multi-billion-dollar cyber-world of Esports.“They say if you work a job that you love, you never work a day in your life,” student Vang said, adding that people can now see Esports as a career path. The opportunities are endless.“In the last Olympics, one of the announcers said, ‘Esports doesn’t need the Olympics, but the Olympics needs Esports,” Bak, head Esports coach at CCHS, said.Tryouts and academic eligibility requirementsJust like other sports and activities, Esports has tryouts and eligibility requirements.Boddeda, senior at CCHS, explained that students are not allowed to have two D's, or anything below that, to play Esports at the school. Joyusa Avila, senior at STRIVE, said this pressure ensures students who participate in Esports have good grades. Just like other sports, students who participate in Esports must tryout and can earn letters, Bak said. “It’s cool to see people grow and become confident at something they’re good in,” said Larrea, a senior at HRHS. Denver7 Strategy involved in Esports The strategies in Esports is as real and important as any sport.Vang, a CCHS junior and team captain of the school's Esports team, said he has "a big voice" and loves coaching. He said he sees similarities between Esports and traditional sports. “Learning the mechanics of a game,” he said. “It’s kind of like a baseball player. You use a different kind of bat, or whatever it may be.”Strategy before a game can last for hours in some cases. It sometimes includes scouting other schools and teams to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Ethan Anderson, sophomore at Ponderosa High School, said when people ask if Esports is a real sport, he has an answer ready. “And I’m like, ‘Yes. Except it’s a lot less physical and a lot more mental and strategic sport,’” he said. Teamwork is off the charts in EsportsAsk Esports players about the teamwork involved in competing and they'll tell you it's a major part of the game — just like football, soccer, basketball and other traditional sports. “If one person is slacking, the whole game is on the line," Wykes, senior at Ponderosa High School, said. "The whole match is on the line.”Jaysen Stevens, also a senior at the school, said there's no doubt he's part of a team when he plays these games. CHSAA Assistant Commissioner Davis said these students are showing their ability to strategize, work as a team and communicate effectively. Esports players are also breaking down stereotypes and myths while exploring the idea of big money careers for some students.Esports is not just a ‘boys club’If you thought Esports was another boys club, think again.Rose Hosmer, a freshman at HRHS, said she has always liked video games. And Larrea, a senior at the school, said she has been following Esports for three or four years now. Denver7 These two young women, plus their fellow female teammates at HRHS, are breaking the mold. “Actually, for the most part, the Mario Kart team is mostly girls,” Larrea said, laughing. “Last semester, I coached one of our League of Legends teams.”Esports is a fast-growing sportAccording to the National Federation of State High School Associations, Esports is the fastest growing sport in America right now. And it continues to gain popularity, attracting players of all walks-of-life and skill levels.It’s giving many students an opportunity to showcase skills that have, until now, been sidelined by high school sports. Now, they’re finally getting their time to shine.“It is a non-traditional sport, but there is a lot that it has in common with traditional team sports,” Bak, head Esports coach at CCHS, said. “Strategy, teamwork, communication skills are really a huge part of this.”At CCHS, Esports was huge as a provisional sport before it became officially sanctioned.“League of Legends, Rocket League, Smash, Overwatch, Mario Kart and we just added Splatoon,” Bak said. “We’ve won three state titles (provisional).”Esports as a gateway sportHollingshead, principal at Ponderosa High School, and Cross, head coach of Esports at the school, said expanding Esports also expands students involvement and connection to their schools. “To get them to be part of something bigger than themselves, and to learn some of those life-skills," Hollingshead said. "And they’re totally getting that in Esports.”In a way, this acts as a gateway for the students to explore other passions too. Cross said some Esports members are now also in band, tennis, and other extracurricular activities. Sierra, head Esports coach at HRHS, said the team brings kids together more than any other organization he's been a part of. Esports explodes onto scene, now official sport under Colorado High School Activities Association Editor's Note: Denver7 360 | In-Depth explores multiple sides of the topics that matter most to Coloradans, bringing in different perspectives so you can make up your own mind about the issues. To comment on this or other 360 In-Depth stories, email us at [email protected] or use this form. See more 360 | In-Depth stories here. | Video Games |
By Hossam FazullaBBC ArabicImage caption, Eslam Gamal plays Assassin's Creed, where the main protagonist is an Arab with a positive imageA group of young people compete on consoles in an air-conditioned video game cafe on a hot summer's day. A familiar scene in many Arab cities today, as has been the case for the past two decades. Like many of his peers, this is how Eslam Gamal, a software engineer and a video game enthusiast, spent many hours of his youth in Cairo, Egypt - a city where pubs and bars are lacking.For Eslam, fun was "reaching a higher score in a game like Metal Slug or working on a mission in a First Person Shooter (FPS) game such as Counter-Strike". Even so, it bothered Eslam that both games portrayed Arabs, including Egyptians, as terrorists and savages, "but never enough to stop playing these games".Like other entertainment industries, video games have often committed the all-too-familiar mistake of perpetuating stereotypes of Arabs. Some adopt an older Orientalist view, in which Arab women are belly dancers and men play the flute to charm a snake or are seen atop a camel. Games such as Arabian Fight, Aladdin and the Metal Slug series are examples of this. While they are classic arcade titles, they are regaining popularity with many retro consoles on the market.Other games, particularly FPS games, adopt the post-9/11 lens that exclusively depicts Arab characters as terrorists.Surging marketTimes are changing, however. As films and TV shows adopt a more global outlook, so are video games, with better representation of Arabs beginning to be seen in mainstream titles. Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, the main protagonist of the Assassin's Creed series by Ubisoft, is still a Syrian assassin, but he has become an Arab hero.Playing with an Arab character that is "not exaggerated or ridiculous" has transformed Eslam's gaming experience.Image source, SNK PlaymoreImage caption, Some popular games portray Arab characters according to stereotypesTo Eslam, stereotyping in video games "is not only in the character design, but it is also in how the Arab cities and streets are primitive and desert-like". Many others have a similar experience to Eslam, so Assassin's Creed quickly became popular amongst Arab gamers.More realistic Arab representation started to appear in popular video games as large studios took notice of the promising Arab market. According to a report on the gaming market in Asia and the Middle East by consultants Niko Partners, the Arab video game industry was estimated at $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in 2021 with more than 65 million players. It is forecast to reach $3.12bn by 2025.Other positive depictions of Arab characters followed Altair. Faridah Malik from the Deus Ex series is a skilled pilot and the first recognisable Arab female protagonist in a game. The Street Fighter franchise has also introduced Rashid as "an easy-going and laid-back person… [the] eldest son of a wealthy Middle Eastern family", while the video game Tekken introduced Zafina, an accomplished female fighter.Growing localisationIn 2015, Ubisoft, the French studio behind Assassin's Creed, was not the only one tapping into the booming Arab market. Game studios in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan have started to emerge in the last decade as localisation became more popular. Assassin's Creed became the first mainstream game to be released fully localised for the Arabic audience. Ubisoft capitalised on the franchise's popularity in the region and co-operated with native studios to release the game with Arabic speech, subtitles and a localised user interface and menu screens.Image caption, Mira Karout is helping to localise video games for the Arab market"Localisation is not just translating a game, it is changing all aspects of a game, the objects you use, the art of the game, the food, the clothes," says Hossam Hammo, founder of Tamatem Games, a start-up in Amman, Jordan, that localises international video games. "Imagine that you play a racing game, and the road is your city," he says.Mr Hammo, a video game enthusiast himself, started his company with the vision "to contribute to the Arabic digital content that is lacking in relation to the large base of Arab users".Mira Karout, a game developer at Tamatem, is working on localising a new game in preparation for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. In keeping with traditions observed during the month, Ms Karout is adding date fruits to tables inside the game, and decorating the rooms with Islamic textiles. "We get a lot of positive feedback from our users, males and females, who are always happy to be better represented in the games they love," she says. | Video Games |
Call Of Duty (CoD) has long been a titan of the video game industry - and the latest instalment is proving the point like none before it.This week, less than a fortnight after its release at the end of October, Modern Warfare II was confirmed to have surpassed an eye-popping $1bn in sales worldwide - a record 10 days for the near-20-year-old franchise.
But while Modern Warfare II was always likely to be a grand success, the sheer scale of its earnings come at an interesting time given Microsoft's bid to buy the company behind it for a record-breaking $68.7bn.What stands to be the biggest ever takeover in the tech industry has drawn plenty of attention from the world's acquisitions regulators, with the UK and US watchdogs both putting it under the microscope.And in the week Modern Warfare II's historic success was trumpeted by publisher Activision, the EU joined in by launching its own investigation.
What are the regulators investigating?The UK, US and EU regulators are all essentially looking into the same thing, and that's whether Microsoft owning Activision - and, by extension, games like CoD - would give it an unfair advantage over its rivals. More on Microsoft UK watchdog wants your views on Microsoft's deal for Call Of Duty maker Setback for Microsoft's £59bn plan to buy video game company Activision Blizzard Microsoft reveals Janet Jackson song had the power to crash laptops - even if it wasn't playing on them The European Commission said this week: "The point is to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant to the benefit of users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace. We must ensure that opportunities remain for future and existing distributors of PC and console video games, as well as for rival suppliers of PC operating systems."The chief opponent to the deal is Sony, which makes the PlayStation. It's concerned CoD may become exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox platform, and has made regulators well aware of its case. CoD is a big deal for Sony - for example, Modern Warfare II was the best-selling game in the UK in October (despite launching with only three days left) and 57% of sales were on PlayStation.How has Microsoft responded?Microsoft has promised to keep CoD on PlayStation "for at least several more years" beyond its current contract."Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about CoD, but we've said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation," it said after the EU's announcement.But Sony appears sceptical long-term - and the idea of a console maker like Microsoft releasing games on other systems is rare. Its $7.5bn takeover of Bethesda will see the popular Elder Scrolls series kept off PlayStation, becoming a big draw for its Netflix-style subscription service Xbox Game Pass.Games industry analyst Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Securities, told Sky News that CoD really is different - and the enormous demand for Modern Warfare II proves it."The purchase price makes no sense if Microsoft planned to make CoD an Xbox exclusive," he said."Had it done so, CoD annual sales would drop by as much as 50%." Image: Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S consoles lag behind the PlayStation 5 in sales What happens next?News of another media takeover having the rug pulled out from it this month had some wondering if the same may befall Microsoft. Penguin Random House had been looking to buy Simon & Schuster for $2.18bn (£1.9bn), but two years after its announcement it was scrapped by a US judge on competition grounds.Mr Pachter does not expect the same to befall Microsoft, but an olive branch - in the form of a legally binding agreement to not let CoD go the way of Elder Scrolls - may be required."Microsoft anticipated that this would form the basis for regulatory review, and preemptively committed to making Activision games available for other consoles after the merger is completed," he told Sky News."This commitment is not legally binding, so it is prudent for the regulators to insist that it become binding. The regulators' comments are positioning them to claim victory when they secure a legally binding commitment from Microsoft to continue to support PlayStation and other consoles." | Video Games |
Netflix is accelerating its push into video games with plans to double its catalog of offerings by the end of the year, but for now, few of the streaming giant's subscribers are playing.Since last November, the company has been rolling out the games as a way to keep users engaged between show releases. The games are accessible only to subscribers, but have to be downloaded as separate apps.The games have been downloaded a total of 23.3 million times and average 1.7 million daily users, according to Apptopia, an app analytics company. That's less than 1% of Netflix's 221 million subscribers.The importance of games to Netflix's overall strategy has arguably increased in recent months as the company faces intensifying competition for user attention. In the second quarter, Netflix lost nearly a million subscribers, after losing 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter — its first subscriber declines in more than a decade.In a letter to shareholders last year, Netflix named Epic Games and TikTok as among its biggest rivals for people's time."One of the many advantages to Netflix in pursuing the strategy is the ability to drive engagement beyond when the show first comes out on the platform," D.A Davidson senior analyst Tom Forte said.Still, Netflix Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters said last year the company was "many months and really, frankly, years" into learning how games can keep customers on the service."We're going to be experimental and try a bunch of things," Peters said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call. "But I would say the eyes that we have on the long-term prize really center more around our ability to create properties that are connected to the universes, the characters, the stories that we're building."The company's current catalog of 24 game apps covers a variety of genres and Netflix shows, such as "Stranger Things: 1984." Several are modeled after popular card games, such as "Mahjong Solitaire" and "Exploding Kittens."The catalog will grow to 50 games by the end of the year, including "Queen's Gambit Chess," based on the hit Netflix series, according a company representative.Intentionally vagueNetflix has been cagey about how it plans to make video gaming a core part of the company's strategy, rather than merely a side hobby."We're still intentionally keeping things a little bit quiet because we're still learning and experimenting and trying to figure out what things are going to actually resonate with our members, what games people want to play," Leanne Loombe, Netflix's head of external games, said during a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival in June.Netflix hinted earlier this year that it will license popular intellectual property for its new gaming additions."We're open to licensing, accessing large game IP that people will recognize," Peters said in January. "And I think you will see some of that happen over the year to come."Netflix tapped outside developers for its current catalog, but has acquired three video game developers in the past year.All of that adds up to growing investment. Netflix hasn't disclosed how much it's spending to develop its video game segment, but the efforts are capital-intensive. Netflix's acquisition of Finnish developer Next Games cost the streamer about $72 million.Forrester analyst Mike Proulx noted that Netflix has been investing in gaming slowly, and that it still appears to be what he would consider "more of a test and experiment at this stage." He noted that most people don't associate Netflix with games.So far, download figures for Netflix games fall far short of the leading mobile games — Subway Surfers, Roblox and Among Us, for a few — which each have more than 100 million downloads, according to Apptopia. Still, downloads have slowly climbed since May, after a downward trend that started in December."We've got to please our members by having the absolute best in the category," Netflix co-CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings said in January. "We have to be differentially great at it. There's no point of just being in it."Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Tom Forte is a senior analyst at D.A. Davidson. | Video Games |
Twitch is having a rough time. The live-streaming site, owned by Amazon since 2014, is synonymous for many with video games. The audience for TechScape is broad, so forgive me: some of you will wonder why I have to explain that Twitch is where viewers watch microcelebrities play video games, interact with those influencers and experience tight parasocial relationships of the sort that other communities have with podcasters, YouTubers or newsletter authors. (I love you, too). Others will wonder why anyone would want to watch someone playing video games.Whether you get it or not, there’s no questioning that Twitch streamers are bona fide celebrities. We’re some years out now from 31-year-old Richard Blevins – better known as Ninja – hitting headlines in 2018 for playing Fortnite against Drake and earning an easy million-dollar salary in the process.Since then, Ninja’s trajectory is telling of the extent to which Twitch’s leadership in the space has been challenged. In 2019, he was given an exclusive contract by Mixer, Microsoft’s homegrown Twitch competitor, for an undisclosed sum. It wasn’t just about the money, Blevins said: the “toxic” community that had grown up on Twitch played its part. But by 2020, Mixer was shutting down, and Ninja was released from his contract. Now, he splits his time across multiple platforms, still streaming to Twitch but also broadcasting on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.Ninja isn’t alone in looking beyond the market leader for a platform. And Twitch isn’t helping things. The company recognises the importance of its stars, and in a move that is quietly common across the world of social media, started to offer its biggest celebrities sweetheart deals, splitting the earnings of a Twitch subscription – a monthly fee paid by a viewer to support an individual host – 70/30 in the streamer’s favour for the biggest and best. For smaller streamers, the deal was split 50/50, but with a supportive audience and a community culture that encourages parting with cash, rather than relying solely on advertising, even that can provide a meaningful sum of money.In September, however, Twitch ended the 70/30 revenue split, slashing its payouts to its biggest stars. “We don’t believe it’s right for those on standard contracts to have varied revenue shares based on the size of the streamer,” Twitch said in a blogpost. “In an ideal world, all streamers would be on the same set of terms regardless of size.” No sweetheart deals sounds fair enough – but why not standardise at 70/30, uplifting the smaller creators?“We have to talk about the cost of our service,” Twitch president Dan Clancy explained. “Delivering high-definition, low-latency, always-available live video to nearly every corner of the world is expensive. Using the published rates from Amazon Web Services’s Interactive Video Service (IVS) – which is essentially Twitch video – live video costs for a 100 [viewer] streamer who streams 200 hours a month are more than $1,000 per month.”When it streams it poursTelling streamers whose income was being cut that it was necessary because the Amazon subsidiary Twitch couldn’t pay its Amazon Web Services bills without doing so went down poorly. But the company had an opportunity to make amends in October at TwitchCon, its annual gathering.Instead, things got worse. From the off, attenders said, the convention felt clinical and corporate, an opportunity to celebrate the company rather than a moment for the company to honour the streamers who have made it what it is.And then there was the foam pit. A booth set up by PC manufacturer Lenovo featured gladiator-style battles between top streamers on top of a pile of foam blocks. But unlike the TV show, the blocks were reportedly just a thin layer scattered over the concrete floor of the convention centre. Injuries to some people who jumped off the platform were reported, with the most serious being Adriana Chechik, who says she broke her back in two places. Throughout, Twitch has remained silent about the incidents. (A Lenovo rep told the website Polygon at the time: “Safety remains our top priority and we are working with event organizers to look into the incidents.”)The slights create the impression that Twitch doesn’t care about the people who devote themselves to making content for its platform. And that’s increasingly problematic, because “devote” is an accurate word. To join the Twitch “affiliate” programme, and access the monetisation features, you have to have streamed for a minimum of eight hours in a 30-day period, spread over at least seven days (and to an average of three viewers over that entire period). It’s a fairly gruelling schedule for work that is, by definition, unpaid, and pulling it off still doesn’t guarantee that Twitch will actually accept you.The shackles of streamingOnce Twitch is paying you, the work doesn’t get less intense. As the Guardian’s Keza MacDonald wrote last year: Talking to the people around that table, I was instead astonished – and, honestly, worried – by how hard they worked. The woman sitting next to me told me that she streams for eight to 10 hours every day, and when she wasn’t live she was curating her social media, responding to fans, scouting for brand partnerships or collaborations with other streamers; throughout our conversation she was visibly resisting the impulse to check her phone, where new stats and fan comments and potential opportunities were presumably stacking up. I asked what she does for fun and she seemed genuinely confused by the question. It’s a hard life if you get the rewards of it. It’s harder still if someone else is using you. Last week a top-tier Twitch streamer alleged that her partner had spent years manipulating her and forcing her to stream on the platform after taking control of her finances and bank account. She called the world she had been living in a “fancy prison”, claiming that her 12- to 15-hour streams were not her choice and the rewards for doing them were not all accruing to her. In a follow-up video, she said she was safe and happy to be out: “I don’t have to wear cleavage every day.”In a recent interview, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear acknowledged that the company’s relationship with its streamers needs to change – but called on the US government to make the first move. ““It’s not quite a W-2 job and it’s not quite a contracting job,” he told Bloomberg (£). “I think we could really use legislation that created a third option that was appropriate for the gig economy and the creator economy.“One of the fundamental dynamics of the creator economy is that tech companies aren’t used to the level at which creators rely on them for their business,” he added. “A rapid change to how a product works isn’t just a matter of, ‘This person didn’t get as many views on their video,’ but rather, ‘This person can’t make rent this month.’”As a recognition that the relationship needs to change, it’s a start. But Twitch can do more for its creators than wait for the government to make them pseudo-employees. The question is whether it will before they turn to someone else who can.If you want to read the complete version of the newsletter please subscribe to receive TechScape in your inbox every Wednesday.Finally, an announcement: TechScape will arrive in your inbox on Tuesdays starting next week, so look for this email on 1 November. | Video Games |
'It was so hard for us to get him to do ANYTHING': Nick Kyrgios's mum believes that ditching video games is behind the Aussie's superb Wimbledon run as she reveals he has left his hotel room to visit Big Ben for the FIRST time this yearNick Kyrgios's mum says her son's success is due to ditching the video gamesKyrgios will play in the Wimbledon final after Rafael Nadal pulled out yesterday The 27-year-old has previously spoken of his obsession with video gamesHowever, he now 'enjoys life' and has turned his back on video games Published: 07:22 EDT, 8 July 2022 | Updated: 08:41 EDT, 8 July 2022 Nick Kyrgios's mum believes the Australian's success in reaching his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon is down to leaving his video games behind in his hotel room and getting out to see the world.Nill Kyrgios told Australia's Nine Media that she had seen a big change in her son's outlook on life since the Australian Open at the start of the year.'It was so hard for us to get him to do anything,' she said. 'He was happy to sit in his room and play video games all the time. His shoulder would hurt him from how much he would play. 'In Beijing, we wanted him to walk the Great Wall of China with us. Who wouldn't, right? But Nick wouldn't go. He was happy to sit in his room and order in, that's what worried me.'I remember in Canada we said, 'Let's go to Niagara Falls'. He wouldn't even go there. I actually went on my own on the tour bus. Nick wouldn't want to do those things.'Kyrgios is the first Australian since 2003 to reach the men's singles final at Wimbledon and he will meet Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie for the title on Sunday, having received a walkover after his opponent Rafa Nadal withdrew due to injury. Nick Kyrgios' run to the Wimbledon final has been credited to giving up video games by his mother (Kyrgios is pictured visiting Big Ben with girlfriend Costeen Hatzi this week) Kyrgios's mum (left) says her son is enjoying life a lot more since giving up video gamesHis mother has been unable to travel to London because of health issues but has been keeping up with his successes - and days out - on social media.'He's finally appreciating where he is, that's the best thing about this,' she added. 'There's such a difference now, I see it on his (Instagram) stories.'It's probably the first time he's been to Big Ben. All the time he's been to London, he hasn't gone anywhere. Since the Australian Open this year, he has started doing some things.'He now understands that life doesn't revolve around tennis. No one expects him to be like that. You have to enjoy your life. I'm really happy he is now.' Back in 2020, Kyrgios claimed that he is a 'professional gamer' as well as a tennis player, such was his love for, and commitment to, video games.'I'm a professional tennis player and I'd like to think I'm a professional gamer on the side,' he said. Kyrgios began playing video games at the age of 8 after watching his older brother from afar and was instantly hooked on Call of Duty. Kyrgios pictured with Costeen outside Buckingham Palace on his London sightseeing tour Giving up video games is the reason behind Kyrgios's Wimbledon run, his mum says An avid gamer, Kyrgios would spend hours playing Call of Duty and injure himself doing so'I personally believe that I'm the best gamer on the tennis tour. There's a lot of guys that think they can game,' he said in a promotional campaign with PS5.'Athletes, in general, because they're high on confidence, generally think they can game as well, but they can't.' He added that losing games online would affect his mood and once held ambitions to pursue a professional gaming career after hanging up his racket.'I think when I reach that 10-year mark professionally, I think I wanna try and transition into the gaming environment. And I definitely think I'm good enough,' he said. Kyrgios has been accompanied by his close-knit team, as well as girlfriend Costeen Hatzi during his whirlwind journey in SW19. The Australian is staying in Wimbledon Village, where physiotherapist Will Maher has ensured the 27-year-old does not fall back into bad habits. Kyrgios is now one win away from being crowned Wimbledon champion after Nadal pulled outMaher has sought to incorporate Kyrgios's beloved basketball in his tennis training and has inspired a dietary change for the Australian, who know follows a vegan diet. Kyrgios has just one more hurdle to clear before inscribing his name in the history books, with the 27-year-old given a free pass to Sunday's final after Rafael Nadal pulled out of their semi-final clash with an abdominal issue.'As a competitor, I really did want that match,' he said. 'As soon as I beat Garin I knew Rafa was a high possibility. I really did want to see how the third chapter [of Wimbledon-Nadal rivalry] was going to go. I just hope he recovers.' Kyrgios revealed after his quarter final win over Cristian Garin that he would not fly his mother over to London to watch him finish the tournament, with it deemed too risky due to her recent kidney transplant. Nill Kyrgios won't travel to London for the final as she has recently had a kidney transplant'Obviously my mum's health has been a bit rocky,' he said.'It's been pretty bad for a while now. She's not able to kind of come to these (events) and she's not allowed to travel that much.'Even the Australian Open, she won't come to my matches because she's got, like, a pacemaker and stuff, it's too stressful, and all that type of stuff.'I try and talk to her. She'll wake up in the morning, say, 'I just saw the live scores. It looks like you had a tough match'.'I'm just like, 'You have no idea. Obviously.''I'm just glad she's able to kind of keep an eye on me from home.' Advertisement Read more: "Best Gamer on the Tennis Tour": Nick Kyrgios Expresses Love for Gaming While Reviewing PS5 - EssentiallySports | Video Games |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A man in Texas loves Sonic the Hedgehog so much that he broke a world record. Barry Evans, of Dayton, Texas, has 3,050 items related to the video game series and character. Last week, he was publicly recognized by Guinness World Records for owning the largest collection of Sonic the Hedgehog memorabilia, according to a press release. "Sonic the Hedgehog has been my passion for 30 years," Evans said in a statement.LEGO RELEASING ATARI 2600 VIDEO GAME CONSOLE SET, HONORING 1980S NOSTALGIAEvans has been collecting items from the franchise since 1992 when he bought the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 video game, which is Evans' favorite game, the press release said. His second item was a Sonic bubble gum container, which he bought in 1993. "Later I saw a poster and more toys, and I just started decorating my room with it," Evans told Guinness.Evans explained why he loves Sonic so much: "He was cool, he’s edgy, he had that wow-ness factor… the hedgehog with attitude."COUPLE SPEAKS OUT AFTER VIDEO GAME-THEMED WEDDING CAKE TOPPER UNEXPECTEDLY GOES VIRALToday, his collection includes arcade machines, soft toys, figurines, signs, lapel pins and posters. Evans also has a mold machine that was used to make plastic Sonic toys that were given out in Burger King restaurants in the U.K., as well as a rare, $1,700 1992 Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails plush walkie talkie set from Japan. Barry Evans has been collecting Sonic the Hedgehog items since 1992. He was recently recognized for owning the largest collection of Sonic memorabilia in the world by Guinness World Records. (Guinness World Records )The top items in Evans’ collection are Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails statues, which Evans got from the Toys ‘R’ Us flagship store as they were about to remodel in 2001. RARE ‘ZELDA’ NINTENDO GAME SELLING FOR OVER $100,000 AT AUCTIONEvans had been in contact with the store managers for years in the hopes of obtaining the statues one day. "They called and said, 'Hey, if you want these statues, please come get them now because we're remodeling,’" Evans recalled. "I slipped out of work and went and picked them up before they changed their mind."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Evans has also created some of the items in his collection, including an arcade machine that he built in 1993 using his SEGA Genesis video game console to play Sonic the Hedgehog 2. A view of the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon at the 95th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 25, 2021 in New York City. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise spans over 30 video games and two movies. (Photo by James Devaney/Getty Images)Evans keeps his collection in a 1,650-square-foot room adjacent to his house, which he's named Yesterdays - Sonic 1992’s game room and museum, according to Guinness.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER In order for Evans’ Sonic collection to be verified by Guinness in March of this year, Evans had to count and catalog each item. "To get it was no easy feat, it was a lot of work. It took three weeks of 8-10 hour days to catalog," Evans said.But the work paid off in the end. "It was just incredible to have Guinness World Records give me vindication for my collection," Evans said. "To have my collection recognized by Guinness World Records is a life-fulfilling event to me."FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Ann W. Schmidt is a lifestyle reporter and editor for Fox News Digital. | Video Games |
It is a highly debated topic: do video games lead to violence in the real world? Part of the reason is presumably that news outlets regularly connect the two, sometimes after tragic events such as mass shootings. But is there any actual scientific merit to these claims? Dr. Agne Suziedelyte from the City University of London performed an extensive study to find out. Oftentimes, a link between real-world violence and video games is made after it becomes apparent that a particular culprit who committed a violent act had a liking for violent video games. In fact, many governments around the world have actually banned certain games based on these types of reasons. There are two caveats with this reasoning:The first caveat is that correlation does not immediately mean causation. In other words, the fact that a particular perpetrator enjoyed video games in their free time doesn't mean that the video games were the cause of a violent act. Video gaming isn't a niche activity anymore; it has become one of the largest, if not the largest, entertainment enterprise. According to the ESA, over 200 million people play video games in the United States alone, and Statista shows that that number is almost 3 billion worldwide. Therefore, it would be highly improbable that none of the violent offenders would play video games.The second caveat is that factors such as ease of access to firearms and the presence of mental health should not be brushed aside. In light of this wide variety of possible causes, the US government called for more research into the link between games. Scientific researchIn her research, Dr. Agne Suziedelyte used data from the US, namely from the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (CDS-PSID). The dataset is quite extensive and comprises data from almost 10.000 children. Among other things, it contains measures of children's delinquency and behavioral problems. On top of that, it includes data about children's home environment and parental characteristics. She looked at boys between the age of 8 and 18 years old as this is the group that plays violent games the most. The main focus of Suziedelyte's analysis was on M-rated video gamesIn order to determine ratings and release dates, she scraped the MobyGames database and cross-referenced it with the ESRB database for accuracy. In case of disagreement, she checked two additional databases, namely those of Gamespot and IGN.The study analyzed how the violent behavior of 8–18-year-old boys is affected by the release of new violent video games in the United States. Suziedelyte looked at the effects of two different forms of in-game violence: the destruction of property/things and violence against people. She then utilized econometric methods to distinguish plausibly causal effects of violent video games on real-life violence instead of just correlations. FindingsSuziedelyte found that a release of a new popular violent video game increases 8–18-year-old boys’ video game hours, but with a delay (by 0.241 and 0.296 h per day four and five months after the release). These results are driven by older boys and regular video game players.However, the key finding of the study is that violent video games do not appear to contribute to violence against people. No evidence was observed that would identify plausible causal effects between playing violent video games and actual real-life violence.In addition, no statistically significant effects on the likelihood of being cruel or mean to others (as reported by parents) or destructive behavior were found.Dr. Suziedelyte stated that her results indicate that violent games may agitate some children, but this does not lead to violence against others. As a possible explanation for her results, Suziedelyte points out that gaming usually transpires in the home environment. This is because, at home, opportunities for violent behavior are lower. She called this an ‘incapacitation effect.' Consequently, Suziedelyte thinks that video game bans for minors are not very likely to reduce violence. All in all, in case of violent behavior, it may be beneficial to look for causes elsewhere besides video games. In fact, there are indications that gaming can actually have beneficial effects such as reducing the chance of depression later in life, and helping uncover hidden talents.Dr. Suziedelyte published her results in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, listed below. Be sure to check it out for further details regarding her study.Sources and further reading:Is it only a game? Video games and violence (Journal of Economic Behaviour & Organisation - Dr Suziedelyte’s paper)Number of active video gamers worldwide (Statista)ESA's Annual report on the video game industry (Entertainment Software Association)Playing video games lowers the risk of depression later in life for boys (Universal-Sci)Overview list of banned video games worldwide (Wikipedia)ESRB game ratings (ESRB) | Video Games |
Major esports events will not be immune from the global economic downturn, the boss of one of the world's biggest gaming championships has warned.Speaking in San Francisco at the League Of Legends world finals, John Needham told Sky News he was concerned advertisers might start to pull back from sponsoring such events.
The global president of esports at Riot Games said: "Because our revenues generally mostly come from sponsors, you can have some weakness."He added: "We've done really well because we reach the scale of millennial and Gen Z audience that very few platforms can reach. But I am a little bit worried about softness with our sponsors." Image: Gameplay was displayed on huge screens at the venue League Of Legends is one of the most successful PC games on the planet, and events like the Worlds 2022 championship comprise a large part of Riot Games' revenue.
This year, Riot Games attracted sponsorship deals from brands such as Tiffany’s, Mastercard, and Mercedes, which were keen to reach younger audiences.As almost all esports are played on PC at an elite level, the viewership is huge. Worlds 2022 set a new record for League of Legends esports with 5.1 million concurrent viewers. More on Gaming Why the future of gaming could be in the palms of our hands Activision Blizzard's Overwatch 2 launches for free as battlepass system divides playing community Minecraft YouTube gamer Dream finally reveals face to millions of followers Could the UK become an esports juggernaut?But what about the UK market? Having proved itself a worthy host of world-class sports events, could it one day welcome the very best professional gamers too? In a report back in 2020, the government described esports as having "the potential to develop as an area of real national strength in the UK, building on our world-class video games, entertainment and sports sectors". Image: Worlds 2022 attracted huge crowds and online audiences Mr Needham, who used to live in the UK, said: "The UK hasn't been the strongest market for us because it's a very console-dominated market."Generally your flats, your houses, you don't have enough room for a dedicated office PC setup."A lot of gaming happens in the living room."Ofcom figures from last year show 30% of Brits gamed on consoles, compared to only 12% on dedicated gaming desktop computers.For more on science and technology, explore the future with Sky News at Big Ideas Live 2022.Find out more and book tickets here Riot Games hopes its recently released shooter, Valorant, can change things."It's the fastest growing esport right now," Mr Needham said. "It is a game that is ripe for the UK."It's a [tactical] shooter. That is the genre of gaming that is the most popular in the UK."Should an event like Worlds 2022 come to the UK, cooperation with local government would be key."We went to Shanghai a few years ago, and we transformed Shanghai into Worlds," he recalled."We were projecting off skyscrapers and everything else. And the government really leaned in there just to help us promote the event." | Video Games |
It was such a joy earlier to tune into the Proms on TV and see a concert dedicated to video game soundtracks. Although gaming concerts have been a thing for more than a decade, recognition from this festival was a watershed moment. To watch conductor Robert Ames and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform thrilling renditions of scores from such diverse titles as The Legend of Zelda, Journey and Dear Esther was a moving example of how video game sounds, sights and ideas are escaping the cultural cul-de-sac they once inhabited.Sign up for Pushing Buttons, our weekly guide to what’s going on in video games.Successive generations have grown up with games, and so the aesthetics and conventions of the medium are seeping out into the wider cultural landscape. I recently looked at the growing phenomenon of video game soundtracks. For modern listeners, there is no snobbery in listening to game scores as standalone entertainment in their own right. Louise Blain, the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Sound of Gaming told me this is something she is keen to communicate. “Game music is inexorably tied to our emotions in a unique way, but vitally, it can stand alone, too, and we can listen and appreciate the craft and the feelings the music evokes,” she said. “I recently presented an orchestral performance of Gareth Coker’s scores for Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps and had a few people approached me afterwards to say they had never played the games but they were in tears listening to the music. There’s a real power there.”Fashion and fiction look to gamesLouis Vuitton’s Final Fantasy-inspired campaign.This month also saw the release of Gabrielle Zevin’s wonderful novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which follows the fraught relationship between two game developers as they work on a series of projects together. But this isn’t a novel about technology, it’s about the frail beauty of friendship and how we inspire each other to be creative. Thematically, it has much more in common with the films Loving Vincent or Girl With a Pearl Earring as it does with, say, the game Ready Player One. In the last few years we’ve also seen Amanda Craig’s novel The Golden Rule and Raven Leilani’s brilliant Luster, which both incorporated video games into ambitious, grounded literary stories rather than escapist fantasies.It’s been fun, too, to see the worlds of video games and high fashion collide and cross-pollinate, which would have been utterly unthinkable a few years ago. From Louis Vuitton incorporating Final Fantasy character into its adverts to Dior recently designing a vehicle and outfit for racing game Gran Turismo 7, couture houses are unabashedly borrowing ideas and even cultural kudos from the gaming world.It’s thrilling that gaming is permeating the wider landscape in almost surreptitious ways. For two decades, video games and their worlds were used in awful films and sci-fi novels as cautionary metaphors for civilisation’s descent into a dehumanising online existence. The downside, of course, is that we now have billionaire tech bros asking how games like Fortnite and Minecraft can be turned into hyper-monetised consumer metaverses. Until this happens, we can enjoy the cultural ascendence of games; their music, their stories, their visuals, reaching out into the world and having that world reach back.What to playDaft humour … Two Point Campus. Photograph: Two Point Studios/SteamI’m a huge fan of management simulation games, so I recommend Two Point Campus, in which players build and run a university. Like its predecessor Two Point Hospital, it’s filled with daft humour, but it offers a deep and rewarding challenge and there are lovely ideas in it, such as the heavily disguised spy school and the archeology department that wilfully steals ancient artefacts.Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/SApproximate playtime: ongoingWhat to read Throughout the pandemic, the video game industry proved remarkably resilient, with publishers posting excellent results and games such as Animal Crossing, Call of Duty and old-timer Grand Theft Auto V selling well. Now, as a recession looms, the story might be changing. GamesIndustry.Biz looks at Activision Blizzard’s difficulties in context with other accounts of falling sales. The Commonwealth Games has piloted esports as a competition category this year, with organisers claiming that the aim is to widen the appeal of the event to a younger audience. The Observer paid a visit. Crime writer and keen gamer Chris Brookmyre has just published a new novel called The Cliff House, a multi-narrator thriller based around a disastrous hen weekend on a remote island. While reading, I could imagine Supermassive Games turning this into one of its brilliant horror adventures, along the lines of The Quarry and Until Dawn. What to clickStreaming: the best video game film adaptationsVenba, a video game about the emotional resonance of foodA midlife crisis in space: The Alters is sci-fi comedy starring hapless clonesSkate Story: not your average skating gameQuestion blockBreak a rut … Game Boy Micro, a two-by-four-inch version of the Game Boy Advance. Photograph: Koji Sasahara/APThis week on Twitter, Dan Chambers asked the apocalyptic question: What do you do if you feel you are slowly falling out of love of gaming?This has happened to me a few times, so I can answer from personal experience. My first suggestion is to try playing on a platform you haven’t played on before. As a teenager, I mostly played arcade-style shooters and fighting games with the odd puzzler thrown in and I got tired of it by the time I was at university. Then I discovered the PC with its online functionality and host of management sims and real-time strategy games and I was back in. You don’t have to buy a new PS5, for instance – just get on eBay and try a Wii U, or a Sega Saturn, or a Game Boy Advance and you may unlock a whole approach to games you’d never thought of before.Otherwise, dabble in a new genre. Elden Ring was a revelation for me as I’ve never been into Souls games; and titles such as Unpacking, OlliOlli World, Neon White, Not for Broadcast and Trolley Problem Inc got me thinking about games in different ways. And discovering and supporting small games on digital platforms such as Steam and Itch.io can bring a sense of ownership and investment that may light that fire once again. | Video Games |
As a child, Elwin Gorman would go on long, winding river walks in the picturesque region of Murcia in southern Spain. Gorman senior, an agent for the Spanish environmental ministry, was attuned to the wellbeing of the watery ecosystem, and keen to teach his son how to love the natural world. Naiad, a video game where florid new age aesthetics meet wild swimming, is the product of that love. It feels designed to soothe and restore us in these horribly choppy times.Gorman’s fondness for nature is visible from the very first frame of the game, whose name refers to the water nymphs of Greek mythology. Across a three-hour journey, you navigate the gentle currents of a single river, solving environmental puzzles, meeting a cast of human and non-human characters, even singing to regenerate ailing flora. The water shimmers evocatively, drawing the eye just as it would in real life, and the colours have a gorgeous cartoonish pop. The visual style recalls Studio Ghibli’s most naturalistic animated films, particularly its 2008 oceanic classic, Ponyo.Gorman is a solo developer in the true sense of the term. He has devised the art, concept, and story, written the shaders and custom render pipeline that gives Naiad its striking look, and is self-publishing the game. He has also composed all of the serene new age music and sourced the field recordings that form the bedrock of the trickling soundscape. “Going out along the river to record the sound of water helped me enjoy nature even more,” he says.Fans of more bucolic video games will likely recognise a few of their favourites in Naiad’s DNA, such as underwater fable Abzû and walking simulator Proteus. Gorman himself mentions A Short Hike, another relaxing indie effort set in the great outdoors, as well as thatgamecompany’s classic non-violent exploration game, Journey. He says he plays these games from a developer’s perspective, trying to understand how they were created while admiring their art, secrets and emotional tenor.And since the beginning of Naiad’s development in 2019, Gorman has been remarkably open about the process. On social media, he often shares failed experiments, work-in-progress material, and behind-the-scenes breakdowns of how the game is actually pieced together. “So many developers, like Playdead [maker of indie hits Limbo and Inside], don’t talk about a game until it’s released,” he says. “But the path of creating a game alone is very hard. I find motivation in sharing little steps every day.”The game is as open-hearted as its developer. Gorman is translating his life-altering experiences of nature into virtual form so that others may enjoy just a taste of it. Naiad is an act of sharing, an invitation into Gorman’s world. “My goal is to make something original,” he says. “Something that players have never seen before.” Naiad is out 13 October, on PC and consoles. A demo is available on Steam. | Video Games |
Microsoft’s subscription service includes captivating titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Citizen Sleeper.Xbox Game Pass is one of the few subscriptions I’ve kept around while other services got the chop. The $15 monthly fee for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate feels worth it because I get to choose from over 100 titles and regularly download new additions. In a year the cost breaks down to about the price of three AAA games.An Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription comes with access to EA Play and Xbox Live Gold. If you’re not interested in online multiplayer games, Microsoft offers a more budget-friendly tier that costs $10 a month. For gamers not on Xbox, PC Game Pass ($10/month) has many of the same titles. (Got a PlayStation or Switch? Check out our guide to the most popular game subscription services.)To help you choose which ones to download first, WIRED sifted through the Game Pass catalog and rounded up outstanding titles we think you’ll enjoy. From recent releases to satisfying throwbacks, our genre-spanning picks for the best Game Pass games have a little something for all players.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDCourtesy of Tribute Games Inc.Kick ShellTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s RevengeWhile it’s impossible to perfectly recreate the childhood feeling of sitting too close to the TV on a Saturday morning, chomping down a sugary breakfast, and watching cartoons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge comes pretty darn close. Developed by Tribute Games, the button-mashing fun of Shredder’s Revenge references a bygone era of TMNT animation and video games. Brawl through levels either by yourself or with up to five other people in multiplayer mode. It’s radical.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of ExbleativeShip BouncerExo OneWhizz through thick clouds of fog inside your spherical spaceship and navigate bumpy terrain using the power of gravity in Exo One. It’s a chill puzzle game with minimal narrative. Let your round ship plummet at the planet’s surface to gain speed, and release it at opportune moments to soar towards the next level. Made by indie developer Jay Weston, Exo One is a bite-sized sci-fi game that allows you to clear your mind, leave this world, and become a bouncing ball.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of Rocksteady StudiosRevisit GothamBatman: Arkham KnightEven though the upcoming Gotham Knights game is a separate story, Batman: Arkham Knight is a thrilling adventure featuring the caped crusader for fans who can't wait to visit Gotham City again. Zip through town inside the Batmobile as you rescue people and uncover the Arkham Knight’s identity. Released in 2015 and developed by Rocksteady, superhero enthusiasts willing to look past a messy storyline may find the overall gameplay to be satisfying. The follow-up from Rocksteady, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is scheduled for release in 2023.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.Courtesy of Square Enix Space ShooterOutridersBalancing elements of an RPG and third-person shooter, Outriders is another sci-fi adventure worth your time. Traverse the dystopian planet of Enoch in a customizable convoy, and use your unique skill set to take on formidable foes. The co-op campaign is perfect for hours of monster-blasting fun with friends. Curious about the new Outriders Worldslayer expansion? It’s not included with the subscription service, but you can play the original experience on Game Pass before deciding to buy additional content.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of Fellow Traveller GamesConscious RobotsCitizen SleeperIn Citizen Sleeper, you are a human consciousness inhabiting a robot form and on the lam from the company that owns you. Humanoid capital, you better watch your back! A must-play for anyone who enjoyed Disco Elysium, Citizen Sleeper pulls from tabletop dice games and relies heavily on deft writing. Published by Fellow Traveller, the game’s tagline is, “Roleplaying in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism.” Easy to finish in under a week, the game is about discovering solidarity within the dystopia. For a deeper dive into Citizen Sleeper, go read WIRED’s conversation with Gareth Damian Martin, the game’s creator.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of PopCap GamesDigital PachinkoPeggleTake a journey back to 2007 and soak up the pachinko-inspired magic of Peggle. You shoot a bouncing ball in an effort to hit every peg and clear the board. The colorful puzzles combine with over-the-top celebrations at the end of successful levels to create a surprisingly satisfying experience. Puzzle lovers may enjoy playing other throwback games such as Zuma and Bejeweled 3.Available as part of EA Play for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.Courtesy of FinjiAesthetic AdventuresTunicEvery few years, an adorable indie game comes along that isn't afraid to knock you on your ass. Blending elements of Nintendo’s Zelda and FromSoftware’s Soulsborne series, Tunic is an isometric video game from Andrew Shouldice. The publisher, Finji, has released multiple indie darlings in the past, such as Night in the Woods and Chicory: A Colorful Tale. Control your fluffy fox as they explore the mysterious world, fight various aggressors, and gradually collect pages from an indecipherable guidebook. Tunic is fantastic and my current game of the year, but you may need to set your controller down a few times and walk around the block to calm down.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of Behaviour Interactive Inc.Hooking UpDead by DaylightWhether Michael Myers makes your skin crawl or you are creeped out by The Ring, Dead by Daylight is a quality choice for horror enthusiasts. I often play as one of the four trapped survivors who are trying to fix generators and open the gate to escape from a murderer who stalks their every step. You are eliminated from the game if the killer can hunt you down and hang you on an oversized hook three times. The game is loud, bloody, and for mature audiences.Dead by Daylight is not perfect. For example, you may encounter longer than desired queue times depending on when you try to join a game. In spite of any flaws, I play the game at least once a week. If you’re willing to spend a little extra money, I recommend Mikaela Reid as a great survivor to choose. Even though she’s not one of the included options, her special abilities are useful for navigating the map and retaining health. Although I don’t play as the killer very often, The Huntress is my main. When controlled by someone skilled, her hatchet-throwing can quickly end games.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of MicrosoftAviation RealnessMicrosoft Flight SimulatorIf you’ve ever fantasized about piloting a plane and soaring high above the clouds, Microsoft Flight Simulator was made for you. Players can choose from a bevy of aircraft and fly to real locations like the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York or the Sirena Aerodrone in Costa Rica. Specialized controllers are available for those who want to be further immersed in the simulation.Available on Game Pass for Xbox Series X|S and PC.Courtesy of Supergiant GamesDaddy IssuesHadesBattle through the caverns of Hades in this critically acclaimed roguelike from Supergiant Games. Emerging from a river of blood, you play as Zagreus, the bisexual son of Hades who’s determined to escape from the underworld. Encounter new enemies, unlock new weapons, and gain new skills as you repeatedly attempt to fight your way out.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of MicrosoftZooming AroundForza Horizon 5An open-world racing game set in Mexico, Forza Horizon 5 will keep you engrossed and behind the wheel for hours on end. The smooth handling and pristine graphics make Forza Horizon 5 one of the best racing games of all time. Build a collection of iconic cars, customize the vehicles to your heart’s desire, and hear the engines purr during racing events and aimless explorations of the expansive map. An online battle royale mode, “The Eliminator,” is thrown in for good measure.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of NetherRealm StudiosCrushing BlowsMortal Kombat 11The bloody, one-on-one battles in Mortal Kombat 11 are enjoyable whether you fight as classic characters (like Scorpion and Sub-Zero) or newer additions (like Geras and Kollector). Defeating your opponents with gruesome fatalities is definitely part of the appeal, but you don’t need to memorize finishing moves to have a great time with Mortal Kombat 11—button mashing is OK! Challenge friends to intense face-offs, and be prepared to test the limits of your relationships.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of Devolver DigitalGiddy-Up GunslingerWeird WestGet your pistol holstered and ready, this dark adventure may get a little rowdy. Another role-playing game with a peculiar twist, Weird West is a recent release developed by WolfEye Studios and published by Devolver Digital, the Texas-based company known for critical hits like Loop Hero and Inscryption. You start the immersive sim as an out-of-duty bounty hunter searching for her missing husband. I encountered a few glitches while playing Weird West, but still found the overall experience to be unique and engrossing. Western tropes are imbued with fantastical elements as you control five core characters on your journey, some more monstrous than others.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Courtesy of MicrosoftClassic CampaignsHalo: The Master Chief EditionRelive the campaigns that started it all. Halo: The Master Chief Edition is a collection of six games reaching all the way back to the original Xbox launch title, Halo: Combat Evolved. Forget about Space Force, the United Nations Space Command patrols the skies and fights off interstellar attacks in Halo. The game was a cultural phenomenon in the early 2000s and remains a prime example of a single-player campaign at its finest.Available on Game Pass for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.Reece Rogers is WIRED's service writer, focused on explaining crucial topics and helping readers get the most out of their technology. Prior to WIRED, he covered streaming at Insider. | Video Games |
AP Rogelio Salas, Jr., 26, of Weslaco, Texas, was sentenced today by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard to 33 months’ imprisonment for threatening to shoot employees and a specific victim who worked at the McCook, Nebraska Wal-Mart.
On January 8, 2022, Salas, Jr. indicated he was outside the Wal-Mart with firearms and explosives and stated that he was going to enter the store with the weapons to kill the victim. Salas, Jr. made multiple threatening calls to the store, and the store evacuated all employees and customers as a result of the threats. Investigation revealed that Salas, Jr. was, in fact, in the State of Texas at the time that the threatening calls were made to the Nebraska retailer.
Salas, Jr. began a campaign of threatening and harassing the victim that started when the victim refused to play online video games anymore with Salas, Jr. because Salas, Jr. was using homosexual slurs during the video game sessions that offended the victim. Once the victim stopped playing online games with Salas, Jr., Salas Jr. began to contact the victim on social media and determined the victim’s specific workplace at the McCook area Wal-Mart. Salas, Jr. pled guilty to transmitting threats in interstate commerce on July 21, 2022.
For this conduct, Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Salas, Jr. to a term of 33 months in federal prison, the longest sentence authorized by Salas, Jr.’s plea of guilty. Judge Gerrard noted the disturbing frequency of threat cases coming before him recently and issued the sentence in part because of the fear that the defendant caused in all of the individuals at the Wal-Mart store that day and because it was all unnecessarily done over a video game dispute.
After Salas, Jr.’s release from prison, he will begin a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. DOJ Facebook Comments | Video Games |
If there’s one name synonymous with fighting games, it’s Street Fighter. Dominating arcades in the late 80s and 90s and spawning the living room-conquering Super Nintendo classic Street Fighter II, Capcom’s beat ’em up became a cultural phenomenon. But since the death of the arcade, fighting games have become more niche. While 2016’s Street Fighter V slowly became a competitive esports sensation, it lacked the earlier games’ universal appeal. Now, 31 years after Street Fighter II, Capcom is reinventing its prize fighter for a new generation. Visually, Street Fighter 6 is forging a new identity for the franchise, sporting an eye-catching aesthetic that combines unattainably bulging biceps with attacks that explode in a burst of colour.“I really want to make Street Fighter a game that everyone can play, like it used to be,” producer and series veteran Shuhei Matsumoto tells the Guardian. Offering a radical overhaul to its controls, Street Fighter 6 is a more accessible twist on spin-kicking, fireball-throwing fighting spectacle. A newbie-friendly control option ditches the classic six-button setup of high and low punches and kicks in favour of a simpler three-button structure, allowing first-timers to pull off a Shoryuken without spending months developing the muscle memory.Wisely, however, this new control method is entirely optional: veterans can still get their KOs the old way. “That’s our concept for Street Fighter 6: we need to not only meet the needs of hardcore fighting game fans, casual fighting players and those who love the world and characters of Street Fighter, but also players who are thinking of starting out with this new game,” says Matsumoto.The fiction and characters of Street Fighter – mostly explored in manga and anime spin-offs, so far, rather than in the games themselves – actually take centre stage in an intriguing new story-led adventure mode, inspired by the Dreamcast classic Shenmue. “The game is expanding beyond battles to include a World Tour mode, where you can explore the world of the game,” says Takayuki Nakayama, director of Street Fighter 6. Instead of fighting a lineup of opponents in a tournament, World Tour has players guiding a custom fighter through, for instance, the graffiti-coated streets of Metro City.“I felt like most of the Street Fighter games in the past have only been able to offer a versus mode and a training mode,” Nakayama adds. “So, I wanted to approach SF6 as if the versus mode were endgame content, and before you got into that, you would have an introduction into the world of Street Fighter … a way to get to grips with the game.”Get your kicks … Juri gives what for in Street Fighter 6. Photograph: CapcomThis contrasts favourably with the barebones offline experience offered by Street Fighter V, which launched without even a single-player arcade mode. It wasn’t until years later that V packed enough content to justify its hefty £49.99 price tag. “I know that we need to make sure the volume of content in the game is satisfying,” replies Nakayama, when asked what lessons have been learned.“One of the lessons of SFV was that communication with the fanbase is key,” Matsumoto adds. “For SF6 we definitely want to make sure that players get a very clear message from the director and the dev team on what it is we are making, and what we want to achieve.”As one of the first ever properly competitive video games, Street Fighter should be one of the world’s most watched esports, too. Thanks to massive health bars, mesmerising attacks and their simple 1v1 format, fighting games are contests that casual onlookers can immediately understand. But despite this, viewing figures for beat ‘em ups lag far behind shooters like Call of Duty and Fortnite. Is this something that Street Fighter 6’s creators want to chase?Here to spray … Kimberly is one of the new characters in Street Fighter 6. Photograph: Capcom“I think that the directness and readability of fighting games make them a great fit for esports. But I don’t think that the fighting genre necessarily needs to be the most watched in the world in order to have meaningful impact,” says Matsumoto. “I’m happy that we have a great fanbase and fighting game community who have been playing the games for years, and will continue to do so as long as we release them. I’m grateful for the support of the FGC [fighting game community] … that’s all I need!”Street Fighter 6 is still a year away from release, so much of Capcom’s colourful scrimmage remains a mystery – leaving the internet to spawn its own amusing theories. Thanks to snippets of dialogue from the trailers – and a particularly haggard-looking redesign of iconic character, Ken – fans have concluded that his old rival Ryu has stolen his wife. While the developers sadly declined to comment on the “Hot Ryu v Divorcee Ken” meme, patter like this is building a buzz in the gaming world.“I really think that we are making a new kind of Street Fighter in SF6,” says Matsumoto. For the first time in decades, Street Fighter feels unpredictable again. Street Fighter VI will launch on PC, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series S|X in 2023. | Video Games |
Do you want to become an actor who specializes in video games? Unlike film and television audiences, gamers recognize established actors’ voices—without attaching a name or face. Video game industry veterans may have fruitful careers, like Troy Baker, though they do not yet receive the same widespread name recognition as Meryl Streep or Morgan Freeman.Despite the lack of acclaim, video game actors reach a global audience, often for a longer duration per project than film or TV. But getting a foot in the door is a daunting task. How do I finagle my way into that very first role? What do casting directors look for when hiring for video games?Julia Bianco Schoeffling is a casting director, and she’s here to help. She’s worked as part of the casting department for a slew of games, from Cyberpunk 2077 and Aliens: Fireteam Elite to Tell Me Why and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Her newly released book, The Art and Business of Acting for Video Games, is available to purchase online.According to Schoeffling, the fact that big games even have a casting director during development is relatively new. This work was previously done by a game’s voice director, but directors’ needs are shifting. They’re searching for diverse actors who are comfortable putting on a bodysuit and a facial rig to do performance capture, in addition to vocal roles. “The casting demands have gotten more intricate and more nuanced,” she says. “The job has just become a bit too big for voice directors to handle on their own.”As a rule of thumb, you should approach acting for video games with the same seriousness you would give to movie and TV performances. You may need to be part of the SAG-AFTRA labor union to audition for many roles, especially those offered by large developers or publishers. In her book, Schoeffling lays out the basic info about agents, auditions, and taking care of yourself during the whole process.What does Schoeffling think is essential for success as an actor in video games? “I say acting classes before anything else. You can’t replace acting with gear.” When you’re ready to land that first role and feel confident in your craft as an actor, it’s not necessary to start by purchasing pricey microphones and gear. A wired mic plugged into a smartphone could be a decent enough setup for those testing the waters, and you can always upgrade incrementally as you get feedback about what sounds good and what doesn’t.You’ll also need to be familiar with the differences between a demo reel, which often displays your general talent as an actor, and a pre-tape, which is a request for specific lines of dialogue. You’ll notice that many people within the industry stray away from the phrase “voice actor.” Why? It’s limiting, and professionals increasingly take a holistic approach to acting. Especially for performance capture roles, the focus is no longer on those two vocal cords in your throat. Every muscle in your body can get in on the action.When going into an audition, make sure you understand whether the gig will be recorded in a studio or you’ll be expected to use your own equipment at home. For those who have the personal budget to get a new mic and accessories, check out the audio gear section of our guide to starting a podcast for relevant recommendations. In addition, read WIRED product writer and reviewer Eric Ravenscraft’s thoughts on the popular HyperX Quadcast S.You don’t need to identify as a frequent gamer to land roles in video games, but you should be familiar with the medium’s structures. Schoeffling recommends at least watching other people play. “The cadence and the energy and the speed. It’s different from animation. It’s different from film,” she says. Watching long-form Twitch streams or YouTube videos gives you a better idea of how other actors approach video games.What kinds of things do actors who play games in their free time need to understand about the development side? Schoeffling says, “I think the biggest thing to understand about game development is that it’s a long process. It’s typically not something that happens in a year; it’s something that typically happens in two to three years, sometimes seven.”Try your best to resign from shitposting on Twitter, as hard as that may be. Schoeffling confirms that actors do get passed over in the competitive marketplace due to the leaking of information or public airing of grievances on social media. Actors will also often be asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. She says, “I think that expecting an NDA or expecting that you are basically under NDA, even if you haven’t signed one, is a great practice. Discretion is hugely important.”Rejection is part of any burgeoning actor’s routine, and Schoeffling encourages people to grasp that a lot of the decision-making process is out of their control. It’s possible to lose out on roles for reasons that have nothing to do with your demo reel or pre-tape. For example, you could miss a callback because your voiceprint sounds a little bit too close to someone they already picked. Now, stop being so harsh on yourself! Seriously.“Actors will submit hundreds of auditions and hear nothing. The only thing you know is that you’re still getting auditions,” says Schoeffling. Don’t come into an audition expecting words of affirmation. Find people that you can trust, online or in-person, who will dole out encouragement.As an actor, it’s important to prioritize your mental health. Find laid-back hobbies or other modes of self-expression so your passion for acting does not become all-encompassing. Yes, you can make money acting for video games, but relying on it to be your sole source of income from the get-go is not financially prudent. Schoeffling says, “I know a few actors who have decided to have another career in addition to acting so that the pressure is not on every single one of their auditions to make their living.” There’s no shame in having passion for a creative pursuit that doesn’t pay your bills.Although it’s not always an option, actors from underrepresented backgrounds who publicly disclose their identity may receive attention from casting directors. “If you are comfortable with making sure that the outside world knows your background and your identity, those things really help us when we’re searching,” she says. “Yes, we search on the actor sites and whatnot, but we’re also on Instagram.” Look into groups like the People of Global Majority’s voiceover list, Voices of Color, and Queer Vox for more resources created to benefit underrepresented actors.Be protective of your labor and keep an eye out for exploitative situations. The job of a video game actor is not particularly luxurious, even if this is your dream career. Finding a supportive community can be as crucial as drinking plenty of water and clearly enunciating. Despite the lack of mainstream recognition, Schoeffling is optimistic about the future of the industry for actors. She says, “There’s starting to be a lot more respect put on games from the entertainment world.” | Video Games |
Story at a glance In the past, research on video games and children tended to focus on the potential detrimental effects of the hobby. New research published in JAMA Network Open suggests playing video games could be good for children’s cognitive performance. Those who played at least three hours each day scored higher on two cognitive tests compared with children who didn’t play video games. Amid an ever-growing set of studies detailing the negative effects of video games and screen time on adolescent health, a new investigation offers some good news for young gamers. Children who play video games for at least three hours a day may have better cognitive performance than those who never play the games, according to research published Monday in JAMA Network Open. However, authors stress more data are needed to better understand any potential harms or benefits video games may have on children’s developing brains. Findings are based on a study of nearly 2,000 children, marking the largest investigation ever conducted to asses the association between video games, cognition, and brain function. The investigation was carried out as part of the national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, which receives support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). “While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly caused superior neurocognitive performance, it is an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and young adulthood,” said lead study author Bader Chaarani in a release. America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. “Many parents today are concerned about the effects of video games on their children’s health and development, and as these games continue to proliferate among young people, it is crucial that we better understand both the positive and negative impact that such games may have.” Specifically, children who played video games scored higher on cognitive skill tests that measured impulse control and working memory. In general, they were faster and more accurate on both tests measured. Children who played video games also demonstrated more brain activity in regions associated with attention and memory than those who didn’t play the games. All children included in the study were either nine or ten years old and completed surveys about how much time they spent playing video games. Researchers collected cognitive and brain imaging data, in part by conducting MRIs. The three-hour-per-day threshold for video game playing was selected because it exceeds the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time guidelines, authors said. For older children, the group recommends one to two hours of video game playing per day. Data also showed the gamers had more brain activity in regions linked with cognitively demanding tasks, and less activity in areas associated with vision. Authors hypothesize this could be due to the cognitively demanding nature of some video games. Lower activity in visual areas among gamers could indicate this brain region might become more efficient at visual processing thanks to repeated practice from playing video games. But the study did not determine a cause-and-effect relationship. Children who are already good at the cognitive tasks measured may just choose to spend more time playing video games. Although the video game type was not assessed in the study, this factor could also affect findings. “Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems,” said NIDA director Nora Volkow. “This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.” | Video Games |
Video game maker Activision Blizzard is being sued by another female employee complaining of sexual harassment in the workplace, this time by a plaintiff who alleges a then-manager threatened to commit revenge porn against her.'Activision Blizzard is a massive video game company with a massive sexual harassment problem,' according to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought Friday by the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe.The suit alleges sexual battery, sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment, gender discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.Doe seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the company and former manager Miguel Vega, who quietly left the company in September.An Activision Blizzard representative could not be immediately reached for comment.It comes as the video game giant has been under the SEC's gaze for nearly a year, following bombshell reports of the company's toxic workplace environment with hundreds alleging incidents of harassment and discrimination. Video game maker Activision Blizzard is being sued by another female employee complaining of sexual harassment in the workplace, this time by a plaintiff who alleges a then-manager threatened to commit revenge porn against her. Pictured are protesters at the company's Irvine headquarters following more than 700 reported incidents under its current CEO Doe seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the company and former Product Manager Miguel Vega, who left the company in SeptemberThe company's open 'frat boy atmosphere' has fostered rampant sexism, harassment and discrimination with 700 reported incidents occurring under CEO Robert Kotick's watch, according to the suit. Her lawsuit demands include the removal of Kotick as CEO. Doe met Vega in 2009 or 2010, before her work at Activision Blizzard, and they soon formed a virtual friendship in which she sent him ‘compromising photos’ of herself, a decision she now regrets, the suit states.The relationship ended when Doe met her future husband in 2011, according to the suit.Vega helped Doe get independent contractor work at Activision Blizzard in 2016 and the company later hired her for a community engagement coordinator for the Player Support Department in 2020, the suit states. The company's open 'frat boy atmosphere' has fostered rampant sexism, harassment and discrimination with 700 reported incidents occurring under CEO Robert Kotick's watch, according to the suit. Her lawsuit demands include the removal of Kotick (pictured) as CEOWhile at work, Doe was repeatedly groped by Vega and he often attempted to kiss her, the suit further reveals.‘All of Mr. Vega's sexual advances upon Ms. Doe were unwelcomed,’ the filing reads. ‘After each time she rejected him, he'd assure her that, “One day it'll happen” or “One day you'll give in,”’ the suit states.Vega also belittled and insulted Doe, telling her that her ideas were terrible and that she was failing ‘a job a monkey could do' and that her opinions did not matter, the suit states.‘He never missed an opportunity to make her feel small,' according to the suit, which further states that Vega dismissed her as being too sensitive when she told him his comments were hurtful.Vega, as recently as August 2021, made one of many threats to release Doe's compromising photos, the suit alleges.The video game giant has been under the SEC's gaze for nearly a year following bombshell reports of the company's toxic workplace environment with hundreds of allegations of harassment and discrimination Activision Blizzard is the company behind popular games Call of Duty and Candy Crush. The company is currently in the process of a multibillion-dollar merger with Microsoft, which would make it part of the Xbox games division'Maybe I'll blackmail you with those pictures I have to get you to leave your husband so you can come stay with me,' Vega told Doe, according to her suit.That same month, Doe reported Vega's alleged revenge porn threat to management and Vega was fired the next month, the suit states. But Activision ratified Vega's conduct by allegedly failing to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, the suit alleges.Doe has suffered physical pain, mental suffering, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life, the suit states.Other sexual harassment suits also have been filed by women against Activision Blizzard, including one in March by another Jane Doe who alleges she suffered a backlash for complaining about sexual harassment and discrimination while working in the IT department.The claims from the anonymous ex-staffer coincide with other accusations of sex assault and 'frat house' culture at the company's Irvine, California headquarters. Last year, the company agreed to pay $18million to settle a lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of several anonymous accusers, following an investigation into claims it ignored their sexual harassment allegations.The three-year investigation looked into workplace complaints of allegedly pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard's offices in Santa Monica, California, and also alleged that female employees were paid less than their male-counterparts. A number of employees have spoken out in support of the claims, with more than 2,000 signing an open letter calling for the company to take action. Picture, protestors at a walkout last year in JulyEmployees of the video game company Activision Blizzard hold signs disparaging brass for the allegedly unsafe work environment at the video game giant at the walkout at its Irvine HQThe games developer behind bestselling titles such as 'Call of Duty' and 'World of Warcraft', said it would set up the $18million 'compensation fund' to provide payouts to eligible claimants.Last July, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the Fortune 500 company over what it called a 'frat boy' culture.The agency at the time cited how women make up just 20 percent of the company's nearly 10,000-strong workforce, and get less money, fewer promotions, are fired more often than their male coworker - and, most importantly, suffer from 'constant sexual harassment.''Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape,' the lawsuit stated.The suit named Blizzard President J. Allen Brack, who stepped down in August, and longtime World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi, who also quietly left the company last year. Kotick was in a years-long relationship with Facebook COO and former Clinton aide Sherly Sandberg until 2019. The credibility of the pair came into question shortly before their split, when it was reported that Sandberg took an active role in suppressing stories about a restraining order a woman hit Kotick with, in both 2016 and 2019It alleged that Afrasiabi had a so-called 'Cosby Suite' at a hotel during corporate events, where fellow staffers at times had to 'pull him off female employees.''During a company event (an annual convention called Blizz Con [sic]) Afrasiabi would hit on female employees, telling him [sic] he wanted to marry them, attempting to kiss them, and putting his arms around them,' the complaint reads.'This was in plain view of other male employees, including supervisors, who had to intervene and pull him off female employees. Afrasiabi was so known to engage in harassment of females that his suite was nicknamed the ''Crosby Suite'' [sic] after alleged rapist Bill Crosby [sic].'Remaining funds were donated to charities dedicated to supporting gender equality, women in the video game industry and victims of sexual harassment, and allegedly used to bolster Activision Blizzard's own diversity and inclusion initiatives.At the time, Activision Blizzard CEO Kotick said in regard to the scandals: 'There is no place anywhere at our company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind, and I am grateful to the employees who bravely shared their experiences. 'I am sorry that anyone had to experience inappropriate conduct.' Investigators again honed in on Kotick earlier this year after it was reported that Kotick and renowned stock trader and socialite Alexander von Furstenberg violated insider-trading laws when they met for breakfast in January ahead of Furstenberg's decision to buy shares of the company with his father, IAC Chairman Barry Diller, and fellow media mogul David Geffen. The three men bought shares at $40 each on January 14, days before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $95 a share - netting the three men $59 million in profit. Diller refuted the allegations, telling the Wall Street Journal that he and his associates knew nothing about the impending deal with Microsoft. 'We had zero knowledge of that transaction and it belies credulity to think that if we did we would have proceeded,' Diller said. 'It's equally unlikely to believe Mr. Kotick, a sophisticated professional, in a social breakfast with Mr. von Furstenberg and his wife would have told them of the pending transaction.' Investigators again honed in on Kotick earlier this year after it was reported that Kotick and renowned stock trader Alexander von Furstenberg (left) violated insider-trading laws when they met for breakfast in January ahead of his decision to buy shares of the company with his father, IAC Chairman Barry Diller (right), ahead of the still ongoing Microsoft merger Fellow media mogul David Geffen (above), Furstenberg and Diller all profited $59 million after Microsoft acquired Blizzard Activision days later for $68.7 billion, spurring a federal investigation into allegations of insider tradingThe company has since said that it is cooperating with federal investigators probing the allegations. Diller has served on the board of Coca-Cola with Kotick, whom he described as a 'long time friend.' Diller already has a net worth of $4.5 billion, while Geffen is worth about $10.3 billion and von Furstenburg is worth roughly $10.1 million. A spokesperson for Activision said that Kotick, who was in a years-long relationship with Facebook COO Sherly Sandberg until 2019, was simply enjoying a social brunch with his friends on the day he met with Furstenberg. 'He, of course, didn’t share any information with them regarding a possible transaction with Microsoft,' the spokesperson said at the time. Employees subsequently staged a mass walkout at the Irvine office to protest what they said was Activision's culture of sexism and discrimination. The credibility of both Kotick and Sandberg would come further into question that month, when the Journal reported that Sandberg took an active role in suppressing stories about her high-powered boyfriend in 2016 and 2019.Those stories were prepared by DailyMail.com, and revolved around allegations that one of Kotick’s ex-girlfriends filed a restraining order against him, alleging that he had stalked and harassed her after their separation.The Journal's report sparked an internal investigation by Facebook into their senior staffer, who assumed the COO role in 2008 after serving in the Clinton administration. The social media company apparently worried that Sandberg’s actions would reflect negatively on her reputation as an advocate for women. DailyMail.com elected to not publish the restraining order in 2016 and once again in 2019, shortly before the pair ended their relationship, after Kotick’s accuser largely recanted most of the issues raised in the filings. However, regardless of the existence of the restraining order itself, which was never in contention, the alleged cover-up of attempting to dissuade a news source from running a story serves as a major ethical breach. Sandberg has since been accused of leveraging Facebook’s role as a news aggregator to influence editorial decisions, though both Kotick and Meta denied that to DailyMail.com at the time.Activision-Blizzard, meanwhile, is currently in the process of a multibillion-dollar merger with Microsoft, which would make it part of the Xbox games division. In a recent court filing, Activision-Blizzard brass said the companies have not yet discussed Kotick’s role after the acquisition, which they cannot disclose while the process is ongoing.Over the past year, the company has received about 700 reports of employee concerns over sexual assault or harassment or other misconduct, in some cases separate reports about the same incident, the WSJ reported. Nearly 20 percent of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees have signed a petition calling for Kotick to resign.Vega, meanwhile, who worked at Activision for 13 years before suddenly leaving the company in September 2021, has yet to comment on the allegations. He currently works as a senior product manager at Canada-based video game software company Versus Systems, according to his LinkedIn profile.He, like his old boss Kotick, currently resides in Los Angeles.Blizzard-Activision has yet to comment on the allegations leveled in the most recent suit. The case is currently ongoing. | Video Games |
It’s the early 1990s, and you – a college dropout – have been tasked with babysitting your chronically disappointed father’s launderette business. It is not an exciting job. You pick up rubbish, you unclog the toilet, you load laundry into machines and take it out again. But in the back room, there’s a small collection of arcade machines to help customers while away the time as their shirts dry, and there’s enough money in their coin hoppers to buy a whole new cabinet. And so you begin the slow process of secretly transforming your father’s business into a thriving arcade, reinvesting the cash you make from washing people’s dirty underwear into buying more video games.Arcade Paradise is a low-key management simulator that goes at its own, fairly languid pace. You don’t have an enormous amount of influence over how much money you make or how fast you can expand; you do the laundry, and play games, and wait for money to accumulate. Dealing with customers’ clothes quickly gets you bonus cash, but why would you sit by the washing machine when you could be playing on the arcade cabinets round the back? There are more than 30 of them to collect, all charmingly inspired by 70s, 80s and 90s classics: there’s a cross between GTA and Pac-Man, a couple of twists on Space Invaders, a match-three puzzle adventure game, a zombie shooter. Frustratingly, they tend to require more time from you than the average wash cycle, so you have to choose between competently running the laundry and spending a satisfying amount of time with a game.Earning new games is the motivation for persisting with the day-to-day menial work, but unfortunately, most of them are disappointingly average. The old arcade classics have endured because they are masterpieces of game design, with just the right balance between the one-more-go frustration of failure and the dopamine hit of success. Most of these tributes don’t come close to the real thing, and so after a few hours, I was left wondering why I was working so hard to buy them. They do nail the look, though, whether vector graphics, 16-bit sprites or early 3D colour – right down to the cabinets themselves, and the in-game posters that advertise them. The feel of early 90s gaming culture is lovingly recreated here, and it’s endearing.Completing daily arcade-machine challenges earns you money on top of your laundromat income, letting you buy upgrades that make your work easier – such as, scintillatingly, bigger rubbish bags. But man, does it take ages to earn enough for significant improvements. I sank into Arcade Paradise’s rhythm pretty quickly, only to find that after a few hours’ play, EVERYTHING started to feel like work – including playing the arcade games. Trying to win a game of frustratingly imprecise digital air hockey to earn some cash while your watch is constantly beeping at you because it’s time to empty the dryers is not much fun. I never found a balance that let me properly enjoy either the laundry management or the arcade games. You’re always splitting your attention between them, and neither is interesting enough on its own.Arcade Paradise comes across as a little confused, sometimes: if the premise of the game is that you’re running an arcade in your father’s laundromat in secret, for instance, then why is your dad the one paying you bonuses for those daily gaming challenges? It has the feel of a game that changed shape a few times over the course of its development. Nonetheless, it is more than a collection of average arcade game tributes. Intentionally or not, it captures something of the ennui of young adulthood and 90s Gen X disillusionment with menial work – and how video games have always been a colourful escape from the boredom of everyday life. Arcade Paradise is out now; £15.99 | Video Games |
Arash Lahijani was a high school senior when he learned he could make money writing backstories for video game characters.A friend of his had paid a Fiverr freelancer $70 to do it for a Grand Theft Auto character, he recalls — so he started researching, and realized there was a market. Even better, it was something he could do as a side hustle after school and during weekends.A week later, in April 2021, he set himself up on Fiverr. Since then, he's earned $62,400 writing more than 400 character backstories for an online version of the video game Grand Theft Auto, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.In just his second full month on the platform, he made $9,700. "I never knew that writing could make me $10,000 in a month," Lahijani, now a 19-year-old sophomore at New York's Baruch College, tells CNBC Make It.Unlike professionals who develop characters and plotlines for video game studios, Lahijani specifically writes for users who play Grand Theft Auto 5 Roleplay, a multiplayer computer version of the popular console game. In this iteration of the game, players have to submit character backstories to join specific servers and play with certain users.Lahijani, now 19, says he's written about 400 Grand Theft Auto character backgrounds. Since April 2021, he's made $62,400.Arash LahijaniLahijani, whose clients range from "50-year-old dads to 15-year-old kids," doesn't make that kind of cash year-round. His extra income is reliant on how many hours he works, and as a full-time student, he can only commit three to four hours per day during the school year: In September, he only made $1,750.Here's how Lahijani learned how to write video game character backstories and how he plans to grow his income through writing:How to write a video game backstoryLahijani says his writing skills aren't from English classes or extracurricular interests. At Baruch College, where he has a full academic scholarship, Lahijani is studying statistics and quantitative modeling.Rather, he says his knack for storytelling comes from writing and listening to speeches. In high school, he was a grade president, the school treasurer and the founder of the computer science club. He also worked with the Nassau County district attorney's office, as part of a county initiative for school safety.Those public speaking experiences taught him how to write a "hook" around which his speech would revolve, he says. Those same types of hooks now serve as the first and last sentences of his character backstories, he adds.Lahijani, who goes by Jimmycanwrite on Fiverr, offers three types of packages for clients, which cost between $45 and $195 each. The most expensive option, which includes a 10-page backstory that takes about a week to write, is the most popular, he says.For those premium stories, he asks each client about their character's birthplace, age, job, strengths and weaknesses and their goals for the future — but those details aren't required. Lahijani actually says he prefers working with little or no context, because it gives him creative license to make up a story from scratch.Once, during a bout of writer's block, he turned on the TV and watched a weatherman. He imagined that person's backstory, and it became the plot of his next story, he says.With every character, Lahijani makes up a life event that affected their personality, explains why they're moving to Los Santos — the fictional city where this particular game is set — and what their aspirations are."It's a virtual world, so if I write about a liquor store owner, that's how he'll appear in GTA, dealing with people coming in to buy alcohol," Lahijani explained. "In my mind, I'm helping my clients see their character through major life events."Why his writing will stay a side hustleFull-time writers at video game studios make an average of $56,417 per year, according to ZipRecruiter. If Lahijani made his maximum of $10,000 per month, he'd earn two times more than that.For the most part, Lahijani uses that cash for practical things. He says he spent $12,000 on a used car and put $6,000 in a Roth IRA account.Sometimes, he treats himself and his family. He's put some of that money toward travel, and bought his mother a $1,550 diamond necklace for Christmas last year, he says.Lahijani says he doesn't plan to pursue a writing career after graduation, opting instead for finance and risk management — but he plans to keep writing as a side hustle.One satisfied client recently asked if he would write a customized children's book for their nephew's birthday. Lahijani didn't take them up on the offer, but it helped him realize he could apply his writing skills to more than just video games."I never realized I could be so skillful doing this, and now I think I could use writing to help other people do other things," Lahijani says. He recently posted on Fiverr that he wants to tutor high school students on how to write college admission essays."I want to give people the confidence to write," he says.Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss:This 32-year-old high school dropout turned his video game side hustle into a $105 million startupThis 24-year-old earns $3,000 a month as a professional video game coach—here’s what it’s like | Video Games |
Kevin Conroy Voice of Batman Dead At 66 11/11/2022 8:34 AM PT Kevin Conroy, known as the voice of animated Batman for decades, has died ... TMZ has learned. Kevin passed away Thursday, according to his rep Gary Miereanu ... following a short battle with cancer. The actor moved out to California in 1980, first getting cast in the soap opera "Another World" ... before working in theater and television for a number of years. Many remember Kevin as the titular voice of Batman for decades, first playing the dark knight in "Batman: The Animated Series" from 1992 to 1995. Since first breaking out as the comic book hero, Kevin's played the character on TV, in movies and even in video games countless times -- including "Batman Beyond," 2001's "Justice League" series, "Batman: The Killing Joke," and every Batman "Arkham" series video game. He took home 7 awards over the years for his voice acting ... including Best Actor for his video game work in 2015. Kevin wrote a story called "Finding Batman" as part of DC Comics' Pride anthology in 2022 ... going over his experiences in his life as a gay man. Fellow voice actor Diane Pershing, known for playing villain Poison Ivy alongside Kevin, shared her pain following Kevin's passing ... writing, "He will be sorely missed not just by the cast of the series but by his legion of fans all over the world." Kevin is survived by his husband Vaughn C. Williams, sister Trisha Conroy, and brother Tom Conroy. He was 66. RIP | Video Games |
Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York on Oct. 11, 2022.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesNext time you're bored on a Microsoft Teams call, try joining your colleagues in a game of Minesweeper.Microsoft on Wednesday added a collection of casual games to its Teams chat and calling service as the company tries to get people to spend more time in the app. Solitaire will also be available, along with a new game called IceBreakers created by Microsoft to help teammates get to know one another.related investing newsMicrosoft is attempting to cast Teams as the premier destination for work, expanding on a product that exploded during the pandemic, when employees were forced to gather and collaborate virtually. Teams is now available on most popular devices, and desktop software developers including Adobe and SAP have developed Teams integrations.By adding games, Microsoft is trying to sprinkle some fun into the equation and perhaps even strengthen bonds at work. Employees can come together remotely to win at a game of Minesweeper, a puzzle game with clickable squares that includes some virtual mines that must be avoided. People can also just watch the entertainment."Enhanced spectator mode allows everyone, whether actively playing that round or not, to follow the action and engage with the players on screen," Nicole Herskowitz, a Microsoft corporate vice president, wrote in a blog post. She likened it to the experience of watching "Jeopardy."Games are a familiar product for Microsoft. In addition to the whole Xbox franchise, which launched in 2001, the company has a host of ways to play casual games. The classic Klondike game, for example, is part of the Microsoft Solitaire Collection app for Windows.In January, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, which publishes first-person shooter games in the Call of Duty franchise, for close to $69 billion. The deal must first clear regulatory hurdles.Minesweeper and Solitaire both debuted with Microsoft in 1990. Solitaire, a variation of a card game from the 1800s, was a utility designed to help people get comfortable with Windows and learn to use a mouse, but it wound up becoming the most popular game on the operating system, The Washington Post reported in 1994. The newspaper said Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder and first CEO, had such a grave addiction to Minesweeper that he took the game off his PC.The big play now for Microsoft is getting executives to renew and expand their subscriptions to Office 365, a critical bundle that the company is currently rebranding as Microsoft 365. Office represented 23% of Microsoft's total revenue in the third quarter.Microsoft is even positioning games as a potential way to improve cognitive development. In an email to CNBC, a Microsoft spokesperson cited a study of over 2,000 children suggesting that those who played video games saw gains in working memory compared with those who did not play.As part of its new release, Microsoft is also bringing a mobile-friendly game called Wordament to Teams. The Boggle-like game appeared in 2011 after Microsoft asked employees to build Windows Phone apps in their free time, leading two staffers to devise the game as something for them to play with their wives. The game, which challenges players to spot words among a grid of letters, has racked up 1 million downloads on Android.The Microsoft spokesperson said the IceBreakers idea was particularly popular."As we tested different game ideas across Microsoft, this was one of the most requested game types, and we listened to the feedback to create this game," the spokesperson wrote in the email.Minesweeper, Solitaire, Wordament and IceBreakers are in the Games for Work app for Teams, which is available now for Microsoft enterprise and education customers. Administrators have to enable access to apps in Teams for users to play the games. The company will pull more games from partners into Teams in 2023, Herskowitz wrote.WATCH: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's art collection shatters record with $1.6 billion auction | Video Games |
HBO is adapting the critically acclaimed video game franchise into a television series. After decades of maligned Hollywood adaptations of critically acclaimed video games, the tide might finally be starting to turn. Several high profile TV series based on hit video games are currently in development, helmed by showrunners with a deep passion for the source material. Many also believe that television is an inherently better medium than film for adapting sprawling video games.
Of all the upcoming video game adaptations, few are as highly anticipated as HBO’s upcoming “The Last of Us.” Neil Druckmann’s post apocalyptic video game and its sequel are some of the most beloved games of the past decade. The artistry behind both “The Last of Us” and “The Last of Us Part II” has been held up as some of the best interactive storytelling in recent memory. And HBO has assembled quite the creative team for its adaptation. The upcoming drama series will be executive produced by the talents behind some of HBO’s most successful projects, as well as the minds behind the video game franchise. Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) and Carolyn Strauss (“Chernobyl,” “Game of Thrones”) will executive produce alongside Neil Druckmann (“The Last of Us” and “Uncharted” video game franchises), Evan Wells (Naughty Dog, the game’s development company) and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizlibash and Carter Swan. While some info, like the project’s release date, are still under wraps, we’ve gathered all the most up-to-date info about the buzzy show. Keep reading for everything you need to know about HBO’s “The Last of Us.”
Tyler Hersko contributed to this story.
Craig MazinSipa USA via AP
Craig Mazin is Spearheading the Show
After writing and producing a massive hit in “Chernobyl,” Craig Mazin could have done just about anything in Hollywood. He chose to spend his newfound creative capital on “The Last of Us” with the hope that it could usher in a new era of high quality video game adaptations.
Mazin discussed his work on the HBO series and the challenges of adapting video game IPs for film and television in an interview with IndieWire in August. At the time, Mazin noted that HBO’s willingness to support an adaptation of “The Last of Us” could mark a shift where Hollywood begins to look at video game adaptations with more seriousness.
“I don’t think the folks at HBO were necessarily plugged into the game world, but it would only take them 20 minutes on Google to realize that ‘The Last of Us’ is the ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ of video game narratives. Just by dint of the fact that they said ‘yes’ [to a 10-episode first season], you get a feeling that this is going to be different,” Mazin said in an August 2021 interview.
The series is written by Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who wrote and co-directed the video games. It’s a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, and Naughty Dog produce. “Beanpole” director Kantemir Balagov has been tapped to direct the pilot for HBO’s adaptation. Jasmila Žbanić and Ali Abbasi will also direct episodes of the show. “Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own,” Francesca Orsi, executive vice president, HBO Programming, said in a statement on November 20, 2020. “With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of ‘The Last of Us’ games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.”
“The Last of Us”Screenshot/Twitter
The Story Follows a Brother and Sister Traveling Across a Post-Apocalyptic United States
HBO’s synopsis for the upcoming series reads reads: Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
“The Last of Us Part II”Sony
Both “The Last of Us” Games Were Almost Universally Praised By Critics
“The Last of Us” video game was a critical and commercial success for Sony and Naughty Dog. The developer’s 2020 sequel, “The Last of Us Part II” was also a commercial success and sold over 4 million copies within its first weekend. The 2020 sequel was lauded by IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, who wrote that the sequel improved on the original classic in almost every way.
Pedro PascalEvan Agostini/Invision/AP
Pedro Pascal Plays Joel
“The Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal is adding another genre TV credit to his resume with his lead role on “The Last of Us.” And Pascal believes there are quite a few similarities between the ways the two shows approach their beloved source material.
“It’s similar to the way Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni treat ‘The Mandalorian,’ in how [Mazin and Druckmann] are treating ‘The Last of Us’ — it’s in good hands because they love it so much,” Pascal recently said. Well, clearly Neil created the video game, but Craig loves it so much,” he said. “So it really is made for the people that love it. And there’s some very intense storytelling for people who might be less familiar.”
Bella Ramsey on “Game of Thrones”HBO
Bella Ramsey Plays Ellie
Pedro Pascal is going to have some company in the form of Bella Ramsey. The “Game of Thrones” standout has been cast as Joel’s sister, Ellie on the show. And it appears that the two castmates are already getting along, as Ramsey has been known to joke about their lack of video game skills on Twitter.
Nick OffermanJordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Nick Offerman Plays Bill
In a piece of fan-favorite casting, Nick Offerman has signed on to play the survivalist Bill. He took the role over from Con O’Neill. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | Video Games |
A new study that was released last Wednesday revealed that people who identify as "gamers" are more likely to exhibit "extreme behaviors" such as racism and sexism. Getty Images A new study reveals that people who identify as “gamers” are more likely to exhibit “extreme behaviors” such as racism and sexism. While toxicity and radicalization have long been associated with gaming culture, the the study, released last week by Take This, a non-profit mental health organization working with the gaming industry and community, showed just how easily “gamer” identity can take over a person’s life — and where that can lead. “When the gamer identity is core to who you are as a person, that seems to reflect what we call toxic gamer culture, tends to reflect more exclusion than inclusion — so things like racism and sexism and misogyny,” research director Dr. Rachel Kowert told Vice Media. “All these things that we know exist in gaming spaces seem to be internalized by those who very closely identify as being part of that community,” Kowert said. In 2019, it was revealed by the Anti-Defamation League that one in ten young gamers between the ages of 13-17 had been exposed to white supremacist ideology. According to ADL research, far-right extremists use gaming communities as a hunting ground. Communities such as Steam and Discord are allegedly popular with white supremacists. The Anti-Defamation League that one in ten young gamers between the ages of 13-17 had been exposed to white supremest ideology. The Take This study, which examined the attitudes of more than 300 American video gamers, looked closely at the pros and cons of life inside these communities. “Gamer communities represent a double-edged sword,” the study noted. “On the one hand, they may provide a sense of connection and purpose for individuals who suffer from loneliness and insecurity. On the other hand, they may expose gamers to hateful speech and social toxicity that can increase their susceptibility to extremist propaganda.” “In the worst-case scenario, gamers may be lured into embracing extremist beliefs that lead them down the path to radicalization,” researchers continued. The definition of a “gamer” has been the subject of a heated — and sometimes toxic — debate. While toxicity and radicalization have long been associated with the video game community, the new study shows that how the “gamer” identity can easily take over a person’s life. For some, the term applies to those who play video games on PCs, while for others it means people who play competitive multiplayer games. Kowert says that issues begin rise when the “gamer” starts to merge their normal identity and their gamer one, a process called “identity fusion.” “We have individual identities and social identities. So I am Rachel, I am a female, and I’m a gamer. I love ‘The Witcher’. These are my social identities and are separate,” said Kowert. “Identity fusion is when the social identity, the individual identity, fuses together and you can’t tear them apart … The way in which fusion is shown to develop makes them more susceptible to more extreme behaviors,” she said. Communities such as Steam and Discord are allegedly fertile ground for white supremacists. The study found that players of “Call of Duty” were more likely to be racist and misogynistic than those who played “Minecraft”. “This can vary across communities depending on what kind of people that you are spending a lot of your time with,” said Kowert. “I don’t think it’s necessarily about content but about the community in which you’re being immersed.” Kowert also advised not to read too heavily into the study, saying that the topic of video games have long been sensationalized by the media and that she worries her research will be taken out of context. “I think that games are wonderful places that have more positive things to offer than negative things across the board,” she said. | Video Games |
A new study suggests that a person who strongly identifies as a "gamer” is more likely to be prone to “extreme behaviors” like racism, sexism, and defending their community at any cost. While toxicity and radicalization have long been known as issues afflicting some parts of the video game community, the mechanisms of how this occurs aren't fully understood. The new research suggests that a key part of understanding is knowing how strongly the “gamer” identity pervades a person’s life. "When the gamer identity is very core to who you are as a person, that seems to reflect what we call toxic gamer culture, tends to reflect more exclusion than inclusion—so things like racism and sexism and misogyny,” Rachel Kowert, the research director at Take This, a nonprofit that provides mental health information to the gaming industry and one of the paper's authors, told VICE News. “All these things that we know exist in gaming spaces seem to be internalized by those who very closely identify as being part of that community." It should be noted that this is only referring to a small, toxic portion of the gaming community, which numbers in the billions, as many positive communities and elements exist within gaming culture. That said, some extremists, especially those in the far-right, use gaming communities as a recruitment ground. Research has found that places like Steam and Discord are popular areas for white supremacists. It’s a problem that the industry hasn’t necessarily wanted to grapple with, but that’s slowly changing, and some game companies are now calling out misogyny. Even the term “gamer” has been disputed within the community, with the term frequently being used for toxic gatekeeping. For some, a “gamer” is someone who plays on PCs; for others, it’s only people who play competitive multiplayer games, or if you play on easy mode, you're not a gamer, and so on and so forth. The term can be exclusive for many and has been a hot-button issue in the community as of late.For the three studies the researchers conducted for the paper, they allowed the respondents to define themselves as gamers and didn’t offer an operational definition. The research was conducted by Kowert; Bill Swann, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin; and Alexi Martel, a psychology Ph.D. student, for the academic journal Frontiers in Communication. Each of the three studies surveyed hundreds of people who played video games and analyzed the gamers’ beliefs. Kowert said that to understand the research, you need to understand the concept known as “identity fusion.” They define this as when an identity is almost the defining trait of a personality, something that pervades all aspects of a person’s life. "We have individual identities and social identities. So I am Rachel, I am a female, and I'm a gamer. I love The Witcher. These are my social identities and are separate,” said Kowert. “Identity fusion is when the social identity, the individual identity, fuses together and you can't tear them apart…. The way in which fusion is shown to develop makes them more susceptible to more extreme behaviors." Kowert used the example of someone who was in the military for years and that identity leaks into all aspects of their life, until there’s not much difference between “Doug the soldier” and “Doug the father.” Those who have gone through this identity fusion are susceptible to “extreme pro-group behavior.” There is a subset of gamers who turn to video games for the community they may lack elsewhere in their life, and they form strong bonds within the subculture. In the paper, the authors dub this a “double-edged sword” as finding a community could be a positive thing for the gamer but it could also introduce them to toxicity and hateful speech. In the worst-case scenario, this may lead some to “be lured into embracing extremist beliefs that lead them down the path to radicalization.”Some in the industry are attempting to address the issue of toxic behavior and extremism in gaming communities. Games have also been used as effective counter-violent extremism tools as well, particularly through the use of bespoke ”serious” games in educational settings. Decount, a well-known game in this genre, walks players through the radicalization journey of ISIS and far-right extremists. Like every large community, gamers aren’t a monolith, so the study's authors decided to look at the difference between two popular gaming communities—Call of Duty and Minecraft. The paper found that anti-social behavior like racism and misogyny correlated stronger with fans of the Call of Duty series. “So this can vary across communities depending on what kind of people that you are spending a lot of your time with,” said Kowert. “I don't think it's necessarily about content but about the community in which you're being immersed.” The authors are quick to caution people from reading too heavily into this and more research is necessary. The effects of gaming have long been a hot topic issue, and often sensationalized by cable news and politicians looking to scare parents. Kowert told VICE News she always worries that her research will be taken out of context and used to attack the community. Kowert is clear she’s “not saying that all games are bad or all gamers are extremists.” “I think that games are wonderful places that have more positive things to offer than negative things across the board,” she said. “I think it's important that we have the conversation that games are being leveraged in this way, because we're not having that conversation, and therefore we can't mitigate it if we don't have the conversation."Get the latest from VICE News in your inbox. Sign up right here.By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. | Video Games |
Lillard's still playing Shaggy 20 years later in a new video game -- though he admits he didn't always want to be known for the role. It's been two decades since he first played Shaggy in the live action "Scooby-Doo" movie -- but Matthew Lillard is still finding new ways to step into the reluctant ghost-hunting hippie's shoes. The actor first donned the cartoon's infamous green and brown ensemble in 2002 alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Linda Cardellini, before a 2004 sequel "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed." Sadly, a third film never came to fruition -- but Lillard officially took over voicing the character in a ton of animated film, TV and video games after Casey Kasem retired in 2009. He's back lending his voice to Shaggy in the new video game "MultiVersus," which sees the character doing his best to hold his own in fights against others from the Warner Bros. Discovery catalog -- including Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, The Iron Giant and Arya Stark, voiced by Maisie Williams. Speaking with TooFab at Comic-Con over the weekend, Lillard said it's "awesome" to show a slightly more violent -- but still kid-friendly -- side of Shaggy, something we've never really seen from the character before. While he has yet to get his hands on the game -- which is available across PC, Playstation and Xbox on open beta tomorrow -- Lillard said he's "excited to get it out there and main as Shaggy and kick ass." With Shag putting up his dukes in the game, TooFab wondered what Lillard thought about the possibility of doing a more violent, R-rated movie "Scooby-Doo" update with his former costars too. We even floated out the idea of James Gunn -- who wrote the first two movies and was slated to direct a third -- return to the project. "Listen, I think that, if you can get the Snyder Cut of Batman out, I don't know there's a reason why you can't get that version [of 'Scooby-Doo'] out," said Lillard, pointing to the massive #ReleaseTheSnyderCut social media campaign that got Warner Bros. to throw more money at and eventually release Zack Snyder's vision for "Justice League," after Joss Whedon's cut was a box office and critical disappointment. "It's up to the fans. I think that people listen, especially these days, to social media, they listen to fans and that fandom is really strong," added Lillard, who agreed an R-rated reboot "would be a super fun thing to see." Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. While he's clearly on board to keep playing Shaggy as long as the projects keep coming his way, the 52-year-old actor said that wasn't always the case. In fact, Lillard said he actually "kicked and screamed" against getting stuck in that box at first. "At some point in my career, I was like, 'Do I want to be known as Shaggy for my entire life? The answer is no.' And then at some point, I started to realize the impact it has on kids, it has on generations of people and what that movie means to people, what the TV show means to people," he shared. "And the older I get, the more I appreciate the power the character has, so now I actually think it's one of the highlights of my life." "I think I do it really well and it's only one time in the last 15 years I haven't been asked back and that was for 'Scoob!'" he said when asked if he was pleasantly surprised the jobs kept coming. "Scoob!", of course, is the 2020 animated film in which Will Forte voiced the character. Of that decision, Lillard added, "I still think they made a mistake." An open beta of "MultiVersus" hits Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on July 26, 2022. | Video Games |
November 11, 2022 01:26 PM Actor Kevin Conroy, known for voicing Batman in cartoons and video games, died at age 66. "Warner Bros. Games is devastated by the passing of Kevin Conroy, the iconic voice of Batman in many of our game franchises, including Batman Arkham, Injustice, LEGO DC games, MultiVersus and many more," the company tweeted Friday. It owns all the intellectual property of the superhero and his legendary Batmobile. "DC is deeply saddened at the passing of Kevin Conroy, a legendary actor and the voice of Batman for multiple generations," the comic company tweeted. "He will be forever missed by his friends, family, and fans." GALLAGHER DEAD AT 76: LEGENDARY COMEDIAN FAMOUS FOR SMASHING WATERMELONS DIES Kevin Conroy. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP) "Heartbroken at the passing of my decades-long friend from the early days of our careers — both amazed at finding ourselves closely identified with superheroes — the late great Kevin Conroy," actor John Wesley Shipp, known for playing the Flash, tweeted. "Much love to Kevin’s family and friends. You are honored, Kevin, and missed already." Heartbroken at the passing of my decades-long friend from the early days of our careers—both amazed at finding ourselves closely identified with superheroes - the late great Kevin Conroy. Much love to Kevin’s family and friends. You are honored, Kevin, and missed already. 🙏🏼♥️🖤 pic.twitter.com/d8v4FjsOZC— John Wesley Shipp (@JohnWesleyShipp) November 11, 2022 “Kevin was a brilliant actor,” Mark Hamill, who played Conroy's opposite, the Joker, said in a statement. “For several generations, he has been the definitive Batman. It was one of those perfect scenarios where they got the exact right guy for the exact right part, and the world was better for it. His rhythms and subtleties, tones and delivery — that all also helped inform my performance. He was the ideal partner — it was such a complementary, creative experience. I couldn’t have done it without him. He will always be my Batman.” Conroy's voice would portray the superhero in 15 films, 15 animated series, which included nearly 400 episodes and more than 100 hours of television, and two dozen video games. He won one Behind the Voice Actors Video Game Voice Acting award for best ensemble and on for DVD Voice Acting. At the age of 17, Conroy earned a full-ride scholarship to Julliard, where he graduated in acting. He was first cast as Batman in 1992. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Conroy is survived by his husband Vaughn Williams, sister Trisha Conroy, and brother Tom Conroy. | Video Games |
October 25, 2022 12:26 PM Children who logged in three hours or more of video games scored better results on memory and impulse control tests, a study found. Children who clocked in three or more hours of video game play touted higher levels of activity in regions of the brain tied to working memory and attention, the study, released Monday in the JAMA Network Open journal, concluded. But the link may not be causal, researchers cautioned. CALL OF DUTY DEVELOPERS HELP UKRAINIAN REFUGEES THROUGH POLAND OFFICE “While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly caused superior neurocognitive performance, it is an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate,” Bader Chaarani, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, explained. The study analyzed data from the adolescent brain cognitive development study that is tracking roughly 12,000 children coming of age. Researchers assessed a subset of 2,000 who entered the study at the age of 9 or 10 and parsed out children by their reported video game habits. Three hours was selected as a threshold because it eclipses the recommended two-hours-per-day screen time cap for children by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "The researchers think these patterns may stem from practicing tasks related to impulse control and memory while playing video games, which can be cognitively demanding, and that these changes may lead to improved performance," a press release for the study explained. "Comparatively low activity in visual areas among children who reported playing video games may reflect that this area of the brain may become more efficient at visual processing as a result of repeated practice through video games," it added. Two possibilities offered for the disparity between avid adolescent gamers and their counterparts in the study are that children with stronger performance in those areas could just be more drawn to gaming or that video games can be cognitively demanding and boost brain performance in those areas. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Some studies have found links between video games and heightened "depression, violence, and aggressive behavior," but the "study did not find that to be the case," the press release noted. “This study adds to our growing understanding of the associations between playing video games and brain development,” National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said. “Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems. This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.” | Video Games |
Nintendo is offering another free game trial for Switch Online members. Until Aug. 24, subscribers can download and play the Pokemon fighting game Pokken Tournament DX at no extra charge.Released on Wii U in 2015 and ported to Switch in 2017, Pokken Tournament DX is a one-on-one fighting game featuring a roster of iconic Pokemon. A subsequent Deluxe Battle Pack DLC introduced two additional waves of content to the game, including two new fighters -- Aegislash and Blastoise -- as well as new support Pokemon and avatar items. During the free trial, players will be able to sample the entire game, and any progress made will carry over to the full title should you decide to purchase it afterward. The game will also be on sale in the Nintendo eShop for 30% off from Aug. 18 to Aug. 31.As mentioned, this free game trial is for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. The online service comes in two tiers. The base plan costs $20 per year and offers various benefits, including online play, cloud save backups, and access to a library of classic NES and SNES games.Last October, Nintendo introduced a premium "Expansion Pack" plan. This tier costs $50 per year and includes all the features of the base service, along with addition perks like a library of classic Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 games, as well as access to select DLC like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass.Pokken Tournament DX is one of several games featured during the 2022 Pokemon World Championships, which take place in London this weekend. The event is hosting dedicated competitions for various Pokemon video games, including Pokemon Go, Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon Unite. Fans who tune in to the online stream will be able to get free Pokemon for Sword and Shield. | Video Games |
The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $699,763 grant to terrorism and security researchers to study the cross section of extremism and gaming. “Over the past decade, video games have increasingly become focal points of social activity and identity creation for adolescents and young adults. Relationships made and fostered within game ecosystems routinely cross over into the real world and are impactful parts of local communities,” the grant announcement on the DHS website said. “Correspondingly, extremists have used video games and targeted video game communities for activities ranging from propaganda creation to terrorist mobilization and training.” The money is going to a joint venture between the Middlebury Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), Take This, which is a nonprofit specializing in mental health in video gaming, and Logically, a company attempting to solve the problem of bad online behavior at scale.The project will seek to develop “a set of best practices and centralized resources for monitoring and evaluation of extremist activities as well as a series of training workshops for the monitoring, detection, and prevention of extremist exploitation in gaming spaces for community managers, multiplayer designers, lore developers, mechanics designers, and trust and safety professionals,” according to the DHS announcement.Extremism and terrorist recruitment, especially among white nationalist and white supremacists groups, has been a prolific problem in the online gaming space. “Game developers in general—from small, independent studios to billion-dollar multinational corporations—have lagged in awareness of how extremists may attempt to exploit their games, and how their communities can be targeted for radicalization,” the DHS announcement said.White nationalists and other extremist groups have thrived in the online gaming space. For a few years, the digital storefront Steam was a hotbed of groups openly espousing Neo-Nazi beliefs and worshiping school shooters. The Anti-Defamation League has reported on the problem, but no one is quite sure just how widespread it is. Steam began quietly deleting the groups, but the problem persists.The people behind this DHS project want to change that. “I realized this was an area that was very under-researched (and by under researched I mean there was literally none) and it was then that I pivoted my work towards looking at hate, harassment, extremism, and radicalization in gaming spaces,” Dr. Rachel Kowert, Research Director at Take This, told Motherboard. She reached out to Alex Newhouse, the Deputy Director at CTEC, and the pair started researching the issue. “This grant is the culmination of our efforts over the last 2 to 3 years,” she said.It’s not a topic the U.S. Government has spent a lot of time on. Until the last few years, the federal government’s counterterrorism efforts were largely focused on the Middle East. The FBI investigated threats related to GamerGate and released its files on that to the public in 2017. Kowert and Newhouse took part in a roundtable discussion at the DHS in 2021. “At that time it was a lot of postulation because the research just is incredibly limited in this space,” Kowert said. Newhouse and Kowert presented some of their early findings at the Game Developer’s Conference in 2022. This grant will help them build on that. “From the preliminary work Alex and I have done, it is likely that it will lean towards white nationalism and white supremacy,” Kowert said.ORIGINAL REPORTING ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN YOUR INBOX.By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. | Video Games |
At the Warner Bros Games studio in Montreal, a 7ft Batman statue greets visitors at reception. Comics are crammed into every shelf between each desk. And rather than images of lattes and flat whites, the coffee machine proudly displays the bat symbol.So, it might surprise you to learn that the people who work here have killed Batman.For the team behind the new video game Gotham Knights, their murder was the answer to a big question: how do you do something new with a character who has been throwing the Joker in jail for 83 years? If you’re thinking that Batman has been done to death, you’d be right. Literally, in this case.“Yes, he’s dead,” says creative director, Patrick Redding, breaking the news to me at the scene of the crime. “Like, dead, dead,” he adds.In this new cooperative game, Batman’s cause of death is a mystery to be unravelled. In his place, instead of one Dark Knight, we have a team of four: Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin, who must step forward as the new guard of Gotham to protect the city from petty crime, organised mobs and supervillains. You can control and switch between the four as you wish, venturing into the five boroughs of the open-world on your Batcycle or swinging around the city by grappling hook to take on missions. By night, you fight crime and collect clues, by day, you level up and customise characters in your belfry HQ.The most recent Batman video games – the Arkham series, in which players took control of the caped crusader – enjoyed enormous global success, selling more than 30m copies and earning mass critical acclaim. It’s natural to compare the two – particularly as those games were partially developed by the same studio – but Gotham Knights feels significantly different. You can still play the whole thing solo, switching between the characters, but you can also play with friends online.“Sometimes you tackle a problem, realise that the solution is to take one important piece out and it flips the script on the whole thing,” says Redding, of the team’s Joker-like decision to bump off the Dark Knight. “Gotham City continues to be Gotham City, but now there’s no Batman keeping it in check. Then what happens? Who fills that vacuum? As soon as you start asking that question, it opens doors.”Surprisingly, they met with little resistance from DC Comics.. “Nobody wants you to kill Batman,” says Fleur Marty, executive producer on the game, “but they were surprisingly open to the idea.”Of course, finding a new way to interpret classic characters is nothing new, particularly in the comic-book world. One of the most prolific comic book writers, Mark Millar, is someone who has tackled it countless times before – and has learned exactly how to breathe life into characters entering their ninth decade, as the man who revamped Marvel’s franchises 20 years ago. He is now a senior studio executive at Netflix, having sold his company Millarworld (which published Kick-Ass and Wanted, among many others) to the giant in 2017. His books were the main inspiration for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from The Avengers to Logan. In his opinion, eliminating the world’s most beloved heroes isn’t just permissible but, well, great.No Batman to keep it in check … Gotham City. Photograph: WB Games“Killing off much-loved characters is wonderful. Killing off ones you don’t care about is the death of drama,” he says. “Game of Thrones is the perfect example of this. There’s an old editorial edict at Marvel that we shouldn’t kill characters because everyone is someone’s favourite. I couldn’t disagree more. Imagine the Red Wedding where they just had a lovely dinner and went to bed.”Without Bruce Wayne taking on bad guys, it’s other DC heroes, the villains, and Gotham itself – a dynamic, interactive city full of citizens – that keep Gotham Knights situated in the Batman universe you would recognise. That’s especially true of its bad guys: a particular highlight is Harley Quinn, who, while not totally reformed, is revealed to have been working with Batman pre-demise. I follow her mission through prison, fighting criminals, stealthily eliminating guards and searching for clues. It’s suitably madcap, with a final, bonkers jailyard fight set to a pop punk cover of Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca. It would be just as at home in a Suicide Squad movie.The team cite the Court of Owls Batman comic run from 2012 as a specific inspiration for this plot. That series tells the story of Gotham’s secret society and crime organisation, with themes of lineage and family which are also explored in this game’s narrative, with its found family of four heroes.A particular highlight … Harley Quinn. Photograph: WB GamesDifferent creators apply their own treatments to iconic characters all the time, be it in print, or on PlayStation. It’s part of the grammar of graphic novels. “You could think of us as one other self-contained standalone story in that universe of stories,” says Marty.“We’ve been fortunate to live in a time when comic book characters and concepts have really found their way into every corner of the mass market. The comfort level that the consumer has with the idea of different versions and characters has never been higher – we live in a world where everyone saw Into the Spider-Verse, so they don’t even balk at that any more,” adds Redding.But is there really no chance that Batman will somehow turn out to have cheated death? Or – like Buffy the vampire slayer – that his friends will bring him back?“Nobody believes it, but he’s dead,” says Marty, definitively. Ah well. I guess 83 years isn’t such a bad run. | Video Games |
A logo of Tencent is seen at its booth at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu WangRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHONG KONG, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) plans to raise its stake in French video game group Ubisoft Entertainment SA (UBIP.PA) as the Chinese gaming giant pivots to the global gaming market, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.China's largest social network and gaming firm, which bought a 5% stake in Ubisoft in 2018, has reached out to the French firm's founding Guillemot family and expressed interest in increasing its stake in the firm, the sources said.It is not clear how much more Tencent plans to own in Ubisoft, valued at $5.3 billion, but Tencent aims to become the single largest shareholder of the French company with an additional stake purchase, two of the sources said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTencent plans to buy a part of the additional stake in Ubisoft, the maker of the blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" video game franchise, from the Guillemot family, which owns 15% of the firm, three of the sources said.Tencent could offer up to 100 euros ($101.84) per share to acquire the additional stake, two of the sources with knowledge of the internal discussions, said. It paid 66 euros per share for the 5% stake in 2018.Ubisoft shares surged more than 10% after the Reuters report.Two of them added the Chinese firm will also seek to acquire shares from public shareholders of Ubisoft, to boost its ownership and become the single-largest shareholder.About 80% of the French firm's shares are owned by public shareholders, according to its latest annual report.All the sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.Tencent and Ubisoft declined to comment.Representatives of the Guillemot family could not be immediately reached for comment.The details of the deal have yet to be finalised and are subject to change, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is private.The planned stake purchase, Tencent's latest major foreign deal since a regulatory crackdown in late 2020, will help it offset some of the pressures in the domestic gaming market. China's video games market, the world's largest, has become fiercely competitive."Tencent is very determined to nail down the deal as Ubisoft is such an important strategic asset for Tencent," one of the people said.At the top end of 100 euros per share, Tencent's offer will be a premium of 127% to the stock's 44 euros average price over the past three months, and is close to its historical price ceiling at 108 euros in 2018.Tencent has submitted to the Guillemot family a term sheet - a non-binding offer describing the basic terms and conditions of an investment, said one of the people, with a price "way above" the company's current price to ward off potential competition.The aggressive offer also comes as global gaming power houses have been rushing to snap up quality independent game makers in recent years, which are in scarcity, two of the sources said.Tencent's senior executives flew to France in May to meet the Guillemot family about the purchase, two of the people said.($1 = 0.9819 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAdditional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Video Games |
Nintendo has formally launched its new animation subsidiary, Nintendo Pictures. Previously known as Dynamo Pictures, the animation studio was acquired by Nintendo back in July, with the deal officially closing Monday.Nintendo Pictures will create video content based on Nintendo IP. "Through our videos, we aim to make Nintendo characters known to customers around the world and create one-of-a-kind videos that will remain in their memories forever," a message on the studio's official website reads (as translated by Video Games Chronicle).Prior to its acquisition, Nintendo had worked with Dynamo Pictures on a variety of animated projects, including CG scenes for the Metroid: Other M video game and a series of Pikmin short movies for the Wii U and 3DS consoles. The latter were later released on YouTube.Nintendo currently has one announced animated feature in the works: a "Super Mario Bros." movie developed in collaboration with Illumination, the studio behind the Minions films. The first teaser trailer is set to premiere on Oct. 6 during New York Comic-Con. Join us October 6th at 4pm ET for the teaser trailer premiere of Nintendo & Illumination’s upcoming Super Mario Bros. film, releasing April 7, 2023. pic.twitter.com/1jEFnlvCnU— New York Comic Con (@NY_Comic_Con) September 22, 2022 The Super Mario Bros. movie is slated to hit theaters April 7, 2023. The film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach.Though video game film adaptations are nothing new, they've become much more prominent and successful in recent years. Sega's "Sonic 2" movie quickly became the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the US. Sony is also turning several of its properties, including The Last of Us and Horizon, into TV shows, while CD Projekt Red has found success with its recent Witcher and Cyberpunk Netflix series. | Video Games |
Touchscreens don’t always get the job done. Try one of these WIRED-tested smartphone controllers for your iPhone or Android instead.Mobile gaming has never been more popular. You can relax with a casual puzzle, indulge your tower defense addiction, or dip into some competitive shooter action. These days, there’s something for everyone. The latest phones can run demanding, graphically impressive titles, so ports of popular PC and console games are increasingly common, but they are not always fun to play with touchscreen controls. What you need is a mobile game controller.We tested several of the top smartphone controllers by playing various games for hours at a time to find the very best performers. These are our favorites. We've marked what platform each controller officially supports, though there may be others that unofficially work. And be sure to check out our many other guides, including the Best iPhones, Best Android Phones, and Best Mobile Games, to level up your gaming kit.Updated March 2022: We added controllers from GuliKit, GameSir, SteelSeries, and RiotPWR.Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: 8BitDoBest Overall8BitDo Pro 2With a unique combination of features, a thoughtful retro design, and solid performance, all at a reasonable price, this is the best mobile controller for most people. The D-pad is all too frequently a disappointment in phone controllers, but not here. The buttons are satisfying, and the analog sticks are sensitive. I love the subtly textured back, which adds grip. There are double shoulder triggers with two clever programmable buttons around the back so you can keep your thumbs on the sticks. This Bluetooth controller can connect to four devices, so you can easily jump between a Nintendo Switch, MacBook, Android or iOS phone, and Windows PC, or you can connect with a cable using the controller’s USB-C port. Just make sure you snag an 8Bitdo Mobile Clip ($15) to go with it.The 8BitDo Pro 2 has a rechargeable battery inside that’s good for about 20 hours, but it is removable, and you can swap in two AA batteries if you need. To sweeten the deal further, the 8BitDo Ultimate Software app for Android or iOS lets you remap buttons; tweak the stick, trigger, and vibration sensitivity; and even set up custom macros in your favorite mobile games. All this controller lacks is support for PlayStation and Xbox. Officially works with Nintendo Switch, Windows (Steam), Mac, Android, and iOSPhotograph: GulikitRunner-UpGuliKit KingKong 2 ProResembling a Switch Pro controller, the KingKong 2 Pro has a quality feel and good looks, with contrasting silver shoulder buttons and a black finish. It is textured for enhanced grip and feels comfortable in the hand for long sessions. Silky-smooth joysticks and satisfyingly clicky buttons make it a pleasure to use, and the D-pad is decent. The main innovation is the electromagnetic joysticks designed to combat drift. So far, so good (though we haven’t been using it long). There is also a programmable button for Auto-Pilot Gaming (APG), allowing you to record up to 10 minutes of gameplay and tap the button to repeat. The vibrate is strong, and there’s a six-axis gyroscope for Switch games.The GuliKit KingKong 2 Pro has a 1,000-mAh battery that's good for up to 24 hours. There’s a USB-C port and Bluetooth for wired or wireless connections. I mostly played Hades on the PC, but the controller worked well with Cat Quest 2 on my iPad too. Individual buttons make it easy to jump between your phone, computer, laptop, and Nintendo Switch. The lack of a companion app is good and bad; there’s a learning curve to calibrating features, and firmware updates must be manual. On the other hand, who wants another app? The controller comes with a snug, molded, translucent carrying case that just has room for the cable too.Officially works with Android, iPhone, Nintendo Switch, and WindowsPhotograph: GameSirBest CompactGameSir T4 MiniIf you’re not a fan of the cradle style and don’t mind just propping your phone up to play, this tiny controller is a pocket-friendly option. Even with my large hands, I like the feel. The offset twin sticks are smooth, and the buttons are responsive, but the triggers are shallow, and the D-pad is only passable. I love the translucent design and the internal RGB lighting that highlights the buttons (you can also cycle modes and choose from nine colors). Pairing is easy via Bluetooth 5.The 600-mAh battery is an inevitable downside, but it delivers up to 10 hours of gameplay, and you can recharge via the USB-C port. It takes three hours for a full charge. Vibration motors and a gyroscope make it a good pick for playing on the Nintendo Switch. The customizable Turbo button is handy for some games, enabling you to automate single or group button presses. I played a few hours of Cat Quest 2 on my iPad Mini and found the T4 Mini surprisingly fun to use.Officially works with iPhone, Android, Nintendo Switch, and WindowsPhotograph: BackboneFor iPhone GamersBackbone OneThe Backbone One (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a delight. Plug the Lightning connector into your iPhone, stretch the controller over it, and play. The buttons and bumpers feel nice and clicky, with super-fast response times, and there's broad support for PS Remote Play, Xbox Remote Play, and Steam Link, as well as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Google Stadia, and GeForce Now. Essentially, even if you don't love mobile gaming, this little controller can turn your phone into a console or PC. But the experience might change your mind about mobile games; I played Stardew Valley for so long I forgot I was playing on my phone. The built-in headphone jack is a nice touch.What really sets Backbone One apart is its optional app. All of the features are free for the first year. I love the searchable catalog of controller-supported games and the automatically recorded and edited in-game highlights. There's also an interface for seamless voice chat and multiplayer lobbies, as well as one-tap Twitch streaming and support for iOS Gaming Mode. (Note: As the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max have large cameras, Backbone offers an adapter for free; check the box during checkout or order one separately.) —Louryn StrampeOfficially works with iPhone, Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now, Xbox and PlayStation Remote Play, and Steam Link ★ Another alternative: The RiotPWR ESL ($70) is a more traditional controller with an Xbox layout that connects to your iPhone via Lightning cable for lag-free gaming and pass-through charging. If you can get past the unfortunate ESL brand color scheme (green and yellow), this is a solid pick for games on iOS or remote play from Xbox, PlayStation, or PC. It also has a headphone port, and there's an Android version too.Photograph: SteelSeriesFor PC GamersSteelSeries Stratus+Replacing its predecessor, the Duo, on this list, the SteelSeries Stratus+ is perfect for flicking between games on an Android device and your PC or laptop. It feels much like an Xbox Wireless Controller, with a similar button layout, although it has symmetrical thumbsticks with a disappointingly mushy D-Pad offset at the top left. You can connect wirelessly to an Android phone or Chromebook via Bluetooth LE 4.1 or use the USB-C port to connect a cable for PC gaming. If you crave wireless PC gaming, the Stratus Duo ($59) is still a better pick, because there’s no Wi-Fi support with the Stratus+, but you do get a smartphone clip in the box, and it’s a clever new design that folds flat for easy storage.While the Duo was prone to disconnecting from my Pixel 6, my week with the Stratus+ has been plain sailing. SteelSeries says the battery can go for up to 90 hours, and just 15 minutes of charging gets you 12 hours of gameplay. Playing bursts of Jydge through the week, there’s still battery life, and it feels slick and accurate. The Stratus+ also worked well with games in my Steam library without configuration, and it’s a recommended controller for Nvidia’s GeForce Now.Officially works with Android, Windows (Steam), Nvidia GeForce Now, and ChromebooksPhotograph: PowerAFor Xbox Remote PlayPowerA Moga XP-5 XIdeal for Xbox Remote Play, this controller will feel instantly familiar to Xbox owners, and it even has an Xbox button in the center, like the official model. It's much lighter, but there are solid standard Xbox buttons, grippy thumbsticks, and a couple of programmable pushers on the back. The only disappointment is the mushy D-pad and the lack of any haptics. The clip design is smart, with two adjustable joints and a cradle that expands to accommodate most phones. It even has minimal forked prongs that avoid the power or volume buttons on the side of your phone. The connection to your phone is a choice of cable or Bluetooth.With a 3,000-mAh rechargeable battery inside, the Moga XP-5 X boasts long battery life and can even double up as a portable battery pack. It charges via a MicroUSB port in the top, and there’s a USB-A port that can be used to plug a cable into your phone’s USB-C port (the supplied cable caters to both). Weirdly, there’s no Xbox support, so you can stream Xbox games from your console to your phone with Remote Play, but you can’t play on the Xbox itself with this controller.Officially works with Android, Xbox Remote Play, and WindowsPhotograph: GamesirFor Android GamersGameSir X2With a Nintendo Switch aesthetic and button layout, this controller is compact and doesn’t need much power, making it ideal for on-the-go gaming. It stretches open to cradle virtually any Android phone in its rubbery embrace, accommodating devices up to 6.8 inches long and 0.39 inches thick (it can even hold a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3). The textured sections provide great grip, and you get solid twin joysticks, a D-pad, and plenty of buttons, though the shoulder triggers are basic. It sports a USB-C connector for smooth gaming, with much lower latency compared to Bluetooth controllers.I tested it with the Pixel 6, and it felt tailor-made for twin-stick shooters like Jydge. It worked with most of the games I tried, but not all, and if you need to map keys, you must use the buggy and confusing Gamesir app. I do worry about the long-term impact of the swiveling USB-C connector on my phone’s port, and since there’s no power off button, you won’t want to leave your phone in it all the time.Officially works with Android, Microsoft xCloud, Google Stadia, and GeForce NowPhotograph: SonyFor PS5 OwnersSony DualSense ControllerIf you have a controller as good as the DualSense, you should use it every chance you get. It's a PlayStation 5 highlight that’s highly responsive, refined, and durable. And since it supports Bluetooth, you can pair it with your smartphone just as you would any other Bluetooth device (here’s a pairing guide). It won’t work with every game, and you won’t get the full benefit of the adaptive triggers unless you use it with the PS5, but it makes a great mobile stand-in. If you like the idea of playing PlayStation games on your phone, try the PS Remote Play app for Android or iOS.Add an Orzly Gaming Clip ($13) to mount your phone, and you are all set. You can also use the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller with smartphones (it pairs via Bluetooth, too.)Officially works with Android, iPhone, PlayStation, and WindowsPhotograph: MicrosoftFor Xbox OwnersXbox/Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller (White)If you already play on Xbox, you may as well use the Xbox Wireless Controller with your phone. We have an easy pairing guide, and it’s a cinch to pair with an iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or tablet via Bluetooth. It may require configuration for some games, and it’s not going to work with everything. If you are an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, find out how to stream Xbox and PC games on your Android phone. Add a PowerA MOGA Mobile Gaming Clip ($10) to mount your phone, and game on.Officially works with Android, iPhone, Xbox, and WindowsPhotograph: NintendoFor Nintendo OwnersNintendo Switch Pro ControllerYou can use a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller with Android, but sadly there’s no official iOS support. To connect to an Android device, simply hold down the sync button on the top of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller until it starts flashing. Turn on Bluetooth on your phone and go to Settings, Connected devices, and choose Pair new device, then select the Pro Controller. Just like the PS and Xbox controllers, it won’t work perfectly with every game.Officially works with Nintendo Switch and AndroidPhotograph: IogearFor Mouse and Keyboard FansKeymander 2 MobileFor some of us, playing a first-person shooter just doesn’t feel right without a keyboard and mouse. This unusual niche device enables you to play on an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone with a wired or wireless keyboard and mouse, but it does so in a confusing, cobbled-together kind of way. You need either the official Sony PlayStation 4 controller or Microsoft Xbox One wireless controller with Bluetooth (specifically Model 1708), and those connect via MicroUSB cable to the Keymander 2. It's essentially using the controller support to connect the mouse and keyboard, and you configure them in the K2 Mobile Game Dock app.The dock is a little flimsy, but it managed to hold my iPad in place, with ports in the side and back for plugging everything in. I struggled to get it all working, as the instructions are not the clearest, but once it was hooked up and configured, playing Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Minecraft was a breeze. The Keymander 2 Mobile could also work well for remote play on PlayStation or Xbox or for a streaming service like Stadia. Just be aware that only games with controller support work well, and you do need to tweak settings frequently for best results.Officially works with iPhone, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation Remote Play, and Google Stadia Simon Hill has been writing about tech for more than a decade. He is a regular contributor to WIRED, but you can also find his work at Business Insider, Reviewed, TechRadar, Android Authority, USA Today, Digital Trends, and many other places. Before writing, he worked in games development. He lives... Read moreLouryn Strampe is a product writer and reviewer at WIRED covering a little bit of everything. She especially loves discounts, video games … and discounted video games. She previously wrote for Future PLC and Rakuten. She currently resides in northern Illinois with two fluffy cats. | Video Games |
By Liv McMahonTechnology teamImage source, Getty ImagesElectronic Arts (EA) has admitted to scoring "a pretty spectacular own goal" after mistakenly pricing its Fifa 23 Ultimate Edition on India's Epic Games store at 4.80 rupees ($0.06; £0.05).Buyers rushed to pre-order the game last month after a decimal point error saw its price discounted online by 99.98%.The games publisher has since agreed to honour the bargain pre-purchases.Fifa 23 will be EA Sports' final game in the bestselling football series.EA's sports division announced earlier this year it will stop making Fifa-branded titles. The publisher will continue to make football video games, but from 2023 it will come under a new banner, EA Sports FC.The announcement, in May, brings to an end a 29-year partnership between EA and Fifa, with licensing costs cited as one of the reasons behind the publisher's decision. Fifa has said it plans to release its own rival games.This finale, for EA - as well as the arrival of women's teams in the latest version - has helped to generate excitement around the forthcoming release.Rogue decimal pointFifa Ultimate Editions are typically more expensive than standard editions of the game because they offer extras such as more limited edition tradeable player items, extra Fifa points and access before the official launch.In India, the 2023 version is priced at 4,800 rupees ($60/£50), with the Standard Edition costing 3,499 rupees ($44/£36).News of the pricing mishap spread online, with people on social media alerting fans worldwide that the game could be bought from Epic Games India store for just 5p. The error was quickly resolved - leaving buyers who had snapped up copies fearing their purchases might be cancelled or refunded.But EA Sports and Epic Games emailed purchasers this week to say that the sales will be honoured.EA Sports' Fifa team admitted it was "our mistake", Fifa 22 was the franchise's most successful edition and shortly after its official launch, EA Sports revealed that 9.1 million players had joined the game and 460 million matches had been played within its first week. | Video Games |
The 67-year-old "West Wing" star went looking for a new challenge and wound up with a career-best performance in 2022's biggest video game. The prologue of “God of War Ragnarök” peaks with a dramatic moment that fans of Sony’s blockbuster video game franchise have been waiting for since it was teased at the end of the previous installment in 2018: The reveal of the saga’s big bad, a Norse deity whose obsessive desire to rip apart the fabric of fate itself has severely complicated the former God of War’s quest to scatter his wife’s ashes from the highest peak in all the nine realms and establish an emotional bond with the child he seldom refers to by name.
The wall of ice between Kratos (Christopher Judge) and Atreus (“Mid90s” breakout Sunny Suljic) has only gotten more frigid now that the boy is a bonafide teenager, and with Fimbulwinter blanketing Midgard under mile-deep sheets of white snow — the cold snap heralding the deadliest battle the world has ever known — it seems unlikely that things between father and son will begin to thaw anytime soon. That’s when they hear someone knocking outside the hidden safe house where our heroes are trying to hole up until Ragnarök blows over. Atreus opens the door to find a slender balding white guy in his late sixties, complete with a thick beard, a severe eyepatch, and a coterie of ravens flapping around him. “You know who I am,” the stranger announces with a threatening softness that makes it obvious he isn’t asking. And even if you haven’t played the previous “God of War,” odds are that you’ll instantly know who he is too: acclaimed character actor Richard Schiff.
Well, technically he’s Odin, but unlike the rest of the characters in this photorealistic video game, the Allfather has unmistakably been modeled after the actor whose motion-capture performance brought him to life. Needless to say, it’s pretty jarring to see Toby Ziegler from “The West Wing,” Elijah Wood’s dad from “Deep Impact,” and a middle-aged Jew from New York (via Bethesda) stride into the heart of a Norse mythology and bend the entire world to his whims.
It’s even more jarring to see the immediate effect that Schiff’s presence has on the story, as his deceptively relaxed (and deeply sinister) take on the most powerful of the gods helps ground this convoluted soap opera in raw human emotion from start to finish. While “Ragnarök” can sometimes be guilty of straining to look and feel like a 30-hour Marvel movie, it manages to get away with that for one simple reason: The MCU has never had a bad guy this good.
Video games have been home to a number of similarly affecting mo-cap performances over the last few years, with masterpieces like “Death Stranding” and “The Last of Us Part II” offering some of the richest parts that a modern actor could hope to find in any medium, but Schiff’s work here just hits different. His Odin eschews the heightened theatricality that people tend to associate with cut-scenes and/or cosmic melodrama in favor of the same kind of sotto voce cynicism that made him such a perfect foil to pure-hearted characters in movies as disparate as “I Am Sam” and “Wakanda Forever.” Desperate to manipulate Atreus into helping him crack the mysteries of the universe, Schiff’s version of the character doesn’t give a shit about fathers and sons, the fate of the Giants, or any of the petty mortal concerns that motivate people to do his bidding. He’s too busy obsessing over a god-tier version of the same existential crisis that we humans know all too well; the difference that drives him mad is that Odin might actually be powerful enough to solve it.
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
As a result, the Allfather fittingly seems to exist outside and above the rest of the story around him, as if even a larger-than-life figure like Kratos were just a stray thread in a tapestry whose full scope he could never hope to understand. That’s exactly the effect “Ragnarök” director Eric Williams was hoping to achieve when — of all the more famous stars at his disposal — he created Odin for a veteran actor whose energy feels as far removed from video games as it gets.
Sure enough, Schiff was as surprised to be offered the part as gamers have been to see him play it. “It was completely out of the blue,” the actor told IndieWire during a video interview. “The idea had never crossed my mind. My manager called while I was driving in my car with my son and so I put him on speakerphone and he goes ‘I’ve got this interesting offer to do a video game.’ And my son’s head perks up. And then my manager says ‘It’s ‘God of War,’ at which point my son’s head hit the roof and he just started going, ‘Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it.’ I ask, ‘What is it?’ and he goes, ‘Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it do it.’”
Gus, then in his mid-twenties, had spent decades trying and failing to get his dad into video games, but nothing had stuck. “I was never into arcades or pinball,” Schiff explained. “I was never into Space Station or whatever…” he trailed off, either referring to “Space Invaders,” Sony PlayStation, or some delightfully Boomer-ized combination of the two. But Schiff’s son insisted that “God of War” was, in his estimation, “the best game ever,” and that was enough to convince his dad to take what must have been an amusingly unusual meeting.
Schiff remembers going into Santa Monica Studios, asking for a synopsis of the story so far, and recoiling in horror at the suggestion that he simply watch them play through ‘God of War’ for him: “I was like, I can’t sit through the whole game.”
On the one hand, that would be a pretty long sit for anyone. On the other hand, you’re probably not going to find Richard Schiff on Twitch anytime soon. Still, Schiff insists that he was extremely open to the idea, and not only because he’d been in the mix to play Odin in Starz’s “American Gods” show before the role went to Ian McShane, and felt a lingering affinity for the character. At the end of the day, what really convinced Schiff to say yes was that Santa Monica Studios wanted him — specifically him — for a juicy role that would depend on his signature dryness while also forcing him to do something that he’d never done before.
“It’s not like they were coming to me before going to Robert Downey, Jr., you know what I mean?,” Schiff said. “When I get a good part in a film it’s almost an accident, but here I believe they had conceived one with my voice in mind. This was no ordinary thing, and I didn’t quite know what I was getting into.”
Schiff is no stranger to blockbuster entertainment and the special effects that come with it (we’re talking about a guy who was getting eaten by T-rexes in “The Lost World” before some of you IndieWire readers were even born), but he tends to be sidelined from the action in his role as a senator or whatever. This time he’d be right in the thick of things, wearing those silly-looking spandex suits with the cameras and light bulbs all over them, and eventually squaring off against the God of War himself.
“The movie business doesn’t really care about me anymore, and I’m on a TV show now that’s very, very easy,” Schiff said of his work on ABC’s medical drama “The Good Doctor.” “It’s offering me retirement money, but it’s remarkably unchallenging. Here and there I’m in scenes that we collaborate on that I certainly push to get elevated, but it’s a factory and I’m very comfortable in that environment.”
If there’s one thing that keeps veteran actors up at night, it’s the fear of getting too comfortable. “Directors are always saying, ‘Are you comfortable?,’” Schiff said, “and I’m just going, ‘God, I hope not.’”
Richard Schiff on the set of “God of War Ragnarök”
To say that playing the lead villain in “Ragnarök” offered Schiff a chance to break free of that deadening comfortability would be an understatement. Not only was it his first performance in a video game, he was being dropped into a sequel alongside an experienced cast of mo-cap actors who were reprising the same roles they had already made iconic within the “God of War” fanbase; it was the equivalent of an undrafted hockey player making their professional debut at the all-star game and the Stanley Cup Finals all at once. “I think every scene — every single thing I did on this show — had the element of fear of not knowing if I’m going to get it or not,” Schiff said. “And that’s not a bad thing. I was uncomfortable in the way that makes the work better.”
By that logic, perhaps Schiff’s work in “Ragnarök” is so extraordinary because fate conspired to make him uncomfortable in so many different ways. As if being the only n00b on set wasn’t hard enough, the game’s creative team neglected to tell Schiff that all of his scenes would have to be shot in single unbroken takes, as there are no “cuts” in either “God of War” or its sequel (which I have to imagine makes “Ragnarök” the longest oner ever devised). “They welcomed me and my instincts into their world,” Schiff said, “and they encouraged me to play around and improvise or whatever, but shooting everything as a oner means you can’t be bad. You can’t come up with an improv that doesn’t work and then just continue the scene.”
And while seven seasons of “The West Wing” were probably enough to put Schiff’s face on the Mt. Rushmore of walk-and-talks, his work on “Ragnarök” was further complicated by the fact that he had to do it while recovering from being hospitalized with COVID. “I got it really badly,” he said,” and I was still laboring physically when we started shooting in May of 2021. I literally didn’t have the lung capacity to get through some of these takes, … but it also kept me even more present, because I didn’t necessarily want to do the shots six times.”
Richard Schiff on the set of “God of War Ragnarök”
If staying present would seem to be the hardest part of acting out a mythological epic on a sterile Los Angeles soundstage in high-tech pajamas, the one-take approach — combined with Schiff’s inexperience and his rather pressing concerns about asphyxiation — colluded to help keep him in the moment and drill even deeper into Odin’s nature. Whereas Christopher Judge and the rest of the cast had developed a tendency to watch the monitors during takes so that they could see how their choices would be reflected in the game, Schiff made it his mission to get their full attention; to pull every ounce of their focus and put the egomaniacal Allfather at the center of their worlds. “Their job is to be right with the image,” Schiff said, “but since they’re experts at this they’re able to keep one eye on the screen as they act. So I’d find a way to get their attention and be like ‘Look at me, motherfuckers!,’ which is an easy thing for Odin to do.” That friction between screen and reality allowed Schiff to rediscover his favorite space as an actor: That liminal area where intentions overlap. “I don’t care what I do, I don’t care what you do, I care what happens in between,” he said. “I live for those moments.”
Inexperienced at this in some ways but extremely wise in others, Schiff also looked for Odin-like ways to leverage his weaknesses into strengths. “Christopher Judge could kill me with a pinky poke,” Schiff said. “He’s the size of a tank. Thor [Ryan Hurst] is seven times my size. So that played a part in how I figured Odin out. I remembered a kid name Ricky from my days at P.S. 144; he was the littlest guy in New York, but he was Napoleon. He once asked me if he could cheat off my French test and I said ‘yeah’ and the next thing I knew I was the star of the yard and being invited to all the punchball games because I helped him out. And I couldn’t get over how this kid was able to ascertain that kind of influence over everyone around him.”
That first-hand experience dovetailed with a natural fascination that Schiff inherited from the darkest chapters of Jewish history. Born 10 years after the Holocaust, Schiff grew up hearing stories about the consequences of authoritarianism, the cumulative effect of which moved him to study modern European history. “I could never understand how people can be manipulated en masse to perform at the pleasure of tyrants,” he said, “And now, of course, I’ve lived long enough to see exactly how that can happen.”
Richard Schiff on the set of “God of War Ragnarök”
Schiff rightly described Odin as having more in common with Putin (shrewd and unreadable) than Trump (oafish and boring), but his performance hooks into the fatal hubris they share between them, and the insecure loneliness that undergirds the barbarity of all such monsters.
“That’s an easy thing for me to hook into,” Schiff said, “and I have a tendency to be attracted to characters who are alone in the world. If they’re not, I kind of push them in that direction because I think that’s where my voice is coming from. I have a desperate need to understand all the things that everyone else seems to get,” he continued, summoning visions of Odin isolating himself in his study and obsessing over the rift in the universe while the rest of Asgard drank and fucked and enjoyed their good fortune as rulers of the universe. “Even in high school, everyone understood the social nature of getting together and partying and getting high,” he continued. “I didn’t get that. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know how to do it. And so I was someone who was always alone watching and observing like the other kids were gorillas at the zoo. And I think Odin has some of that because he considers himself to be different, and he needs to control everything because there’s something so desperately shaky about his inner core.”
Without suggesting that Schiff would have become a similar kind of sociopath if not for the human connection he found through the arts, listening to him talk made it easy to appreciate the vitality he gets from sharing the “in between” with other actors, especially when he wearily lamented the consequences that Odin suffers as a result of his all-consuming obsession. “Constantly manipulating for power, status, or whatever else can’t help but result in paranoia,” Schiff said, “and because of that paranoia Odin is never going to have a friend. And just look at his marriage” (for those unfamiliar with Norse lore, Odin’s love life is… unstable).
For his part, Schiff has been married to actress Sheila Kelley, who co-stars with him on “The Good Doctor,” since 1996, and he obviously still spends quality time with their children. More to the point, it’s clear that he still feeds off the energy he gets from discovering the spark in a great scene, and he isn’t at all pretentious about where he’s able to find it.
“I’m not saying this for any political reason, but I’m genuinely stunned by how brilliant the people who made this game are and how much they love what they do and how much they respect and give space to the creativity of the people around them,” Schiff said. “I haven’t experienced that very much in my career. I saw it recently with ‘Till’ director Chinonye Chukwu when I was in her movie ‘Clemency.’ That set had that feeling. ‘The West Wing’ of course had that feeling. And a few other projects.”
Now that he’s gotten another taste of it, Schiff seems as motivated as ever to keep looking for that feeling again. “I’m still very, very hungry,” he insisted, and satisfying that hunger has — against all odds — resulted in the veteran character actor starring in both the biggest movie and video game in the world at the same time.
Well, “starring in” might be an overblown way to describe his role as the U.S. Secretary of State in “Wakanda Forever,” but it would seem that Marvel has a healthy respect for his contributions, as the first thing you see when the movie fades to black are the words: “special appearance by Richard Schiff.”
When asked what kind of wizardry his agents used to make that happen, Schiff insisted that he doesn’t know or care about the credits, but he suggested that it was meant to be the start of a beautiful friendship. “I don’t even know what I’m allowed to say, but I hope there’s more in that universe for this character. I don’t know if there is or not, but I think that credit might have been with the idea that that was coming.”
After his unexpected experience with “Ragnarök,” Schiff has never been more comfortable to let fate take its course, or to embrace the idea that his future as an actor might still be full of surprises. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | Video Games |
Big screen Mario is here. Image: UniversalUniversal, Illumination, and Nintendo just smashed the question mark block that is their upcoming animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie—but it wasn’t a mushroom or flower that popped up. It was a first-look teaser trailer.OffEnglishThe trailer debuted at New York Comic-Con and gives us a tantalizing look at the film, which is hitting theaters on April 7, 2023. As previously announced, Chris Pratt is voicing Mario, Charlie Day is Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy is Peach, Jack Black is Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key is Toad, Seth Rogen is Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen is Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson is Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco is Spike. Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario from the video games, will also appear.The first word of the Super Mario Bros. film hit back in 2017 and it’s been in the works ever since. Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination, which is known for the Despicable Me and Minions movies, is producing along with the Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are directing from a script by Matthew Fogel.No matter what you think of the trailer, or the end product, it’s easy to imagine just how important this film is to everyone involved. Nintendo got more than a little burned back in the 1990s with the live-action film, to a point where it basically closed its doors to movie studios for decades, with the notable exception of Pokémon. If Mario works, who knows what could be next? The Legend of Zelda? Metroid? Mario Kart? Luigi’s Mansion? Truly the possibilities are endless.What are your thoughts on this? Are you worried about the voices? Is Mario still a big enough draw for the film to be a hit? Is Illumination the right partner for Nintendo? Let us know below.Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. | Video Games |
An attendee uses a Microsoft Xbox One controller while playing a video game at the Paris Games Week, a trade fair for video games in Paris, France, October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAug 10 (Reuters) - Gaming companies are facing a slowdown in demand for video games from pandemic highs, raising doubts about their ability to weather an economic downturn.Rising prices and a lack of hit titles have added to problems for video game publishers Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) and Electronic Arts (EA.O) that are also battling supply-chain delays and a shift in consumer choices due to easing lockdowns.The latest proof of that came on Tuesday from gaming platform Roblox (RBLX.N) whose revenue growth eased to just 30% from 83% two quarters ago. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. consumer spending on video games fell 11% in June and is expected to decline 8.7% this year, data from analytics firm NPD showed."The job market is still hot, there is plenty of froth on the economy causing aggressive inflation and the relaxation of COVID restrictions are leading consumers to consider spending on more experiences outside of the home," Jesse Divnich at SVP Games Research said.Activision Blizzard reported smaller-than-expected quarterly profit, while rival Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO.O) warned of disappointing sales ahead."When you have 50% of big bank economists saying we might be in a recession in the next quarter or two, my attitude is... we're in a recession and... we are seeing some softness," Take-Two top boss Strauss Zelnick told analysts.Console makers too have taken a hit as gaming revenue dropped for Xbox-maker Microsoft (MSFT.O), while PlayStation-maker Sony (6758.T) cut its forecast and Nintendo (7974.T) posted lower sales.The weak demand comes as double whammy for these firms that are struggling with component shortages.Gaming chipmakers are seeing a knock-on effect of the cooling demand. Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) said sales of its sales of graphic gaming cards fell, while Nvidia (NVDA.O) flagged a 19% sequential drop in revenue.Analysts and company executives, however, expect the industry to grow above pre-pandemic levels, leaning on the launch of delayed titles and an easing of parts shortages.Data firm Newzoo showed the global games market will generate $196.8 billion in 2022, gaining 2.1% compared to a 7.6% jump in 2021."Video games aren't bulletproof, but they do tend to fare well during challenging times," Steven Bailey, an analyst at research firm Omdia said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Tiyashi Datta, Ankur Banerjee, Eva Mathews and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Video Games |
CNN — Life would be much more simple with a few directions. A status bar, for instance, to remind you to take care of yourself. Perhaps a few clues about other people’s intentions. Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a place to experiment with it all, free from real-world consequences and the awkwardness of choices gone wrong. Pixel by pixel, life-simulation game “The Sims” has been providing that experience for more than 20 years. Since its first release in 2000, “The Sims” has become one of the best-selling PC games in the world. Time has not dulled its shine, either. “Sims” creators on Twitch and YouTube put the game through its paces, building complex houses and trying absurd challenges like having as many babies as possible or subjecting their Sims to Kafka-esque psychological tortures (all in good fun, of course). Some pioneering “Sims” creators even role play on Instagram, displaying picture-perfect Sim lives for their other Sim friends to praise and envy. But “The Sims” is also a haven for neurodiverse players, some of whom grew up with the game and continue to revisit it well into adulthood. “The Sims” is an open-world game, meaning there is no right or wrong way to experience it. Whether one wants to speed-run the apocalypse or just help their little Sims do some laundry, there are no expectations that aren’t set by the player themselves. For some with autism, ADHD or other conditions, that means they can tailor the game to be whatever they want: a place of comfort in a confusing world, a social road map of sorts, an alternate reality where they are in control, or just a lifelong special interest. The notion that “The Sims” offers a neater, easier version of our own world is built into the game’s DNA. Game creator Will Wright lost his home in California’s 1991 Oakland-Berkeley firestorm. While rebuilding, he was moved to consider what life was really made of. A series of needs to be met? Items to own? People to love? “When something like this happens, you get a big picture,” he told Berkeleyside in 2011. “Where do I want to live? What sort of things do I need to buy? You see your life almost as a project in process.” This outlook particularly resonates with people with autism or ADHD who spoke to CNN. “Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brain develops or works differently for some reason,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. Such conditions present opportunities and challenges in equal measure. Parts of life others might find easy or automatic, like completing daily tasks, looking after basic physical needs and interpreting social situations, are often, to ape Wright’s words, “a project in process.” Helen Ashcroft, a programmer and games editor with autism, first picked up the original “Sims” game when she was 20 years old. The release of subsequent versions – up to the current “Sims 4” – seemed to coincide with moments in her life when she felt the most vulnerable. “‘The Sims 2’ was released when I was pregnant with my first child,” she tells CNN. “It was a time of chaos and to be able to have this place of comfort was very important.” Of course, you don’t need to be neurodiverse to find comfort in low-stakes, come-as-you-are games like “The Sims.” But for people like Ashcroft, structured social interactions and the ability to create different situations act almost like a laboratory for real life. “I and a lot of other people with autism have trouble processing emotion. We have a strong sense of rules and justice, and being able to try out different interactions and see the consequences can be very illuminating,” Ashcroft says. “It’s not exactly like real life, but I don’t want it to be.” Benji, a video game journalist and “Sims” creator with autism who prefers to be called by his social media handle, says he turns to video games as a form of escapism. “One thing that makes ‘The Sims’ so special is, it’s not ‘punishing,” he tells CNN. “It’s a very good oasis, so to speak. My daily life asks so much from me, and I just get to sit down and do whatever the heck I want with those little people.” Benji says he gets the most satisfaction out of the game by setting goals for his Sims and mapping out what their story is going to be like. And while, as a highly social person, he doesn’t identify as much with the emotional aspects of the game, there have been times when he’s felt surprisingly seen. “At one point, the developers introduced a new trait – now a Sim could be an ‘overachiever.’ So when I applied that trait to one of my Sims, he would get bored and restless when his life became dormant. When he took on challenging tasks, he was so happy and fulfilled. And I thought, ‘Wow. I’ve never related so much to a Sim in my life.’” Educators and psychology professionals have observed the benefits of life simulator games like “The Sims,” not just for neurodiverse groups, but also those with brain injuries or those coming from underprivileged backgrounds. Research from the University of Pittsburgh shows “Sims”-like games helped a group of children with cognitive challenges improve problem-solving skills and recognize how different traits affect behavior. Research from the University of Kentucky suggests simulation games can help those with ADHD mimic, and thereby hone, executive functioning skills. People with autism and ADHD aren’t the only ones who find satisfaction from inhabiting a world of their own design. As communities have naturally formed around “The Sims” and its many expansions and modifications, other marginalized identities have recognized a similar value. Some LGBTQ “Sims” players say the game helped them on the path to living their true selves. (“Sims” characters have always been able to pursue romantic relationships with any other adult Sim, regardless of gender.) “When I realized I was gay, I couldn’t share it with others,” Polish “Sims” user DOTSim told Electronic Arts, the video game company that publishes “The Sims.” “I think that the opportunity to freely express myself in a safe environment of the game has given me the courage to finally come out.” Over the years, EA has released several updates that allow people to fully customize their appearance, race, cultural identity, gender identity and sexuality. Benji, who is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, says he’s noticed occasional updates that include cultures outside the US, like music from international artists recorded in Simlish, the Sims’ language. This inclusion underscores the very reason neurodivergent players keep booting up “The Sims,” year after year, through all stages of life. When the world doesn’t seem built for you, it’s a relief to be able to build one yourself. | Video Games |
More than 90 videos and images of Grand Theft Auto VI, the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V, one of the best-selling video games of all time – leaked online over the weekend, in one of the biggest confidential data breaches in gaming history.The footage was posted to the GTAForums website by a user going by the name teapotuberhacker, who claimed to have accessed it by hacking Rockstar’s internal company Slack feed and gaining access to their servers.The original post has since been taken down, but not before the images and video proliferated across social media. Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has been issuing takedowns to remove the footage from YouTube and Twitter.The hacker has also threatened to leak the source code for Grand Theft Auto V and the in-development version of Grand Theft Auto VI, inviting Rockstar Games to negotiate a deal.Sources close to Rockstar Games have indicated to the Guardian and Bloomberg that the leak represents an early-in-development build of the game that is already a year old.In a statement posted to social media, the developer confirmed the leak. “We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto,” the company said. “At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.“We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.”The footage shows animation tests, level layouts and gameplay tests, including some fully voiced conversations between characters. The footage shows a female protagonist in a fictionalised modern-day Miami, Vice City, also the setting of 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.The videos clearly show an in-progress version of the game, with debug commands and other technical information overlaid. Rockstar confirmed that GTA 6 was in “active development” earlier this year, though early work on the game probably began in 2014.Leaks are damaging to video game developers not just because of the confidential information that they represent, but because a leak can adversely affect a game’s perception before release. It is usual for in-development builds to look rough until the final months of development, and they are rarely representative of the finished game – something that uninformed viewers often don’t understand. Developers who spend years of their lives making big-budget games are demoralised by leaks that do not show the quality of work that they strive for in the complete product.Prominent developers across the games industry have spoken out in sympathy with the people working at Rockstar Games over the weekend.Neil Druckmann, of Naughty Dog, whose 2020 game The Last of Us Part II was leaked in its entirety prior to release, tweeted: “To my fellow devs out there affected by the latest leak, know that while it feels overwhelming right now, it’ll pass. One day we’ll be playing your game, appreciating your craft, and the leaks will be relegated to a footnote on a Wikipedia page.”Grand Theft Auto V has sold 170m copies in the nine years since its release, making it one of the most successful entertainment products ever released. Along with its online multiplayer mode, GTA Online, it is estimated to have generated in excess of $900m for Take Two in 2020 alone. Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to break records when it is released – though Rockstar has indicated that it is still several years away. | Video Games |
Image: 2K Marin/2KFor those who play video games, 2007 is often considered one of the best years of the medium. It was a year of bangers: Microsoft had Crackdown and Halo 3, Nintendo took Super Mario to the Galaxy, Call of Duty blew the world open by going modern, and so on. It cannot be understated how much that year just kicked ass for games, and in the upper echelon at the time was 2K Games’ Bioshock, which is now 15 years old as of today. OffEnglishDeveloped by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and the now defunct 2K Australia, and directed and written by Boston’s Ken Levine, BioShock is a first-person shooter set in the 1960s. After surviving a plane crash, the protagonist Jack discovers the underwater city of Rapture, built as a haven for the elites of society by its creator, business magnate Andrew Ryan. The city was the perfect utopia, but everything eventually went to hell once a gene-altering substance called ADAM was discovered. Through the use of serums known as “Plasmids,” everyone in the city got superpowers. Thus, a class war ensued: on one side, Ryan commanded his superhuman, diving suit-wearing Big Daddies to protect young girls called Little Sisters as they harvested ADAM from dead bodies. And on the opposing side was Atlas, a man who convinced the now poor citizens of Rapture to rise up against Ryan, with both sides using Plasmid-wielding citizens dubbed Splicers to wage skirmishes across the city. Image: Irrational Games/2KOriginally an Xbox 360 and Windows exclusive, BioShock released to critical acclaim, with particular praise for its atmosphere and narrative, which incorporated ideas from author George Orwell and most notably philosopher Ayn Rand. By the end of its debut month, it sold 490,000 copies, and by March 2010, it’d had sold 4 million across all systems. (In 2008 and 2009, it was ported respectively to the PlayStation 3 and Mac.)G/O Media may get a commissionFor a time, BioShock fever swept across the industry. It was inducted into the Smithsonian’s exhibit devoted to the art of video games, and has been hailed as one of the best games of all time. Along with the original Mass Effect and 2008's Braid, the game’s been used as examples when arguing the merit of video games as an art form. And it spawned two sequels: 2010's BioShock 2 from 2K Marin was a direct sequel wherein players controlled a Big Daddy named Sigma a decade after the original game, granted the ability to use Plasmids and search for his missing Little Sister. Conversely, Infinite by the returning Irrational starred private eye Booker DeWitt endeavored to ferry the reality-warping Elizabeth Comstock out of the sky city of Columbia in 1912. Both games would receive narrative DLC, but it was the “Burial at Sea” expansion for Infinite that definitively linked it with the story of the original game. In the years since BioShock went quiet, there’ve been efforts outside of 2K and Levine to try and go for the same narrative highs of that first game. You can see its bones in other games like Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, Machine Games’ Wolfenstein reboot, and Arkane’s Prey or Dishonored without much effort. (Infinite is technically the first Dad Game, as it released only a handful of months before the original Last of Us.) Cyberpunk 2077, which arguably features better combat and immersive sim elements than BioShock, has a slice of the period piece shooter inside of it. You could probably even argue that something like Disco Elysium or Citizen Sleeper has also been influenced by it. Image: 2K GamesBut for the franchise itself, it currently just...exists. Part of the issue is a lack of a follow up: a fourth entry is said to be in the works, but due to development issues that just plague the entire franchise, it feels more of an idea than reality. And though he left the series behind after 2013, Ken Levine hasn’t been able to release a game within the past nine years. All fans have been left to do is replay the old games, maybe discuss how time has treated the sequels in particular. Netflix has plans on making the first game into a film, something originally in the cards back in 2008, but it remains to be seen if the streamer will actually be able to make that a reality. But the real question about BioShock’s future, if it even has one, is what can it still bring to the table that the original trilogy didn’t already cover?Let us know your thoughts on the BioShock franchise in the comments below. Think we could do with another entry, or should we kindly let it be harvested?Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. | Video Games |
Like most next-generation consoles, the Xbox Series X has been hard to find. While not as difficult to get as the PlayStation 5, the Series X has been tough enough to snag that it's still noticeable when it comes in stock. Thankfully Microsoft seems to have a few in stock at this very minute, though how long that will last, we don't know. Right now, you can buy the standalone console for $499.99, and the page does give you the option to add Game Pass Ultimate -- the best deal in video games right now -- an extra controller or the accidental damage cover. I would seriously consider getting Game Pass Ultimate if you do pick up an Xbox Series X. It offers many games you can play, not just on your new Series X but also on your phone and PC. It really is a bargain.And if you were wondering if this is a bad time to buy due to Amazon Prime Day being just around the corner, don't be. While Amazon has a new and helpful reservation system, it still has no consoles in stock and is unlikely to have any at a discounted price. The Series X is still too rare to need discount pricing. | Video Games |
Good night, sweet prince.Google has announced it is winding down its Stadia video game streaming service and will shut it down on January 18. 2023.In a new blog, the search engine company revealed that Stadia "hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected," and as a result, the company has made the "difficult" decision to begin winding down the service. Google will be refunding users who purchased either hardware or games from Google and Stadia."We're grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start. We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia Store." Players will still be able to access their game library and play until January 18.Stadia is Google's cloud gaming service where users are able to stream video games, including AAA titles like Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Cyberpunk 2077, directly through Google cloud service. Meaning there was no need to purchase physical hardware so long as someone had access to Google Chrome. There was a dedicated controller players could purchase, however.Google says that the underlying technology that powers Stadia has proven to be powerful, and Google has already started offering Stadia as a white-label product, meaning other companies can use the technology without becoming a part of Stadia's ecosystem.AT&T for example used Stadia technology to offer Batman: Arkham Knight to users for free, and Google says the tech will be used to power other parts of Google including YouTube, Google Play, and Augmented Reality.Stadia's closure is not a death-knell for video game streaming. Xbox offers cloud gaming as part of its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bundle, and companies like Logitgech is making a dedicated cloud gaming handheld called the Logitech G.Developing...In This Article | Video Games |
Parents, the next time your child wants to play one more level of a video game, it might be a good idea to let them. Children who play video games every day show improved cognitive skills compared to children who don't play video games at all, according to a study published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open."Video gaming may be associated with improved cognitive abilities involving response inhibition and working memory and with alterations in underlying cortical pathways," the study reads.Researchers with the University of Vermont in Burlington looked at brain activity data of about 2,000 children between 9 and 10 years old beginning in 2019. They said they believe the study to be "the largest study to assess the association among video gaming, cognition and brain function." The children were split into two groups: Those who never play video games and those who play three or more hours a day -- exceeding the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions' recommendation of less than two hours of screen time per day.The groups were then given two tasks. The first task asked the children to press left and right arrow keys as fast as those keys appeared on a screen. A "stop" sign was also shown, and children were told not to press any buttons for this, to test inhibition control. The second task was a memory game where the children were shown images of people's faces. After a time, the children were shown a similar image and were asked if the picture was of the same person or not, testing working memory.While the children performed these tasks, their brains were monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The children who played video games showed more brain activity while performing these tasks.While the study controlled for variables like sex, age and socioeconomic status, other factors, like amount of exercise and sleep, were not taken into account. It's also unknown what genres of video games the children were playing, or if the games were single-player or multiplayer. The study notes that these factors could have different effects on developing minds, and this information would be good to include in future studies.Despite these limitations, researchers wrote that their findings are "consistent with video gaming being associated with better performance on cognitive tests."The researchers believe that more data could help determine whether video games affect other cognitive functions.For more on games, check out the games to play with your kids, games for your kids to play that are secretly educational and the best games for the holiday season. Now playing: Watch this: Reggie Fils-Aimé on Nintendo and the Future of Video... 15:13 | Video Games |
Square Enix is a big believer in "Web 3 gaming", the integration of cryptocurrencies and NFTs into video games. On Wednesday it was announced that the company's crown jewel, Final Fantasy 7, will get its own NFTs next year. Kind of. The nonfungible tokens (NFTs) Square Enix has in mind for Final Fantasy 7 are different from conventional NFTs. The current trend is for artists and groups to release artwork sets of 5,000 to 20,000 NFTs, which can be used as profile pictures on social media. Bored Ape Yacht Club is the most famous example of this, but there are many more successful collections of this ilk. Square Enix isn't going this route. Instead, the NFTs will be tied into physical merchandise the Japanese gaming giant is releasing next year. To celebrate Final Fantasy 7's 25th anniversary, Square Enix will next year release a trading card set and a figuring of Cloud Strife. Those who buy packets of the trading card will be able to redeem a virtual version, which will exist as an NFT. Similarly, the $160 Digital Plus Edition of the Cloud Strife figuring will come with an NFT version of the toy. The NFTs will be built on Polkadot, a blockchain that's significantly more environmentally friendly that industry leaders bitcoin and ether. Square Enix has several times stated its interest in harnessing the blockchain for gaming. In May it sold several western development studios, including Tomb Raider-maker Crystal Dynamics, in part to fund its blockchain adoption. In his new year's letter to investors and customers, Square Enix's president, Yosuke Matsuda, acknowledged that the NFT market is "overheated," but wrote that games featuring token economies can usher in a new era of user-generated content. Square Enix, despite the majority of their audience disapproving it, have decided to adopt NFTs and blockchain. As it stands, I won't be consuming any of their products that contain NFTs even if it's Dragon Quest— james 🍬 (@souIstyce) July 21, 2022 To facilitate this extraordinary waste of fans’ good-will, Square Enix has partnered with Enjin, an NFT company that will store Square Enix’s tokens on its Efinity blockchain.— William (@jxieeducation) July 21, 2022 Blockchain-powered gaming is already a huge moneymaker, just not from traditional gaming companies. Yuga Labs in April made $320 million selling land for its upcoming metaverse game in just three hours. Traditional gaming audiences reject the idea, however. Ubisoft integrated NFTs into Ghost Recon Breakpoint in December, but the announcement trailer received so much criticism that the company took it down from YouTube. Similar blowback caused GSM Game World to scrap NFTs in its STALKER 2 game just 36 hours after revealing plans to integrate them.Traditional gaming audiences reject the idea, however. Ubisoft integrated NFTs into Ghost Recon Breakpoint in December, but the announcement trailer received so much criticism that the company took it down from YouTube. Similar blowback caused GSM Game World to scrap NFTs in its STALKER 2 game just 36 hours after revealing plans to integrate them. | Video Games |
In 2018’s superb reboot of God of War, we followed retired Spartan god-killer Kratos and his son Atreus on an epic journey to the tallest peak in the nine realms of Norse mythology, on a quest to scatter the ashes of Kratos’s late wife. In doing so, they got caught up in the affairs of the capricious gods of the land, unwittingly kicking off Ragnarök – the end of the world. At the end, they find out that they have unwittingly been fulfilling a prophecy, all that time; their every step was foretold.This sequel is a game about whether you can escape your fate, and also whether it’s possible for teenaged boys not to make decisions so incredibly poor and self-serving that you have no choice but to put your head in your hands and watch through parted fingers. It is also a game about putting an axe through the heads of as many breathtaking mythological beasts as you can fit into a 30-hour-plus runtime.Ragnarök’s eye-catchingly violent combat is peerless – multilayered but not overcomplicated. It feels absurdly good to hurl that axe at a monstrous crocodile and summon it back into Kratos’s palm, and to send enemies flying backwards with a wide swing of his flaming flails, or bash them with a shield before ripping them apart. You do a lot of fighting here, and it is remarkable that it doesn’t start to feel stale and repetitive: the variety of enemies across the nine realms certainly helps, from flaming ogres to undead soldiers, dragons and Asgardian champions on their armoured mounts.That said: can we have a permanent ban on enemies that explode when you kill them, please? There are few more annoying ways to lose a chunk of your health, and in Ragnarök you will need all the health you can get, as the fights are thrillingly challenging. I died frequently, and was thankful for the generous checkpointing.God of War’s gods are the interesting, classical kind: volatile screw-ups sent mostly mad with boredom by immortality. They have that fascinating combination of human problems and inhuman abilities; Thor drowns himself in drink to numb himself, like many men, but he also enjoys sending his magic hammer through hordes of the undead to relieve stress.Superhero fiction, too, enjoys humanising its subjects to enliven the old save-the-world narrative, but unlike superheroes, these gods are neither tediously moral nor massively concerned with the greater good. They are usually just trying to deal with their own issues, which have compounded over the course of hundreds or thousands of years. Freya is figuratively trapped by the lingering trauma of an abusive marriage, but also literally trapped in Midgard by a complex magic spell that you spend a significant portion of the game trying to undo.It’s all unexpectedly relatable is what I’m saying – the absurdly violent action and monster-slaying and breathtaking fights are rooted in this story about a bunch of quasi-immortal misfits lashing out in all directions, trying to find themselves.There are several interesting dynamics here between characters, but the central relationship of the game is still the one between Kratos and Atreus. Where 2018’s God of War was about them learning how to connect in the absence of Atreus’s mother, Ragnarök is about them learning how to break apart. They are not always side by side on this journey: Kratos is often accompanied by a different bow-wielding support character, and Atreus by other heavy-weapons beefcakes.Atreus, here, is your classic wayward teenager, good-hearted but so tragically caught up in his own immediate interests and feelings that he struggles to act sensibly. His predictably idiotic actions in this game will elicit a groan from anyone who has ever lived with teenagers, even though Atreus is sneaking out at night to parley with exiled gods or look for lost mythical artefacts rather than smoke joints at the skate park.Christopher Judge once again gives a superb performance as Kratos, the Spartan former god-slayer who cannot seem to escape the bloodshed of his old life. He is so gruff and reserved that it would be ripe for parody if there weren’t also such understated emotion in it at times. Richard Schiff is particularly great as the mercurial Odin, stealing every scene he’s in. I won’t call out other performances for fear of spoilers, but the entire cast is great; with so much complex mythological backstory going on here, it would be easy to just switch off when people are talking, but I was engaged throughout.A superb performance … Christopher Judge plays Kratos in God of War: Ragnarök. Photograph: Sony Interactive EntertainmentAtreus’s sections are slower and significantly less fun, and also more linear, than Kratos’; fighting with a bow and arrow just isn’t as snappy or exciting as up-close-and-personal weaponry. Pacing is the game’s only major problem, as it tries to fit in its story-heavy tranches while leaving you space to explore the realms. I very much wanted to explore, too, because they are awe-inspiring: run-down dwarven cities, elaborate elven palaces, Midgard’s frozen woods and the once-verdant, now-rotting Vanaheim.These places are designed for discovery as much as fighting; temples stand out in the distance through blizzards, interesting structures beckon you towards them, and puzzles reward you with lost treasure. Adventuring with Atreus and long-imprisoned Norse war god Tyr in the early game, the two of them were continually making fun of my random detours. “Kratos, the way out is over … oh, a chest. I see.”2018’s God of War’s most astonishing feat of technical wizardry was constructing the entire game as one continuous shot, with no loading screens and no interruptions, making you feel totally present in the journey. It did this by putting plenty of narrow passageways and low tunnels and other confined spaces in-between its areas, to disguise that the game was loading the next one. Ragnarök repeats this trick – even more impressively, this time, as we sometimes follow different characters and not just Kratos – but on the PlayStation 5 it’s all rather unnecessary, as that console is powerful enough to do away with loading times entirely. The forced moments of slowdown felt strangely ponderous and old-fashioned. I am looking forward to seeing what Santa Monica Studio will achieve without the almost 10-year-old PlayStation 4’s technical constraints to account for.Ragnarök is an evolution, where its predecessor was a revelation. Some of its additions – such as magical sigil arrows, which must be placed very precisely to work and which make the puzzles that involve them arduously fiddly – do not quite justify themselves. But the sense of scale, the narrative ambition and the brilliance of the combat are undimmed, and it remains abundantly, jaw-droppingly beautiful.There haven’t been many interpretations of ancient mythology as gripping, detailed and imaginative as this, in video games or any other medium. It brings the stories and characters of an ancient era to life in a way that only modern technology could realise. God of War: Ragnarök is out on 9 November; £69.99 | Video Games |
Welcome to Pushing Buttons, the Guardian’s gaming newsletter. If you’d like to receive it in your inbox every week, just pop your email in below – and check your inbox (and spam) for the confirmation email.Sign up for Pushing Buttons, our weekly guide to what’s going on in video games.This week marks a truly important video game anniversary: it is 50 years since Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney incorporated Atari Inc, the company that laid the foundations for the video games industry. There have been many appraisals of the company and its landmark achievements in the games press over the past few days – from the arrival of a Pong machine in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, in 1972, through classic titles such as Breakout, Asteroids and Missile Commands, to the iconic home consoles. So many moments of creative genius, so many genres, concepts and conventions bursting into existence at the hands of scruffy engineers and designers such as Ed Logg, Larry Kaplan and Dona Bailey.But one element that often gets overlooked in these nostalgic reveries is the way in which Atari taught the first generation of electronic gamers how to think symbolically. With two rectangles and a square, Pong invited us to visualise tennis, while Night Driver’s series of moving rectangles convinced us we were driving a car. Some will point to the 1972 console the Magnavox Odyssey as the originator of these concepts, but it was Atari putting them in arcade machines – and later consoles –all over the world.It was also Atari that generated a whole universe around its simple games. Through beautiful cabinet designs, expert use of iconography and graphic design, and the gorgeous illustrations on its Atari VCS cartridges, the company sought to simulate the imagination of players before they even held the controller. The boxes for titles such as Berzerk and Defender, all highly abstract and visually simple games, were alive with drama; they showed human characters, explosions and colours that were impossible to achieve on screen at the time, quietly providing players with the imaginative tools they needed to become immersed. Would we have cared so much about the fate of the lifeless rock at the base of the screen in Missile Command if it hadn’t been for George Opperman’s package art? The tense commander at his desk, the explosions, the missiles seemingly scorching out of the box itself …It was George Opperman who also designed Atari’s now legendary logo, consisting of three simple lines, the two exterior shafts curving inwards toward the peak. Over the years Opperman claimed many influences for his design – Mount Fuji, Japanese alphabet symbols, Pong itself – personally, I’ve always viewed it as a spaceship. But it’s how the image seems to sum up the excitement and futuristic promise of the company that really matters. When we see the logo flash briefly on the screen in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, it’s a quick visual signifier that this is a highly technological landscape. It fits in perfectly with a world of androids and flying cars.Nolan Bushnell saw how video games could naturally bleed from the screen into real space, meat space. During the 1970s, the industry started in pubs and taverns, then moved into arcades and eventually the home, and they had effects on all of them: they changed behaviours and got written into our lives in subtle ways. His introduction of the Chuck E Cheese pizza restaurant chain, which combined family eating with a video game arcade, brilliantly monetised the ways that games, although graphically simple, had worked their way from the TV screen to dinner table conversation. We laugh about how the original VCS console had wood panelling, but this was a deliberate attempt to ape the aesthetics of the 1970s living room, with its wooden furniture, TV and stereo cabinets. Atari understood that assimilation would be a vital element of success.Even now, in this age of near photorealism, video games rely on the kind of abstractions that Atari perfected. The heart symbols to denote the number of lives we have left; the heavy use of icons and exterior narratives; the endless references to familiar cinema tropes. We saw Atari being played on TV shows and films, we saw Atari in comics. While its games were still being drawn with two sprites each a single byte in size, the iconography of Atari was out there in the world. It’s something Nintendo would learn from, and later Sony, with its cultural melting pot of a console: the PlayStation. Atari was a myth maker too: from the Easter egg hidden in Adventure to the buried copies of E.T. in the California desert, the company itself became a source of digital folklore that took on meanings beyond anything portrayed on your TV.50 years ago, Atari began to show us that games exist in a strange liminal space between the screen and the brain, and they are constantly able to escape. The dots on the screen are only ever part of the picture, and the picture never stops moving.What to playThis week we recommend the knockout Capcom Fighting Collection. Photograph: CapcomWhile we’re in a nostalgic mood, I’m really enjoying Capcom Fighting Collection. You’d probably expect a dozen famous titles from the Street Fighter series, but that’s already been covered by Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Instead, we get five games from the spooky, goth-infused Darkstalkers series, the mid-1990s fantasy-themed Red Earth and a bunch of offbeat Street Fighter dalliances including the ridiculously compelling Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, which brilliantly combined fighting game dynamics with … Tetris. The games are filled with blistering attacks and truly imaginative character designs, all lovingly updated for the modern era.Available on: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox OneApproximate playtime: As long as you wantWhat to read Eurogamer is running a whole series of features for Pride, including this piece talking to Captain Fluke about being the first openly trans esports commentator and this one on the joy of gay fan faction and mods. Elsewhere, IGN has listed its favourite ever LGBT+ characters in video games. Verge has a really interesting piece on a group of creatives making branded worlds for big companies in Fortnite. Everyone talks about Facebook when referencing the coming era of the metaverse, but I’m pretty sure Fortnite is going to be just as important as an explorable shared space for interconnected worlds – and the advertising potential therein. We also found out this week that Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creative genius behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring, is almost finished on his next project. This is good news for me as, after 225 hours, I’m nearing the end of Elden Ring and would be very happy to slide straight into his next game if possible. If I’ve got you interested in Atari’s design and illustration philosophy, The Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino is a gorgeous book. For a more technical analysis of the company, try Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost. What to click‘A little bit addictive and the right amount hard’: new video game is based on poems of Emily DickinsonCannon Arm and the Arcade Quest review – lovable gamers on mission to break recordFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes review – wild battles liven up a familiar anime franchiseMelbourne startup raises $9m for mental wellness game based on tending houseplantsQuestion blockThis week’s question comes from Tim and his daughter Caitlin, and is answered by Keza:“We got really into Hades over lockdown, loving the ‘it’s the same each time but really different too’ concept as well as the lore and the artwork. Can you recommend a similar game that we could play together?”Hades is what’s known as a roguelike – one of those games where you have to start again from the beginning each time, but each playthrough throws different challenges at you – and, happily for you both, this genre has been having a moment over the past few years. Hades is a contender for the very best game in this genre, so it’s hard to rival, but here are some others to try.Dead Cells is a kind of cyberpunk-fantasy action game where you gradually explore a shapeshifting castle; Spelunky 2 has you delving down below the Earth through caves full of amusing hazards, and has a great sense of humour (you can also play co-op); Into the Breach is something a little different, a strategy game where you have to defend the world from hostile invaders, travelling back in time after each failed attempt. And for a story and art style as good as that of Hades with a different gameplay feel, try developer Supergiant’s previous games Pyre, Transistor and Bastion, if you haven’t already. | Video Games |
The cliche about video games is that they’re all about escapism. When people switch on a PlayStation or souped-up PC, they do it to lose themselves in a mythical world or intergalactic conflict. They do not come here to power wash a patio.But increasingly, that orthodoxy is being tested. The surging success of the job simulator, in which players take on seemingly mundane real-world careers, shows that our relationship with games is a lot more complex. Type “job sim” into the search window of PC digital games store Steam and a myriad of virtual employment opportunities open up. There are complex and accurate farming, beer brewing, bus driving, PC building, gas station managing and house selling sims, alongside the more recognisable flight and train options. And if you do want to jet wash a patio, there is PowerWash Simulator, which became such a viral hit on its release in July that it sold 3m copies within two months.And if you think that everyone playing these sims is still engaging in a form of escapism, tapping into jobs they never attempted in real life, you’d be wrong. Some of the most ardent fans of job sims are people who do the jobs themselves: the literal busman’s holiday.In the bedroom of retired army air dispatcher Frank Durrans, there is a powerful PC with an ultra-wide monitor and an array of complicated flight controllers. Stationed in Borneo during the Indonesian confrontation of the 1960s, he spent his military career in aircraft, dropping supplies for British troops stationed in the jungle along the Indonesia-Malaysia border. Now, every afternoon he uses Microsoft Flight Simulator and explores the skies in a turboprop aeroplane. “I mainly flew in old piston engines,” he says as he plays. “The Hastings and the Beverley, which was a huge aircraft. It could hold two 3 ton trucks, freight and 38 fully equipped troops. We dropped 24-hour rations every day, ammunition and water if required. We dropped live chicken and goats for the Gurkhas, because they had to kill their own food. We dropped cats to a Royal Marine DZ [drop zone] that was overrun with rats. There was nothing we couldn’t drop.”He tells these tales as his Cessna 172 taxies on to the runway at Bournemouth airport. He wants to show me a nice route along the coast towards Cornwall, and all the while he talks about his experiences in the military; the game, with its astounding AI-driven recreation of the Earth’s surface and its simulation of the very feel of flight, seems to feed his memories. “It definitely reminds me of the pleasure of flying,” he says, as he swoops over Christchurch harbour. “I used to get such an adrenaline rush. Things would just happen. On one occasion, we took off from Kuching and an engine caught fire. I got on the intercom and the pilot shouted: ‘Empty the aircraft!’ We were having to throw cargo out of the door – these great big boxes. You never knew what was coming.”Train Sim World 3. Photograph: Dovetail GamesRichard Evans is a train driver who has a hugely successful YouTube channel under the name Dad Rail – and he plays, yes, train simulators. Currently, it’s the excellent Train Sim World 3, which offers a variety of routes and a dynamic weather system. He started playing train sims when he was 12 and believes they gave him a pretty good grounding in what the career would entail. “Simulators are great for learning about the signalling and safety systems as well as general railway operations,” he says. “The big thing that it taught me was the level of concentration required. Load up a two-hour run and don’t move from the computer for the entire time. Don’t minimise the game to check social media, don’t get up to use the loo, don’t even change the view on the game to outside the cab. Sit there in cab view and complete the route, then do it over and over again.“Earlier this year I was tasked with learning the route from Brighton to Eastbourne. This is a route that I have driven on Train Sim World a number of times. While you can’t learn the route fully on a simulator, what I had learned came in very useful when I went out in the cab of a real train: I had a rough idea of the route and the names of locations and speed limits.”There is a social and investigative appeal for Evans too. “ I really enjoy driving routes and trains from around the world and learning about the operational differences. I have developed a particular fondness for German Railway through playing train sim and learning about the various safety systems and how things are done differently.”“Through my live streams I have been able to connect with other railway staff from the UK and abroad, and we are able to share ideas and learn about each other’s railways and trains. It is very satisfying that as an English train driver I can jump into a German train and have a German train driver virtually instruct me through the game. I particularly enjoy driving routes and trains that I drive in real life, and comparing and contrasting the differences between the simulator and reality.”Construction Simulator. Photograph: AstragonJacob Spence’s father was a master craftsman and housebuilder, and as a boy Jacob loved to visit his father on site, watching the heavy-equipment operators at work. Later, he worked with his dad, learning every aspect of the building trade and eventually operating those heavy machines himself. He now also works in education, researching simulation training platforms. And he plays Construction Simulator. “I recently beta-tested the upcoming release of the game. While operating a large Caterpillar 349F excavator, I took notice of realistic details like the heavy feel of the machine, real engine and hydraulic sounds, and realistic range and speed of machine component movements. I’m very excited to spend more time seeing how the earthwork system has evolved, as the excavation system Weltenbauer authored for Construction Simulator in 2015 continues to stand out to this day.”Like Evans, Spence has used the game as a learning tool (indeed, its developer Weltenbauer also makes industry training software), using its twin joystick setup to learn unfamiliar control set-ups in new equipment. And he too sees the social value of the games. “The diverse community of players, some of whom are real-life operating engineers, learn a great deal from each other simply by sharing their knowledge, life experiences and game-play. Player connections and multiplayer sessions are supported via a Discord community run by the game’s publisher, Astragon.”I ask Spence’s colleague Josh Miller about the game – this is a guy who has built ocean jetties, backfilled Texas oilfield pits and worked at the world’s largest single pit mine, Bingham Canyon. But the first time he ever saw a Liebherr drilling rig, which he would later work with in real life, was in Construction Simulator 2015. He too loves the multiplayer element of the game, working on sites with other fans. “The game allows for time and enjoyment,” he says. “No deadlines, no angry boss, just enjoying the machines and friends. The community is a big part of it, working together as a team. Real dirt work is like this, in everyday situations […] It’s funny and we laugh. There is a lot to be said about laughter at work or in the game.”So people play simulations of their own jobs for social and educational reasons; they do it to expand their knowledge and experience of roles they enjoy. But there is also something else: these sims are about nostalgia and reconnection; they remind players about what motivated them in the first place. “Construction Simulator brings back memories of working with my father, particularly the beginning of classic CS when working in the village area with that old flatbed truck,” says Spence.“My father drove an old 1986 Toyota truck, which he converted into a flatbed when the bed rusted away and re-supported when the main frame rotted through. He used all of his tools until they failed and never wasted any materials. He had a true way with all things physical and mechanical, which allowed him to work across many trades as a builder. I have always struggled to understand how he did what he did and I was amazed every day that I worked with him. Those are days I will never forget.”Frank Durrans, 85-year-old ex-service man and Flight Sim fan, at his home in Andover Photograph: Jeff Moore/MicrosoftWhatever we think about our jobs they are part of our identities, and if we are lucky enough to be in jobs we like and that last they form the framework of our lives. I think playing job sims is like listening to records that we loved as teenagers: they take us back. They reignite formative moments. Durrans, who once flew over the jungles of Borneo, over Singapore, throughout the far east, is in his 80s now, and as he loops over Bournemouth airport at the end of our little trip, I ask about what flying means to him these days.“My pleasure is in navigating,’ he says. “I like to find my way and get into a position that’s perfect for landing without too much repositioning. One of my favourite things was flying from Berlin to the Scandinavian countries and then down through Holland and over Frankfurt – it was fascinating. I enjoy being up there; it keeps the mind active. I was ill for a while after an operation and PC Pilot magazine suggested some routes over Australia – they were wonderful, two hours of lovely sightseeing: Sydney harbour, the Great Barrier Reef …“I do a flight every day. I shall never give it up.” | Video Games |
China has been rolling out a system that ranks its citizens based on their "social credit." People can be punished if they drive badly, buy too many video games, or steal. It's not a unified, nationwide system, but China plans on eventually making it mandatory for everyone. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. The Chinese Communist Party has been constructing a moral ranking system for years that will monitor the behavior of its enormous population — and rank them all based on their "social credit."The "social credit system," first announced in 2014, is "an important component part of the Socialist market economy system and the social governance system" and aims to reinforce the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful," according to a 2015 government document.The rankings are decided by China's economics planning team, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the People's Bank of China, and the Chinese court system, according to the South China Morning Post.The system can be used for individual people, but also for companies and government organizations. The private sector, including the burgeoning tech world in China, has their own non-governmental scoring systems that they implement, as Wired reported. For example, Sesame Credit, which is owned by Jack Ma's Ant Group, uses its own unofficial scoring system for its employees, such as studying shopping habits, according to the think tank Merics.The program has been piloted for millions across the country in recent years, as CNBC reported, and was expected to become fully operational and integrated by 2020.But at the moment the system is piecemeal and voluntary, though the plan is for it to eventually be mandatory and unified across the nation, with each person given their own unique code used to measure their social credit score in real-time, per Wired.Bad driving and debt could get you downgraded in the social ranking system Beijing, China. Donat Sorokin\TASS via Getty Images Like private credit scores, a person's social score can move up and down depending on their behavior. The exact methodology is a secret — but examples of infractions include bad driving, smoking in non-smoking zones, buying too many video games, and posting fake news online, specifically about terrorist attacks or airport security.Other potential punishable offenses include spending too long playing video games, wasting money on frivolous purchases, and posting on social media.Punishments include travel bans and slow internetChina has already started punishing people by restricting their travel, including banning them from flights. Authorities banned people from purchasing flights 17.5 million times by the end of 2018, according to the National Public Credit Information Centre, as the Guardian reported. They can also clamp down on luxury options — many are barred from getting business-class train tickets, and some are kept out of the best hotels. A train station in China. Yang Bo/China News Service via Getty Images The eventual system will punish bad passengers specifically. Potential misdeeds include trying to ride with no ticket, loitering in front of boarding gates, or smoking in non-smoking areas.According to Rachel Botsman, an author who published part of her book on tech security on Wired in 2017, the government will throttle your internet speeds as a punishment, though the exact mechanics still haven't been made clear.According to Foreign Policy, credit systems monitor whether people pay bills on time, much like financial credit trackers — but also ascribe a moral dimension. You or your kids could also miss out on the best jobs and schools — seventeen people who refused to carry out military service in 2017 were barred from enrolling in higher education, applying for high school, or continuing their studies, Beijing News reported.And in July of 2018, a Chinese university denied an incoming student his spot because the student's father had a bad social credit score for failing to repay a loan.You could also get your dog taken away. The eastern Chinese city of Jinan started enforcing a social credit system for dog owners in 2017, whereby pet owners get points deducted if the dog is walked without a leash or causes public disturbances. A man with his dogs in Jinan in 2016. Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images Those who lost all their points had their dogs confiscated and had to take a test on regulations required for pet ownership. Naming and public shaming are other tactics. A 2016 government notice encourages companies to consult the blacklist before hiring people or giving them contracts.People will be notified by the courts before they are added to the list, and are allowed to appeal against the decision within 10 days of receiving the notification.Li Xiaolin, a lawyer who was deemed "untrustworthy" after not fulfilling a court order in 2015, was placed on the list and was unable to purchase plane tickets home while on a work trip, Human Rights Watch reported. He also couldn't apply for credit cards.This video, posted by freelance journalist James O'Malley, includes an example of an announcement on a bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai warning people not to misbehave — or else their "behavior will be recorded in individual credit information system." —James O'Malley (@Psythor) October 29, 2018'Bad' citizens are punished, but the system also rewards 'good' citizensPeople with good scores can speed up travel applications to places like Europe, Botsman said.An unidentified woman in Beijing told the BBC in 2015 that she was able to book a hotel without having to pay a cash deposit because she had a good score.The outlet also reported that Baihe, China's biggest dating site now owned by Jiayuan, is boosting the profiles of good citizens.Citizens with good social credit can also get discounts on energy bills, rent things without deposits, and get better interest rates at banks. These perks were available to people in Rongcheng, in Eastern China, where the city council rolled out a social credit system for its citizens featured in Foreign Policy in 2018.The system has been likened to dystopian science fictionChina's social credit system incorporates a moral edge into the program, which is why many have compared it to some level of dystopian governance, such as in George Orwell's "1984" in which the state heavily controls every aspect of a citizen's life.But despite that — Human Rights Watch called the system "chilling," while Botsman called it "a futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control" — some citizens say it's making them better people already.A 32-year-old entrepreneur, who only gave his name as Chen, told Foreign Policy in 2018 that "I feel like in the past six months, people's behavior has gotten better and better. For example, when we drive, now we always stop in front of crosswalks. If you don't stop, you will lose your points. At first, we just worried about losing points, but now we got used to it." | Video Games |
Mario has been such an omnipresent figure that it's difficult to imagine video games without him, but even the iconic plumber hit a rough patch in the early 2000s, during the turbulent days of the GameCube. His sole platforming adventure for the system, Super Mario Sunshine, would end up being a critical and commercial disappointment by series standards, ultimately failing to improve console sales. With even Mario unable to reverse the GameCube's fortunes, it seemed as though the plumber's best days were behind him – until he made a spectacular rebound on Nintendo's next console.Five years after Super Mario Sunshine, Mario returned in a cosmic new adventure: Super Mario Galaxy, a bold and imaginative platformer that would kickstart a new golden age for the storied mascot. Leaving behind the candy-colored hills and plains of the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario Galaxy flung the intrepid plumber across the very cosmos, breathing new life into the series with its wildly creative level designs and sheer playfulness.From the outset, Galaxy pares back many of the excesses that marred its predecessor, resulting in a much more tightly orchestrated adventure. Gone are the sandbox stages that dominated Super Mario Sunshine; instead, Galaxy whisks players through a series of decidedly linear challenges, evoking the straightforward platforming of Mario's earliest adventures. Though some stages offer a degree of exploration, Mario seldom has time to catch his breath in Galaxy; nearly every challenge is a relentless forward race to the goal, with myriad surprises, distractions and mini-objectives to overcome en route to that destination. Nintendo What gives Galaxy its enduring freshness is its variety. Each stage is packed with a dizzying array of ideas. Mario could scamper around a small planetoid chasing collectables, slingshot himself between floating chunks of rock using rubbery globs of web, and navigate platforms that assemble themselves out of space debris – all within the span of a single level. Moreover, the game world unfurls at a much brisker pace than other Mario titles. New stages open up after every few stars collected, keeping the adventure consistently engaging and surprising.Players and critics responded positively to Galaxy's hyperactive daringness. The game would go on to sell almost 13 million copies on Wii, making it the series' best-selling 3D installment at the time. But its legacy is its playful approach to level design, which would serve as the template for all 3D Mario games moving forward. Super Mario Galaxy 2, released three years later, further built on this foundation with a wealth of new gameplay ideas. Super Mario 3D Land and its sequel, Super Mario 3D World, married Galaxy's freewheeling spirit with more traditional level designs, blurring the line between the series' 2D and 3D lineages. Even Super Mario Odyssey, which embraced the open sandbox style that Mario 64 and Sunshine pioneered, interspersed its sprawling stages with a bevy of linear challenges that would feel right at home in either Galaxy game.Each successive Mario adventure was a critical and commercial success, moving multiple millions of copies and earning near-universal praise from fans and reviewers – a far cry from the tepid reception Sunshine received back in 2002. Even now, 15 years on, Super Mario Galaxy holds up as one of the plumber's most dazzling adventures. Though other Mario games may have since leapfrogged it, Galaxy will always be responsible for kicking off a veritable renaissance for the series. | Video Games |
Published September 19, 2022 11:29AM Updated 11:31AM article UKRAINE - 2022/02/10: In this photo illustration, a Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) NEW YORK - Rockstar Games, a video game publisher, confirmed that early development footage of "Grand Theft Auto 6" was illegally accessed and downloaded. The company posted on Twitter that it suffered a "network intrusion" in which a third party illegally gained access to confidential files, including the next unreleased installment of "Grand Theft Auto." "We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way," the company posted. "Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations." Rockstar didn’t provide any more information about the leak but said it did not anticipate any disruption to its live game services or ongoing projects. RELATED: Jerry O'Connell on hosting his cozy game show 'Pictionary' According to the New York Post, the hacker posted "a file with 90 videos of unreleased gameplay footage to an online forum on Sunday morning and has threatened to "leak more data soon" – potentially including the game’s source code." The "Grand Theft Auto" series is one of the most successful and popular video games since it was first released in 2013. It has also sold 170 million copies as of August. This story was reported from Los Angeles. | Video Games |
The Call of Duty series is the action-movie blockbuster of the video game world. Loud, violent and filled with crazy stunts, these globetrotting military romps put their fictitious heroes through incredible physical danger, usually involving plane crashes, collapsing skyscrapers and vast firefights on sinking cruise liners.So what is it like to actually star in one?The latest Call of Duty title is Modern Warfare II, the second instalment in Activision’s reboot of the Modern Warfare series from the 2010s. For this globetrotting spec ops adventure, featuring franchise heroes Price, Gaz, Ghost and Soap on the trail of stolen nuclear weapons and Iranian terrorists, developer Infinity Ward assembled a cast of 15 actors, most with movie and TV experience, and filmed them over several months in a cavernous motion capture studio in Los Angeles. Although the actors are not having to actually perform stunts or film on location all over the world, the process has had challenges and idiosyncrasies they’ve had to learn to cope with. Not least, the outfits.For cinematic scenes in big titles such as Call of Duty, the Last of Us and Death Stranding, actors now wear full performance-capture body suits – sort of like Lycra body gloves – which record their every movement. “I’ve been asked to play more than one general,” says actor Glenn Moreshower, who plays hard guy military chief, General Shepard, “but this is the only time I’ve done it wearing a leotard.” According to him, however, the biggest issue is the high definition camera he has to wear, which is fixed to a tripod on every actor’s helmet, pointing into their faces to capture every micro-expression. Recently, narrative director Jeffrey Negus tweeted a photo from the studio, which shows the suits and the cameras:“Doing video games is far more challenging than film for a number of reasons, but the biggest hurdle is the presence of that helmet cam,” says Moreshower. “Annoying is the word that comes to mind. If that was present on a movie, you’d go batshit crazy. But then you realise that whether you like it or not, it’s going to be there and you have to find a way to focus on your scene partner’s eyes and live in a world where that camera no longer exists.”Barry Sloane, who plays artfully bearded SAS veteran Captain Price, had to do many of his scenes with a magic marker in his mouth to represent the character’s trademark cigar. He too found the camera a difficult distraction. “It’s a very unflattering angle,” he says. “At best, I look like Pete Townshend from the Who. At worst, a smurf.”Most performers compare the experience of acting in a video game to theatre. There’s that same sense of having to mentally transform a bare space into a real location, and then projecting that to the audience; there’s a lot of very Stanislavskian talk about creating the world in your own head. It seems like they’re a close group.‘We always felt comfortable together’ … the cast of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at a press event in Amsterdam. Photograph: Activision“With this game we actually got to have rehearsal time. That’s very rare in TV, it’s a luxury,” says Elliot Knight, who plays tough sidekick Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick. “The developers were very open to us offering thoughts for the characters and their dynamic. We always felt comfortable together. It’s so fun to work together on each shot, and how our characters fit into the moment.”And like classical theatre, video game acting demands that actors give “bigger” performances with more pronounced gestures, because the motion capture process can lose, or entirely miss out on, very subtle physical gestures.“We’re capturing a certain kind of physicality,” says head writer, Bryan Bloom. “An actor may be a great physical specimen, with a good voice, big shoulders, whatever, but they might have a certain walk, or hold a gun in a weird way, and you don’t want to capture that. One thing we think about is clear, determined movements – if we have an actor picking something up from a table, they need to walk over, plant themselves, reach down, pick it up, look at it, look at another character, put it back, and go. It can’t be too fluid – that might work in a film because it looks natural, but our rigging doesn’t understand subtle movements.”Knight definitely sees the similarities with stage performance. “Some natural nuances of behaviour don’t translate effectively to games, especially physically. But when it comes to the core of the character, that has to be the same. The importance of finding each other’s eyes, ignoring the distractions of the tech… It’s very similar to theatre. In fact, it’s like theatre in the round, in that there’s nowhere to escape to. You can’t turn away from that camera ever, you can’t twitch without it being picked up. It reminds you how important every fibre of your being is as an actor.”The process of capturing exciting physical sequences within a small capture studio is often highly improvisational – the actors have to work with what they’ve got. In one sequence, character Gaz is in a helicopter flying over a highway in pursuit of enemy armoured trucks when disaster strikes. As Knight recalls, “A missile hits the chopper, Gaz falls out and is suspended by a rope, hanging upside down as they speed above the freeway, and he’s having to avoid all these cars and focus on targets. That’s why I insisted I needed to be upside down.”The studio had some large gym balls lying about, so Knight ended up lying backwards over one of those to deliver his lines. “It’s important,” he says. “Your voice, the feeling of blood rushing to your head – those details matter.”Full exposure … Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2In other scene, set in Amsterdam, Price and Gaz have to swim along a canal at night then attach themselves via ropes to a passing barge that is potentially transporting terrorist contraband. “Me and Elliot were dressed in Lycra, lying on two of those gym balls, holding on to ropes and getting pulled around the studio,” says Sloane. “We were looking at the director and saying, ‘You’re gonna make this look cool, right?!’” continues Knight.“The actors really have to take a leap of faith with us,” acknowledges Negus. “They have to trust that our studio will fine-tune it and turn it into something that looks real. That’s what this is all about – trying to capture humanity and transmit it into a game. The chemistry between the actors is what makes it feel real.”Another element that the Call of Duty actors have had to master is recording exertion noises. In games, every time the player climbs a wall, jumps down off a ledge or gets injured, the character will groan, gasp or yell out in pain – all of those have to be recorded by the actors and to avoid too much repetition, they have to do dozens of them, often for very specific instances. Knight recalls one example: “While recording for the multiplayer mode, we were told, ‘A grenade went off in a car 10 meters away, and a small amount of shrapnel hit you in the side,’ and then I had to crack out 10 sounds for that.”For the cast, one of the most important elements of the experience was the awareness that they were in a video game, and that they were performing not for viewers or an audience but for players. This bled over into the capture process. “You remember how to be playful,” says Sloane. “One of the best things about acting is when you’re having fun and connecting with other actors; when I started on Call of Duty I said to the others, it felt like theatre to me – the space, the openness, the sense of collaboration. Your imagination just has to open up – there’s nothing to hide behind.”Knight agrees. “You find the most interesting nuances of performance in play and not every environment caters to that. I really do think this a fascinating medium for actors to experience.” | Video Games |
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Betis v Atletico Madrid - Estadio Benito Villamarin, Seville, Spain - October 23, 2022 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann scores their second goal REUTERS/Marcelo Del PozoOct 23 (Reuters) - Two second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann, one scored directly from a corner kick, gave Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run in LaLiga to five games.Atletico climbed back to third in the standings on 23 points, eight behind leaders Real Madrid and two from second-placed Barcelona, who have a game in hand and host Athletic Bilbao later on Sunday. Betis are fifth on 20 points.It was Atletico's fifth win in six away games this season, and Betis's first loss at home.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"We had lost two important points against Rayo at home midweek and we knew we had to win here today," Griezmann told Movistar Plus."It was difficult for us at the beginning, we struggled to find our pace but we worked very well defensively."In the first half, Atletico were dominated by the home side and failed to record a single shot on target.Betis themselves had just two half-chances with Borja Iglesias and Andres Guardado shortly before the break.The game grew more intense in the second half and Betis had a Luiz Henrique goal ruled out by the VAR for offside in the 48th minute.Substitute Victor Luiz saved Betis from conceding six minutes later, throwing himself in front of an Angel Correa bullet strike that cannoned off him for a corner.That was when Griezmann opened the scoring in the 54th minute, scoring directly from a perfectly placed corner kick past Rui Silva.The Frenchman tried to loft the ball to Saul Ninguez in the six-yard box but it curled past the goalkeeper and several defenders into the net.Fifteen minutes later, substitute Matheus Cunha passed to Griezmann whose right-footed shot on goal went through Silva's legs and into the bottom right corner.Betis rallied to score with a Nabil Fekir free kick from the edge of the box into Jan Oblak's top left corner in the 84th minute.Two minutes later, Aitor Ruibal sent a sitter over the bar and, in added time, Alex Moreno wasted another golden opportunity to score the equaliser when his bullet header from the box rebounded off the bar.In the end, Atletico held firm and secured all three points.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Fernando Kallas; editing by Clare FallonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — DJ Uiagalelei ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third as No. 5 Clemson won its 11th consecutive game, its 37th straight at home and took control of the ACC Atlantic with a 30-20 victory over No. 10 North Carolina State on Saturday night.The Tigers (3-0 ACC) started 5-0 for the seventh time in eight years and completed a two-week stretch where they bested the two teams thought most likely to block their return atop the division — first with a 51-45 OT win at No. 22 Wake Forest last Saturday and now the Wolfpack (4-1, 0-1) at Death Valley.Uiagalelei ignited the Tigers right before and right after the half to build a lead that N.C. State, playing in its first-ever Top 10 matchup, couldn't overcome.Uiagalelei finished a 75-yard scoring drive by stretching the ball over the goal for a 1-yard score to move in front 13-10. Then, after Clemson's defense forced a three-and-out with a pair of sacks on 'Pack quarterback Devin Leary, Uiagalelei cashed in again with 7-yard touchdown throw to tight end Jake Briningstool.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) runs with the ball in the second half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina State, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)Clemson's defense did the rest, holding the potent Wolfpack to just a field goal over the first 29 minutes of the second half in building a 17-point lead. The Tigers also picked off Leary and recovered a fumble when N.C. State went for it on 4th-and-13 down 10 with less than nine minutes left.Clemson, which hasn't lost at home since November 2016, matched Florida State's ACC mark of 37 straight at home set from 1992-2001. The Tigers' 11 in a row since last season in the longest current streak in the FBS.Clemson also holds tiebreakers in the division over the Demon Deacons and Wolfpack.Clemson and N.C. State came in with two of the highest-scoring offenses in the ACC and figured to trade trips to the end zone throughout. Instead, it was a struggled for each to find points in the first 30 minutes. Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) scores a touchdown while being brought down by North Carolina State cornerback Derrek Pitts Jr. (24) in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)NO. 9 OKLAHOMA STATE GETS REVENGE ON NO. 16 BAYLOR IN BIG 12 TITLE REMATCHThe Wolfpack and preseason ACC player of the year Devin Leary broke through first with a 2-yard TD to tight end Cedd Seabrough late in the second quarter to go up 10-6 with less than two minutes left in the half.That's when Uiagalelei got things going with his scoring run to send the Tigers into the break ahead 13-10 instead of trailing. He sealed the win with a 9-yard touchdown run with 3:04 left. Uiagalelei completed 21 of 30 passes for 209 yards and ran for a team-high 73 yards.Leary was 28 of 47 passing for 245 yards and an interception. He also rushed for a 4-yard TD with less than a minute left as the Wolfpack finished with their fewest points this season.THE TAKEAWAYNorth Carolina State: The Wolfpack have plenty of talented players, but got rattled in that time right around halftime to allow Clemson's two touchdowns. NC State now has to cross its fingers that the Tigers lose twice in their final five ACC games.Clemson: The Tigers have had to prove their offense was legit all season and, while they didn't pile up the points like in their first four games, they made enough plays to show themselves once again as the ACC's top contender.BRESEE OUTStarting defensive tackle Bryan Bresee missed his second game of the past three after dealing with a non-football medical condition that Clemson said involved blood tests and observation. Bresee and his family are still mourning 15-year-old Ella Bresee, who died of brain cancer last month and has been an inspiration to her brother's team with the phrase, "Ella Strong." Bryan Bresee got good news about the tests late this week and his condition won't have a long-term impact, Clemson said. Clemson running back Will Shipley (1) runs with the ball in the first half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina State, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPUP NEXTNorth Carolina plays No. 23 Florida State at home next Saturday.Clemson goes to Boston College next Saturday night. | Football |
The Football Association is weighing up whether to launch an investigation after an incident involving players from both sides towards the end of Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Liverpool.Proceedings were briefly paused as Michael Oliver, the referee, ran to the touchline to speak with the managers, Mikel Arteta and Jürgen Klopp, during added time. It is understood to have referred to an argument that erupted inside the Liverpool penalty area and involved several players.Oliver spoke again to both managers after the game and the matter has been referred to the FA, which will talk to the officials before deciding its next move. “We are aware of an incident that took place during the match between Arsenal and Liverpool,” an FA spokesperson said. “We are in dialogue with the match officials and will review the details of the incident.”Klopp was left to count the triple cost of a defeat that he admits means Liverpool are “not in the title race”. His side are 14 points behind the leaders after their 3-2 reverse and suffered further blows with injuries to Trent Alexander‑Arnold and Luis Díaz that the manager admitted were “not good”.Díaz departed before half‑time with a knee injury and Alexander‑Arnold followed at the break having attempted to play on after Gabriel Martinelli accidentally caught his right ankle. Both will go for scans and the stakes for Alexander-Arnold are particularly high. His place in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup thinking has been the subject of considerable conjecture and, having missed Euro 2020 through injury, a similar outcome this time would be a devastating blow for the 24-year-old player.“Something with the knee, not good,” Klopp said of Díaz. “He will have a scan and then we will know more. I have no idea about the extent. On top of that Trent was bad as well with a twisted ankle. Not good. Trent never comes off, he can play on. He was in too much pain and it started swelling immediately. So he will have a scan.” Any long-term absences would deepen the gloom at Liverpool, who lost against Arsenal for only the second time in 20 meetings despite equalising twice.Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold lies injured at Arsenal. He was taken off at half-time. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty ImagesThey sit 10th with only two wins and this season increasingly looks like a battle simply to retain their Champions League spot, let alone any tilt at top spot.“We’re not in the race,” he said of the title. “Imagine I would sit here and think: ‘We are nearly there, wait.’ We have problems at the moment but we caused the team in form, the leader of the table, massive problems today. We have to continue. Of course in a situation like ours, we play Rangers and then Man City [in the next week]. Is that the perfect opponent for finding confidence? Probably not but we will go out there and fight. That is what we have to do and what we will do.”Klopp was unhappy with the penalty award that brought Bukayo Saka’s winner and suggested Gabriel Jesus had made too much of the challenge by Thiago Alcântara. “If I see the situation back, if there was contact, and I’m not sure there was, it might have been soft contact,” he said. “But the player was on both feet and then down. That’s an indication that something might have been made up.” He also suggested Liverpool should have been given a first-half penalty for handball by Gabriel Magalhães.Mikel Arteta, although visibly delighted at full-time, continued to dampen ideas that Arsenal are genuine title contenders. “On the day we play at our best we have a chance,” he said when asked if his team can beat anyone. “At the moment enjoy where we are, and play with the courage and the belief we played with in the second half and go step by step.”Arteta and Klopp were spoken to late in the game by the referee, Michael Oliver, seemingly to make them aware of words exchanged on the pitch between players from both sides. It remains to be seen whether the situation was serious enough to demand action from the FA. | Football |
More than 120 football fans have reportedly died after chaos and violence erupted following an Indonesian league football match. Supporters of the Javanese clubs Arema and Persebaya Surabaya clashed after Arema were defeated 3-2 at the match in Malang Regency, East Java.The head of the Malang Regency health office, Wiyanto Wijoyo, said more than 120 people had died. Officials were still collating the numbers of injured victims, he added.“More than 120 people died, they died of chaos, overcrowding, trampling and suffocation,” Wiyanto confirmed, adding that the total injured were definitely more than a hundred and were referred to different local hospitals.Fighting reportedly started when thousands of Arema fans rushed into the field after their team lost. Persebaya players immediately left the field, but several Arema players who were still on the field were also attacked.Reports said many of the casualties occurred after police fired tear gas into crowded stands, causing panic among supporters at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.The Indonesian league has been suspended for a week as a result of the deadly incident. League officials have claimed the violence caused several deaths, but the number of victims who lost their lives could not be ascertained.“We are concerned and deeply regret this incident,” said Akhmad Hadian Lukita, the president of Liga Indonesia Baru. “We share our condolences and hopefully this will be a valuable lesson for all of us.” | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The Backyard Brawl was back for the first time since 2011, and it did not disappoint.With Week Zero come and gone, the college football season really got underway on Thursday night, with the University of Pittsburgh taking down West Virginia, 38-31.The Panthers got up to a 3-0 lead after forcing two Mountaineers punts, but West Virginia’s CJ Donaldson had a 44-yard carry to get their offense going. That drive finished with a JT Daniels six-yard touchdown pass to Sam James to give the Mountaineers a 7-3 lead. Rodney Hammond Jr. #6 of the Pittsburgh Panthers celebrates after rushing for a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter during the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Acrisure Stadium on September 1, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Justin Berl/Getty Images)The next four drives consisted of a combined 14 plays, as Pitt and West Virginia exchanged punts, and then exchanged fumbles lost. The Panthers recovered their fumble in good field position, though, and took just 35 yards to score, capping the drive with an impressive, strong run by Rodney Hammond Jr. to give Pittsburgh a 10-7 lead.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMWest Virginia then answered with a 13-play, 74-yard drive in the final 3:23 that ended in a field goal to bring the game to halftime tied at 10. On 3rd and 10 out of field goal range, Daniels connected with Kaden Prather for 23 yards to keep the drive alive.Out of the half, the Panthers went three-and-out, and then their fumble was blocked and returned to their own five-yard line. Donaldson ran it in for a five-yard score, giving the Mountaineers a 17-10 lead.Both teams were stalled in their next drives, but when Pittsburgh got the ball back, Jared Wayne had an impressive catch-and-run for 64 yards. Fullback Daniel Carter hurdled over the pile for the final yard two plays later to get into the end zone and tied the game at 17.After Pitt forced a three-and-out, Rodney Hammond took matters into his own hands, as he was responsible for the entire three-play drive. He had a two-yard rush, 49-yard catch-and-run, and 11-yard powerful rushing touchdown to give Pitt a 24-17 lead.At the end of the third quarter, though, the Mountaineers put together a decent drive, mixed with some bad Pitt penalties. They opened up the fourth quarter with a back-shoulder fade to Bryce Ford-Wheaton for a 16-yard touchdown. Justin Johnson Jr. #26 of the West Virginia Mountaineers is wrapped up for a tackle by Shayne Simon #32 of the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second quarter during the game at Acrisure Stadium on September 1, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Justin Berl/Getty Images)WEST VIRGINIA AND PITT KICK OFF WEEK 1 OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON WITH BACKYARD BRAWL RIVALRY GAMETied at 24, Pitt punted, and West Virginia responded with another awesome drive. Donaldson started it with a 39-yard carry, and three plays later, Tony Mathis Jr. ran for another 23. Daniels punched it in for a one-yard score.Now down 31-24, Pitt marched into Mountaineers territory, and from their 24, Slovis dumped a pass off to Israel Abanikanda, who made several men miss and dove into the end zone, making it a 31-31 game with 3:41 to go.After Donaldson ran for 14 yards on West Virginia’s first play of the drive, Daniels found a wide open Ford-Wheaton past midfield, but it went right through his hands and into M.J. Devonshire’s, who took it to the house for a pick-six and a 38-31 Pitt lead.Now with less than three minutes to go down seven, the Mountaineers again took advantage of Panthers penalties, and were quickly inside Pitt's 25. However, Daniels was sacked twice, and he faced a 4th and 16. Daniels found Reese Smith on a pass that was initially ruled a catch just short of the goal line, but review showed Smith lost possession in his dive, giving the Panthers the 38-31 win. Kedon Slovis #9 of the Pittsburgh Panthers scrambles out of the pocket in the first quarter during the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Acrisure Stadium on September 1, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Justin Berl/Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPIt was the 105th playing of the Backyard Brawl, and it was Pitt's first win over the Mountaineers since 2008.Slovis completed 16 of his 24 passes for 308 yards and a score, while Jared Wayne's 89 receiving yards were a team-high. Konata Mumpfield added five catches for 71 yards, while Hammond had 74 yards of 16 carries, two of them for scores.Donaldson had seven carries for 125 yards and a touchdown for the Mountaineers, while Ford-Wheaton had nine catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns - but his one costly dropped was the game. | Football |
Uefa Euro 2022 final: England v GermanyDate: Sunday, 31 July Kick-off: 17:00 BST Venue: Wembley Stadium Coverage: Live on BBC One and iPlayer from 15:50. Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. Live text commentary, goal clips, report and highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. England are one win away from their first major trophy in women's football - and you can watch and follow all the action from the Euro 2022 final against Germany on the BBC.Sunday's match, which kicks off at Wembley at 17:00 BST, will be live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.Build-up starts from 15:50 as the Lionesses bid for England's first trophy since the 1966 men's World Cup final.Presenter Gabby Logan will be joined at Wembley by former England and Arsenal players Alex Scott and Ian Wright, and current Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall.Ten years, six landmark momentsEngland boss Wiegman, by those who know her wellHow's it going in the England camp?Jo Currie will be pitchside with ex-England international Fara Williams and former Germany team-mates Tabea Kemme and Josephine Henning, who have been travelling around the Euros in a campervan.On commentary duties will be Robyn Cowen and former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis.BBC Radio 5 Live will have full match commentary from Wembley. Emma Saunders and Juliette Ferrington will be joined by commentator Vicki Sparks, Everton and England midfielder Izzy Christiansen, and ex-England internationals Stephen Warnock and Karen Bardsley.The BBC Sport website will provide build-up to the final throughout Sunday, followed by live text commentary, goal clips, highlights, a report and reaction. | Football |
Josh Allen Rips Autograph Seeker Over Football Throw ... 'Disrespectful!!!' 8/8/2022 10:32 AM PT A Bills Mafia member took things way too far while trying to get a Josh Allen autograph out at Bills camp this weekend -- and the QB was so mad over their attempt to get him to sign a football, he screamed at them. The incident with the Buffalo superstar was all captured on video ... when the 26-year-old signal-caller was jogging into the locker room after practice on Sunday. Waiting for your permission to load TikTok Post. You can see the Pro Bowler was waving at fans -- when a football still in its original cardboard packaging was thrown at him. Allen didn't have time to swat it away, and it caught him square in the groin. Immediately afterward, he stopped in his tracks, and scolded the fan who appeared to hurl it his way. Allen, while pointing into the stands, called the fan "disrespectful" repeatedly. Waiting for your permission to load TikTok Post. Stefon Diggs ran into a similar incident while out on the field Sunday as well -- as several fans threw jerseys and footballs at him to try to get his John Hancock. The 28-year-old wideout was stunned by what he saw, but he kept signing anyway. Took getting an autograph to another level 😅#AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/vbaaxYGWvj— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 19, 2022 @BleacherReport This ain't the first time we've seen fans go over the top for pro athletes' autographs this year ... just last month, a grown man was seen on video getting pushy with kids at the MLB All-Star game while trying to get a few things signed. Let's keep it classy, everyone. | Football |
A House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing into the "toxic" work culture at the Washington Commanders football club took a turn when members questioned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about everything from "wokeness" to "deflategate." The testy hearing saw Republicans rebuke committee Democrats for investigating a private company after they said the NFL already held Commanders owner Dan Snyder accountable. The committee called the hearing after an investigation found that the Washington Commanders football team had a long-standing work culture of sexual misconduct and other toxicity. COMMANDERS OWNER CONDUCTED 'SHADOW INVESTIGATION' TO DISCREDIT CLAIMS, HOUSE SAYS "We have the authority to investigate anything and everything," Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) told Republicans asking by what authority the committee was investigating the NFL, later clarifying, "The committee has the authority to investigate conduct within Congress's legislative jurisdiction, and that includes protecting women in the workplace." Though GOP members said Congress's meddling was distasteful, some took the opportunity to air their grievances about NFL management. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) told Goodell that he is "a little bit troubled by your embracement of what I'll call Left, woke, anti-American propaganda" by the league's support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which "perpetuated the narrative that America is a racist country." Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) satirized the hearing by comparing to Watergate the 2015 deflategate scandal that resulted in Tom Brady's (or as Fallon specified: "the GOAT, Mr. California Cool, the Real Slim Brady, the Master of the Talk, the Lord of the Rings, Tom Terrific") suspension from the league. "Last week marked the 50th anniversary of Watergate, which was a scandal that led to a series of felony convictions and the first resignation of the United States president, and it tore the very fabric of American society," he said. "And a scant seven and a half years ago, another scandal rocked our nation, threatening the very core and foundation of our republic, that being of course deflategate." Fallon asked Goodell how the league is ensuring that the footballs (or as he specified: "the piggy skin, the rock, the pill, the handbag, the melon, and the leather") are properly inflated, with Goodell reassuring him that officials now inspect the balls before each game. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Goodell why Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is banned from NFL games. Portnoy engaged in a protest outside the NFL headquarters in 2015 following the deflategate scandal that included handcuffing himself to the building and printing towels depicting Goodell's face with a clown nose. Goodell said he was not familiar with the issue. Following the hearing, Portnoy released a statement comparing Goodell to Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Un, and other "despicably evil leaders," alleging that Goodell must have perjured himself because he must have heard of Portnoy's exploits. Maloney also announced that Snyder would be subpoenaed after he did not appear to testify. Goodell was the only witness, and he said he was surprised Congress is investigating the Commanders because he thought the NFL had "handled the situation in a way that was responsible for a workplace." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "We imposed unprecedented discipline on the club, monetary penalties of well over $10 million, and requirements that the club implement a series of recommendations and allow an outside firm to conduct regular reviews of their workforce," Goodell told the committee. "In addition, for the past year, Daniel Snyder has not attended league or committee meetings, and to the best of my knowledge has not been involved in day-to-day operations at the Commanders'." Maloney is introducing legislation following the investigation to combat the abuse of nondisclosure agreements. Her committee started investigating the team last October after Snyder refused to release the results of an internal investigation. | Football |
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Leicester City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - August 13, 2022 Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke of Gabriel Jesus's positive impact on the rest of the squad after the Brazilian marked his home debut with two goals in a 4-2 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday.Jesus, who joined from Manchester City in a deal reported to be worth around 45 million pounds ($54.6 million), struck twice in the first half and was involved in further goals for Granit Xhaka and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli.The 25-year-old could have bagged a hat-trick and was applauded off when substituted late on.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"We know what Gabi can do. He scored two and got two assists and is still disappointed because he thinks he should have scored four," said Arteta, who worked with Jesus during his time as assistant manager at Manchester City."That's the standard, that's the mentality. You need to go to a different level."Jesus's influence on his team mates was clear as Arsenal's free-flowing attack looked potent on Saturday.Leicester's defenders were given a torrid time as Jesus showed the kind of form that earned him many fans at City even if he struggled to nail down a starting spot."I wouldn't like to play against him. I've never been a defender, but I can imagine I wouldn't enjoy it. He's so mobile, so intuitive, always sharp and proactive to play in any moment and phase in the game, and it's a real threat," Arteta said."I think it lifts the standards the way every day he is, the way he's talking to (his team mates), the way they are connecting. I think it's very natural, but at the same time, it's pretty impressive to do it that quickly."Jesus looks like a key man in Arsenal's pursuit of a top-four return and Arteta knows he must manage the Brazilian carefully to keep him at his top level."That's why we took him off," he said. "I think he's played 18 starts in the last two seasons and we're gonna demand him to start a lot of games, so we have to manage that load when we can."The mood around the stadium was buoyant and Arteta praised the way the fans responded to William Saliba, also like Jesus on his home debut, after he scored an own goal early in the second half."What they did today with William Saliba after the own goal is something I've never seen anything like that in my career," Arteta told reporters."That shows the connection and really to be there when it matters and when it's difficult."We should be really proud to play in front of them because that was special."($1 = 0.8244 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v AFC Bournemouth - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - August 13, 2022 Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Craig Brough EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limitRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Two games into the new season champions Manchester City have already raised the bar high as they crushed promoted Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday to maintain their fast start.Arsenal joined them on six point as former City striker Gabriel Jesus struck twice in a 4-2 win over Leicester City.Leeds United looked on course for a second successive win but squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Southampton -- one of three draws on a sultry Saturday afternoon.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comManchester United, bidding to avoid a second successive defeat under new manager Erik ten Hag, were in action later in the day at Brentford.City, bidding for a fifth Premier League title in six seasons, cruised to an opening win at West Ham United and were equally dominant against Bournemouth.They wasted no time getting into their stride in the sunshine as Norway striker Erling Haaland marked his home debut with an assist for Ilkay Gundogan's opener after 19 minutes.City then cut loose and scored a sumptuous second 12 minutes later when Kevin De Bruyne curled a fine strike into the net with the outside of his foot.Phil Foden added another before halftime from De Bruyne's assist and it was just a matter of how many more the hosts would help themselves to. In the end they only managed one more courtesy of Jefferson Lerma's own goal but they spent most of the second half on cruise control.The arrival of Jesus has created quite a buzz at Arsenal and the Brazilian marked his home debut with a virtuoso display with two goals and two assists against Leicester.A delightful chip gave his side the lead in the 23rd minute and he made it 2-0 with a header at the far post.Leicester twice clawed themselves back to within a goal of the hosts thanks to an own goal by William Saliba, who like Jesus was making his home debut, and James Maddison.But Arsenal were always a step ahead with Jesus setting up Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli scoring immediately after Leicester's replies.Leeds looked set for an away win at Southampton with Rodrigo's brace putting them in control by the hour mark.But goals by Kyle Walker-Peters and Joe Aribo earned Southampton their first point of the campaign.Everton suffered a second successive defeat as they went down 2-1 at Aston Villa for whom Danny Ings and substitute Emiliano Buendia were both on target.Fulham, who drew with Liverpool in their first game back in the top flight, missed the chance to earn their first win as Aleksander Mitrovic had a second-half penalty saved by Jose Sa in a 0-0 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle United also ended scoreless.All games involved water breaks as much of Britain continued to swelter in a heatwave with temperatures reaching the mid 30s Celsius on Saturday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
"Calmness and composure" are the keys to the Lionesses triumphing over Germany, tournament hero Georgia Stanway has said ahead of tomorrow's Euro 2022 final.England's women will be taking the pitch in front of a sold out crowd at Wembley Stadium as they bid to put an emphatic finish to their rapturous campaign.
A victory on Sunday night will see the Lionesses end England's 56-year wait to be crowned champions of a major tournament, something neither senior team has done since the 1966 World Cup.The game is set to kick off at 5pm and will be shown live on TV.England head to Wembley! Your guide to the Lionesses who have stormed to the Euros final against Germany Stanway, whose stunning strike sent her team through to the semi-finals, told Sky News: "In the first five, ten minutes of every single game, energy levels are high, adrenaline's high, everyone's running around, everyone's trying to do something special.
"The biggest thing we need to bring on Sunday is calmness, composure. More on Women's Euro 2022 How Beth Mead and Alexandra Popp have overcome adversity to lead their respective nations' Euro 2022 title charge Euro 2022: How Sarina Wiegman's ruthless European style has changed England's fortunes Euro 2022: How Sarina Wiegman's ruthless European style has changed England's fortunes "We know that Germany like to get out the traps and they like to put people under pressure and challenge their decision making. We just need to be even better on the ball, it's down to us really."After their thrilling comeback win against Spain in the quarter-finals, the Lionesses thrashed Sweden 4-0 to book their place in the final.Just like in 1966, England will get the opportunity to fight for the trophy at Wembley Stadium. Home soil. "We're in such a good place," Stanway said."We've dominated the games that we've played so far, confidence is really high, belief in ourselves is really high."We're just really looking forward to Sunday. We know how special it's going to be for football in general."The stadium's going to be packed out, the fans are going to be loving it, I'm so excited to enjoy the day."The 23-year-old forward paid tribute to manager Sarina Wiegman, who has helped guide England through the tournament."Sarina obviously has the experience. She's been here, she's done it before, she's got to this point whereas we haven't. This is where we've got to put ourselves into what Sarina's saying."So far we've done so well. Now it's about trusting the process and believing fully in us."The biggest thing that Sarina said to us at the start was 'Play for the little girl that wanted to be in our shoes."Read more: Scams and unofficial resales warning amid huge demand for England ticketsAmong the huge amounts of people trying to secure tickets to the big game were the England men's team, Stanway said."Sorry lads, we're all sold out!", she quipped.The Lionesses' incredible ride through the Euro 2022 tournament has only thrown more spotlight on the growth of the women's game, but Stanway says the conversation needs to change."We need to stop talking about how big women's football is getting, and talk about how big it is. We're just hitting new levels every single time, even if England aren't playing, the TV figures are ridiculous."The fans are going to play a massive role in being our 12th man. Woman. Damn!" | Football |
Honour the Lionesses! Seven in 10 Britons say England's Euros-winning football heroines should get Downing Street receptionSeven in ten Britons think the Lionesses should get a Downing Street reception England scored a 2-1 victory against Germany in Uefa Women's Euro 2022 finalIt was most-watched women's football match ever with 17.4million UK viewersDespite celebrations, no formal reception at Downing Street has been arranged Published: 15:19 EDT, 2 August 2022 | Updated: 15:25 EDT, 2 August 2022 Seven in ten Britons think the England Lionesses should get a Downing Street reception following their 2-1 win against Germany on Sunday, according to research from pollster YouGov.The Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final between England and Germany was the most watched female soccer match ever in the UK, reaching a peak television audience of 17.4million on the BBC as well as 5.9 million streams online.The hard fought match saw both women's teams neck-on-neck with one goal each, until Chloe Kelly's extra-time goal snatched the trophy for England.The event has been hailed as a 'stunning victory' by PM Boris Johnson, while Labour leader Keir Starmer said the Lionesses have 'inspired a generation of women and girls'.Despite celebrations at their win, it has emerged that the England women’s football team will not be honoured with a reception at 10 Downing Street. Seven in ten Britons think the England Lionesses should get a Downing Street reception following their 2-1 win against Germany on Sunday The Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final between England and Germany was the most watched female soccer match ever in the UK, reaching a peak television audience of 17.4million Despite celebrations at their win, it has emerged that the England women’s football team will not be honoured with a reception at 10 Downing StreetThis is even though the England men’s cricket team post-Ashes win in 2005 and the men’s Rugby world cup victors in 2003 were given a formal audience at the Prime Minister's residence.Asked today, 71 per cent of Britons said they should get a reception at Downing Street to celebrate their achievement - according to a survey of over 3,000 people by YouGov.Just 11 per cent said they should not, while the remaining 18 per cent had no opinion either way.Greg Dyke, the former head of the Football Association has called the lack of a Downing Street reception for England's victorious Lionesses 'disappointing' as Boris Johnson prepares to go on holiday from Wednesday until Sunday. The event has been hailed as a 'stunning victory' by PM Boris Johnson, while Labour leader Keir Starmer said the Lionesses have 'inspired a generation of women and girls'There were major bus parades through London both in 2003 after England won the Rugby World Cup, and in 2005 when England's cricketers won The Ashes. The same Ashes team also got a Downing Street reception, as did the one-day side when they won the World Cup in 2019. Mr Dyke, the media executive and former FA chairman, told The Times: 'I think it's disappointing for the players. What they have achieved is incredible.' Former sports minister Tracey Crouch said she would be 'horrified' if there was 'nothing' from No 10 after the England women’s football team were not given the victory bus parade through London after winning Euro 2022.The Tory MP called on the two Tory leadership candidates, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, to 'pledge to recognise the Lionesses at their earliest opportunity' following the start of the PM's break tomorrow. Advertisement | Football |
England are waking up as the champions of Europe after the Lionesses delivered the country's first major trophy since 1966.There were euphoric scenes nationwide last night after the squad beat Germany 2-1 in extra time - with 87,000 supporters at a packed-out Wembley Stadium cheering them on, not to mention millions more at home.
And later today, thousands of fans are set to join in the celebrations at an event in Trafalgar Square, where the team will take part in a live Q&A and lift the Euro 2022 trophy. Sarina Wiegman has described the victory as an incredible achievement - and her players couldn't resist storming into the press conference, singing "football's coming home" at the top of their lungs and dancing on the table.The England manager, who has won plaudits for her composure throughout the tournament, revealed she had a beer for the first time in years during the celebrations - and plans to take a little time off before beginning preparations for next year's World Cup. She thanked the nation for their support, and admitted: "I will need a couple of days to realise what we have done."
It's been a flawless journey for the Lionesses - and not only did they score the most goals ever in this tournament, but they only conceded two. There's now a firm belief that England's fairy-tale ending could transform women's football in the years to come - sparking renewed interest in the game among fans and players alike. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Fans roar as Lionesses win Euros "I think these tournaments have done so much for the game but also for society and women in society in England but also across Europe and the world," Wiegman added.The Queen also highlighted the significance of the Lionesses' achievement in a statement, telling the team: "Your success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned. You have all set an example that will be an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations."It is my hope that you will be as proud of the impact you have had on your sport as you are of the result today."Read more:PM, Spice Girls and Three Lions react to Euro 2022 victoryTears, cheers and jubilation: England's historic win in pictures England's win is 'life-changing'Sky's Adele Robinson described the atmosphere at Wembley Stadium as electric, with one little girl spontaneously screaming: "It was amazing."And the girl's father was in tears too, telling us: "I've been watching for the last 40 years and I've never seen England win a final. It means so much, it's enormous. It's why we wanted to make sure our daughter came and saw."The crowd was full of smiles and singing - with children wearing flags as capes. One teenager with "Lionesses" written on her midriff said England's win felt "life-changing".One six-year-old with the England flag painted across her cheeks simply said: "Thank you, that was awesome." Image: Chloe Kelly celebrates scoring England's second goal A nail-biting finaleElla Toone gave England the lead in the 62nd minute with a sublime lob after being sent through one-on-one with the German goalkeeper.The Lionesses were unable to hold on as Germany's Lina Magull scored a flick-on at the near post in the 79th minute.But England prevailed in extra time as Chloe Kelly poked home from close range after Germany failed to clear a corner. Beth Mead won the Golden Boot after finishing the tournament with six goals - 12 months after she was left out of Team GB's Olympic squad for the Tokyo Games."I can't believe it," she said. "Sometimes football puts you down but bouncing back is the best way and that is what we have done."I am so, so proud of this team. I love this team and I love this country." | Football |
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Getafe v Real Madrid - Coliseum Alfonso Perez, Getafe, Spain - October 8, 2022 Real Madrid's Eder Militao in action with Getafe's Enes Unal REUTERS/Juan MedinaGETAFE, Spain, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Defender Eder Militao's early header gave Real Madrid a low-key 1-0 win at Getafe on Saturday to move them back up to the top of the LaLiga standings.Militao scored the winner in the third minute, ghosting between several defenders to head home from close-range from a corner by Luka Modric.Yet despite their early breakthrough and a dominant performance, Real were unable to break down Getafe’s defensive wall and extend their lead.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPlaying at Getafe has often caused trouble for Real, who were winless in their two previous visits to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, having failed to score in both matches.Real, who bounced back from dropping their first points of the campaign in a disappointing home draw against Osasuna last weekend, moved on to 22 points, three ahead of rivals Barcelona who have a game in hand and will host Celta Vigo on Sunday."Our goal today was to win and keep the pressure now over Barcelona," Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal told Movistar Plus."We always want to score more, but the good thing today was our effort in defence."To not concede a goal was really important and helped us to get to the objective that was get back to winning ways."After conceding a goal in each of his first seven starts for Real Madrid, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin kept his first clean-sheet for the Spanish giants."I think we controlled the game well from the beginning and were really close to securing the points with a second goal," coach Carlo Ancelotti said."We were not good in front of the goal, missed many chances. We could have scored more, we had plenty of opportunities."After the early goal, Real piled on the pressure.Rodrygo, who played centre forward in place of Karim Benzema, who was rested by Ancelotti ahead of next weekend's El Clasico against Barcelona, was the focal point of Real Madrid's attack.He missed a great chance with a close-range header and Modric, who was returning after missing two games with a hip injury he suffered on international duty with Croatia, fired a bullet-shot wide from the edge of the box.Real Madrid were also denied a penalty just before the break, when Vinicius Jr was fouled inside the box but a VAR check spotted that the ball had gone out on the left touchline in the build-up.Rodrygo shot wide immediately after the break and, two minutes later, Getafe goalkeeper David Soria made an incredible stop to deny a bullet-strike from Aurelien Tchouameni from inside the box.The Brazilian had a goal ruled out a few minutes later after the VAR decided he was narrowly offside.The pace of the game dropped as Real controlled possession and a helpless Getafe defended with 11 men in their own half.Getafe have lost two straight games and are 16th on seven points, two above the relegation zone.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Fernando Kallas
Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
From a quiet, quaint village on the North East coast - Hinderwell's golden girl is now the proud wearer of Europe's Golden boot. The Yorkshire village is beaming with pride after Beth Mead took the Women's Euros by storm, not only winning the trophy with her team - but finishing as the top goalscorer and the tournament's best player.
There's immense joy and excitement across Hinderwell, and a few sore heads too after they celebrated in the village's two pubs on Sunday evening - including Mead's first football coach, Phillip Nedley.England Euro 2022 win live: Lionesses lift trophy in front of delirious fansWe meet him on the field where Mead would take part in the boys' Saturday football club. He had no idea that one day she'd be an England star.
"I'm just immensely proud to have a little part of her journey to where she's got to now. It's so impressive to see her perform like she does," he told Sky News. More on Women's Euro 2022 Euro 2022: How Sarina Wiegman's ruthless European style has changed England's fortunes Liz Truss commits to exploring Women's World Cup bid if she becomes PM Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo among the favourites as Sky Sports' journalists and reporters give their Euro 2022 verdicts "If we didn't have that little Saturday morning club, she might not have bothered or picked something else up."She had something special about her, she was a gifted player. But she also had a phenomenal determination and a great attitude, she wanted to do everything better than anybody else and really worked for it."But we never dreamed she'd make it. We thought she might make a living out of it and play for a local team - so we're just so pleased. Image: Phillip Nedley was the forward's first football coach "If a little girl from the village can get to the world top, then anybody can have a go."It was 20 years ago when Mead joined the Saturday club, and Mr Nedley remembers the first day she came along.He said: "Beth turned up with her parents, two foot nothing, all in England strip and a little pair of boots, keen as mustard."Her mum and dad said 'Bethany would like to have a game' and I said, 'She's a bit small, the big lads might push her off the ball and hurt her.'""But she took part, and we had some warm-up sessions, a few drills, and then we had a big game at the end. Image: Mead stated playing football with the local boys club on Saturdays "The boys were trying to push her off the ball, and they were kicking her, and she just turned around, and she was giving as good as she got, pushing them off the ball, tackling them and going in hard - she just thoroughly enjoyed herself."'She's just an ordinary person'From her first coach, to her first teacher.Janet Lonsdale ran the pre-school Mead attended and told us her performance will go into Yorkshire's archives."It's a marvellous thing that's happened. She's just an ordinary person from an ordinary family who's down to earth and made it to the top - it's absolutely fabulous," she said. Image: Janet Lonsdale ran the pre-school which Mead attended "The pubs were absolutely full and when we see her on the telly, we say 'there's our little Beth' and she's there on top of the world."She always wanted to play football and so the village has always supported her, when she first started off we did some fundraising for her, and it's been absolutely marvellous, we just can't believe how far she's come." Image: The entire village has been cheering on their local star and her England teammates Read more:From ban on women's organised football to Euro triumph - what's next for England?PM, Spice Girls and Three Lions react to Euro 2022 victoryTears, cheers, and jubilation: England's historic win in picturesThere are only 1,800 people that live in the village of Hinderwell - but everywhere you go you're reminded of England's emphatic victory and of the Yorkshire girl that got them there.Flags, bunting and her name are plastered in windows, outside pubs and on the rusted goalposts opposite her grandma Dotty's home, where she once played.Whenever she returns, there'll be a welcome like no other. | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff met for almost seven hours Tuesday to work on expanding the postseason system from four to 12 teams as soon as the 2024 season.There is still much work to be done. "We will not wrap up this week," CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said.The CFP management committee, comprised of 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director, is scheduled to convene again at the Big Ten offices for a few hours Wednesday morning. They are set to meet again in person in Dallas on Oct. 20."That’ll be important," Hancock said.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The National Championship Trophy is displayed following a news conference Aug. 16, 2022, in Atlanta, announcing that the CFP National Championship NCAA college football game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2025. The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff met for almost seven hours Tuesday, Sept. 27, to work on expanding the postseason system from four to 12 teams as soon as the 2024 season. There is still much work to be done. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)Expansion talks were revived by the university presidents and chancellors who oversee the College Football Playoff last month.BOISE STATE'S HANK BACHMEIER SET TO ENTER TRANSFER PORTALBy adopting a 12-team plan that had been on the table since the spring of 2021, the presidents pushed the commissioners to try to implement a new format before the end of the CFP's current contract with ESPN. That deal ends after the 2025 season.Expanding from four to 12 in 2024 and '25 will require rescheduling semifinals and championship games that already have dates and sites set, plus adding four new first-round games in mid-December to be played on campus sites.Squeezing it all into about a month and working around the NFL for television will be challenging.Hancock said the idea of moving up the start of the college football season to the week before Labor Day to create more room at the end for the playoff has been discussed, but more for beyond the 2025 season."I think most people view that as a future item. As long-term item and not an immediacy item," Hancock said. "Remember, there's so many details."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHancock said CFP officials have spoken to bowl partners and hosts cities that are set to hold semifinals and championship games after the 2024 and '25 seasons, but they have not been presented definitive new dates. | Football |
It was the most iconic moment in women’s football. Until now.Twenty-three years after Brandi Chastain, the American footballer, scored a decisive penalty in the 1999 World Cup final and threw off her jersey to celebrate, England’s Chloe Kelly did the same.“I see you,” Chastain, 54, tweeted to Kelly last night after she scored the winning goal. The picture of Chastain was later described by The New York Times as the “most iconic photograph ever taken of a female athlete”.Chloe Kelly has become a new role model for young female footballersMARC ATKINS/GETTY IMAGESKelly, 24, had her moment of glory in the 110th minute. To the roar of the nation, she too tore off her top. Pausing for the VAR, it was an anxious wait to check that her goal — the winning goal — had | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Baseball may be America’s pastime, but football is its passion. One man, Walter Camp, did more than any other American to shape the nation’s love affair with the sport today. "What Washington was to his country, Camp was to American football, the friend, the founder and the father," John Heisman, the late longtime coach and namesake of the iconic college football trophy, once said.Most notably, Camp’s vision turned a primitive — and often deadly — college activity into a uniquely American sporting spectacle with passionate devotees at the high school, college and professional levels. MEET THE AMERICAN WHO CREATED THE NATION'S FIRST SPORTS BAR IN ST. LOUIS: WORLD WAR II VETERAN JIMMY PALERMOThirty-seven men were killed on college football fields in the 1904 and 1905 seasons. The national outcry over the brutality forged a partnership between President Theodore Roosevelt and Walter Camp that made football less brutal and more popular than ever.Camp (1859-1925) was a Connecticut native and star player at Yale from 1876 to 1881 during American football’s infancy. Walter Camp starred for Yale University from 1876 to 1881 in the early days of American football. He was later dubbed the "father of football" for his contributions to the game as a coach, administrator and author. (Courtesy Yale Athletics)He became the university’s football coach from 1888 to 1892 while carving out a legacy in just a few short years — a legacy that shapes the game today. Camp’s 1888 Yale team went 13-0 and outscored its opponents 694-0. By many accounts, it was the single most dominant team in more than 150 years of college football history. "What Washington was to his country, Camp was to American football." He later served as administrator, rule maker, author and pigskin proselytizer, writing dozens of books and hundreds of articles about football while serving on national rules committees for over four decades in the formative years of the sport. "Camp revolutionized football," Rich Marazzi, author of "A Bowl Full of Memories: 100 Years of Football at The Yale Bowl," told Fox News Digital. "He gave us the sport we know today." Yale University's 1888 football team, coached by Walter Camp, went 13-0 and outscored it opposition 694-0. (ullstein bild via Getty Images)Football was never "invented" as basketball or volleyball were. Instead, it evolved out of soccer and rugby. And in the early years of that evolution, the rules of "Foot Ball" — as it was written at the time — were often inconsistent.Camp introduced standard parameters of the game that all fans recognize today. A line of scrimmage, the system of four downs and the rules of 11 men on the field per side were all pioneered by Camp.He gave the sport its first All-America teams — a compilation of the best college football around the nation. The All-America team is still published by the Walter Camp Football Foundation each year. Camp also gave offenses the standardized formation of seven players on the line of scrimmage and four in the backfield that is still used today. Walter Camp edited the Spalding's Foot Ball Guide, for many years the authority on the sport. He was called "the father of foot ball" in the 1909 edition. (Walter Camp Football Foundation)"In 1878, while still in his teens, Camp attended a rules meeting at Springfield (Mass.), and from then until his death in 1925 he was a member of every rules committee, ‘the father of American football,’" Richard Goldstein wrote in his 1996 book, "Ivy League Autumns."COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TO EXPAND TO 12 TEAMS: REPORT"Soon everybody would be playing the same regulations, thanks to the leadership of Camp."So Camp was the ultimate authority on the game, the true "father of football."When a small college in the Midwest was looking to build its football program, it turned to Camp. The U.S. Postal Service issued a Walter Camp stamp in 2003 to pay tribute to his unparalleled contributions to American football. (United States Postal Service)"Dear sir, I want to ask a favor of you. Will you kindly furnish me with some points on the best way to develop a good football team?" Notre Dame football coach James Kivlan wrote to Walter Camp in 1892. Sports come of age in post-Civil War AmericaWalter Chauncey Camp was born on April 7, 1859, in New Britain, Conn., to Leverett and Ellen Sophia (Cornwell) Camp.His family traced its history in America to some of the earliest European settlers, including Nicholas Camp of Essex, England, who landed in the new Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Camp came of age in a post-Civil War America that was bursting with opportunities, including new means of recreation. Walter Camp was a star player, then coach, at Yale. He then became a leading authority in the early days of the sport and shaped it into the game that millions of fans know today. (Courtesy Yale Athletics)"Leisure activities were becoming an important center in the life of people at the time," past Walter Camp Football Foundation President Tom Lally told Fox News Digital.The Cincinnati Red Stockings fielded the first professional baseball team in May 1869, just four years after the war. A few months later, in the autumn of 1869, Rutgers battled Princeton in the first college football game. Other elite eastern schools, Yale and Harvard most notably, soon fielded football teams, too. A football game between Yale and Princeton in 1879. Walter Camp was captain of the 1879 Yale football team. Drawing by A.B. Frost. (Getty Images)The sport evolved out of a mash-up of soccer and rugby — and rules were often inconsistent."When Yale played at Harvard, Harvard allowed 11 men per side," much like soccer, Lally told Fox News Digital. Eighteen college football players were killed in 1904, followed by 19 more in 1905. "When Harvard played at Yale, Yale would play with 15" — that's the number of players used in rugby. Football was also played in a nation apparently desensitized to bloodshed during the horrific human carnage of a war that had ended only four years earlier. A practice game is shown in Yale Magazine; illustrations by Frederic Remington. The artist who grew to fame portraying the American west played football at Yale with Walter Camp. (©CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)"At one point in the game, you could literally punch the player with the ball," said Lally.Blood colored the sport. The first few decades of football were so violent that players were being killed on the field, inspiring ever louder calls to ban the brutal sport. Famed American artist Frederic Remington played for Yale alongside Camp in 1879 and 1880, "once dipping his jersey in blood in a New Haven slaughterhouse before a Harvard game to appear ‘more businesslike,’" Goldstein wrote in "Ivy League Autumns." Camp helps Roosevelt save the gameIf Camp was the George Washington of football, as Heisman called him, then his "Crossing the Delaware" moment to save the American cause came in 1905 at the behest of President Teddy Roosevelt.The first few decades of football were so violent that players were being killed on the field, inspiring ever louder calls to ban the brutal sport. The Harvard-Yale game of 1894, played in Springfield, was so violent it was dubbed the "Bloodbath at Hampden Park" and reached the international press."It turned into an awful butchery," Goldstein wrote in "Ivy League Autumns," quoting a Munich newspaper. Walter Camp's legacy lives on in the size, scope and success of college and professional football in America. Beaver Stadium, home of Penn State University football, seats nearly 107,000 people, making it one of the largest arenas in global sports. Shown in this image: Auburn Tigers at Penn State Nittany Lions, Sept. 18, 2021. (Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)"Of 22 participants, seven were so severely injured that they had to be carried from the field in dying condition. One player had his back broken, another lost an eye and a third lost a leg. Both teams appeared upon the field with a crowd of ambulances, surgeons and nurses.""The public outcry following the game was swift and far-reaching," the Yale Alumni Magazine wrote in 2004. "The sport was now under fire from every corner of society. Members of the clergy and law enforcement officials issued denunciations."The breaking point for the American public came when 18 players were killed on the field during the 1904 college football season alone, according to the Chicago Tribune; almost incredibly, that was followed by 19 more football deaths in 1905. Football grew so violent and even deadly in the early 20th century that calls came to ban the sport. President Theodore Roosevelt, a football fan, enlisted the aid of Walter Camp and other leaders of the game to save football. (Walter Camp Football Foundation)President Theodore Roosevelt, who praised the sport for helping forge a culture of American vitality and masculinity, could no longer fend off the public. "I believe in rough games and in rough, manly sports," the president said in 1903. "I do not feel any particular sympathy for the person who gets battered about a good deal so long as it is not fatal."The meeting led to the creation of an oversight group to manage the rules and safety of football. He was forced to throw a Hail Mary to Camp and other leading figures of the game to save the sport after so many on-field fatalities. "My dear Mr. Camp," the president wrote, in a note he signed on White House letterhead. "I want to talk over certain football matters with you, and I very earnestly hope that you will be able to come." Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States (1901-09), is shown working at his desk circa 1905. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)The meeting inspired dramatic changes in football. Most notably, the meeting led to the creation of an oversight group to manage the rules and safety of football. It was called the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, the precursor of the NCAA. The meeting of Camp and other football leaders yielded a dramatic on-field change, too: rules were introduced, and a new innovation was encouraged. It was called the forward pass. It opened up the game and added speed and grace to a game that had been made of pure brute force. The rule changes made the game safer — and ultimately more popular. Creating a path to unprecedented successWalter Camp died in his sleep in New York City on March 14, 1925. He was 65 years old. `He is buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Conn., the home of Yale University, along with his wife Alice Sumner. MEET THE AMERICAN WHO FOUNDED THE GRAND OLE OPRY: ‘REMARKABLE VISIONARY GEORGE D. HAY’Yale erected a monument to Camp’s contribution to the school and to the sport, the Walter Camp Memorial Gateway, at the Yale Bowl in 1928. The U.S. Postal Service issued a Walter Camp stamp in 2003, honoring his role in creating the great American game. Walter Camp died March 14, 1925, in New York City. He was 65 years old. He's buried in Grove Street Cemetery with his wife Allison in New Haven, Conn. (Courtesy Sam Gindy)His legacy is best represented in the unprecedented success of the sport he helped to shape so profoundly: American football.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTEREight of the 10 largest sports arenas in the world are American college football stadiums, each of which seats over 100,000 people, according to Fox Sports Australia. The short list of the world's largest sports arenas spans the college football landscape: Michigan Stadium (University of Michigan), Kyle Field (Texas A&M) and Neyland Stadium (University of Tennessee), to name just three. Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders entertain fans during the first half of a game against the Utah State Aggies at Neyland Stadium in 2014. (Jim Brown/USA Today Sports)The Yale Bowl was the largest stadium in the nation, seating 71,000 people, when it opened in 1914, with Camp serving in the university administration. The National Football League, born in 1920 in the wake of the popularity and cultural dominance of college football, is today the most profitable professional sports league in the world.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPIn a deal announced in March 2021, the NFL was set to nearly double its media revenue to more than $10 billion a season with new rights agreements, including a deal with Amazon Prime Video that gives the streaming service exclusive rights to "Thursday Night Football" beginning in 2022, the AP reported last year.Camp's "fame rests upon the fact that he, above all others, was responsible for conceiving and bringing into being the game of football, which typifies the American competitive spirit in its premium upon imagination, speed, strategy and daring, as well as upon sheer physical ability and durability," proclaims the Walter Camp Football Foundation today. To read more stories in this unique "Meet the American Who…" series from Fox News Digital, click here. Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital. | Football |
UVALDE, Texas -- After a summer plagued with grief, anxiety and anger, Uvalde gets an escape, celebrating the high school's first home football game of the season.Residents will descend on the Honey Bowl Stadium on Friday night to watch the Uvalde High School Coyotes take on the C.C. Winn High School Mavericks. Uvalde's stadium is just 2.4 miles from Robb Elementary School, where 19 elementary students and two teachers were killed on May 24.A sign with the "Uvalde Strong" message and a Uvalde High School Coyote logo is displayed on the window of a building in downtown Uvalde, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2022.Kat Caulderwood/ABC NewsSenior Uvalde linebacker Justyn Rendon was selected by his coaches and peers for the honor of wearing the No. 21 jersey this season, commemorating the 21 victims killed."I automatically started crying," his mom, Venessa Rendon, said when she learned the news. "I was proud. It was a very humbling moment."Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.Justyn Rendon said nearly everyone in town was impacted by the massacre, including his own family. His youngest brother was at Robb that day and survived."I was devastated, I couldn't get here fast enough. All the 'what ifs?' started playing through my mind," said his father, San Antonio police officer Eluterio Rendon.Now football is "like a therapy," Justyn Rendon told ABC News.At practice "everybody didn't have to feel the sadness and the sorrow. They just were able to feel the comfort of the family that we have," the 18-year-old said.As the team gathered for a pre-game dinner Thursday night, they were greeted by surprise visitors: Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith and Texans linebackers Christian Kirksey and Kamu Grugier-Hill."Whenever you have the opportunity to be of help, to be of inspiration, or just to be a person that can get, you know, things of these young men's minds. You can talk ball with, or talk life with, you just want to be there," Texans linebacker Christian Kirksey told ABC News. "I think that we have a job not just playing football, but to be role models and to be a helping hand.""I think it's awesome," Uvalde coach Wade Miller said of the NFL visit. "It makes us feel the love that we're getting from around the world and especially the state of Texas. And to have those guys here and keeping up with us, makes our kids feel really special."Houston Texans players visit the Uvalde high school football team on Sept. 1, 2022.Todd Wawrychuk/ABCThe surprises kept coming on "Good Morning America" Friday. The Texans are gifting Uvalde with new uniforms and equipment for the season, and will honor the team with "Uvalde strong" stickers on their helmets at their first home game on Sept. 11."We'll always be in you corner, we'll always have your back," Kirksey said.The Texans are also hosting a football clinic for the Uvalde community on Friday."The guys just enjoy giving back," Texans owner Cal McNair told ABC News. "All these guys have really embraced that as what they do and what they believe in."Houston Texans players join the Uvalde football team ahead of the high school's first home game, Sept. 2, 2022.Todd Wawrychuk/ABCThe special NFL visit was made possible by the Texans' athletic trainer, Roland Ramirez, who is a Uvalde native."It's been tough. Some really close friends have lost loves ones ... so it hits home for me," he said.Ramirez said he's glad the Texans can extend support and encouragement to the high schoolers -- and he's especially excited to watch his alma mater take the field Friday night.Houston Texans players join the Uvalde football team ahead of the high school's first home game, Sept. 2, 2022.Todd Wawrychuk/ABCUvalde football ended last season 2-8. But already this year is off to a new start.The season began last Friday with an away game. Uvalde beat the Carrizo Springs Wildcats, scoring a total of 21 points -- a poignant and powerful reminder of the 21 lives lost."It was just a sign that the 21 angels are looking down at this community, and saying that they're here, that they're still present, and that they will remain present. So that was a pretty, pretty special moment," Eluterio Rendon said.Defensive end Jonathan Elizondo, 17, said the tragedy has brought the team together and that they're mentally stronger now.Houston Texans players visit the Uvalde high school football team on Sept. 1, 2022.Todd Wawrychuk/ABCElizondo transferred to Uvalde in the wake of the shooting to lend support to his family. He has cousins who attended Robb."I just don't want them to see this as, like, a tragic town, you know? I want there to be positivity again," he said.A sign saying "Coyotes & Lobos Loyal & True" is seen in the stands of the Honey Bowl Stadium in Uvalde, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2022.Kat Caulderwood/ABC NewsFootball "brings everybody together" in Uvalde, and Justyn Rendon said he's excited to "bring the joy back to this town" at Friday's home opener."It's gonna mean a lot more this season. ... It's gonna be very emotional, very exciting," he said. "And hopefully those little kids get to come out and watch us win. And that they don't have to feel like scared, or have to be sad, but they get to feel the joy of being around their friends, their families.""This team means a lot to me," added 16-year-old quarterback Brodie Carnes.Carnes said Friday night's game is "gonna be packed. Our community is kinda down ... we're gonna go out there and play for them.""It took us a while to be able to smile again without feeling guilty," Eluterio Rendon said. "I believe that football will hopefully bring the community out ... find a reason to smile, by enjoying watching our kids do what they love to do."ABC News' Olivia Osteen and Kat Caulderwood contributed to this report. | Football |
Social media has gone crazy for Ryan Reynolds' new documentary series in which he and fellow television/movie star Rob McElhenney buy a fifth-tier Welsh soccer team in hopes of transforming its fortunes.It remains unclear why the two celebrities decided to buy Wrexham Football Club, but the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham on FX has already created some soccer fans in the US.'Who would have guessed an American from Kansas is now a fan of a "soccer" team in Wales,' one man tweeted, while another called the docuseries 'elite television already' after just one episode aired.Some also compared the two stars endeavor to improve the rankings of the team to the comedy Ted Lasso, in which an American football coach played by Jason Sudeikis is hired to coach an English soccer team despite his limited knowledge of the sport.One woman said she was losing hope that Ted Lasso would return for a third season, but Reynolds and McElhenney are filling that void. Others online also said they hope the team 'makes it up the ranks' and have called it a 'true underdog story,' with one man saying it 'shows you why sports are magical and man does that give me goosebumps and make me well up with tears The FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham follows Ryan Reynolds, right, and Rob McElhenney's, left, effort to improve a Welsh soccer teams standings In a clip of the show posted online, McElhenney, right, expresses his concerns about buying the team, but Reynolds, left, assures him 'It's gonna work' Some online have compared it to Ted Lasso, a comedy series in which an American football coach played by Jason Sudeikis is hired to coach an English soccer team despite his limited knowledge of the sportThe docuseries follows Reynolds and McElhenney, best known for his role as Ronald 'Mac' McDonald on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as they decide to buy the fifth-tier team from a small town in Wales.In a clip of the show McElhenney posted online, the two actors are seen at the stadium deliberating over whether to buy the failing team.McElhenney, 45, tells Reynolds that 'there is a real risk for us,' going on to say: 'There is a version of the story where we are villains,' to which Reynolds jokingly replies 'that's usually the story in my head.''Yeah [if] it doesn't work, and then we go "What are we gonna do? We have to sell it." And then we're the bad guys,' McElhenney considers.But Reynolds, also 45, seems to refuse to think about that possibility, saying 'F*** that,' which McElhenney repeats back at him.'It's gonna work,' Reynolds assures him.Ultimately, the two actors do decide to buy the sports team, vowing to get it up to the fourth-tier by the end of their first full season despite their limited knowledge of the sport. The show has earned praise online from fans who are now rooting for the fifth-tier team It remains unclear why the two celebrities wanted to buy the soccer club from a small Welsh town. They are pictured with some young fans at the stadium The actors hope to get the team (pictured) up to fourth-tier by the end of their first seasonStill, townies seem to love the idea of the Hollywood big wigs buying their team.As Angie Han writes for The Hollywood Reporter, 'the series' heart really lies with the players, staff and especially the fans associated with Wexham.'Big chunks of each episode are given over to interviews of townspeople who speak earnestly about what the sport has meant to them, or the community they've found among other fans, or simply what everyday life in Wrexham is like.'But Han goes on to write that the show has so far failed to provide a deep understanding of the fans and of the town.It also fails to show the backlash of two wealthy celebrities buying the club or from a mass firing as they seek to improve it. Much of the docuseries focuses on the reactions of the townies, and on the players themselvesThe two actors have so far relied on their celebrity to earn endorsements for the teamFortunately, Reynolds and McElhenney seemed to understand their limits with running a soccer club, and instead focus their efforts on promoting the team.Due to their celebrity status, the two have been able to secure partnerships with TikTok, Expedia, EA Sports and Reynolds' own Aviation Gin. They have also been able to lure top talent with their money and were able to pay for upgrades to Racecourse Ground — the oldest international football stadium in the world.'It's effectively one long commercial for Reynolds' and McElhenney's new joint investment and a pretty savvy one at that,' Han writes, as some on social media say they will buy Wrexham jerseys or inquire about how they can watch the games in the US.But, Han continues: 'If Welcome to Wrexham seems to polished for its own good, well it'd hardly be the first docuseries to field that criticism.'At least this one leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling behind, and manages to conjure as much affection for the ordinary fans as for the beloved celebrities who have brought them here.' | Football |
Soccer Football - International Women's Friendly - England v United States - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - October 7, 2022 England's Lauren Hemp celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Peter CziborraOct 7 (Reuters) - An early goal by Lauren Hemp and a penalty from Georgia Stanway helped European champions England beat World champions United States 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Friday in a test for both sides ahead of next year's World Cup.England, who were without the services of their injured captain Leah Williamson, returned to Wembley in front of 76,893 supporters for the first time since winning the European Championship in July.Hemp tapped the ball home in the 10th minute to open the scoring for England after Beth Mead's cross found her on the edge of the six-yard box.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. forward Sophia Smith smashed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area in the 28th minute to level the scores, but parity lasted just five minutes.England retook the lead when midfielder Stanway scored from the penalty spot after Hailie Mace was adjudged to have fouled Lucy Bronze after the VAR spotted a high boot to the face.The U.S. thought they had levelled before the break when Trinity Rodman fired home from inside the box in the 34th minute after Megan Rapinoe teed her up with a backheel but the goal was disallowed by VAR for offside in the build-up.Both sides spurned a host of chances early in the second half.Smith could have scored her second in the 47th minute but her effort went just wide while England forward Chloe Kelly was off target in the 54th and Lucy Bronze hammered another shot into the side netting a minute later.Rapinoe threatened to score in the 60th minute after she collected a cross from Lindsey Horan but her shot was deflected by England defender Millie Bright.The U.S. were awarded a penalty in the 80th minute for a handball by Hemp but the decision was quickly overturned following a VAR review as the ball had not struck the England player on the arm."USA played as we expected, they gave us hard times sometimes. I thought we played well in moments, better first half than second," England manager Sarina Wiegman told ITV Sport."Whatever happens we know this is just a starting point for the World Cup, but it shows you are at a very high level."'PROTECT THE PLAYERS'All of the players were wearing teal armbands to show their solidarity with sexual abuse victims in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and were seen holding a banner saying "protect the players" ahead of the match.An independent investigation this week showed abuse and misconduct "had become systemic" in the American top-flight and that the league, teams and governing body, U.S. Soccer, failed to adequately protect players."It was a very special moment when the players got together and had the banner in front of them," U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said."It gave me goosebumps to see the support from the fans who applauded that moment... It was a statement that we have to stop the sexual violence, and the players did an incredible job using this game and this event as a platform to fight against it."England host Czech Republic in their next friendly on Oct. 11 when the U.S. travel to Spain.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Silvia Recchimuzzi in Gdansk and Rory Carroll
Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Len Dawson, legendary quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer who led the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl IV, has died, according to his family. He was 87. Dawson entered hospice care earlier in August after working for the Chiefs for nearly 50 years, 14 years as a quarterback and 33 years as a broadcast analyst after hanging up his cleats. The NFL legend retired from broadcasting in 2017 after dealing with a series of health issues, including prostate cancer and a quadruple heart bypass surgery. NFL LEGEND LEN DAWSON ENTERS HOSPICE CARE AGED 87 "With wife Linda at his side, it is with much sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Len Dawson," his family said in a statement. "He was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend. Len was always grateful and many times overwhelmed by the countless bonds he made during his football and broadcast careers.” The star quarterback led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title, earning the title of Super Bowl MVP after his team's 23-7 triumph over the Minnesota Vikings in 1970. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Dawson spent more than a decade with the Chiefs after playing his college ball at Purdue. He spent the first three years of his NFL career shifting around the NFL to play with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, before joining the Dallas Texans in 1962. The Texans were moved to Kansas City the following season, and Dawson stayed there until the end of his career. | Football |
Key events:1m agoGOAL! France 1-1 Belgium (Cayman, 36')32m agoGOAL! France 1-0 Belgium (Diani, 6)38m agoKick-off! France 0-0 BelgiumShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature37 min: VAR are looking are this to see if it’s offside, this is the first time Belgium have touched the ball in the French penalty area! France were shell shocked and were too relaxed to defend it but will they get away with this? No they don’t! The goal stands.GOAL! France 1-1 Belgium (Cayman, 36')Oh my! That has come out of nowhere, it was too easy!34 min: De Neve gets Belgium out of trouble as she intercepts the ball in the box and they look to cause some trouble themselves. But it doesn’t last long with Dhont losing it in the midfield. France runs the ball through the team and they win a corner, that was a cracking bit of football. They take the set piece short but it ends in a goal kick.31 min: Possession exchanges hands but it’s France who come out the better as Perisset sends the ball in but Kees clears - she has been good so far. Cascarino gets into the box but Cayman closes her down well and the resulting shot is wide. Kees blocks once more as the French steam forward.28 min: Belgium have a good attack with Perisset not clearing well but France do win it back. There are hints of brilliance from Belgium but they are fleeting. France win another corner, their fifth of the match, but the chance sees Renard’s header wide once more.26 min: It’s more of the same in the game with France winning the ball in the midfield. They launch another attack and Cascarino’s shot is blocked. David has got in touch and said: “It’s going to be a long night for the Belgian defence, Wendie Renard: 6’2” Davina Philtjens: 4’11”.”24 min: Diani intercepts a Belgium ball but she is fouled by Kees, a French free kick to come. Perisset, Chelsea’s new signing, takes the set-piece and tries to find Renard but she is marked well. France do earn a corner but again it’s blocked and then Bilbault’s shot sails over the bar.22 min: Sarr is ruled offside in France’s latest bid for a goal but it has been all France so far. Katoto is shown onscreen and her knee is being iced, a worry for France. Marie-Antoinette Katoto receives treatment. Photograph: Alex Livesey/UEFA/Getty Images20 min: Belgium are yet to get a foot into this one and they have been sloppy in defence. Kees does well to head a chance out of the box and Belgium look to launch an attack. But, as I feel I will say a lot today, France win it back.17 min: Katoto was down for a prolonged time, her knee already strapped up, and she limps to the sideline. She isn’t immediately replaced but I think she will be, France play with 10 for now. After a long build-up play Diani has a shot hit the post, I think the keeper got a hand to that! If she did, what a save! She does! Wow, what a save. And here’s Katoto’s replacement Sarr. France have a corner but Renard’s header is blocked.14 min: Cascarino has another go but her shot is blocked. Dhont and Bilbault are both down and look in pain. Dhont is up quite quickly but the Frenchwoman remains on the floor for a while. But she is up! Both remain on the pitch after colliding.11 min: A lovely fun fact for you, we have now had more goals scored in the tournament than we had in the entire 2017 group stage. Renard makes a rare mistake to create a Belgium chance but good French defence ends in a goal kick. Cascarino has a great chance but her long range shot goes wide. She has been amazing for France in the tournament so far.8 min: An easy cross is put into the box and it comes into the path of an unmarked Diani who heads down into the corner. This could be a long afternoon for Belgium but they are checking this goal for offside. It stands but I think that was on the wire!Kadidiatou Diani celebrates the opener. Photograph: Tim Goode/PAGOAL! France 1-0 Belgium (Diani, 6)Ah they didn’t weather it, Diani scores easilyFrance take the lead through a Diani header. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Getty Images5 min: Katoto gets in the air but doesn’t have a punt on a great cross into the box. There are some nervous moments for Belgium here. France have another corner but it’s defended well.Adam has got in touch and said: “I’m really looking forward to this one, and especially so given how highly I rate Griedge Mbock Bathy. I was really impressed with her in the World Cup, and am excited to see her perform again; I think she’s such a natural and graceful footballer. Aside from her, I’m interested to see how Geyoro kicks on after her stellar opening performance, if Katoto can set this tournament alight as she ought, and if Diani can build on her absurdly good opening day showing. On the Belgian side, I’m excited to see Cayman and Wullaert; the former for her legendary status and the latter for seeing her talent watching her at Manchester City. I reckon this will be a French victory, but you never know!” Belgium could have an upset but they will have to weather this early French storm!3 min: France are the brighter side in the early stages, pushing high and getting into the box but they can’t manufacture a chance. Belgium retain possession as they look to settle into this one but France win it back. There’s a French corner, they scored from a set-piece in the last game, but Renard’s header is wide.Kick-off! France 0-0 BelgiumAnd we are underway! Andrew has got in touch via email and said: “The talent is undoubtedly there, but I wonder will they [France] implode? Can they keep a lid on the in-fighting? Watch this space I guess.” We will indeed Andrew!Here we go then! There’s a huge roar as the players come out. I’m going to predict a 3-1 France win, we will see how right I am shortly!The teams will soon be out on the pitch and the anthems will be in full voice shortly! Who is excited for this one? I know I am and the fans will let the players know they are!Any thoughts throughout the match send them my way and I’ll do my best to include them in the blog. You can get in touch via Twitter, @rendellx, or email.My eyes will be on France today to see if they can impress as much as they did last time out. Their 5-1 win blew many away, especially as all five goals came in the first half! Can they follow it up? We’ll soon find out ...The Golden Boot race is well underway and England’s Beth Mead is currently topping the charts with four goals so far. France’s Grace Geyoro could equal or overtake her this evening though after her hat-trick against Italy.Check out all the latest on the race here:The team news is in!France have made two changes to their starting XI as Griedge Bathy and Clara Mateo come in for Aissatou Tounkara and Sandie Toletti.France starting XI: Peyraud-Magnin, Perisset, Bathy, Renard, Karchaoui, Geyoro, Bilbault, Mateo, Diani, Katoto, Cascarino. Photograph: Álex Caparrós/UEFA/Getty ImagesBelgium, meanwhile, haven’t made any chances to their starting line-up.Belgium starting XI: Evrard; Vangheluwe, Kees, De Neve; Philtjens, Vanhaevermaet, De Caigny, Biesmans; Dhont, Cayman, Wulleart (C).The Guardian’s team guides are the perfect way to get to know the teams and players of this tournament.For today’s clash, have a read of France’s here:And Belgium’s can be found here:I am currently baking in my front room as my window is too heavy to open, I really need to buy a fan!How are you coping in this heat? Get in touch and let me know, I’m reachable by Twitter or email!The latest reaction following that result in the Italy Iceland game is coming to you from Daniel Harris.Have a look over at his blog to catch up with everything there before coming back from France v Belgium action:Hello and welcome to the second Euros match of the day!A game in Group D has taken place and it has left France top of the group as neither Iceland or Italy could find a winner in their 1-1 draw. Iceland’s Vilhjalmsdottir grabbed a first half goal with Bergamaschi levelling the scores.The French were impressive in their first match, sealing a 5-1 victory over Italy, and Belgium head coach Ives Serneels knows his side will be defending for the majority of the match.He told UEFA: “We will have to make the most of the few chances that we get [against France]. We think we can hurt them in some situations, but we will have to defend as a block against this France side. “Will we play with an extra defender? That’s an option, but if we defend too deep we’re going to get completely trapped in front of our own goal and I also want my team to offer something in attack as well. Can we cause an upset? We have to believe that.”The outcome of this match will soo become apparent with kick-off coming at 8pm BST. | Football |
The defending champion Los Angeles Rams are officially suffering a Super Bowl hangover. The team has struggled early in the 2022 campaign and enter Week 6 at 2-3, following a 22-10 loss to the Cowboys last Sunday. This Sunday Los Angeles hopes to rediscover its winning ways when it hosts a 1-4 Panthers team that just fired its head coach. The Panthers and Rams kick off on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT (4:05 p.m. ET) on Fox.The game will be shown on Fox in the Los Angeles and Charlotte areas (according to 506 Sports) on live TV streaming services, but there may be cases where you're blocked because of an internet location glitch or just want an added layer of privacy for streaming. There is an option that doesn't require subscribing to something like NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Plus, or searching the internet for a sketchy website: You can use a virtual private network, or VPN. Now playing: Watch this: What It's Like Playing VR Football: NFL Pro Era Hands-On 8:17 Here's how you can watch the game from anywhere in the US with a VPN. Read more: NFL 2022: How to Stream Every Game Live Without Cable Matthew Stafford and of the Los Angeles Rams host the Carolina Panthers in a week 6 matchup. Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images Panthers vs. Rams: When and where? For Week 6 of the NFL season, the Rams will take on the Panthers at 1:05 p.m. PT Sunday. The game is set to take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Rams. How to watch the Panthers vs. Rams game online from anywhere using a VPN If you find yourself unable to view the game locally due to incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch the game and that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, plus it's a great idea for when you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this. Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you've got a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions. Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now. Sarah Tew/CNET ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 per month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 49% plus get three months of access for free -- the equivalent of $6.67 per month -- if you get an annual subscription. Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Livestream the Panthers vs. Rams game in the US This week's Panthers vs. Rams game is on Fox, so in addition to a VPN set to an area carrying the game (see tips below) you'll need a live TV streaming service that carries a local Fox affiliate that's broadcasting the game. The least expensive such service is Sling TV Blue. Sling/CNET Among the live TV streaming services that carry local Fox stations, the cheapest is Sling TV Blue at $35 per month. Note that Sling is currently running a promotion where the first month of service is half-price ($17.50) for new subscribers.One important caveat: In our experience, Fox local affiliates will only be available if your billing address is in one of the 18 metropolitan areas covered in Sling's agreement. If you're outside of one of these areas, you're probably better off going with one of the alternate services listed below. Numerous other live TV streaming services carry local Fox stations as well, namely YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV. They all cost more than Sling TV, but they also carry more channels, including football-specific channels like Fox, ESPN, NFL Network and/or RedZone. Check out our live TV streaming channel guide for details. Quick tips for streaming Panthers vs. Rams using a VPN Screenshot by Sarah Lord/CNET With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- experience and success may vary. Sling Blue is only an option if and when the ability to get Fox local affiliates is active on your account. You may want to verify that your billing address is eligible for that option before committing your credit card. ExpressVPN doesn't offer a server in North Carolina, but we tested the game successfully using the server in Los Angeles.If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location. And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.How we test VPN streaming for Sunday NFL gamesFor every game we use a combination of ExpressVPN and either Paramount Plus (for CBS games) or Sling TV Blue (for Fox games). Using the maps on 506 Sports, we determine which servers are nearby and connect to one, then launch the streaming service and tune to the local CBS or Fox affiliate. If the channel comes through, it's successful and we report the results above. We also screenshot the relevant program guide listing (see above) on either the local CBS affiliate's website or Sling TV. | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes and the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals got their first victory of the season, rolling past the New York Jets 27-12 on Sunday.After opening 0-2 with a pair of three-point losses, Burrow insisted there was no panic or Super Bowl hangover for the Bengals. And they came out aggressive against the Jets, who fell flat after a stunning comeback win last week at Cleveland.Burrow finished 23 of 36 for 275 yards with TD throws to Samaje Perine, Tyler Boyd and Ja'Marr Chase.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) celebrates with teammate Tee Higgins (85) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)Joe Flacco, who led the Jets' 13-point rally in the final 1:55 last Sunday, struggled against the Bengals in what will likely be his final start with the injured Zach Wilson expected to return next week. Wilson, who was injured in the preseason opener, is recovering from a bone bruise and arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.Flacco was 28 of 52 for 285 yards and two interceptions, and was under pressure all game. The fans at MetLife Stadium chanted a few times to play backup Mike White — who rallied the Jets to a 34–31 win over the Bengals last season.Meanwhile, Burrow marched the Bengals (1-2) down the field on a 10-play, 75-yard opening drive, capped by Perine's 12-yard touchdown catch. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow looks to throw a pass during the first half of an NFL football game New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)Burrow was 8 of 10 for 95 yards on the drive during which Cincinnati thought it got into the end zone two other times. Boyd had a 4-yard TD catch wiped out by a holding penalty on guard Cordell Volson. Two plays later, Tee Higgins' acrobatic catch was ruled — and upheld by video review — out of bounds in the end zone.Greg Zuerlein's 50-yard field goal on the Jets' opening drive made it 7-3.New York's defense got a takeaway when Chase fumbled after a 5-yard catch and C.J. Mosley recovered. The Jets (1-2) stalled, though, and settled for a 40-yarder by Zuerlein.John Franklin-Myers made a costly mistake for New York when he was called for unnecessary roughness after landing on Burrow, whose third-down throw was incomplete. Given a new set of downs, the Bengals took advantage.One play after rookie Sauce Gardner made a terrific play by knocking away a deep pass to Chase, Burrow threw to Boyd, who avoided a tackle by Jordan Whitehead and raced for a 56-yard touchdown to make it 14-6. New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco (19) is sacked by Cincinnati Bengals' Cam Sample (96) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)Another bad play from the Jets helped the Bengals get on the scoreboard again. Burrow completed a 45-yard pass to Higgins, who took a helmet to the head from Lamarcus Joyner, who was called for unnecessary roughness. It put Cincinnati at the New York 15, and McPherson booted a 22-yarder moments later.The Jets' next possession was rough as rookie Garrett Wilson, who had two TD catches last week, caught a 13-yard pass and took a shot to the ribs from Jessie Bates III. After being looked at for several minutes on the field, Wilson got up on his own and headed to the X-ray room. He was able to come back.Three plays later, Logan Wilson intercepted a poorly thrown pass from Flacco. It resulted in a 43-yarder by McPherson.Trailing, 20-9, the Jets opened the second half with yet another mistake — and it cost them again. Trey Hendrickson had the first of his two strip-sacks of Flacco, B.J. Hill recovered and Burrow hit Chase for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 27-9.DOLPHINS BATTLE THROUGH 'BUTT PUNT' TO HOLD OFF BILLS, REMAIN UNDEFEATEDSHOUT IT OUTCBS cameras caught Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton shouting at each other on the sideline at the start of the second quarter. The two were face to face for a moment before players quickly separated the two.CHEERSThe Jets inducted two-time All-Pro center Nick Mangold into their Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection, who spent all 11 of his NFL seasons with New York, closed his induction speech by cracking open a beer and toasting the fans.INJURIESBengals: DT DJ Reader was ruled out late in the first half with a left knee injury.Jets: LB Quincy Williams was carted off the field with a left ankle injury late in the third quarter. ... LT George Fant was replaced by Conor McDermott in the third quarter with a knee injury.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPUP NEXTBengals: Have a short turnaround and host the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.Jets: Complete their four-game swing through the AFC North to start the season by traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers next Sunday. | Football |
England are waking up as the champions of Europe after the Lionesses delivered the country's first major trophy since 1966.There were euphoric scenes nationwide last night after the squad beat Germany 2-1 in extra time - with 87,000 supporters at a packed-out Wembley Stadium cheering them on, not to mention millions more at home.
And later today, thousands of fans are set to join in the celebrations at an event in Trafalgar Square, where the team will take part in a live Q&A and lift the Euro 2022 trophy. Sarina Wiegman has described the victory as an incredible achievement - and her players couldn't resist storming into the press conference, singing "football's coming home" at the top of their lungs and dancing on the table.The England manager, who has won plaudits for her composure throughout the tournament, revealed she had a beer for the first time in years during the celebrations - and plans to take a little time off before beginning preparations for next year's World Cup. She thanked the nation for their support, and admitted: "I will need a couple of days to realise what we have done."
It's been a flawless journey for the Lionesses - and not only did they score the most goals ever in this tournament, but they only conceded two.There's now a firm belief that England's fairy-tale ending could transform women's football in the years to come - sparking renewed interest in the game among fans and players alike. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Fans roar as Lionesses win Euros "I think these tournaments have done so much for the game but also for society and women in society in England but also across Europe and the world," Wiegman added.The Queen also highlighted the significance of the Lionesses' achievement in a statement, telling the team: "Your success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned. You have all set an example that will be an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations."It is my hope that you will be as proud of the impact you have had on your sport as you are of the result today."Read more:PM, Spice Girls and Three Lions react to Euro 2022 victoryTears, cheers and jubilation: England's historic win in pictures England's win is 'life-changing'Sky's Adele Robinson described the atmosphere at Wembley Stadium as electric, with one little girl spontaneously screaming: "It was amazing."The girl's father was in tears too, saying: "I've been watching for the last 40 years and I've never seen England win a final. It means so much, it's enormous. It's why we wanted to make sure our daughter came and saw."The crowd was full of smiles and singing - with children wearing flags as capes. One teenager with "Lionesses" written on her midriff said England's win felt "life-changing".One six-year-old with the England flag painted across her cheeks simply said: "Thank you, that was awesome." Image: Chloe Kelly celebrates scoring England's second goal A nail-biting finaleElla Toone gave England the lead in the 62nd minute with a sublime lob after being sent through one-on-one with the German goalkeeper.The Lionesses were unable to hold on as Germany's Lina Magull scored a flick-on at the near post in the 79th minute.But England prevailed in extra time as Chloe Kelly poked home from close range after Germany failed to clear a corner. Beth Mead won the Golden Boot after finishing the tournament with six goals - 12 months after she was left out of Team GB's Olympic squad for the Tokyo Games."I can't believe it," she said. "Sometimes football puts you down but bouncing back is the best way and that is what we have done."I am so, so proud of this team. I love this team and I love this country." | Football |
Soccer Football - Women's Euro 2022 - Final - England v Germany - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - July 31, 2022 Germany's Alexandra Popp during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Dylan MartinezRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Germany suffered a major blow just ahead of kickoff in their Women's European Championship final against England on Sunday when striker and captain Alexandra Popp was injured in the warm-up and had to pull out of the team.Popp, who had scored six goals in five games in her debut Euros leading up to the final, was withdrawn from the line-up moments before kickoff due to "muscular problems".Lea Schuller replaced Popp in Germany's attack while Svenja Huth took over as captain.Germany are looking to win a record-extending ninth Euros crown at Wembley Stadium.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Christian Radnedge,
Editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Soccer Football - 2022 Ballon d'Or - Chatelet Theatre, Paris, France - October 17, 2022 Real Madrid's Karim Benzema after winning the Ballon d'Or REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday, beating Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne to the top prize.Benzema, who played a pivotal role in Real's run to the Champions League title last season, is the first French player to win the trophy since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 and the fifth after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Jean-Pierre Papin."This prize in front of me makes me really proud. When I was small, it was a childhood dream, I never gave up... Anything is possible," Benzema said on stage at the ceremony.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"There was a difficult period when I wasn't in the French team but I never gave up. I'm really proud of my journey here. It wasn't easy, it was a difficult time for my family as well."Benzema had a stellar season with Real, scoring 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions as he helped guide them to a LaLiga and Champions League double. His 15 goals in the Champions League guided Real to a record-extending 14th title.Real made remarkable comebacks from losing positions in the last-16, quarter-finals and semi-finals against Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City respectively -- with Benzema scoring in each of the second legs.The highlight of their European campaign was the 3-1 win in the second leg against PSG when the Spanish club were 2-0 down on aggregate, with Benzema grabbing a 17-minute hat-trick in the second half to stun the Ligue 1 side.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Julien Pretot and Rohith Nair; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! While Josh Allen’s passes have been doing wonders for the Buffalo Bills against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, he’s been getting the job done with his legs, too. One of those runs was straight up disrespectful. Allen saw some daylight after dropping back for a pass and took off running with a lot of room in front of him. But Rams defensive back, Nick Scott, started his own pursuit after Allen. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Quarterback Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills looks to pass during the first quarter of the NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)When the two met, the 6-foot-5, 238-pound Allen hit the 5-foot-11, 171-pound Scott with a nasty stiff arm that sent him flying on the turf. BILLS USING JOSH ALLEN'S ‘FIND A WAY’ AS MISSION STATEMENT FOR UPCOMING NFL SEASONThe run came on a crucial third-and-seven play to extend a drive that resulted in the Bills’ second touchdown of the game – a strike from Allen to wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. Quarterback Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills rushes the football against safety Nick Scott #33 of the Los Angeles Rams during the third quarter of the NFL game at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)But an even better run came in the fourth quarterback that put the Bills up two touchdowns. On third-and-goal, Allen scrambled out of the pocket and reached out for the end zone, using his length to get the ball across for his first rushing touchdown of the season. Bills fans will be expecting more of those. JOSH ALLEN BREAKS SILENCE AFTER SKIRMISH AT BILLS TRAINING CAMP: ‘THE BOYS GOT GOING YESTERDAY’Despite throwing an interception – a pick that was more McKenzie’s fault than his after his bobbled it into the hands of his defender – Allen has picked up right where he left off in Kansas City during the AFC Divisional Round last season. He was throwing strikes in that contest, and Allen continued to do that with his receivers in this one. Quarterback Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills drops back to pass during the first quarter of the NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe first touchdown of the new NFL season went to the man that caught four touchdowns in that loss to the Chiefs, Gabriel Davis. On a beautiful, delayed play, Davis looked to be blocking, but instead snuck out for a 26-yard touchdown catch. Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. | Football |
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v AFC Bournemouth - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - August 13, 2022 Manchester City's Erling Braut Haaland in action with Bournemouth's Chris Mepham REUTERS/Craig Brough Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMANCHESTER, England, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Manchester City made it two wins from two at the start of the new Premier League season after thrashing newly-promoted Bournemouth 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.The champions wasted no time getting into their stride in the sunshine as Norway striker Erling Haaland marked his home debut with an assist for Ilkay Gundogan's opener after 19 minutes.With the first goal on the board, City cut loose and scored a sumptuous second 12 minutes later when Kevin De Bruyne curled a fine strike into the net with the outside of his foot.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPhil Foden added another before halftime from De Bruyne's assist and it was just a matter of how many more the hosts would help themselves to.Haaland's moment in front of goal came late in the second half but he failed to connect properly with Jack Grealish's pull back.It mattered little as a late own goal from Jefferson Lerma put the icing on the cake, with City maintaining their 100% start to the new campaign at a canter.In City's first home match since their dramatic final-day victory over Aston Villa that clinched a fourth league title in five seasons in May, all eyes were on Haaland following his double on debut last weekend at West Ham United.The prolific former Borussia Dortmund hitman should have been presented with a golden chance early on to break the deadlock, but Foden elected to shoot rather than pass to his new team mate in open space next to him, with Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers denying the England international.However, with his first touch of the game, Haaland turned provider for Gundogan, scorer of two crucial goals in that final-day success over Villa, who finished well into the far corner.De Bruyne's first goal of the season was a thing of beauty, before normal service was resumed as the Belgian midfielder added another Premier League assist to his vast collection, playing Foden through for a third inside 37 minutes.City took their foot off the gas after the break but still had plenty of chances to add a fourth -- Haaland missing the best of them -- before Lerma diverted Joao Cancelo's cross into the net for the final goal.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Ken Ferris and Clare FallonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Victoria and David Beckham throw their support behind son Romeo as he shows off his skills on the pitch while playing for Inter Miami CF Published: 06:01 EDT, 8 August 2022 | Updated: 06:17 EDT, 8 August 2022 Romeo Beckham looked in good spirits as he took to the pitch for football team Inter Miami on Sunday at DRV PNK Stadium. The 19-year-old, whose father David owns the club, led his team to victory against New England Revolution II, with the final score 4-2.David was there to show his support for his sporty son and his team, wearing a pink Inter Miami baseball cap. Skilled: Romeo Beckham looked in good spirits as he took to the pitch for football team Inter Miami on Sunday at DRV PNK StadiumVictoria also threw her support behind Romeo, taking to her Instagram Story to share a snap of him with his father in the stadium.She captioned it: 'I love you so much!! (you too @davidbeckham). Proud of you tonight @romeobeckham'.She also shared a photo of David posing for a picture with some fans, writing: 'Amazing @intermiamicf fans showing up to support!! Great game tonight @romeobeckham'.Romeo sported his light pink Beckham 37 jersey along with a matching pair of shorts and shared a shot of him with the ball to his own Instagram Story. Winner winner! The 19-year-old, whose father David owns the club, led his team to victory against New England Revolution II, with the final score 4-2He wrote along the top: 'Great win' followed by a white heart emoji. Romeo scored one assist during the game, his ninth one this campaign, meaning he continues to lead the team in assists. The second oldest of Beckham's four children was playing after his shock split with Storm Models client Mia Regan after three years together. Supportive: David was there to show his support for his sporty son and his team, wearing a pink Inter Miami baseball capWhile he spends time stateside, the distance has taken its toll on his former relationship with London-based model Mia, with a source confirming their split. The insider told MailOnline: 'Essentially the long distance relationship at their young ages took its toll. 'Romeo and Mia are both lovely young people, they're very fond each other and the family love Mia.'She's continuing to collaborate with Victoria Beckham through her work, but sadly Romeo and Mia aren't together anymore.'The source added: 'He's focused on his football and living in Miami and she's in the UK, working on her modelling and influencer career.'It's amicable. The pair still support each other in their respective careers and she recently commented on him scoring for his club.'The pair were together for three years, often sharing loved up snaps to their respective Instagram accounts, with Romeo now having wiped her from his page.Breakup: Romeo, the second oldest of Beckham's four children, was playing after his shock split with Storm Models client Mia Regan after three years together Advertisement | Football |
The Tottenham forward Richarlison had a banana thrown at him as he was racially abused during Brazil’s friendly win over Tunisia in Paris on Tuesday.The incident occurred as the former Everton striker ran towards the corner flag to celebrate scoring his side’s second goal in their 5-1 win at the Parc des Princes. Footage showed Manchester United midfielder Fred kicking the banana away.Prior to the game, the five-time world champions posed for photographs with an anti-racism banner which read: “Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirts.”The Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) issued a statement on the Richarlison incident via Twitter. It read: “Unfortunately a banana was thrown on the pitch towards Richarlison, scorer of the second Brazilian goal.Richarlison scoring for Brazil today against Tunisia and a banana was thrown in front of him during the celebrations. Sickening stuff and no need for these type of racist fans at matches. pic.twitter.com/DQlKIBcMTm— Roberto Rojas (@RobertoRojas97) September 27, 2022
“The CBF reinforces its position to combat racism and repudiates any manifestation of prejudice.”Richarlison’s goal put Brazil back ahead after Montassar Talbi cancelled out Raphinha’s opener. Neymar added a penalty, Raphinha claimed his second and Pedro wrapped up the scoring after Tunisia had Dylan Bronn sent off. | Football |
World Cup moments: The 'Hand of God'The ball used by Diego Maradona to score two of the most famous goals in football history is to go on auction.The match ball used in the famous 1986 World Cup quarter final between England and Argentina carries an estimated price of £2.5m to £3m.It is being sold by Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee who allowed Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal during the game.Bin Nasser said: "This ball is part of football history - it is the right time to be sharing it with the world."The match ball is the latest piece of sporting memorabilia expected to fetch a high priceThe ball was used for the full 90 minutes of the match, which remains one of the most defining and controversial contests in World Cup history.Maradona scored the opener by punching the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Bin Nasser did not spot the handball and allowed the goal to stand, with the player later describing it as being "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".Maradona's second strike of the match has become known as the 'goal of the century', where he dribbled past five England outfield players and slotted past Shilton.Bin Nasser relives 'Hand of God' matchArgentina went on to win the match 2-1 and eventually win the World Cup in Mexico.The ball is being sold at auction on 16 November as part of a World Cup special event. It will be streamed live and prospective buyers can register their bids online from 28 October."The timing of the match, the history between the two teams and the handball have all led to this match going down as one of the most famous and emotive matches in football history," said Graham Budd, chairman of Graham Budd Auctions."With the history surrounding the ball, we are expecting this lot to be hugely popular when it comes up for auction."Maradona scores his infamous 'Hand of God' goalSeveral items of sporting memorabilia have broken records at auctions recently. The shirt Maradona wore during the 1986 quarter final was sold in May for $9.3m (£7.4m), a new world record.This was beaten just three months later when a Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6m (£10.3m) in August.In September, Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA finals jersey sold for $10.1 (£8.7m), a new world record for any 'game worn' sporting memorabilia.Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment | Football |
England stormed into the quarter-finals of the Euros on a record-breaking night in which Beth Mead scored a hat-trick in an astonishing 8-0 win over Norway.The Arsenal striker led the way with her third treble for Sarina Wiegman’s team as England broke the record for the biggest win in the finals of this tournament, which they had equalled when beating Scotland 6-0 in the opening game of Euro 2017.The England head coach admitted she was almost lost for words as she tried to shape her half-time team talk with England leading 6-0, breaking the record for goals in a first half that France had set 24 hours earlier in their 5-1 victory over Italy.“To be honest I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ Wiegman said. “You go through the match, you make your plan, you talk to players, and you expect a very competitive match because Norway [have] a good squad and their frontline is really good. We just kept them away from our goal and played the game, and that was really nice to see.”England had struggled for first-half goals in the buildup to hosting this tournament with Wiegman calling for more ruthlessness but, after Mead scored the only goal in their opening victory over Austria last Wednesday, the floodgates opened on Monday in front of a 28,000 crowd at the Amex Stadium. “I think I can be satisfied with it tonight,” she said.With qualification for the last eight secured with a game to spare, ahead of Friday’s final Group A clash with Northern Ireland, Wiegman knows she will have to ask her celebrating players to refocus. But she was impressed with the manner they kept going in the second half, as Alessia Russo’s goal and Mead’s third were added to earlier efforts from Georgia Stanway, with a penalty, Lauren Hemp and Ellen White’s first goals since April.“We try to play our best game and today we did, but it’s just three points,” Wiegman said. “If you win 1-0 or 8-0 it doesn’t make a difference. We didn’t win anything yet.” Mead admitted the players savoured the moment of sheer exaltation in the dressing room afterwards. “We didn’t want to leave,” the Arsenal striker, who has been involved in 29 goals in her last 16 international appearances, said.Sign up to our new women’s football newsletter.“We were having a nice little singsong. We need to enjoy these moments. [It will be] full focus tomorrow but we deserve to enjoy these moments.” Mead now leads the scoring charts at this tournament and would consider winning the golden boot “a nice bonus”.She added: “I’d love to but I’m just happy to get on the scoresheet again. I love playing for this team so if I can help the team in any way [I’m happy].” | Football |
Soccer Football - Premier League - Everton v Liverpool - Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain - September 3, 2022 Liverpool's Darwin Nunez in action with Everton's Conor Coady REUTERS/Phil Noble Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLIVERPOOL, England, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Everton were denied a second-half winnerfollowing a lenghty VAR review in a feisty 0-0 draw with Merseyside rivals Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half at Goodison Park, with Tom Davies denied by the upright for Everton, before Darwin Nunez and Luiz Diaz both saw efforts come out off the frame of the goal for the visitors.The game opened up after the break, with Jordan Pickford forced into several fine stops in the home goal, while Neal Maupay, making his Everton debut after signing from Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek, should have scored from close range.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThen came the moment Everton fans had been waiting for after Conor Coady tapped home at the far post but with pandemonium ensuing at Goodison, the goal was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.Both sides pressed for a winner, with Everton substitute Dwight McNeil's deflected shot almost catching Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson out and Mohamed Salah firing against the post in stoppage time, but the rivals had to settle for a point each.The stalemate means Liverpool remain in fifth, six points behind leaders Arsenal ahead of their trip to Manchester United on Sunday, while Everton stay 14th, winless from their six matches so far.Coming into the match after earning back-to-back home victories, Liverpool headed to a ground where they had not tasted defeat in the Premier League in 12 years on Saturday confident of further derby glory.But even with big-money close season signing Nunez back up front, Liverpool struggled to get going at Goodison.When they did create an opening, Liverpool found England goalkeeper Pickford in inspired form, with his save to tip Nunez's effort onto the crossbar the pick of his first half stops.Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp threw on a fourth attacker in Roberto Firmino for the second half, with Pickford forced into three saves in quick succession to deny the Brazilian.The game opened up from there on in. Maupay should have broken the deadlock from close range, firing too close to Alisson, before the striker played a big part in what he thought was the opening goal in the 69th minute.Coady thought he had timed his arrival at the back post to perfection for his first Everton goal, only to be judged offside in a tight call, much to the away fans' delight.Just as they did in their dramatic midweek win over Newcastle United, Liverpool thought they had snatched it at the death, but Salah's first-time effort cannoned out off the upright once more, with the brilliant Pickford getting the faintest of touches to it.The stalemate means Everton clashes with Liverpool has seen more goalless draws than any fixture in both English top-flight history (36) and Premier League history (12).Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Peter Hall, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Clemson was able to overcome a slow start against Georgia Tech Monday night and win their matchup 41-10 to start the season off on a solid note.As the game got longer, tensions boiled over in the stands in Atlanta during the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney leads his team onto the field for the Monday evening college football game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Clemson Tigers on September 5, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)A video posted to social media showed a man in a white Clemson jersey and another man in a black sweatshirt were throwing haymakers at each other. After a moment of brawling back and forth, their friends appeared to have broken things up."Calm the f--- down!" one person can be heard in the background saying.WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGEA separate video showed the two men jawing at one another before the gloves were dropped, and they started going after each other.GEORGIA JUMPS OHIO STATE, MICHIGAN MOVES UP IN AP TOP 25 Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei throws in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia Tech Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr.)On the field, Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was 19-of-32 for 209 passing yards and two total touchdowns. One of them came on a 74-yard drive in the third quarter. On one play of the drive, he managed to slip away from would-be tacklers and flip the ball to Will Shipley to keep the play alive."I was trying to get out of the pocket, trying to buy some time to get the ball away," Uiagalelei said after the game. "As I was going to the ground I looked to my left and saw Shipley there. I just pitched it to him. He made a great run."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, #11, tackles Georgia Tech running back Dylan McDuffie, #6, in the first half of an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr.)Even with the win, Clemson dropped to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 Poll on Tuesday.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to [email protected]. | Football |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The rivalry football series between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will come to an end when the Sooners leave for the SEC in 2025.The series began in 1904, and the two schools have met 116 times. However, all the hype and pageantry will come to an end in a few years. The Action Network first reported the series’ likely end.On Tuesday, the mud-slinging began over which side actually had a say in the series coming to an end.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Wide receiver Tay Martin, #1 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, celebrates a 43-yard touchdown catch with wide receiver Bryson Green, #19, only to have the play ruled incomplete against the Oklahoma Sooners in the fourth quarter at Boone Pickens Stadium on Nov. 27, 2021 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy put the onus on Oklahoma for ending the rivalry, citing their decision to join Texas and move to the SEC in a couple of years."Bedlam is history, we all know that. We've known that because OU chose to follow Texas and the money to the SEC. It's OK. So now, we're having what I think are childish discussions, in my opinion, over something that's done. And I would like to make this the last statement that I have because I have no hard feelings," Gundy said, via ESPN."But what's going on now is almost a situation with a husband and a wife, or a girlfriend and a boyfriend when you know you're dead wrong, and you try to turn the table and make them think they're wrong, when Oklahoma State has no part in this." Head coach Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma State Cowboys looks around the field after his 150th career win at OSU with a victory against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Boone Pickens Stadium on Sept. 1, 2022 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)ELI MANNING TRIES OUT FOR PENN STATE FOOTBALL AS 'CHAD POWERS' IN HILARIOUS SKITOklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg told the Action Network there are no openings for the two teams to play each other."We don't have any openings to play them," he said. "We're full. Unless there are significant undertakings to make the game happen, it can't happen."Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma’s athletic director, put the blame on Oklahoma State."Oklahoma State has shown no interest to schedule any future games in football, so we’re moving on," he said. Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams, #13, runs the ball up field against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Nov. 27, 2021 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe next meeting in the series kicks off Nov. 19 in Norman. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to [email protected]. | Football |
Week 5 of the NFL season will have two Sunday games on Fox during the late afternoon window, and both feature an NFC East team facing off against an NFC West squad. The 3-1 Cowboys and 2-2 Rams will battle in one contest, while the undefeated Eagles will visit the 2-2 Cardinals in the other. Both games are slated for 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 p.m. PT) on Fox. The Cowboys-Rams game will be shown nationally, as well as air on local TV in the Dallas and Los Angeles areas (according to 506 Sports). You can watch Fox on live TV streaming services, but there may be cases where you're blocked because of an internet location glitch or just want an added layer of privacy for streaming. There is an option that doesn't require subscribing to something like NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Plus, or searching the internet for a sketchy website: You can use a virtual private network, or VPN. Now playing: Watch this: What It's Like Playing VR Football: NFL Pro Era Hands-On 8:17 Here's how you can watch the game from anywhere in the US with a VPN. Read more: NFL 2022: How to Stream Every Game Live Without Cable With Dak Prescott still injured, backup Cooper Rush will again lead the Cowboys against the Rams on Sunday. Elsa/Getty Images Cowboys vs. Rams: When and where? For Week 5 of the NFL season, the Cowboys will take on the Rams at 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 p.m. PT) on Sunday. The game is set to take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Rams. How to watch the Cowboys vs. Rams game online from anywhere using a VPNIf you find yourself unable to view the game locally due to incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch the game and that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, plus it's a great idea for when you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you've got a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now. Sarah Tew/CNET ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 per month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 49% plus get three months of access for free -- the equivalent of $6.67 per month -- if you get an annual subscription. Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Livestream the Cowboys vs. Rams game in the US This week's Cowboys vs. Rams game is on Fox, so in addition to a VPN you'll need a live TV streaming service that carries a local Fox affiliate that's broadcasting the game. The least expensive such service is Sling TV Blue. Sling/CNET Among the live TV streaming services that carry local Fox stations, the cheapest is Sling TV Blue at $35 per month. Note that Sling is currently running a promotion where the first month of service is half-price ($17.50) for new subscribers.One important caveat: In our experience, Fox local affiliates will only be available if your billing address is in one of the 18 metropolitan areas covered in Sling's agreement. If you're outside of one of these areas, you're probably better off going with one of the alternate services listed below. Numerous other live TV streaming services carry local Fox stations as well, namely YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV. They all cost more than Sling TV, but they also carry more channels, including football-specific channels like Fox, ESPN, NFL Network and/or RedZone. Check out our live TV streaming channel guide for details. Quick tips for streaming Cowboys vs. Rams using a VPN Screenshot by Sarah Lord/CNET With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- experience and success may vary. Sling Blue is only an option if and when the ability to get Fox local affiliates is active on your account. You may want to verify that your billing address is eligible for that option before committing your credit card. This game will air in most of the country, per 506 Sports, so you'll be able to use most ExpressVPN locations as long as they also have a local Fox station affiliated with Sling TV. We tested this game through Dallas, so you'll definitely be able to watch there.If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location. And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave. | Football |
Soccer Football - Women's Super League - Liverpool v Arsenal - Prenton Park, Birkenhead, Britain - October 23, 2022 Arsenal's Lia Walti celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates Action Images via Reuters/Ed SykesOct 23 (Reuters) - Midfielders Lia Waelti and Frida Maanum both netted in the first half as Arsenal grabbed a 2-0 win away to Liverpool to go top of the Women's Super League on Sunday, with Manchester United drawing level with them thanks to a 1-0 win over Leicester City.Sunday's results leave nothing between Arsenal and United in the early going, with the two sides tied on 12 points and having scored 11 goals scored while conceding none.Waelti opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 15th minute, snapping up a clearance from a corner and belting it into the net, and Maanum made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a powerful run and finish.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLiverpool had their fair share of chances from set pieces, with Irish defender Niamh Fahey going close with a header from a second-half corner and following that up with a shot that flew just wide a minute later.Ultimately, the Reds failed to score for the third league game in a row.Manchester United's excellent start to the season continued with a win over bottom side Leicester thanks to a Nikita Parris strike, but they would have hoped for more goals that would have put them clear at the top.West Ham United survived a late scare as Reading came back from 3-0 down to make it 3-2, but the Hammers held on and are in fifth place in the table on nine points, just behind Everton, who beat Aston Villa 1-0 on Saturday, on goal difference.Also on Saturday, Jamaican striker Khadija Shaw scored either side of the break to help Manchester City to a comfortable 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Clare FallonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Apple Arcade on Thursday announced two new games headed to the mobile subscription service -- NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition and Football Manager 2023 Touch. NBA 2K23 will join the service's gaming catalog on Oct. 18, and Football Manager 2023 Touch will launch on Nov. 8. Apple Arcade adds new games and content updates every week. If you're interested in trying Apple Arcade, you can get a three-month free trial with the purchase of a new device, or one month for free if you're signing up for the first time. Open the App Store and tap the joystick icon at the bottom of the screen to launch the service. | Football |
Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Rangers - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - September 3, 2022 Celtic's Liel Abada celebrates scoring their first goal with Matthew O'Riley Action Images via Reuters/Carl RecineRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSept 3 (Reuters) - Celtic went five points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Rangers in the Old Firm derby as Israeli winger Liel Abada scored twice in the first half.Abada put champions Celtic ahead in the eighth minute with a low shot from the penalty area into the bottom corner following a cross from Matt O'Riley.Rangers wasted a chance to equalise in the 23rd minute and it proved to be costly as winger Jota doubled Celtic's lead, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper and into the far corner in the 32nd minute following a brilliant pass from O'Riley.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAbada completed his double in the 40th minute when his low strike whizzed through the legs of Rangers goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, sending the fans at Celtic Park into a frenzy.David Turnbull finished the job with a 78th-minute goal, thanks to an error from keeper McLaughlin after he passed the ball straight to the Celtic midfielder, who easily rolled it into the net.It was a big victory for Celtic, who lost top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi inside four minutes after the Japan international appeared to pick up a shoulder injury.Celtic, who have won all six Premiership games this season, will next host Champions League holders Real Madrid in their first group stage match on Tuesday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Mike HarrisonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Football |
Subsets and Splits