Chris gets trolled by the bear cave. Jason sets optics to stun. Josh is hiding in a rest stop bathroom. Kelley stretches harder than she did for The Witch and the Hundred Knight. Also, find out how to increase your poop by 10 and express your opinions about Dragon Quest Soundtracks.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 664: “We Need to Talk About Gambit” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris comes at you live from a muscle relaxer. Kelley eats the clay cake topper. Johnathon goes to the past, becomes toothless, and loses his kingdom to his nephew. Jason teaches us how to put wallpaper on the Switch.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 671: “40+ Cast” appeared first on RPGamer.

Jason and Robert have a weeb-off. Kelley dies for two days and wakes up in her own sweat. Chris goes to a store that's half comics, half anime, and half body pillows. Bullseye!

The post RPG Cast – Episode 674: “Stop Sending Dragons, I Have Things to Do” appeared first on RPGamer.

Matt makes twenty slices of toast. Josh is still fighting sewer rat six. Kelley's dog is NOT a baby. And Chris saves E3 with the power of...no...he can't do it. No GEX allowed.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 684: “Remember What I Said at the Fazoli’s Drive Thru?” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris sets out to get justice for Hana. Kelley complains about vegan technology. Robert tells us all about the vacuum cleaner machine gun. And Ryan wonders why the "silent" princess won't shut up.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 694: “There’s No D in Journey” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley got WHAM'd and ran out of a hair salon. Chris can afford boat loads of ramen for his Path of Exile sessions now. Tam gives birth to a baby space ship. Oh, hi Mark.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 704: “She’s Lying, I Did Not Hit the Ornaments” appeared first on RPGamer.

Josh increases his charisma with Sega BASS fishing. Chris plays something other than Path of Exile. Kelley thinks the world sucks and goes to pet a cat. Cook my toast.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 709: “2004 Jankiness in 2024” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris sits in a time loop watching Vegeta backhand a guy. Kelley buys solar panels for her Red XIII werewolf. Were you into RPGs before they were cool? Now slide, slide, baby, slide.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 714: “Thirsty for Tactics” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley eats radioactive sushi. Chris tries to learn what a "zound" is. Josh goes to the Millennium tower one last time and rips off his shirt. Johnathan makes his bi-annual visit to Suiko-shame Chris.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 724: “Can I Sell You a Battle Pass Warranty?” appeared first on RPGamer.

Josh gives us a time to head pat update. Kelley has "unfriendly" written on her vet notes. Robert has spent 10,000 years in the friend zone. Chris designs a pirate city building game with cat girls and heavy metal music, that everyone can love.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 734: “You Have Died of Festive Dysentery” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris saw a wizard in Tokyo in Trader Vic's, his robe and wizard hat were perfect. Kelley got tired of Alf memes. Josh shoved his Steam Link in a closet somewhere. Gamers suck, tune in next week for monitor cast.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 740: “Truck-Kun in the Background Is Slightly Less Blurry” appeared first on RPGamer.

Today's cast gets dangerously close to a patent law cast as Chris finds a new pirate game to ignore. Kelley wants truck-kun to be isekai'd into a person. And Josh asks, "What do you get from petting the bear?" No one answers.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 741: “Make A The Rum!” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley hot boxes her cat. Chris authorizes Lunar to bring back Bill Clinton jokes. And Robert suffers feline gacha girls for us all.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 742: “Hard Candy Wii U Discs” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris got extra hands and became too weird even for SMT. Kelley got to the boat song and noped out. Phil destroyed half the furniture in his living room. Now go give your cat some nose drops.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 743: “There’s a Body in My Inventory” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris is unmasked as The Corporate Body. Tam talks about anime and waifus. Kelley is excited about text size. Josh explains the meaning of "time to shipwreck." Subscribe to our latest offering, The Monthly Litterbox.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 744: “11.5-Bit Graphics” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris eats around dirty grapes. Kelley plays the goose class of Monster Hunter. Ryan runs out of disc space until he deletes a Rogue Trader save file. Don't get distracted by salsa.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 745: “The Shipwreck Ending” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris gets killed by Dick Van Dyke. Kelley is done with VR now. Sam had a busy work week of dressing up as a blanket ghost. And Josh sails into invisible walls.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 746: “Extra Life 2024” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris plays real life PC building simulator. Kelley is shocked there's a bug in the Switch version. Josh has a heart episode while retrieving a necktie. And we all learn what true chicken love is.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 747: “Cute Little Cow Boxes” appeared first on RPGamer.

Audiovisual pioneers Kristina Karpysheva and Alexandr Letsius on creating colossal, mind-bending installations.

The post Interview: 404.zero appeared first on Fact Magazine.

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in Japan with 241,803 units sold for October 2024, according to VGChartz estimates. The Nintendo Switch has now sold an estimated 34.30 million units lifetime in Japan.

The PlayStation 5 sold an estimated 49,056 units to bring its lifetime sales to 6.12 million units. The Xbox Series X|S sold 5,862 units to bring their lifetime sales to 0.64 million units. The PlayStation 4 sold an estimated 162 units to bring its lifetime sales to 9.68 million units.

PS5 sales compared to the same month for the PS4 in 2017 are down by nearly 53,000 units, while the Xbox Series X|S compared to the same month for the Xbox One are up by over 5,000 units. PS4 sold 101,851 units for the month of October 2017 and Xbox One sales were at 563 units.

Nintendo Switch sales compared to the same month a year ago are down by 41,368 units (-14.6%). PlayStation 5 sales are down by 17,208 (-26.0%) and Xbox Series X|S sales are down by 2,294 units (-28.1%). The PlayStation 4 is down by 5,362 units (-97.1%) year-over-year.

Looking at sales month-on-month, Nintendo Switch sales are down up nearly 67,000 units, the PlayStation 5 sales are down by over 4,000 units, and Xbox Series X|S sales are up by over 2,000 units.

2024 year-to-date, the Nintendo Switch has sold an estimated 2.47 million units, the PlayStation 5 has sold 1.16 million units, and the Xbox Series X|S has sold 0.09 million units.

Monthly Sales:

Japan hardware estimates for October 2024 (Followed by lifetime sales):

1. Switch - 241,803 (34,300,699)
2. PlayStation 5 - 49,056 (6,121,649)
3. Xbox Series X|S - 5,862 (636,764)
4. PlayStation 4 - 162 (9,679,626)

Weekly Sales:

Japan October 12, 2024 hardware estimates:

1. Switch - 55,097
2. PlayStation 5 - 11,810
   
3. Xbox Series X|S - 429
4. PlayStation 4 - 31

Japan October 19, 2024 hardware estimates:

1. Switch - 58,866
2. PlayStation 5 - 11,324
3. Xbox Series X|S - 1,612
4. PlayStation 4 - 36

Japan October 26, 2024 hardware estimates:

1. Switch - 67,736
2. PlayStation 5 - 11,951
3. Xbox Series X|S - 1,207
4. PlayStation 4 - 40

Japan November 2, 2024 hardware estimates:

1. Switch - 60,104
2. PlayStation 5 - 13,971
3. Xbox Series X|S - 2,614
4. PlayStation 4 - 55

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463008/switch-comfortably-best-seller-japan-hardware-estimates-for-october-2024/

Sony Interactive Entertainment in its financial results announced it has shipped 65.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles as of September 30, 2024.

With 65.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles shipped through the end of June that means 3.8 million units were shipped from July to September. This is down 1.1 million (-22.45%) from the same quarter in 2023 when 4.9 million units were shipped.

For reference, the PlayStation 4 had shipped 4.2 million units in the same quarter for a lifetime total of 67.7 million units shipped as of September 30, 2017. This puts the PS5 behind shipped PS4 units by 2.2 million units.

There were a total of 77.7 million games sold on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 for the quarter. This is up 10.1 million from 67.6 million during the same period a year earlier. Digital sales accounted for 70 percent of software sales.

There were 5.3 million first-party games sold across the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. This is up 0.6 million from 4.7 million a year ago.

There were 116 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network, an increase of nine million from 107 million a year ago. Sony did not disclose the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers. It was at 47.4 million at the end of March 2023.

Sony's Game & Network Services Segment for the quarter ending September 30, 2024, reported revenue increased 244.5 billion yen ($1.60 billion) year-over-year to 2,973.4 billion yen ($19.46 billion), while operating income increased 142.0 billion yen ($0.93 billion) to 389.3 billion yen ($2.55 billion).

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463014/ps5-ships-655-million-units-as-of-september-2024/

Capcom has updated its list of Platinum Titles, games that have sold over one million units as of September 30, 2024. The list includes 122 games with sales over one million units, 64 over two million units, 14 over five million units, and six over 10 million units sold.

Resident Evil 4 remake sold 400,000 units to bring lifetime sales to eight million units, Resident Evil 2 remake sold 300,000 units to bring sales to 14.5 million units, and Resident Evil 3 remake sold 200,000 units to bring lifetime sales to 9.2 million units. 

Resident Evil 7: biohazard sold 300,000 units to bring lifetime sales to 14 million units and Resident Evil Village sold 400,000 units to bring sales to 10.5 million units.

Monster Hunter Rise sold 600,000 units in the quarter to bring lifetime sales to 16 million units. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak sold 400,000 units to bring lifetime sales to 8.8 million units.

Monster Hunter: World sold 400,000 units in the quarter to bring lifetime sales to 20.9 million units, while the Iceborne expansion sold 600,000 units for a total of 14 million units.

Dragon's Dogma 2 sold 300,000 units in the quarter to bring lifetime sales to 3.3 million units. Street Fighter 6 sold 400,000 units in the quarter to bring lifetime sales to 4.1 million units. Devil May Cry 5 sold 300,000 units to bring sales to 8.7 million units. 

Check out the complete list below:

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463020/capcom-updates-its-best-sellers-list-monster-hunter-world-at-209m-re4-remake-at-8m-more/

Here we see data representing the sales through to consumers and change in sales performance of the three current platforms (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch) and two legacy platforms (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) over comparable periods for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Also shown is the market share for each of the consoles over the same periods.

Year to Date Sales Comparison (Same Periods Covered)

Market Share (Same Periods Covered)

2021 – (January 2021 to October 2021)

2022 – (January 2022 to October 2022)

2023 – (January 2023 to October 2023)

2024 – (January 2024 to October 2024)

"Year to date" sales for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 sales are shown in series at the top of the table and then just below a comparison of 2024 versus 2023 and 2024 versus 2022 is displayed.  This provides an easy-to-view summary of all the data.

Total Sales and Market Share for Each Year

Microsoft

• Xbox Series X|S
• 0.09 million units sold year-to-date
• Down year-on-year 0.03 million units (-23.2%)

Nintendo

• Nintendo Switch
• 2.47 million units sold year-to-date
• Down year-on-year 0.75 million units (-23.4%)

Sony

• PlayStation 5
• 1.16 million units sold year-to-date
• Down year-on-year 0.94 million units (-44.9%)
• PlayStation 4
• 0.01 million units sold year-to-date
• Down year-on-year 0.05 million (-77.2%)

Note: VGChartz 2024 estimates through October includes 44 weeks, while 2023, 2022, and 2021 estimates includes 43 weeks.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463009/ps5-vs-xbox-series-xs-vs-switch-2024-japan-sales-comparison-charts-through-october/

Microsoft and several retailers are currently running a promotion for the standard Xbox Series X in the US.

The Xbox Series X is available for $449, a $50 discount, at the Microsoft Store, GameStop, and Best Buy. It isn't known when this deal will end.

The recently released 1 TB All-Digital Robot White Xbox Series X, 2TB Disc Drive Galaxy Black Xbox Series, and the two Xbox Series S SKUs have not been discounted at this time.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463036/xbox-series-x-discounted-by-50-to-449/

The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales comparison using our estimated video game hardware figures. The charts include comparisons between the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, as well as with older platforms. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.

This monthly series compares the aligned Japanese sales of the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

The PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020 in Japan, while the PlayStation 4 launched in February 2014. This does mean the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup.

PS5 Vs. PS4 Japan:

Gap change in latest month: 277,262 - PS4

Gap change over last 12 months: 300,542 - PS4

Total Lead: 234,400 - PS4

PlayStation 5 Total Sales: 6,121,649

PlayStation 4 Total Sales: 6,356,049

October 2024 is the 48th month the PlayStation 5 has been available for. In the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the PlayStation 4 when compared to the aligned launch of the PlayStation 5 by 0.28 million units.

In the last 12 months, the PS4 has outsold the PS5 by 0.30 million units. The PS5 is currently behind the PS4 by 0.23 million units.

The 48th month for the PS5 in Japan is October 2024, while for the PS4 it is January 2018. The PS5 has sold 6.36 million units, while the PS4 sold 6.12 million units during the same timeframe.

The PS4 crossed 7 million in month 53, 8 million in month 61, and 9 million in month 72. The PS4 has sold 9.68 million units to date. The PS5 is currently 3.56 million units behind the lifetime sales of the PS4 in Japan.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463011/ps5-vs-ps4-sales-comparison-in-japan-october-2024/

Publisher Whitethorn Games and developer Balloon Studios announced Botany Manor will launch for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on December 17.

The game first released for the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, and Xbox Game Pass in April of this year.

Our own Lee Mehr gave the game an eight out of 10 in his review and stated, "The lynchpin to Botany Manor's success is it being like an orderly garden: a well-attended array of various flowers with nary a dastardly weed in sight.  It may not capture the next mind-blowing concept within the genre, nor overwhelm you with a wild barrage of challenges, but there's an understated value in being among the most succinct within its field."

View the PS5 and PS4 release date trailer below:

Read details on the game below:

Botany Manor is a botanical puzzle game set in a historical English homestead brimming with a lifetime of memorabilia and research to explore, where players will uncover long-forgotten seeds and piece together clues as they solve puzzles to help each rare plant grow.

The enduring estate of Botany Manor is home to retired botanist Arabella Greene. After a long career, she has amassed a collection of rare, long-forgotten plants that require some research to help them live again. Play as Arabella and explore the stunning historic manor and its grounds to look for clues in her notes, books, posters, and items scattered around the residence to determine the correct set of circumstances to help the flora flourish. Unlock new seeds and plant them. Interactable items around the property that can be turned and flipped will provide information to help you solve each gardening puzzle, grow the plants, and discover their mysterious qualities.

Features:

• Explore the peaceful grounds and many calming rooms of the beautifully rendered, historically accurate 19th century manor.
• Pick up, flip, turn, and rotate the many items found around the estate to piece together the clues to solve each plant-based puzzle.
• Learn about Arabella’s life, career, and the challenges she faced as a woman scientist during the 19th century as you explore.
• Fall in love with the calming soundtrack that perfectly compliments the environment and flowers you bring to full bloom.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463043/botany-manor-headed-to-ps5-and-ps4-on-december-17/

Nintendo has announced its Black Friday 2024 deals. 

Dozens of games will be discounted including The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Maker 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pikmin 4, Nintendo Switch Sports, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Mario Odyssey, Pikmin 1 + 2, and more.

The Neon Red and Neon Blue Joy-Con controllers and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller will be discounted by $20, while the Nintendo Switch Carrying Case & Screen Protector - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition will be discounted by $10.

The Nintendo Switch: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle will once again return for $299.99, while the new Nintendo Switch – OLED Model: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle will be available for $349.99. Both bundles include a digital download of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership.

The Nintendo Switch Lite: Hyrule Edition with Bonus Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack will be available for $209.99. The bundle includes a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Individual Membership.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463045/nintendos-black-friday-2024-deals-revealed/

Sony Interactive Entertainment in a new video posted to YouTube revealed the PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition has been discounted by $70 and will be available for $379.99. The deal runs until December 24 "while supplies last."

No word yet if the standard PlayStation 5 or the recently released PlayStation 5 Pro will be discounted. The standard PS5 is priced at $499.99 and the PS5 Pro is priced at $699.99.

As of the time of writing, the discount isn't available yet at retailers or through PlayStation Direct.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463046/ps5-slim-digital-edition-discounted-to-379-in-the-us-until-december-24/

Real gamblers play russian roulette with shotguns. That is the core concept of Buckshot Roulette, the Inscryption-looking game of blinksweat and bulletworry. It's been out for a while now but the developers have just added a fun extra - a 4-person multiplayer mode.

Read more

There’s plenty that you could justifiably expect from a Bioware RPG: chats with mates, opportunities to get those mates horribly killed, surviving mates turning to the side then walking offscreen. But I don’t think anyone expected Dragon Age: The Veilguard to be, at least on a purely technical level, one of the smoothest-performing, settings-rich AAA PC releases of the year so far.

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Like a plague doctor delicately administering another handful of leeches, Ice Pick Lodge have shared a bit more about the recently announced Pathologic 3, explaining how their plans for the cult epidemic-battling series have progressed since the release of Pathologic 2.

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I didn't sleep last night for entirely self-inflicted reasons and my brain feels like that one accursed hoover bag you refuse to empty, because there is no way of doing so that won't turn the neighbourhood into Silent Hill. I need to avoid any complicated write-ups, or my brain will detonate similarly and paint north London grey.

Ah, a minigolf game! I think I can just about hack the concept of minigolf, on this most desperate of Mondays. It is golf but mini. Bonzai golf. Digestible! Intuitive! Why, I've managed to write 100 words without even looking at the Steam page. Let's do so now. Wait a minute, this isn't minigolf. It's Mini Mini Golf Golf. What is Mini Mini Golf Golf? "Destabilize the present and plunge into a neon psychohistory of a bizarre entity in distress," the Steam page explains. "This is not a game about minigolf." It is too late to flee.

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While we're getting a Gears Of War prequel in Gears Of War: E-Day, this does mean that Gears Of War 6 is yet to be a thing. In a recent episode of IGN's Podcast Unlocked, former Gears Of War director and current Diablo 4 lead Rod Fergusson revealed what his plans were for Gears 6 when he left. In short, he was going to take the game to space. Righto.

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The dominion of hated Super Earth threatens to expand afresh as Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt toys openly with the prospect of Helldivers 2 cross-over games, beginning with tabletop wargame Trench Crusade and extending to, well, take your pick. Arrowhead's appetite for other licenses appears insatiable. It's the kind of sheer expansionism you'd expect from Earth's loathsome regime, whose "managed democracy" propaganda continues to enthrall thousands of hapless disposable imperialists. Pilestedt even wants to make a Fifth Element game! Milla Jovovich is spinning in her grave. Milla Jovovich isn't dead, you say? Well, that's good news at least.

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Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics Of War developers Proxy Studios have just released Zephon, a new 4X strategy game set in a manky, post-apocalyptic world. It's got hexagonal maps, flesh trees, gangly Evangelion-grade giants, "otherworldly hymns of decay", nuclear bombs, and a player-led "blend of magic and cyberpunk" that extends from the city architecture to the research component. All of which is my cup of giblets. Here's the launch trailer.

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Update:

The RPS 100 is our list of the best games to play on PC. It encompasses the full breadth and width of PC gaming stretching back to 1873, but focuses solely on those games that remain great to play today. It's updated yearly by our crack team of writers, and the first half of the 2024 edition is live now.

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"Where’s my Neo-Volkite pistol, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2?" was my perhaps slightly ungrateful reaction upon booting the action game up after the previous patch. "I didn’t even know what a Neo-Volkite pistol was until five minutes ago, but now this whole game is trash until I get one!." As promised in the roadmap, the last big update added a whole new Operations map, complete with a gargantuan new pseudo-boss in the form of a hierophant bio-titan. It did not, however, give me my beloved pistol. It’s fine. It’s in now, along with a few, less Neo-Volkite updates to other weapons.

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Two of the three science Nobel prizes in 2024 have been won by people working in AI, but does this mean that AI models are now vital for science?

Four decades after the first IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Atlanta, robotics is bigger than ever. Next week in Rotterdam is the IEEE ICRA@40 conference, “a celebration of 40 years of pioneering research and technological advancements in robotics and automation.” There’s an ICRA every year, of course. Arguably the largest robotics research conference in the world, the 2024 edition was held in Yokohama, Japan back in May.

ICRA@40 is not just a second ICRA conference in 2024. Next week’s conference is a single track that promises “a journey through the evolution of robotics and automation,” through four days of short keynotes from prominent roboticists from across the entire field. You can see for yourself, the speaker list is nuts. There are also debates and panels tackling big ideas, like: “What progress has been made in different areas of robotics and automation over the past decades, and what key challenges remain?” Personally, I’d say “lots” and “most of them,” but that’s probably why I’m not going to be up on stage.

There will also be interactive research presentations, live demos, an expo, and more—the conference schedule is online now, and the abstracts are online as well. I’ll be there to cover it all, but if you can make it in person, it’ll be worth it.

Forty years ago is a long time, but it’s not that long, so just for fun, I had a look at the proceedings of ICRA 1984 which are available on IEEE Xplore, if you’re curious. Here’s an excerpt of the forward from the organizers, which included folks from International Business Machines and Bell Labs:

The proceedings of the first IEEE Computer Society International Conference on Robotics contains papers covering practically all aspects of robotics. The response to our call for papers has been overwhelming, and the number of papers submitted by authors outside the United States indicates the strong international interest in robotics.
The Conference program includes papers on: computer vision; touch and other local sensing; manipulator kinematics, dynamics, control and simulation; robot programming languages, operating systems, representation, planning, man-machine interfaces; multiple and mobile robot systems.
The technical level of the Conference is high with papers being presented by leading researchers in robotics. We believe that this conference, the first of a series to be sponsored by the IEEE, will provide a forum for the dissemination of fundamental research results in this fast developing field.

Technically, this was “ICR,” not “ICRA,” and it was put on by the IEEE Computer Society’s Technical Committee on Robotics, since there was no IEEE Robotics and Automation Society at that time; RAS didn’t get off the ground until 1987.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

IROS 2024: 14–18 October 2024, ABU DHABI, UAE

ICSR 2024: 23–26 October 2024, ODENSE, DENMARK

Cybathlon 2024: 25–27 October 2024, ZURICH

Humanoids 204: 22–24 November 2024, NANCY, FRANCE

Enjoy today’s videos!

The interaction between humans and machines is gaining increasing importance due to the advancing degree of automation. This video showcases the development of robotic systems capable of recognizing and responding to human wishes.

By Jana Jost, Sebastian Hoose, Nils Gramse, Benedikt Pschera, and Jan Emmerich from Fraunhofer IML

[ Fraunhofer IML ]

Humans are capable of continuously manipulating a wide variety of deformable objects into complex shapes, owing largely to our ability to reason about material properties as well as our ability to reason in the presence of geometric occlusion in the object’s state. To study the robotic systems and algorithms capable of deforming volumetric objects, we introduce a novel robotics task of continuously deforming clay on a pottery wheel, and we present a baseline approach for tackling such a task by learning from demonstration.

By Adam Hung, Uksang Yoo, Jonathan Francis, Jean Oh, and Jeffrey Ichnowski from CMU Robotics Insittute

[ Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute ]

Suction-based robotic grippers are common in industrial applications due to their simplicity and robustness, but [they] struggle with geometric complexity. Grippers that can handle varied surfaces as easily as traditional suction grippers would be more effective. Here we show how a fractal structure allows suction-based grippers to increase conformability and expand approach angle range.

By Patrick O’Brien, Jakub F. Kowalewski, Chad C. Kessens, and Jeffrey Ian Lipton from Northeastern University Transformative Robotics Lab

[ Northeastern University ]

We introduce a newly developed robotic musician designed to play an acoustic guitar in a rich and expressive manner. Unlike previous robotic guitarists, our Expressive Robotic Guitarist (ERG) is designed to play a commercial acoustic guitar while controlling a wide dynamic range, millisecond-level note generation, and a variety of playing techniques such as strumming, picking, overtones, and hammer-ons.

By Ning Yang , Amit Rogel , and Gil Weinberg from Georgia Tech

[ Georgia Tech ]

The iCub project was initiated in 2004 by Giorgio Metta, Giulio Sandini, and David Vernon to create a robotic platform for embodied cognition research. The main goals of the project were to design a humanoid robot, named iCub, to create a community by leveraging on open-source licensing, and implement several basic elements of artificial cognition and developmental robotics. More than 50 iCub have been built and used worldwide for various research projects.

[ Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia ]

In our video, we present SCALER-B, a multi-modal versatile climbing robot that is a quadruped robot capable of standing up, bipedal locomotion, bipedal climbing, and pullups with two finger grippers.

By Yusuke Tanaka, Alexander Schperberg, Alvin Zhu, and Dennis Hong from UCLA

[ Robotics Mechanical Laboratory at UCLA ]

This video explores Waseda University’s innovative journey in developing wind instrument-playing robots, from automated performance to interactive musical engagement. Through demonstrations of technical advancements and collaborative performances, the video illustrates how Waseda University is pushing the boundaries of robotics, blending technology and artistry to create interactive robotic musicians.

By Jia-Yeu Lin and Atsuo Takanishi from Waseda University

[ Waseda University ]

This video presents a brief history of robot painting projects with the intention of educating viewers about the specific, core robotics challenges that people developing robot painters face. We focus on four robotics challenges: controls, the simulation-to-reality gap, generative intelligence, and human-robot interaction. We show how various projects tackle these challenges with quotes from experts in the field.

By Peter Schaldenbrand, Gerry Chen, Vihaan Misra, Lorie Chen, Ken Goldberg, and Jean Oh from CMU

[ Carnegie Mellon University ]

The wheeled humanoid neoDavid is one of the most complex humanoid robots worldwide. All finger joints can be controlled individually, giving the system exceptional dexterity. neoDavids Variable Stiffness Actuators (VSAs) enable very high performance in the tasks with fast collisions, highly energetic vibrations, or explosive motions, such as hammering, using power-tools, e.g. a drill-hammer, or throwing a ball.

[ DLR Institute of Robotics andMechatronics ]

LG Electronics’ journey to commercialize robot navigation technology in various areas such as home, public spaces, and factories will be introduced in this paper. Technical challenges ahead in robot navigation to make an innovation for our better life will be discussed. With the vision on ‘Zero Labor Home’, the next smart home agent robot will bring us next innovation in our lives with the advances of spatial AI, i.e. combination of robot navigation and AI technology.

By Hyoung-Rock Kim, DongKi Noh and Seung-Min Baek from LG

[ LG ]

HILARE stands for: Heuristiques Intégrées aux Logiciels et aux Automatismes dans un Robot Evolutif. The HILARE project started by the end of 1977 at LAAS (Laboratoire d’Automatique et d’Analyse des Systèmes at this time) under the leadership of Georges Giralt. The video features HILARE robot and delivers explanations.

By Aurelie Clodic, Raja Chatila, Marc Vaisset, Matthieu Herrb, Stephy Le Foll, Jerome Lamy, and Simon Lacroix from LAAS/CNRS (Note that the video narration is in French with English subtitles.)

[ LAAS/CNRS ]

Humanoid legged locomotion is versatile, but typically used for reaching nearby targets. Employing a personal transporter (PT) designed for humans, such as a Segway, offers an alternative for humanoids navigating the real world, enabling them to switch from walking to wheeled locomotion for covering larger distances, similar to humans. In this work, we develop control strategies that allow humanoids to operate PTs while maintaining balance.

By Vidyasagar Rajendran, William Thibault, Francisco Javier Andrade Chavez, and Katja Mombaur from University of Waterloo

[ University of Waterloo ]

Motion planning, and in particular in tight settings, is a key problem in robotics and manufacturing. One infamous example for a difficult, tight motion planning problem is the Alpha Puzzle. We present a first demonstration in the real world of an Alpha Puzzle solution with a Universal Robotics UR5e, using a solution path generated from our previous work.

By Dror Livnat, Yuval Lavi, Michael M. Bilevich, Tomer Buber, and Dan Halperin from Tel Aviv University

[ Tel Aviv University ]

Interaction between humans and their environment has been a key factor in the evolution and the expansion of intelligent species. Here we present methods to design and build an artificial environment through interactive robotic surfaces.

By Fabio Zuliani, Neil Chennoufi, Alihan Bakir, Francesco Bruno, and Jamie Paik from EPFL

[ EPFL Reconfigurable Robotics Lab ]

At the intersection of swarm robotics and architecture, we created the Swarm Garden, a novel responsive system to be deployed on façades. The Swarm Garden is an adaptive shading system made of a swarm of robotic modules that respond to humans and the environment while creating beautiful spaces. In this video, we showcase 35 robotic modules that we designed and built for The Swarm Garden.

By Merihan Alhafnawi, Lucia Stein-Montalvo, Jad Bendarkawi, Yenet Tafesse, Vicky Chow, Sigrid Adriaenssens, and Radhika Nagpal from Princeton University

[ Princeton University ]

My team at the University of Southern Denmark has been pioneering the field of self-recharging drones since 2017. These drones are equipped with a robust perception and navigation system, enabling them to identify powerlines and approach them for landing. A unique feature of our drones is their self-recharging capability. They accomplish this by landing on powerlines and utilizing a passively actuated gripping mechanism to secure themselves to the powerline cable.

By Emad Ebeid from University of southern Denmark

[ University of Southern Denmark (SDU) ]

This paper explores the design and implementation of Furnituroids, shape-changing mobile furniture robots that embrace ambiguity to offer multiple and dynamic affordances for both individual and social behaviors.

By Yasuto Nakanishi from Keio University

[ Keio University ]

From Goats to airplanes, Xbox Game Pass has another bumper month in store for subscribers. Here's everything you need to know about what is heading to PC and console this November 2024

The Pokemon Company is teaming up with content creators to stage a 24-hour unboxing live stream for its new Scarlet & Violet - Surging Sparks card set as you Gotta Catch 'Em All

Pikachu ex, found in the new Pokemon TCG set Surging Sparks, has seen its value soar with players spending over $500 for the latest card. Here's why.

The Health and Human Services Department employs 294 people whose jobs focus on diversity, and the department maintains seven separate "minority health" offices spread across its various agencies, according to a new report that suggests it will be tough for the incoming Trump administration to unwind it all.

According to a report Tuesday, the league deliberately decided not to impose an immediate fine on San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat during a postgame television interview.

Getting virus alerts on your iPhone? Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson helps you learn how to handle fake scam alerts and boost security.

Amazon's Black Friday sales event starts Friday, Nov. 22. Kurt the CyberGuy offers some tips on how to get the best deals on merchandise.