influence

AppWizard
May 23, 2025
The gaming landscape shows a lack of sequels for retro side scrollers and stealth games, with titles like Mark of the Ninja 2 and a reimagined Splinter Cell missing. The Assassin's Creed series, influenced by Prince of Persia, combines stealth and platforming. The recent release of The Siege and the Sandfox on Steam has received "Mostly Positive" reviews, blending stealth and platforming in intricately designed levels, appealing to both stealth and platforming fans.
AppWizard
May 22, 2025
Google I/O 2025 has concluded, and the Android 16 QPR1 Beta has been launched, introducing the Material 3 Expressive design language. This update is the first Quarterly Platform Release following the stable Android 16 Beta program and is primarily aimed at developers and testers. It enhances user experience with a fresh visual design, which will also extend to Wear OS 6. Key features of the update include a redesigned user interface with increased space for widgets and apps, new system icons in the status bar, a colorful quick settings panel, expanded customization options, and enhanced controls for home and lock screens. The beta is available for various Pixel devices, including Pixel 6, 7, 8, and 9 series, as well as Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet.
AppWizard
May 22, 2025
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, marking its evolution from a niche title to a significant influence in modern fantasy storytelling, partly due to the Netflix adaptation. Upon release, it received a score of 92% from PC Gamer and was recognized as a top title in 2016, despite not winning the Game of the Year award in 2015. The game faced distribution challenges, with console versions prioritized over PC, leading to delays in review copies. The community has embraced various memes, including the "tub scene" and "Big Geralt," contributing to the game's cultural impact. The ongoing conversation about its legacy and anticipation for a sequel keeps the franchise relevant.
Winsage
May 22, 2025
Brian Eno has written an open letter to Microsoft titled “Not in My Name,” urging the company to stop providing artificial intelligence and cloud services to the Israeli military. He expresses concern that Microsoft's technological contributions could enable war crimes, stating that the company has acknowledged its support for Israel’s Ministry of Defense. Eno plans to donate his fee from the Windows 95 project to aid victims of the conflict in Gaza. He references a Microsoft blog post about the company's software and services being used by the Israeli government in ways condemned by legal scholars and human rights organizations. Eno emphasizes that selling advanced AI and cloud services to a government involved in systemic ethnic cleansing constitutes complicity and calls for a reevaluation of corporate ethics. He commends Microsoft employees who have spoken out against the company's actions and invites others to join his call for accountability.
Winsage
May 20, 2025
Microsoft announced several open-source initiatives at its Build 2025 developer conference, including the introduction of Edit, a new command-line text editor for Windows, which is open-sourced on GitHub, crafted in Rust, and licensed under MIT. Edit is designed to enhance the user experience in Windows Terminal and is currently in early development, with plans to be included in future Windows releases. Additionally, Microsoft open-sourced GitHub Copilot within Visual Studio Code to improve collaborative coding, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is transitioning to an open-source model, with its source code now available on GitHub.
AppWizard
May 20, 2025
The Pocket Gamer Connects (PGC) Barcelona is a two-day conference taking place in 2025, marking the 52nd edition of the series and the first time it is held in Spain. It aims to connect various stakeholders in the gaming industry, including indie developers, studios, and business professionals. The event will feature over 100 expert speakers across 17 themed tracks, with topics on global trends, investment strategies, and emerging technologies. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet representatives from over 500 companies, including major players like Epic Games and Ubisoft, and engage with C-level executives and senior management. The conference emphasizes networking through the MeetToMatch platform and fringe events, while also showcasing Spain's gaming ecosystem. The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower and is expected to attract over 1,000 industry professionals.
Tech Optimizer
May 19, 2025
Performance issues in PostgreSQL can arise as databases grow, leading to declines in query performance. To identify problematic queries, one can log long-running queries by setting the `log_min_duration_statement` parameter in the `postgresql.conf` file. The `pg_stat_statements` module can be enabled to monitor execution statistics of SQL statements, providing insights into query performance, including execution time and the number of calls. Queries with high standard deviation in execution time may indicate inconsistency, while sorting query statistics by total execution time can reveal excessive load from multiple fast queries. Real-time monitoring can be done using the `pg_stat_activity` view to check active queries and their states, and the `pg_locks` view can help identify blocked processes. The `EXPLAIN` command can analyze query execution plans, and using the `auto_explain` module can log plans for slow queries. Understanding cost parameters in query plans helps in optimizing performance, and different join methods (Nested Loop, Merge Join, Hash Join) have varying complexities and costs. To influence the planner's choice of scanning methods, configuration parameters can be adjusted, such as disabling sequential scanning. Extensions like `sr_plan`, `pg_hint_plan`, and `AQO` can further optimize query execution. Monitoring query progress can be done using dynamic views like `pg_stat_progress_*` for various commands.
AppWizard
May 18, 2025
The Sims 4, developed by Electronic Arts, has maintained its popularity for over ten years, supported by a dedicated fan base and compatibility with modern hardware. The game recently released the Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack in March, allowing players to start their own small businesses. The community has also created numerous fan-made mods, some of which enhance gameplay, while others have sparked controversy, such as a mod aimed at removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) elements. This led to backlash and accusations of censorship when EA requested the mod's removal. Additionally, the conversation about diversity in video games has grown, with criticism directed at Sweet Baby Inc., a consulting firm, for its influence on narrative choices in games like Alan Wake 2 and God of War Ragnarok, resulting in organized boycotts against games associated with the firm.
AppWizard
May 17, 2025
World of Warcraft's patch 11.1.5 has faced backlash from players due to numerous bugs and the implementation of time-gated content. Senior game director Ion Hazzikostas acknowledged that the launch did not go as planned and highlighted issues with the Flame's Radiance events, which were a key feature of the patch. Other anticipated features, including a bad-luck protection system and a dual-boss raid mode, experienced delays, leading to player disappointment. Hazzikostas noted that the decision to stagger releases aimed to prevent player overwhelm but resulted in frustration over the lack of content at launch. Bugs from previous patches re-emerged, attributed to the accelerated eight-week patch schedule, which is the fastest in the game's history. Developers are using hotfixes to address issues quickly, but this can complicate resolutions. Hazzikostas emphasized the importance of quality over quantity and stated that the team is committed to improving their processes based on the challenges faced with this patch.
Search