Dance Dance Revolution Extreme

... Big Wiggle — the celebratory dance whose theatrical enthusiasm exceeded standard ... Filthy Animals defeat The Revolution via pinfall when Billy Kidman ... the hardcore format whose extreme environmental demands both competitors' unconventional ... hierarchy's championship authority. The Revolution debuts with Shane Douglas and ...The Filthy Animals defeat The Revolution. Kidman's Shooting Star Press on ...

... HD Cuboid Daikoukai Jidai Online Dance Magic DanceStar Digital Dare to... Hunter Eufloria Everyday Shooter Explodemon Extreme Exorcism Faery: Legends of Avalon... Risk: Urban Assault Robot Rescue Revolution Rochard Rock Band Blitz Rock... Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Tekken Revolution Tennis in the Face Terraria... Hunter Worms Crazy Golf Worms Revolution WRC Powerslide Wrecked: Revenge Revisited...

...ラッシュ。 1┃Dance Dance Revolution┃DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME┃AC┃ 1┃Synthetic God...

... the Wii as well as Dance Dance Revolution in it. The games were... (only Stadium Events for its extreme rarity) but it was a...

... be the forerunners of the revolution, but an active participant that .... The Tarkin Rush is the extreme, and somewhat illogical, end of ... of the Empires' grand ballroom dance. Its undercurrent of fear, or ... agents, not part of the dance. And thus it was genuine. ...

(´・ω・｀)らんらんはDance Dance Revolution EXTREMEだよ

... mental degradation and, in an extreme cases, outright homicidal instability. Even... margins. They don't want a revolution; they want a quarterly dividend... Quantum mechanics and its wild dance with modern technology. You could...

...:45) 49. Apollo - Dance (Megara vs. DJ Lee RMX...7:17) 50. Apollo - Dance (3:55) 51. Aquagen -...) (6:55) 100. clubland extreme - Track 14 (3:27... Parade (2:57) 110. Dance Nation - Sunshine (Original Vocal... 186. Gigi D'Agostino - La Dance (4:54) 187. Gigi ...06) 209. Jordi Carreras - Dance (4:14) 210. Jt ...3:47) 377. SQ1 - Dance (6:28) 378. Stars On...Youniverse - I call it revolution (Original Club Mix) -Dred- (7...

... - Don't Stop The Dance C-Block - Time Is Tickin...Heroes David Bowie - Let's Dance David Guetta - Lovers On... The Chamber Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of ... Rain Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry Princess ...Watch me now Saul Williams – Dance Savage Garden - To The ...Chapman - Talking About A Revolution Travis Scott feat. Young Thug ...me hanging on Moby - Extreme Ways Moderat - Eating Hooks ...

... raised both hands. To Oemor's extreme delight, he walked across her...is the Dawn of the Revolution! Let's take down the Dark-Gray ... I'm definitely pumped for this revolution! Besides, some of the rebels ... made to do a sexy dance in the center of a ..., aren't they?!" "Admiral Uub… the revolution will succeed! The Goddaughter… she's ...! Admiral Uub has supported the revolution for years! The navy prevents ...

...David Bowie - Let's Dance David Guetta - Lovers ...now Saul Williams - Dance Savage Garden - To The ...- Talking About A Revolution Travis Scott feat. Young Thug ...Dobson - Time 2 Extreme - Midnight express Eyşan Unutamıyorum- .... 2 Unlimited - Tribal dance (1991) SrđanZ 6. 2 Unlimited –...Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) (1990) amigdala 31. Capella ...54. DJ Bobo – Somebody Dance With Me 1992 Gallardo 55. ...

... Her First Quest Politics Of Dance: Making idol group terrorists requires.... Completion Reward: Progress on quest Revolution Girls 11 Shine Bright Dissident ... the people beheld by it. Revolution Girls 11 have made an ...,000 Reputation, progress on quest Revolution Girls 11 Got 99 Problems ... possible to avoid, appeased with extreme prejudice. The client remained unhelpful ...

... more like a revolution, similar to the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century... create almost perfect pop, rock, dance, or trance music at a ... original way. And this has extreme consequences: Both individuals and music...

... she went kaput. Her previous dance with an archon was a... once? But that would require extreme magical exertion on both Delaney... shoulder had shattered. Winnipeg's uncontrolled revolution continued until again she faced...

... - £13.74 (−75%) →➎ Just Dance 2026 Edition — Deluxe Edition -... - £6.59 (−70%) ↑➃➎ Let's! Revolution! - £7.19/£6.39....59 (−29%) ↑➃ Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On - £22...

... girlfriend. He goes to a dance and sees a woman with ... if she would like to dance; overcome, she presses her hands ... physical ugliness was compounded by extreme social dysfunction (even worse than ... normie. Elle postulated a “femcel revolution”, by which the author meant ...

..., every movement goes to an extreme in various ways. Feminism is... women---it emerged alongside the sexual revolution, so women wanted to be... to get close to her, dance with her, secretly hope for...

New to the series and am genuinely curious cuz I've played the European one and they look to be the same just with an altered song list and different coloured UI submitted by /u/ROMTommo to r/DanceDanceRevolution [link] [comments]

Power of the ask submitted by /u/Glad-Act-5146 to r/gamecollecting [link] [comments]

A video with scrubbed metadata is uploaded. Leonard, looking well healed from his sortie against the Baali nest, walks up to a door and opens it, revealing Marcus and Violet who are carrying a few bottles of a reddish liquid. “Well hello there kiddos,” he says cheerfully. “Welcome to our humble digs. Come in, come in.” He welcomes his guests in the space, a sort of common room haven that has been seen several times in Olivia’s video feeds before. The space has been cleaned and decorated simply and tastefully. A table is seen off to the side, set with finger food. Marcus reaches out a free hand and Leonard shakes it vigorously. “Good to see you again Len, this is Violet.” “Nice to have you back in town, kid, and lovely to meet you Violet,” Leonard says. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” “Only good things, I hope,” she says. The two walk in and Olivia walks into frame, dressed up and looking quite fetching, followed by the three young men of the Dusk Kids coterie. Violet looks at all of them, smiling. “Now you probably know Olivia already, she keeps posting on the node…” Leonard says, gesturing to the girl, who is looking more starstruck by the minute. “Here’s David, he’s our resident blood alchemist master. This is Shane, our budding heartthrob and of course, James, slickest kid you ever met on this side of the country,” he continues, making the introductions. Violet looks between all of the Dusk Kids while Marcus shakes hands with them all, and Violet does the same. The Dusk Kids seem to rather unconsciously gravitate towards her, crowding around her like curious pups. She turns to look at Leonard, holding his gaze momentarily and then suddenly balks a little, blinking in confusion. Leonard smiles, and taps the side of his nose. “Tut, tut, Violet. Turn that Presence off for tonight, will you? You’re among friends. I don’t need you stupefying my kids the entire evening.” Marcus snickers as she shoots him a quick dirty look. “How…?” she asks Len. He shrugs, still smiling. “A little ritual of self-defence. I spend too much time working with Ventrue and Toreador who all try to get to me. I let thaumaturgy make my counterpoints.” “Cheating…” Violet mumbles as Shane takes her coat. Olivia seems especially taken with Violet. “Oh wow you look so good in that!” she chirps fawning over the Toreador. “Thanks honey, you’re cute yourself,” Violet says, satisfied. “Right, let’s get comfortable, I want to hear about what you’ve been up to Marcus, and let you know what’s been going on since you’ve been away. Shit’s going down…” Len says, brooming them all into the room. “John, you can fetch the other guests now.” The video cuts to a little later, where the group seems to be relaxing in the company of a fair few kine and Leonard’s ghoul John, who seem well at ease among the Kindred. Most of them are happily drinking and eating the kine food provided without saying much, occasionally being fed upon by one of the Kindred, under the close supervision of John and Leonard, who dismiss any kine who starts to look a little anemic. “Who are these people?” Marcus asks Len discreetly while Violet chats with Olivia. “People from my domain who owe me favors. A little Dominate keeps things vague for them. I look after them, they look after me,” Len replies. “Good a time as any to talk to the gang about something,” Marcus says, standing up. He takes a moment to get everyone's attention, clearly eager to share something. Leonard nods to John, who escorts the remaining kine out of the room. Once everyone is paying attention, Marcus begins to speak. "Speaking of Disciplines, let's quickly talk about Resonances and their connection to the supernatural abilities we Kindred have. Please keep this in, because it's going to be extremely useful information to Kindred of any age. First, let's start with what is a Resonance. A resonance is what we call the effect the emotional state of a vessel has on the taste of their blood. Now, to the uniformed that's all there is to it. But to the informed, it's a useful way to boost their abilities in a Discipline or even get limited access to a Discipline that they would not otherwise have without a teacher." “Yeah, I’ve noticed a difference in the blood of people when we go feeding,” James says thoughtfully. “And uh, not just the alcohol or whatever they’ve been having.” “So you’re saying that how a person feels affects their blood and that affects what Disciplines we can use,” Olivia says. “Len, does that mean that we could learn Disciplines depending on who we feed on?” “Not permanently. Marcus did say ‘limited’ access. For more permanent access you’d either need an inherent access to it, or a tutor and that means tapping their blood first,” Len says, lighting a cigarette. "There are four main Resonances,” Marcus continues. “Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. Choleric is the resonance of fiery passion, anger, jealousy, and violence. To no ones surprise it is associated with the Disciplines of Celerity and Potence. Melancholic is the resonance of sadness, depression, thoughtfulness, and the grounded. It is associated with the Disciplines of Fortitude and Obfuscate. Phlegmatic the resonance of calm, apathy, laziness, and the sentimental. It is associated with the Disciplines of Auspex and Dominate. Finally Sanguine is the resonance of sexual desire, happiness, enthusiasm, and the active. It is associated with the various forms of Blood Sorcery and Presence." “How do you learn to tell apart who’s what?” David asks. “Auspex helps, but mostly it comes down to experience and a little bit of luck. You learn to sort things out as you go,” Marcus replies. “This should matter a lot for Duskborn Alchemy.” “I’ll have to do some research…” David says thoughtfully. Marcus takes another moment before moving on to the next topic. "The easiest way to obtain these Resonances constantly is by taking up a predator type. For example, I am an Alleycat, I jump people in an alley to feed and because I do that regularly, I can do the very basics of Clerity. Violet on the other hand is a Siren, she seduces her meals and then feeds under the guise of or in addition to sex and this allows her to be far more capable with Presence than you would expect. Even feeding exclusively off the blood of animals lets you be more capable with Animalism. That's the end of my little lecture. Any questions from the class?" Marcus says with no small amount of enthusiasm, clearly happy that he got to be the one teaching for once. “Yeah, Leonard doesn’t seem to have a predator type, he does a little bit of everything. How does that fit in?” Shane asks. “Because I’m an opportunist and I hate having set routines that can be tracked,” Len says, exhaling smoke. “I’m older than you kids, I’ve tried a lot of methods of hunting and I find being adaptable helps. I don’t recommend it to you kids because it’s good to form some habits, as long as you’re careful and don’t make yourselves predictable. I’ve had time to adapt to my disciplines so Resonance matters less to me.” “Man, this is so much better than Critias’ droning on at the Academy…” James grumbles. “Hey, don’t put down the man, he’s a long-winded old fart but he makes a few good points if you pay attention. Be happy he’s tolerating you in there,” Len admonishes him. With the lecture over, they settle in for an evening of music and talk and some imbibing of blood booze that Marcus has procured. “So, how bad did the cleanup get?” Marcus then asks, pouring them both a glass of liquid from the bottles they brought. “Pretty bad, the whole factory had to be burned down and Jackson had the remains demolished as soon as the ash settled. I scoured the place twice myself,” Len says, taking a drink. “Ooh, nice stuff. I’ll have to analyse this to replicate it.” Marcus takes a sip of his own drink. “Do you think we’re squared off with Jackson? For now at least?” “Hah, not for a minute,” Len says and Violet turns to look at them. “Jackson’s a fool if he doesn’t keep tabs on us. Maybe not you, yet, but I’ve made the terrible mistake of becoming useful to him. If the Sheriff is his sledgehammer, I’m turning into a sniper rifle and I don’t know how good that’s gonna be for me.” “You know stuff about him, though, right? From the Chicago War?” Marcus asks. “Of course I do. More than most. I was there for the whole fucking thing,” Len grouses. “He thinks he’s surpassing Lodin but he’s inevitably going to make the same mistakes and I warned him about it. The Baali were a threat growing under his nose because he didn’t want to consider even parlay with the Anarchs. Not like they’re blameless in all this, they didn’t smell something was wrong until it almost bit them in the ass, either. The Baali had agents in both factions. I’ll eat my socks if the Sabbat weren’t pulling the strings somehow again.” “But you also hang out with Anarchs?” Violet asks. “I don’t ‘hang out’ per se. I have contacts. Contacts I respect and who respect me. People I can agree to disagree with and leave it at that,” Len says. “I don’t know if I recommend this course of action in Chicago to everybody, though. I’ve been doing it for years and God knows how I’ve kept the balancing act. It’s like spinning plates.” “Is that how you knew where to send us to talk to other Duskborn?” James asks suddenly. Leonard grumbles. “Yes. Jackson’s little crusade has sent the vast majority of Duskborn in Chicago to sign up with Anarchs, more or less, and that shit’s going to cost him. I get why he’s doing it, I really do, but he’s chasing an impossible dream.” “Are we gonna spend all evening talking about Jackson?” Olivia asks suddenly. “C’mon, we set up the PS2, let’s do some DDR!” Violet brightens suddenly. “You have Dance Dance Revolution set up? I saw your video of Len dancing, I’m sure I can do better! Better yet, Marcus needs to try!” Marcus looks at her sheepishly. “Uh, I do?” “Yes you do! And we just bought a second pad for versus mode!” David says. The video then cuts to a scene of Marcus making some valiant attempts to dance along to a preppy pop song on the DDR pad in front of the large television. He is not very successful as the screen flashes with missed steps. Violet is cackling and the Dusk Kids are cheering him on. He finishes his attempt and bows out in defeat, just for Len and Violet to begin a spirited one versus one dance battle, which gets more heated the further they go, evidently very close in score until James accidentally walks past the camera just as the final scores are displayed. submitted by /u/TiredPandastic to r/SchreckNet [link] [comments]

Hi Reddit, We just wrapped up The Android Show | I/O Edition, and a core theme of the show was how we’re making your phone more helpful so that you can spend less time looking at it and more time living your life. To make this happen, we're elevating the core Android experience, giving you new ways to share across platforms, express yourself, manage your screen time, and secure your sensitive data. Here’s the breakdown: 🤝 How Android is making it easier to share, switch, and connect securely Picture this: you've just made a bunch of new friends at a concert, and before you part ways, you want to quickly share the photos you took together. But sharing gets hard when not everybody has the same phone as you. That’s why we're introducing new ways to stay connected regardless of what device you or your friends use: Share with anyone, on any device: To make sharing easier across platforms, we made Quick Share compatible with AirDrop for supported Android phones starting with Pixel, and we’re continuing our expansion to more partners including Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi, and HONOR this year. For devices without hardware support, you can generate a QR code using Quick Share on any Android phone, letting you instantly share with iOS devices via the cloud. Alternatively, if you use WhatsApp, Quick Share will soon be integrated so you can share instantly across platforms, no need to upload to the cloud. Switch to Android with ease: We worked with Apple to overhaul the iOS-to-Android transfer process. Your passwords, photos, messages, favorite apps, contacts, eSIM, and even your homescreen layout can migrate wirelessly from your iPhone to your new Android device. This upgraded switching process will launch first on Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices this year. https://preview.redd.it/b29przziqq0h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=9d00eaf49aedd834f276f646ca48edf5ba1f5990 Connect more securely: With 2.5 billion RCS messages sent daily, secure communication is more important than ever. To keep your chats safe, we’re officially rolling out end-to-end encryption for RCS across both Android and iOS. 📸 More ways to create and share with Android Android phones consistently have the best cameras, but capturing a great photo is only half the task. We believe that world-class devices should deliver world-class experiences that extend from the initial snap to editing and posting. That's why with Android 17, we're introducing deeper social media integrations and new editing tools: Enjoy a more vibrant Instagram experience: We’ve teamed up with Meta to bring the best of Instagram to the most advanced Android devices. We've also completely optimized the capture-to-upload pipeline. Your photos and videos remain stunningly sharp when you hit "post" and your Reels and Stories load the second you tap them. This update also includes: Ultra HDR capture and playback: See lifelike vibrancy with colors that pop. Built-in video stabilization: Smooth video for when you’re walking, dancing, or just really caffeinated. Night sight integrations: Get the perfect shot even in the dimmest of settings. https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/8kdncs5qqq0h1/player Also, Instagram is now fully optimized for Android tablets, making the most of their larger screens. https://preview.redd.it/qy6pgsziqq0h1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7ce5a157e8adb94ba4a327a1b43e333a3c40574 Refine faster with the Edits app: Exclusively on Android, Instagram's Edits app is getting new tools to turn raw footage into polished content in seconds. These include: Smart enhance: With a single tap, you can instantly improve the quality of all your old photos and videos with upscaling. Sound separation: Instead of doing another retake, you can use sound separation to identify and separate out audio layers - like wind, noise, and music - to boost the sounds you want and strip away the distractions you don't. https://preview.redd.it/utwnyxziqq0h1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=e39eea5a7323fff8726887c2a5b391e1fffa12b1 Share your raw responses with Screen Reactions: Screen Reactions makes it easier to create reaction videos without the hassle of jumping between apps or setting up a green screen. With just a few taps, you can record yourself and your screen at the same time, letting you overlay your reaction directly onto trending clips, wild comment sections, or your latest gift guide. This is rolling out first on Pixel devices this summer. https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/gm01yecsqq0h1/player Pro-grade video on Android: The Adobe Premiere app is coming to Android soon with exclusive templates and effects to create and post YouTube Shorts from the app. Plus, we're expanding support for APV (Advanced Professional Video), the most storage-efficient pro format, to more Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagships later this year (it's already right now on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and vivo X300 Ultra). 🧘 Stop app autopilot with Pause Point in Digital Wellbeing We’ve all opened our phones just to check the weather and ended up doing something else on the phone for 45 minutes. You can set an app timer to limit your time in distracting apps, but it's way too easy to just hit snooze and ignore it. A total app lockout, on the other hand, might be too extreme and inconvenient. We wanted to create a middle ground option that stops us from opening apps on auto pilot and start using them with intention, which is why we made Pause Point. When you open an app you've marked as distracting, Pause Point gives you a 10-second breather that makes you ask yourself, "Why am I really here?" During those 10 seconds, you can do a quick breathing exercise, look at a photo that grounds you (like your dog!), or jump to an alternative app like an audiobook. https://preview.redd.it/jxwcgxziqq0h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b07b5ab18a5bd1f91e026ca923ec7f5059405eb For those who want to hold themselves accountable, you can set Pause Point so that it requires a full phone restart to disable the feature. We hope Pause Point can help you reclaim time to do more of what you really want to do. This is just the start, as more digital wellbeing tools are coming later this year. 🐢 Say 👋 to new emojis We’re introducing Noto 3D, a massive update to our emoji library. We have hand-refined nearly 4,000 emojis to bring a touch of physicality and make them more delightful. These new emojis are coming your way later this year on Android devices, starting with Pixel, and across popular apps like Gboard, YouTube, and Gmail. https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/dqo9q353cr0h1/player 🛡️ Protecting users with new security and privacy features on Android We're committed to enhancing Android's protections to shield users from the evolving landscape of threats, from device thefts to sophisticated scams. Here's how we're improving Android's defenses in 2026: https://preview.redd.it/k2zc110jqq0h1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=1504c7a99b3f03600e1f40ac3ec24a809c16bab4 Enhancing protections against banking scam calls: We're working to stop scammers from impersonating financial institutions into tricking users to transfer money or reveal their account information. To do this, we're working on verified financial calls, a feature that automatically ends phone calls from spoofed numbers impersonating participating financial apps. If you have a participating bank or financial institution's app installed and have signed in, Android will ask the app to verify any calls that appear to be from them. Android will end the call if the app confirms that no phone call is being made, or if the bank or financial institution has designated the number as inbound-only, meaning they never use them to call customers. We're rolling this out on Android 11+ devices with Revolut, Itaú, and NuBank in the coming weeks before expanding it to more banks later this year. Improved safety against malicious apps Live Threat Detection Enhancements: Live Threat Detection is a real-time security feature that analyzes app behavior to alert you if an app starts acting suspiciously, and we're enhancing it to find and protect against more types of malicious apps. New warnings: We're rolling out new warnings about suspicious behavior that could be potentially harmful. This covers SMS forwarding, where an app forwards a message to another number, and accessibility overlay, in which an app uses the accessibility permission to continuously display imperceptible content on the screen that could be used to trick you into taking an unintended action. Dynamic signal monitoring: Android will be able to warn you about apps that start doing things like changing or hiding their icon and then launching activities in the background or abusing accessibility permissions. To do this, Live Threat Detection will monitor application system interaction for known suspicious patterns in real time. Dynamic signal monitoring will be enabled on select Android 17 devices starting in the second half of the year. Stopping malware at download time: For Chrome on Android, we’re improving app safety by adding another layer of protection at download time. For users who have enrolled in Safe Browsing and want to download an app, we’ll evaluate the APK for known malware and stop you before you download it or warn you. New core protections for Advanced Protection: With Android 16, we introduced Advanced Protection, a single, opt-in device-level security setting that enables all of Android’s highest security features. We’ve been working to expand the protections offered under this setting with key upgrades like USB protection and Intrusion Logging, and now with Android 17, we’re continuing this work by introducing the following protections: Removing access to the accessibility service from all apps that aren’t labeled as accessibility tools. Disabling device-to-device unlocking Blocking Chrome WebGPU support Integrating scam detection for chat notifications (Later this year) Enabling Android Enterprise support so organizations can enable Advanced Protection by policy for managed devices. Protecting your SMS OTPs: Scammers often try to hijack your one-time passwords (OTPs) to gain access to your accounts. To do this, they may deploy malicious apps that ask for permission to read your SMS. In Android 16, we introduced a protection that delays the delivery of messages containing an SMS retriever hash to most apps for three hours. Android 17 now extends this protection to all SMS messages containing an OTP. This means that even if a malicious app has been granted the SMS permission, it won’t be able to read your sensitive OTPs until after they have already expired. Stronger protections against device theft: Enhanced "Mark as lost" in Find Hub: With Find Hub, you can already mark a device as lost to remotely lock it with your PIN, pattern, or password as well as show a message or phone number on the lock screen. However, if a thief sees your PIN, pattern, or password before snatching your phone, they can still unlock your phone. To address this, we’ve made the following improvements to Mark as Lost in Android 17: 2-step verification: Your phone will now ask for biometrics in addition to the regular PIN, pattern, or password. Blocking key features: Triggering Mark as Lost also enables additional protections like hiding Quick Settings and disabling new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections. https://preview.redd.it/4ury110jqq0h1.png?width=1730&format=png&auto=webp&s=e50db6fd8c2d83da12db7132fd477c16f54b37e7 Fewer guessing attempts: Android 17 significantly reduces the number of times someone can guess the PIN, pattern, or password and adds longer wait times between failed attempts. We’ve also refined how the lock screen shows information after failed attempts have been made. Streamlined device recovery: A device’s IMEI can now be accessed via the lock screen on devices running Android 12 or later. A good samaritan who finds a lost or stolen device can provide the IMEI to the appropriate authority, manufacturer, or carrier to verify ownership and return the device to you. This feature can be disabled in device settings. Expanding default-on theft protections: Following a successful pilot in Brazil, we are enabling two of Android’s key theft protection features (Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock) by default globally on all new Android 17 devices, as well as those freshly reset or upgraded to the latest OS. Additionally, in select markets with high demand including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the UK, we are extending these protections to all devices running Android 10 or higher. More granular privacy controls: Improved location privacy: Location button for single session location access: Instead of asking for permanent or background access to your precise location, apps can instead integrate the new location button in Android 17. When you tap this button in an app, you can grant it one-time precise location access that expires when you close the app. Developers can deploy this simple, private location flow for common tasks like finding a nearby shop or tagging a social post. (Google Play will require apps to use this button for one-time precise location access unless they require persistent, always-on location access.) Better location access transparency: Android 17 now shows a persistent indicator in the status bar when a non-system app accesses your location. You can tap this indicator to see which apps have recently accessed your location. The update also redesigns the location permission dialog to make the "Precise" and "Approximate" options more visually distinct. More private location sharing in low-population areas: Android 17 improves the algorithm for approximate (coarse) location to be aware of population density. This improves the privacy of granting an app approximate location access when you're in a low-population area. Improved contact sharing privacy: Android 17 introduces the Contact Picker which provides a standardized, secure, and searchable interface for contact selection. Historically, apps needing access to your contacts relied on the broad "READ_CONTACTS" permission, which often granted apps more data than necessary. Android's Contact Picker addresses this by allowing you to grant apps access only to the specific contacts you choose. (Google Play will require that all applicable apps use it [or a privacy-focused alternative like Sharesheet] as the primary way to access users' contacts.) Improved digital & network security: Disable 2G toggle: Android 17 introduces a new capability for the disable 2G toggle. Carriers now have the ability to configure the default status of this setting, allowing them to disable 2G access to proactively shield their users from legacy technology vulnerabilities in areas where 2G infrastructure is no longer maintained. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): We’re further hardening Android’s long-term data protection by introducing Post-Quantum Cryptography. New data isolation and verification tools Expanded Binary Transparency: Anyone can now verify that the critical software layers on their device were actually authorized by Google and haven't been secretly modified by attackers. We are publishing a public, append-only ledger that provides cryptographic proof that production Google applications and Mainline Modules are the authentic versions released by Google. If a Google-signed app isn’t on this ledger, we didn’t intend to release it. Android OS verification: We have seen some bad actors begin to distribute malicious, unofficial versions of the Android OS that secretly compromise device integrity. To combat this, we are introducing Android OS verification in Android 17. Launching initially on Pixel devices, this feature helps you verify that your device is running an official, widely distributed build. Keeping your ambient data confidential and isolated: Android 17 introduces AISeal with pKVM which, along with Private AI Compute, creates an isolated, verifiable, hardware-backed environment where ambient data can be processed securely. We're excited for you to experience these new features, emojis, and protections! Which of these changes are you looking forward to the most? submitted by /u/MishaalRahman to r/Android [link] [comments]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wKNchCHOIySC7YT7T-dNdX_oF8-A1hxLlOQXUGgCuZk/edit?gid=69346111#gid=69346111 This Google Sheets file contains the following. Songs that first appeared onto their respective versions of DDR prior to current version that are not in current version anymore. Arcade main series (Asia) only, with some exceptions. Songs that only appeared onto their respective versions of DDR. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs that appear only in DDR and not in other BEMANI games. Songs that also appear in Dancing Stage (DS) or DDR Solo are not included. Arcade main series (Asia) only, with some exceptions. Songs that appear only in arcade cabinet (AC) releases of DDR and not in its consumer software (CS) releases. Arcade main series (Asia) only, with some exceptions. Songs in DDR prior to current version that were never removed. Songs that first appeared onto their respective versions of DDR prior to current version and then they were carried onto the succeeding versions of DDR consecutively or contiguously until the current version. Arcade main series (Asia) only. DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX (LINK VERSION). Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX. 3rdMIX (Non-SSR) or SSR mode. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX VER.KOREA. 3rdMIX VER.KOREA (Non-SSR) or SSR mode. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX Ver.KOREA2. 3rdMIX Ver.KOREA2 (Non-SSR) or SSR mode. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX PLUS. 3rdMIX PLUS mode. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX. Music selection mode. Classified by genre. DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX PLUS. Music selection mode. Classified by genre. DanceDanceRevolution 5thMIX. Music selection mode. In-game order. DDRMAX -DanceDanceRevolution 6thMIX-. Music selection mode. In-game order. DDRMAX2 -DanceDanceRevolution 7thMIX-. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA. Music selection mode. Classified by category. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2. Music selection mode. Classified by category. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution X. Standard mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution X2. Standard mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution X3 VS 2ndMIX. Standard mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution (2013). Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution (2014). Music selection mode In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution A. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution A20. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution A20 PLUS. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution A3. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution A3. Offline version. Music selection mode. In-game order. DanceDanceRevolution WORLD. ALL MUSIC mode. In-game order. Primary and secondary boss songs in DDR. Arcade main series (Japan) only. Songs in DDR containing shock arrows. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR wherein declared difficulty level value in SuperNOVA2 is higher than the declared difficulty level value in X. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR wherein declared difficulty level values in SuperNOVA2 and X are the same. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR that appeared in two versions of DDR at certain points in time. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose length is greater than 2 minutes, 30 minutes. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR containing Single CHALLENGE and Double CHALLENGE charts only. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Pair of songs in DDR with 100% identical notecounts and freeze arrows count on most of their combination of respective play styles and difficulties. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs that formerly appear only in 20th anniversary model arcade cabinet (AC) of DDR. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR containing Single BEGINNER charts only. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Duplicate title of songs in DDR. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose title is purely number. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose length of title is just one character. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose stepcharts start in the obviously soonest possible time. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose first note in its stepcharts start at the beginning of its music. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR where difficulty level arrangement of two side-by-side difficulties on certain play styles are in descending order. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR where two difficulties on a certain play style have the same difficulty level. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose BPM reflect their actual sync values. Arcade main series (Asia) only. Songs in DDR whose declared BPM since WORLD and actual BPM do not match. Arcade main series (Asia) only. No b*llying and/or no b*llsh*ts, please. If you find anything that needs to be corrected, please provide them in the comments below. Thank you very much in advance. submitted by /u/luigi-a-cruz to r/BEMANIgames [link] [comments]

playing some more DDR. Playing Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (Part 3) submitted by /u/Plane-Move1392 to r/DanceDanceRevolution [link] [comments]

Playing Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (Part 2) - YouTube I'm trying to unlock all of the songs in the game and get more achievements on retro achievements submitted by /u/Plane-Move1392 to r/DanceDanceRevolution [link] [comments]

youtube link and time stamps should take you to the specific background song I'm talking about (but also it is 26 minutes in) and I freeze because I know that tune!!! I played a lot of dance dance revolution, especially the ps2 version of extreme 2. I listened to all the songs in that specific game and I found it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the specific song is Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME 2- Polovtsian Dances and Chorus. I can only have one link attached but please believe me!!! I'll put the second one in a comment? https://youtu.be/J4QtSkdP-vQ?si=J6BrAwlV7-mfESeb submitted by /u/mcrockmoss to r/TheDigitalCircus [link] [comments]

https://preview.redd.it/gzjlyqrbyuig1.png?width=2992&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9b93789d8b91491cd52ad698fc5ec616a1dfba6 Full Audio at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-business-and-development-daily-news-rundown/id1684415169?i=1000749245564 This episode of AI Unraveled is made possible by AIRIA: 🛑 Stop fearing Shadow AI. Orchestrate it. Your employees are using AI whether you approve it or not. The problem isn’t the innovation; it’s the lack of visibility. Airia is the “Control Plane” for your entire enterprise AI stack. It allows you to say “Yes” to innovation without compromising security or blowing up your API budget. Why we are partnering with them: Unified Security: Get automated threat detection and governance across all your models and agents. Real-Time Cost Control: Stop guessing your token usage. Manage budgets and quotas from a single dashboard. Model Agnostic: Whether your devs want low-code or pro-code tools, they can prototype safely in a production-like environment. 👉Secure Your Stack: Get the Airia Demo: https://airia.com/request-demo/?utm_source=AI+Unraveled+&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=Q1+2026 🚀 Welcome to AI Unraveled (February 11th, 2026): Your strategic briefing on the business, technology, and policy reshaping artificial intelligence. Today, we cover ByteDance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0, which is going viral for its cinematic quality and synced audio. We also break down the OpenClaw (MoltBot) security controversy, Apple’s confirmed entry into AI hardware, and a Harvard study that finds AI is actually increasing employee workloads. Strategic Pillars & Key Topics: 🎥 Generative AI Video Seedance 2.0: ByteDance’s new model stuns with 2K resolution, 15-second clips, and native audio. It’s surpassing rivals like Kling 3.0 and moving the frontier of AI video. Waymo World Model: Waymo uses Google’s Genie 3 to simulate rare driving scenarios (like tornadoes) to train its self-driving fleet. 🛡️ Security & Open Source The OpenClaw Paradox: The viral open-source agent (MoltBot) has racked up massive security incidents. While vendors panic, defenders say it’s exposing flaws that proprietary tools hide. Claude Desktop Exploit: A zero-click vulnerability in Claude Desktop extensions could expose over 10,000 users via a malicious calendar invite. 🍎 Hardware & Big Tech Apple’s AI Devices: Tim Cook confirms Apple is entering the AI hardware race. Rumors point to smart glasses or AI earbuds (potentially with cameras) developed with OpenAI and Jony Ive. OpenAI Hardware Delayed: The Jony Ive-designed device (codenamed “Dime”) is pushed to 2027 due to a trademark lawsuit from startup iyO. 📉 Business & Policy Harvard Workload Study: A new study finds AI tools increased employee workloads, leading to broader roles and blurred work-life boundaries. OpenAI Ads: OpenAI begins testing ads in the free/Go tiers of ChatGPT, sparking a feud with Anthropic. Digital Casinos: Meta and Google face a trial in LA over whether their apps are designed to be addictive “digital casinos” for children. 💰 Deals & Funding Alphabet’s 100-Year Bond: Google’s parent company sells a rare century bond to fund its massive AI investments. Anthropic Funding: Reports suggest Anthropic is raising a $20B+ round at a $350B valuation. Credits: This podcast is created and produced by Etienne Noumen, Senior Software Engineer and passionate Soccer dad from Canada. 🚀 Reach the Architects of the AI Revolution Want to reach 60,000+ Enterprise Architects and C-Suite leaders? Download our 2026 Media Kit and see how we simulate your product for the technical buyer: https://djamgamind.com/ai Connect with the host Etienne Noumen, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enoumen/ ⚗️ PRODUCTION NOTE: We Practice What We Preach. AI Unraveled is produced using a hybrid “Human-in-the-Loop” workflow. While all research, interviews, and strategic insights are curated by Etienne Noumen, we leverage advanced AI voice synthesis for our daily narration to ensure speed, consistency, and scale. We are building the future of automated media—one episode at a time. AI Unraveled Partner Offers https://preview.redd.it/s0k0z9kgyuig1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee28cfd2b20495a83b53bcdd65fc0bd2dcf3fe13 🛑 Stop fearing Shadow AI. Orchestrate it. Your employees are using AI whether you approve it or not. The problem isn’t the innovation; it’s the lack of visibility. Airia is the “Control Plane” for your entire enterprise AI stack. It allows you to say “Yes” to innovation without compromising security or blowing up your API budget. Why we are partnering with them: Unified Security: Get automated threat detection and governance across all your models and agents. Real-Time Cost Control: Stop guessing your token usage. Manage budgets and quotas from a single dashboard. Model Agnostic: Whether your devs want low-code or pro-code tools, they can prototype safely in a production-like environment. 👉Secure Your Stack: Get the Airia Demo ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 stuns the AI video world https://preview.redd.it/8aihrlljyuig1.png?width=1456&format=png&auto=webp&s=eff7d00de3e13dca81d36856a94026c01e9af448 Image source: RioAIGC on Douyin Chinese AI giant ByteDance is going viral across social media with Seedance 2.0, a new model in beta with upgraded cinematic shots, consistency, and synced audio that looks to surpass current top available systems. The details: The model can reportedly handle text, image, audio, and video inputs, with tests showing impressive outputs across a range of styles and use cases. The system also features native audio generation, 2K resolution, and 15s outputs, currently only available via ByteDance’s Jimeng AI video platform. ByteDance also appears to have released Seedream 5.0 image model in preview on some third-party apps — marking its answer to Nano Banana Pro. The model comes just days after the launch of rival Kuaishou’s Kling 3.0, with Chinese models seemingly moving near the frontier of the video sector. Why it matters: China’s top labs are putting out some seriously powerful new video models, and Seedance 2.0 looks next in line for the next leap. With strong examples like smooth fight scenes, animation, UGC content, and motion graphics, Seedance 2.0 may have Veo-like implications for a much broader range of creative disruption. Harvard finds AI tools expand workloads A new Harvard Business Review research found that AI tools at a U.S. tech company didn’t lighten employee workloads over 8 months, but actually grew them, with workers taking on broader tasks, logging more hours, and multitasking more. The details: The study tracked ~200 employees who adopted AI on their own, observing work habits and conducting 40+ in-depth interviews over eight months. Workers utilizing AI expanded well beyond their roles, with the tech making unfamiliar work feel doable. The study also noted AI blurring lines between work and rest, with employees firing off prompts after hours or during breaks. Engineers also reported spending more time reviewing and coaching colleagues on AI-assisted code, with “vibe-coding” help requests piling up. Why it matters: AI was supposed to free workers up, not quietly pile more on their plates — but that’s exactly what Harvard found happening. The tech’s productivity gains are real, but so is the tradeoff of broader roles, blurred boundaries, and a new work pace that is changing more quickly than many employees are likely ready for. OpenAI starts testing ads in ChatGPT OpenAI has begun testing ads inside ChatGPT for users on the free and Go tiers, with the company saying ads will be clearly marked and visually separated from the chatbot’s answers. The ads will be personalized based on conversation topics, prior chats, and previous ad interactions, though users can opt out of personalized ads and no ads will appear for users under 18. Rival Anthropic has publicly rejected ads in its Claude chatbot, calling them incompatible with a helpful assistant, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman labeled Anthropic’s messaging “clearly dishonest” and framed ads as supporting free access. Waymo taps Genie 3 to train self-driving cars https://preview.redd.it/kqiyy4ynyuig1.png?width=1456&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd5f95ca0bb6bb8027fe8bb96f2707530a02046c Image source: Waymo Waymo just introduced the Waymo World Model, a driving simulator built on DeepMind’s Genie 3 that generates hyper-realistic scenarios the company’s fleet of self-driving cars has never encountered to help it deal with extreme edge cases. The details: The model takes Genie 3’s visual knowledge and converts it into paired camera and lidar outputs, helping dream up scenarios its cars have never actually seen. Engineers can reshape scenes with text prompts, driving inputs, or layout edits (like changing weather or adding obstacles) to test “what if” responses. Waymo found a workaround for Genie 3’s short memory by running footage at 4x speed, stretching simulations long enough to cover longer driving tasks. Why it matters: Google’s Street View data gave Waymo a head start in mapping the real world for its cars, but world models can now generate the extreme edge cases that no amount of road miles can produce. Waymo’s use of Genie is a prime example of one of the top use cases for world models — simulations for robotics training data. Apple AirPods may get built-in cameras Apple is rumored to be working on new AirPods with built-in cameras, a long-standing idea now backed by multiple leakers including Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, possibly arriving this year. Speculation about the cameras centers on three possibilities: internal infrared sensors for health data like heart-rate readings, visual Apple Intelligence features, or recognizing hand gestures similar to Vision Pro. Hand gestures could replace the current mix of taps and head gestures for controlling AirPods, which the article describes as clunky and error-prone because one tap handles many functions. Meta and Google built ‘digital casinos’ Meta and Google are now facing a first-of-its-kind trial in Los Angeles, where a jury will decide whether their social media platforms were designed to be addictive and harmful to children. The plaintiff’s lawyer called Instagram and YouTube “digital casinos,” arguing features like endless swiping work like slot machine handles, while Meta’s lawyers blamed the plaintiff’s mental health struggles on home conditions. This bellwether trial represents roughly 1,200 similar lawsuits and avoids Section 230 protections by focusing on app-design flaws rather than user-generated content, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg set to testify. Alphabet selling very rare 100-year bonds to help fund AI investment Alphabet is selling a very rare 100-year bond in British pounds as part of a broader borrowing push to help fund the massive AI investments that Big Tech companies are making. The company also sold $20 billion in dollar bonds on Monday, upsized from $15 billion due to strong demand, and is lining up a Swiss franc bond sale as well. Century bonds are highly unusual in the tech sector, but a banker said issuing in the sterling market is more cost-effective than in dollars, where the interest rate is higher. Amazon plans AI content marketplace for publishers Amazon is building a new marketplace where publishers can sell their content to companies developing AI systems, with AWS acting as a middleman between media organizations and AI developers. The project moves Amazon away from individual content deals, like its reported $20 million yearly Alexa agreement, toward a standard system that lets business customers access quality content at scale. Microsoft announced a similar Publisher Content Marketplace last week, and both companies are now racing to become the main platform where journalism gets licensed for AI training and products. OpenAI delays Jony Ive AI device to 2027 OpenAI’s AI hardware device, designed by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and originally expected before the end of 2026, has been pushed back to at least the end of February 2027. The delay follows a trademark infringement lawsuit from Google-backed earpiece startup iyO, and OpenAI has now confirmed it won’t use the name “io” for any AI hardware products. The screenless, pocket-sized device is reportedly code-named “Dime” or “Sweetpea,” and OpenAI has not yet created any packaging or marketing materials for it, according to court filings. xAI co-founder departs: Just a week after SpaceX’s high profile acquisition of xAI, co-founder Tony Wu announced his departure from the Grok makers. On X (where else?), Wu alluded vaguely to his “next chapter” and noted that he’s excited about building at a time when “a small team armed with AIs can move mountains and redefine what’s possible.” Musk launched xAI in 2023 with an initial team of 11 collaborators, but their ranks have been dwindling of late. Igor Babuschkin, Kyle Kosic and Christian Szegedy previously departed, and Greg Yang announced earlier this year that he plans to step back and focus on his health. Big tech still believe LLM will lead to AGI? With all the massive spending from big tech on GPUs and data centres, the goal is to train and deploy LLMs? Haven’t we already plateaued in terms of LLM improvement? Will all these new infrastructures make any improvements? https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.23045 10K Claude Desktop Users Exposed by Zero-Click Exploit A flaw in Anthropic’s Claude Desktop Extensions allows a single malicious calendar invite to trigger zero-click system compromise, potentially exposing over 10,000 users. At its core, the issue breaks trust boundaries by allowing low-risk calendar data to drive high-privilege local actions, turning routine prompts into system-level execution. With AI extensions operating outside traditional sandboxing, this design flaw highlights how agent autonomy can quietly expand enterprise attack surfaces. Disable high-privilege AI extensions, require explicit approval for local command execution, and monitor endpoints for anomalous behavior to prevent silent AI-driven compromise. 10 AI Agent Platforms Every Business Leader Needs To Know Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-ai-agent-platforms-every-business-leader-needs-know-bernard-marr-4doye Artificial intelligence has moved fast from curiosity to capability, and nowhere is that more visible than in the rise of AI agents. These systems can plan, decide, and act on our behalf, automating real work rather than simply responding to prompts. The challenge for most organizations is no longer whether AI agents matter, but where to begin. Over the past year, an explosion of platforms has promised to help businesses build, deploy, and manage agentic systems, ranging from beginner-friendly tools to powerful enterprise frameworks. Let’s break down some of the most practical and influential platforms available today and show how they can help organizations take their first meaningful steps toward an AI-powered workforce. Google Vertex And Astra A great place to start is with the big cloud providers like Google. Its agentic ecosystem is built around the Vertex AI platform, which aims to provide a beginner-friendly environment for designing, building and deploying agents. A strength is its ability to search and process online data in real time, due to its integration with the Google web ecosystem. Astra is a prototype for a universal AI assistant that’s likely to become more ingrained in Google’s agentic toolset in the near future. Microsoft Copilot Studio Platforms offered by the cloud giants tend to focus on leveraging their existing strengths, and with Microsoft’s offering, that means deep integration with its Teams and 365 enterprise productivity ecosystems. If you’re looking to build agents for relatively generic use cases involving automating workflows that you already carry out on these widely used platforms, it might be the obvious choice. Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Amazon AWS is the world’s most popular cloud provider, and now it lets users unleash agents across its whole suite of features and services. As you’d expect, this means a strong focus on security, always a critical element of any cloud deployment. If your organization is heavily invested in the AWS ecosystem, then it’s a natural starting point for beginner-level agent deployments, thanks to the ease of configuring and managing access to AWS resources. OpenAI AgentKit OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, lets users configure, build, and manage AI agents through its custom GPTs and AgentKit platform. AgentKit provides a comprehensive framework for defining agentic workflows and managing access to third-party datasets and tools. All of this is done through a super user-friendly visual “drag and drop” interface. Another useful feature is Guardrails, a modular safety layer that safeguards against dangerous or unintended behavior. Salesforce Agentforce Salesforce is commonly used to manage business customer relationships, and its Agentforce platform is built to automate many of the processes that this involves. This could include sales, marketing and customer service workflows. However, it goes further, capable of creating and managing agents for any tasks that involve calling APIs, connecting and controlling third-party systems and processing end-to-end workflows using external data. UIPath Studio UIPath started out as a platform for automating tasks programmatically but has now evolved into an ecosystem for developing and deploying agentic tools. This might be very useful for certain use cases that require the precision of more traditional robotic methods of process automation, combined with the ability to make decisions on the fly provided by AI. A feature that sets it apart is its ability to “see” content on-screen, making it a good option for automating legacy software that might not allow API access to agents directly. HubSpot Breeze Agent HubSpot’s Breeze agents are specialized tools for automating CRM tasks like marketing, sales and customer service. As they plug directly into the HubSpot platform, their workflows will already be familiar to many small and medium-sized businesses. They can create and automate campaigns, follow up leads, triage and troubleshoot customer service issues and handle many routine customer interactions. Potentially a great option for smaller organizations looking for “quick wins”. Zapier Agents Zapier started as a tool to connect different business and productivity apps through simple automated workflows. Adding agents to the mix means users can now coordinate the activity of thousands of SaaS tools and platforms that Zapier knows how to speak to. Simply describe the workflow you want to build using the Canvas Visual Studio and start chaining your existing apps together to create agentic processes. QuickBooks AI Agents Popular accounting package QuickBooks has now integrated its own agents for common routine and time-consuming tasks such as chasing invoice payments, reconciling accounts and preparing cash-flow forecasts. As QuickBooks customers will typically already have all of their financial data in the platform, this can often be a quick and easy win for smaller to medium-sized businesses looking to implement their first AI agent workflows. Replit Agent 3 Replit is a “vibe coding” platform designed to simplify the process of creating anything from web pages to fully featured apps. Its agentic approach allows it to automate code generation, testing, debugging, refactoring and deployment, combining the functionality of a coding integrated development environment with an AI assistant. While it’s more technical than some of the more specialized tools covered here, the variety of projects it can be used for is virtually unlimited. What This Means For Business Leaders AI agents are quickly becoming a practical way to automate work, scale expertise, and unlock new levels of productivity across the organization. The platforms highlighted here show that getting started no longer requires deep technical skills, but it does require clarity on where agents can create the most value, along with a willingness to experiment, learn and iterate as this technology continues to mature. What Else Happened in AI today? Isomorphic Labs unveiled IsoDDE, a drug design engine that more than doubles AlphaFold 3 on benchmarks and can spot drug targets from a protein’s genetic code. Alibaba’s Qwen team released Qwen-Image-2.0, a new unified image generation and editing model with upgraded text rendering, realism, and speed. Anthropic safeguards research lead Mrinank Sharma resigned, writing in a farewell letter that the company “constantly faces pressures to set aside what matters most”. OpenAI is reportedly dropping the “io” branding for its upcoming AI hardware device after a trademark lawsuit from audio startup iyO. Runway raised $315M in Series E funding at a $5.3B valuation, with backing from Nvidia, Adobe, and AMD to pre-train its next generation of world simulation models. Sam Altman reportedly told employees that ChatGPT is surpassing 10% monthly growth, Codex weekly usage is up 50%, and a new updated model is coming this week. Anthropic is set to raise a new funding round of $20B+ next week, according to a new report from Bloomberg — pushing the company’s valuation to $350B. ElevenLabs launched Audiobooks, a full production suite powered by AI-generated narration for authors to streamline audiobook creation and distribution. Anthropic is eyeing at least 10GW of data center capacity in the coming years, hiring Google and Stack Infrastructure execs to lead the push into leasing its own facilities. submitted by /u/enoumen to u/enoumen [link] [comments]

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1qjv0l6/ryan_cooglers_sinners_has_made_history_as_the/ HIGHLIGHTS Oooo some are gonna be mad Reddit userbase in pop culture subreddit consists of white dudes who are super nerds about superheroes and Star Wars. Of course they will be angry about Sinners being so beloved. I'm brown... I disliked sinners. Nobody cares I care No you don’t R*pey vibes Deeply sheltered vibes Didn't ask... Unpopular opinion: Sinners was just okay. I love vampire movies but Sinners didn’t really do much at all for me. It was a poorly written movie elevated by incredible cinematography and acting. Not to be rude, but poorly written? Did yall even get the layers of allegory that are happening? The power of music in the context of black America? The soul-sucking white power that wants to steal their music and their culture? Poorly written??? It's barely above a children's book in those areas lol Harry Potter is deeper than Sinners, easily. It's so annoying how people that have clearly never engaged deeply with cinema or literature before will watch one of the most simplistic and hamfisted movies of all time and act like it's super deep just because they've literally never seen anything more complex than it in their lives. Its alright if you didn't get it bro. Maybe read some books and revisit it later in life. I guess I should add my Goodreads to the comment section as well like I did earlier with my letterboxd. Not that anyone who disagrees with me would actually look at it though. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63651680-toran Doesn't deserve it. Corny film. Not scary and political messaging was hamfisted af Lol what political messaging? Vampires (bad) are white. Heroes (good) are not white. The first person to get turned is half-white and she infiltrates the Black community to turn them evil. It was so fucking hamfisted come on. I forgot about the fact that the half black lady is the one who infiltrates them. Film has a weird "racial purity" angle to it, yet its fans accuse others of being racist for disliking it... It doesn’t have a racial purity angle. It was merely set in a time of segregation. Blacks were banned from many white establishments and the black establishment did the same thing. It’s not an angle, it’s not political and it’s not anti-white people. It’s just a historically accurate portrayal of the time. Some Redditors need to touch some grass. The film is about """vampires""" infiltrating black spaces/culture for their own nefarious ends, and the infiltrator that helps them do this is mixed raced. If the writer/director is so hapless that he couldn't see that this subtext could be inferred from his story then surely that doesn't say much for his abilities? "The film is about """vampires""" infiltrating black spaces/culture for their own nefarious ends," False. The movie is about vampires trying to attack a club and it happens to be a black club "and the infiltrator that helps them do this is mixed raced." The actor cast was mixed race. There’s no mention in the movie that the character was mixed race. "If the writer/director is so hapless that he couldn't see that this subtext could be inferred from his story then surely that doesn't say much for his abilities?" The writer wasn’t hapless. No sane person would take your viewpoint. You simply have a persecution and you’re desperate to invent a scenario where racism has been committed against white people. There was literally a lengthy dialogue in the film about her being mixed raced, did you actually pay attention while watching? Evidently not because you couldn't even pick up on the most obvious subtext, the film isn't exactly trying to hide it I don’t understand the hype with this movie its just okay to me My wife and I felt the same. We just chalked it up to being white and not the intended audience. Parts of it seemed sort of indulgent and corny. Idk. ?? Im not discounting the value of the movie, just saying I don’t seem to get it and maybe it’s because I’m not the intended audience. Is that so horrible? I'm white and I never thought that because that's a weird thing to think. You only watch films with mostly white people in? You dismiss anything that speaks out about racism as not relevant to you? Why are people so touchy, the guys just saying he doesn’t feel like the target audience, how does that mean he’s dismissing the topic of racism? Who is the target audience? I dunno I didn’t make it, but a stab in the dark would say at least an interest in the period it was set, in the evolution of blues music, and vampires. This is pretty stupid and feels like positive discrimination. The film is quite good but is, ultimately, a summer blockbuster popcorn movie that falls apart in the third act. To suggest it’s worthy of all these awards is super questionable. To even suggest this is just a summer blockbuster is mind blogging to me. Its as thematically rich as anything that came out last year and i hate to be that guy but I just dont think you got it "I just dont think you got it" It’s not like the themes were subtle. And yet “it deals with white vs black racism” is all I end up getting as a response from people lol Plenty of movies deal with racism, I don't think that's the problem people have. Django unchained is fantastic. I watched it with a few people, maybe we all didn't get it? As soon as the dancing started happening we all lost interest. We went into the movie blind after hearing it was good. Well, You just proved my point. The big central message was “This is NOT just a race thing”. So yeah, I dont think you got it, with all due respect. There’s a reason why Irish people celebrate the movie too I didn't bring up racism. I'm saying I don't think most people care whether that's a part of a film or not. Genuinely though, did I miss something with the dancing? I thought it was kind of stupid. I'm not Irish, is that the problem? Reddits out here liking movie because who they think it makes mad... rather than just because they like a movie. It's like watching an entire thread lacking so much self awareness they can't not say the quiet part out loud, lol. Its the opposite lol reddit is in this thread hating on the movie because their default mode of engagement for movies dealing with these topics is simply “ah white people suck black people suffer!” even when a movie is offering up so much more than that Sinners actually doesn’t though. Wanna know a good movie that explores black/white dynamics?? The green book. It absolutely does. Sinners is actually suggesting that cultural appropriation comes from something a lot more complex than just inherent racism. And reducing it to “black/white dynamics” is super telling that these messages were lost on the movie’s haters. Sinners is deliberately telling you to stop reducing these issues to black vs white And to be totally honest, the whole cultural appropriation thing is like half of the overall picture. There’s a whole commentary on Church vs Artistic expression that people don’t even bother acknowledging because this movie is already a “Black vs White” thing in their minds Well there's all that and there's the fact that it's anti-race mixing and anti cultural mixing. The purer your ethnic roots and culture are the better and more authentic of a person you are. Melting pot BAD! American culture and identity BAD! Defend that message ^ I think thats a totally valid perspective and question, and deserves its own nuanced discussion. My argument is that the movie is a lot more substantive than “white people bad! Black people good!” Like a lot of anti-intellectual plebs in this thread seem to think. Yeah I don't think it's "black good, white bad" but it's still a very weird message to me. I don't think Coogler is racist but I feel like his ideas are somewhat conservative in a way. Sinners is such a great litmus test of people’s media literacy. I still think OBAA will win the most and Sinners will win a few. Exactly. If people think OBAA is some smart political think piece (it isn't) and Sinners is just some marvel tier slop without engaging with any of the narrative themes of the film, it just shows they know nothing about cinema and just seek validation from their fellow Redditors. I actually think OBAA is just as great as Sinners, but I think people are misreading it. I don’t see enough discussion around its themes of generational failure, broken communication, and the sacrifice of revolution. I don’t think we need to tear both down and both have a lot to say and chew on. Both are great cinematic experiences and I got that levitating feeling from both movies in theatres. they are both doing great work with their themes. i loved Sensei, and how he & his people are doing the real revolution in the background (literally), while he still feels obligated to help Bob, sacrificing for him left & right, who seems oblivious to everything but his own plight. White privilege personified. Bob is an older generation and former revolutionary. He’s constantly falling behind, forgetting key words, and failing to communicate with his daughter. He’s trying his best at being a father, but revolution is a young person’s game. I loved how multifaceted it was, though, and how Sensei’s Underground Railroad was completely competent and rich with community, communication, and compassion. This is what it takes for revolution to be successful, not these codenames and key phrases that become inaccessible and trivial. So a movie that claims Irish people dying in the famine have been just as bad to black people as the kkk is the most nominated movie ever? No. The subversion here is that the Church was responsible for oppressing and controlling Irish people to the point where they immigrated to the US and assimilated with other minority groups leading to cultural appropriation because they’re also looking for a way to connect with each other. That is the whole reason why Remmick telling Sammy that he also knows scripture was such an interesting twist at the end. Coogler goes out of his way to paint Irish culture in such a beautiful light, it was a very intentional writing/design choice Painted in a beautiful light by making them vampires wanting to rid the black people of their culture and force them into theirs? I know coogler appreciates Irish culture I just think he really missed the mark and made the movie extremely hypocritical He didnt want to erase black culture he wanted to be a part of it and use it to connect with his ancestors. Thats why the Rocky Road to Dublin sequence was intended to be beautiful and entrancing to Michael B Jordan’s character (and the other guy who was with him idr) and also true to Irish culture while having a hint of black soul. If you’re plugged into social media, a lot of black people were jamming to the Rocky Road to Dublin scene and saying Remmick was such a charming and convincing character. Coogler fucking nailed it He didn’t want to be a part of it he wanted to steal it. He appeared as if he wanted to join the party but stole their soul and forced them to appreciate his culture (real life example of this would be elvis or recently post malone using hip hop to get famous then switching to country). I don’t know how that can be interpreted as beautiful. Great scene though very well done Thats one interpretation but again Coogler wouldn’t have gone out of his way to show the black vampires Remmick had already taken genuinely enjoying themselves and clapping and stopping along to the rocky road to dublin You can see it as “stealing” but i think “exploitive” and “assimilative” describe what he’s going for better imo Absolutely insane. The movie was fine but nothing special. I hate to say this but it truly feels like this has more to do with celebrating or putting black voices/creativity on a pedestal for the sake of them being black rather than merit on its own. you think people only like sinners because it has black people in it and behind it? No and that’s not even close to what I said. The hype and praise behind it feels like pandering to black voices and audiences. I already stated the movie was fine. I enjoyed and I’m glad I saw it in theaters but I have never ever understood the endless amounts of praise it’s gotten. But at the same time if this can be used as a vessel for getting more people interested in movies that aren’t Netflix slop then I can’t be too disappointed. how is it not close to what you said? you literally said that the praise behind it feels like its pandering to black people. the race themes are an obvious element of the film, so maybe check your privilege if you think that discussing and praising those themes = pandering. Maybe I should have emphasized that It was the overwhelming praise of this film that I find ridiculous. The film clearly deserves praise but it feels artificially elevated to a degree in order to pander to black audiences. submitted by /u/CummingInTheNile to r/SubredditDrama [link] [comments]

I can only upload one picture so I'll try my best to explain all the components: I made this Dance Pad controller to play games like Dance Dance Revolution on. However, it seems to cut out at almost "random" times and I need help trying to diagnose what's wrong with it. The controller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXjj9IXUaA4 I, more or less, made the controller that's in this Youtube video. However, instead of an Arduino I just took the board from a generic USB plug and play dance pad controller. I have one wire for ground that's daisy chained to all 4 step input, as well as the main box for menu selection. Each panel has an aluminum sheet that bridges an interesected design made w/ copper tape to act as "step presses" Now, the problem I'm having is that the controller will briefly disconnect, but with no notification that it's done so. Only in EXTREME cases will Windows actually make the "Device Disconnected" sound. Usually, the problem manifests and will resolve itself if no more inputs are made on the pad for a brief amount of time. If inputs continue to be made when the pad stops responding, then it will continue to not respond indefinitely. I have watched the controller stop responding in Windows via the "Set up USB Game Controllers" setting and watching the inputs stop after jumping on 2 panels at the same time but never actually "Disconnect". The problem most commonly happens when 2 directional inputs are made at the same time, or when there's a heavy flurry of inputs being made. For example, the game being played on this controller can sometimes request 350+ step inputs in ~2 minutes. The problem ALSO seems to be more prevelant when the humidity is low and when heavier players use the pad. However, these are just observations. When this pad works, it works wonderfully, but somedays it just seems to not want to respond. I want to try and figure out my problem and solve it. I hope this is the right place, I honestly don't know where else to turn since my controller is so DIY I have had little luck in other Dance Dance Revolution related spaces. If there's any more info I can supply, please don't hesitate to ask. submitted by /u/BigBuckBumble to r/diyelectronics [link] [comments]

I’m a chinese from a rural village in Southern China. I stumbled upon this Sub and found that lot of people here never actual been to China, less likely they have been to rural China, which still take up most part of china. so I want to share what I’ve seen and heard over the last thirty years to show you a slice of the rural China—in real life. Not very good in English, please excuse the grammar mistakes. I grew up in a small village in Southern China. a bit isolated. The population merely past 1,000. Everyone in the village have the same surname. As a kid, I thought the whole world had the same surname until like 7 or 8 years old, when a girl with a different surname move to our village, this thing reshaped my worldview, like, "there is actual other people outside our village?" Beside being isolated, the village was dirt-Poor. How poor? We had no Flush Toilet, no, no Flush Toilet, no underground pipe system. Every household had two big buckets. one for the liquid human waste, one for the solid waste, Aka fecal. when the liquid waste bucket was full, we took it out to the fields to water the crops. When the poop bucket was full, well, some with morality will carry it to a public pit. some would just dump it onto the street. one thing I learn about poverty, if you can't afford food, you can't afford morality. so, most go to the street. so as a school child, commuting to school took extreme caution, you never knew what you may step on. the worse thing is, when it rain, the alley would became a small river of fecal and piss, you had to walk like a ballet dancer to avoid them. The hygiene was bad, the education was worse. We had one class, one teacher. The teacher was short, we nickname him Mr shorttie, Mr shorttie only finished middle school, that already crown him the most educated person in the village. He taught writing, Math, and sport, basically everything. Mr shorttie had like six daughters, he beated his wife a lot because she can't gave him a son to carry his blood line. When I was in 6th grade, the government said we had to learn English. But Mr shorttie only knew the 26 letters of the alphabet. So, He only teach the alphabet. Mr shorttie had three teaching skills: the Belt whip, the Face slap, and the knee Kick. personally, I think the last one hurt the most. Our school was just a brick house with a tile roof. When it rained, it leaked. Once, a typhoon took down a tree onto the roof, tiles rained down and smashed two kids. the school had no money to hire cleaners, so they hire us intead, zero pay, of course. We spent like a week to clean up the rubble. Then, a few HongKonger donated some money and built us a new school. 3 stories concrete building, freshly painted. to show the HongKongers how grateful we were, the school arrange a show, let us kids dance and sing out our gratitude. In a rehearsal, I fell from stage, broke my left arm, and missed the performance. but anyway, I’m still grateful to them, finally a solid rooftop above our heads. Infrastructure was bad. Most roads were covered by dust and muds, when the wind blow, the dust flow. When I get older, a fresh concrete paved road was built, but seldom any car come by. I once dropped a basket of fruits in the middle of the road, after I pick up all the fruits, not one car came by. the only busy time of the road is the double sun festival, a lot of HongKongers would drive back to the village and pay respect to our ancestors. sometimes, their kids came back too. We mainland kids were mostly barefeet, HongKong kids wears white Nike shoes, white as snow, holding toys like gameboys, like creatures from another dimension. About HongKongs, a lot of them used to be mainlander, in hard times like the culture revolution (60s) or the great leap forward(50s). Some escaped to HongKong for better life. HongKong belonged to England back then. there was a well guarded border between the the mainland and HongKong. for the trespassors, the guards' attitude was "shot first, ask questions later", crossing the border was life risking. but a lot of our villagers risked it, including my great uncle, he escape to HongKong way before I was born. my father wanted to follow. he scolded my father: "you stayed! If I died at the border, you have to live to continue the family line!". He made it through the border, but things didn't work out for him in HongKong, he fell into gambling, never saved any money, never married. years later, he died alone in his coffin sized "apartment" in HongKong. when we buried him, a man showed up claiming to be his son, but when he found out there were nothing to inherit, he disappear, not leaving a "good bye". for some other villagers made it to HongKong, things work out fine, some made it big, some made it small, but still a lot richer than lives in the mainland. And when they have money, they want women. lot of them would come back to the village to seek mistress. lot of mainland young women would like to be their mistress, no shame, because when you can't afford food, you can't afford morality. those women were even proud to be their mistress, with the allowance given by the HongKongers, they can support the family. and because the wealth gap was so huge, even you were a construction worker or a truck driver in HongKong, you can easily afford a few mistress back in mainland. this had been a fashion, an advanced modern HongKong life style. Another fashion from HongKong was drugs. heroin or ketamine, we called it the "white powder". back in the 90s these "white powder" were popular in the village, lot of people tried it. you can found used needles on the street, or even in the toilet of my school. my cousin got hooked, he used to be a muscular man, but drugs ate him to the bone, we can't afford rehabilitation center, so his father built him one, a small wooden cabin in the middle of the crop field, they chained him there, fed him, changed his diapers, until he didn't wanted drugs. in the night, my cousin would scream and cursed like an animal, woke me up, my father told me that's the drug demon in him howling. And then the government decided to destroy drug business. in the middle school, a public trial was held in the play ground of the town, all the students were there. we saw a few prisoners were handcuffed and forced on the knee, there was a judge declaring their crime, "XXX, XX years old, drug seller, XX kilograms sold, according to law XX, death!!", "XXX, XX years old, human trafficker, XX boys sold, death!!" people cheers. after declaring all the crimes, the police took them in a van and sent them to execution. and then there were chalk slogan on the street walls like "Death for drug sellers and human traffickers". seem like it work, I didn't meet too much drug abuser ever since. later I finish high school, got admitted to college, the tuition fee were 5760 rmb per year, around 800 dollars. I worried about it. but the village government awarded me 10000 RMB, which cover the first year. and then later, China joined WTO, my father got better off, and I don't have to worried about the tuition fee ever since. the infrastructure in the village also improve, concrete roads everywhere, there is even a traffic light in gateway of the village. we didn't ever have road, and now we have one traffic light. not much, but thing definitely got better. Less women were willing to be mistress of HongKongers now, because they would ask for more payment. I wrote a lot. what I am trying to say is, a lot of anti-china people don't seem to really know China, they don't know what happened these years. When I was poor, I saw no freedom fighters desending from helicopters to lift us out of poverty. When we run on the street bare feeted, I saw no human rights fighters coming to give us shoes and foods. When the village were flooded by drugs, I saw no super heroes flying here to save us. And when some, I mean some HongKonger say they missed the "good old days", I know what they were talking about, it's "a taxi driver can afford 3 mistress" good old days. and what they told me? When I was a teenage, I saw some books telling me we were poor, because we deserve it, it's something in our blood, something in our bone that make us inferior. that made me hate myself as a chinese. now, seeing things got better, I became proud of being a chinese. but some people, which, lots of them are chinese, are yelling "NOOO! stop being proud, you are still inferior, keep hating yourself, keep being ashamed of your slit eyes." And I say NO, I not ashamed of who I am, you should be. submitted by /u/jinying896 to r/China [link] [comments]

Der Wunsch, sich elegant zur Musik zu bewegen und ein tiefes Körpergefühl zu entwickeln, ist universell. Doch für viele bleibt der Gedanke, Tanzen zu Lernen ein unerfüllter Traum. Oft sind es die Hemmschwellen: "Ich bin zu unkoordiniert," "Ich habe keinen Partner," oder "Ich fühle mich in einem klassischen Tanzstudio nicht wohl." Die Angst, sich in einem Spiegelraum zu blamieren oder mit komplexen Schritten überfordert zu werden, hält viele davon ab, ihre Leidenschaft zu entdecken. Wenn du dich in diesen Sorgen wiedererkennst, haben wir eine ermutigende Nachricht für dich: Es gibt einen Weg, der die Freude am Tanzen mit der Stärkung des Körpers verbindet, dir sofortige Erfolgserlebnisse verschafft und der wirklich für jeden geeignet ist. Dieser Beitrag beleuchtet, warum Pole Dance nicht nur eine Sportart, sondern der ideale Weg ist, um Tanzen zu erlernen. Wir zeigen dir, wie diese dynamische Disziplin die Barrieren abbaut und warum sie für jeden Menschen – unabhängig von Alter, Figur oder Vorkenntnissen – der perfekte Start in die Welt der Bewegung und des Ausdrucks ist. Die Hemmschwelle überwinden: Die sanfte Revolution des Tanzunterrichts Klassische Tanzstile wie Ballett oder Standardtanz haben eine lange Tradition und oft strenge Regeln. Für Anfänger kann das schnell abschreckend wirken. Die ersten Stunden verbringt man oft mit dem Lernen von komplizierten Schritten, die in freier Bewegung ausgeführt werden müssen. Das erfordert ein sofortiges, hohes Maß an Koordination und kann schnell frustrierend sein. Pole Dance löst dieses Problem auf elegante und effektive Weise. Die Stange fungiert als fester Anker und Unterstützungspunkt. Das gibt deinem Körper Halt, während du lernst, dich im Raum zu bewegen, Spins auszuführen und das Gleichgewicht zu finden. Du lernst die fundamentalen Prinzipien des Tanzens – Rhythmus, Timing und das Verstehen von Gewichtsverlagerung – auf eine Art und Weise, die sich zunächst wie eine sportliche Herausforderung anfühlt und nicht wie eine komplexe Choreografie. Der Fokus liegt auf deinem individuellen Fortschritt in einem unterstützenden, nicht-verurteilenden Umfeld. Pole Dance als ganzheitlicher Tanzlehrer Die Schönheit vom Pole liegt in seiner Doppelrolle: Es ist eine Kraftsportart und gleichzeitig eine ausdrucksstarke Tanzform. Du lernst nicht nur, Figuren auszuführen, sondern diese auch zu verbinden und in den Kontext der Musik zu setzen. Rhythmus und Musikalität: Im Poledance geht es darum, die Spins, Climbs und Übergänge im Einklang mit der Musik auszuführen. Du entwickelst ein tiefes Gefühl für Rhythmus, weil du deine Bewegungen timen musst, um die Stange optimal zu nutzen. Körpergefühl und Koordination: Die Notwendigkeit, Arme, Beine und Rumpf gleichzeitig zu koordinieren, um nicht von der Stange zu fallen, trainiert dein Körpergefühl intensiver als viele andere Sportarten. Du weißt sehr schnell, wo sich jeder Teil deines Körpers im Raum befindet. Dieses Bewusstsein ist die Grundlage für jedes erfolgreichen Tanzstil Der "Flow": Das Ziel in jedem Pole Kurs ist es, die gelernten Einzelelemente zu einem fließenden Übergang, einem sogenannten "Flow", zusammenzufügen. Das ist die Essenz des beim lernen von Tanzstilen – die Kunst, Bewegung ohne Unterbrechung miteinander zu verbinden. Diese Fähigkeiten erwirbst du, während du gleichzeitig Muskeln aufbaust und deine Ausdauer steigerst. Es ist ein integrierter Lernprozess, bei dem sich der Tanz ganz natürlich aus der Kraft entwickelt. Der perfekte Einstieg: Pole Dance ist wirklich für jeden geeignet Einer der größten Mythen über Pole Dance bzw, Polesport ist, dass man bereits extrem stark oder sehr schlank sein muss. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall: Pole Dance ist der ideale Ort, um Tanzen zu Lernen und gleichzeitig Kraft aufzubauen, weil es wirklich für jeden geeignet ist. Unabhängig vom Körperbau: Egal, ob du etwas mehr oder weniger wiegst oder wo deine Kraft derzeit liegt – in den Anfängerkursen wird die Muskulatur schrittweise aufgebaut. Die Stange trägt dein Gewicht, sodass du sicher üben kannst, während dein Körper die benötigte funktionale Kraft entwickelt. Unabhängig vom Alter: Viele Menschen entdecken Pole Dance erst mit 30, 40 oder sogar 50 Jahren. Es gibt keine Altersgrenze. Die Intensität wird stets an das individuelle Leistungsniveau angepasst, wodurch das Risiko von Überforderung und Verletzungen minimiert wird. Keine Vorkenntnisse nötig: Du musst weder tanzen noch Gymnastik gemacht haben. Anfänger starten mit einfachen Gehschritten um die Stange und grundlegenden Spins. Das Ziel der ersten Wochen ist es, Sicherheit, Griffkraft und das grundlegende Gefühl für das neue "Trainingsgerät" zu entwickeln. Von diesem stabilen Fundament aus beginnt dann das eigentliche Tanzen Lernen. Die inklusiven und motivierenden Gemeinschaften in den Pole Dance Studios sind ein weiterer unschätzbarer Vorteil. Hier wird jeder Fortschritt gefeiert, und es herrscht eine Atmosphäre, die zum Ausprobieren und Wachsen einlädt. Erst Kraft, dann Tanz: Ein Aufbau nach Plan Der strukturierte Aufbau der Kurse macht Pole Dance zu einem so effektiven Weg, um Tanzen Lernen zu beginnen. Es ist ein Prozess in klar definierten Phasen: Die Grundlagen (Safety & Strength): In den ersten Wochen liegt der Fokus auf der Sicherheit, dem richtigen Aufwärmen und den grundlegenden Grifftechniken. Du lernst einfache Walks und Spins, die deine Griffkraft und deine Schulterstabilität verbessern – die physischen Voraussetzungen für das Tanzen an der Stange. Die Verbindung (Coordination & Short Combos): Sobald die Grundlagen sicher sitzen, beginnt die zweite Phase. Du fängst an, zwei oder drei Spins miteinander zu verbinden und lernst, in die Stange hinein- und herauszugehen. Die Koordination zwischen den unteren und oberen Extremitäten wird trainiert. Der Flow (Choreography & Expression): In fortgeschrittenen Phasen geht es darum, längere Choreografien auszuführen, Musik zu interpretieren und den eigenen Ausdruck zu finden. Jetzt zeigt sich die volle Schönheit des Pole Dance, die aus der zuvor mühsam erarbeiteten Kraft und Technik entsteht. Dieser schrittweise Ansatz verhindert Überforderung und macht den Prozess des messbar und motivierend. Fazit: Nimm den ersten Schritt Wenn du schon immer Tanzen Lernen wolltest, aber dir die traditionellen Wege zu einschüchternd waren, dann ist Pole Dance die Antwort. Es ist eine Sportart, die dich dort abholt, wo du stehst, dir Kraft und Selbstvertrauen schenkt und dir die Freude an der Bewegung zurückgibt. Es gibt keine Voraussetzungen, die du erfüllen musst – nur die Bereitschaft, dich auf eine aufregende, ganzheitliche Reise einzulassen. Starte heute. Nimm den ersten Schritt. Buche deine Probestunde und entdecke, wie Pole Dance dir die Türen zur Welt des Tanzens öffnet. Folge uns gerne auf Instagram und verschaffe dir einen Einblick über die Vielfalt von Poledance, Polesport, Tanzkursen, Yoga und vieles mehr. submitted by /u/GALAXYPOLE to u/GALAXYPOLE [link] [comments]

I like going to the movies as much as possible. For the past 8 years, I've been keeping track of every movie I've seen in a theater (along with dates/scores/ticket stubs/theaters/etc). In theaters, I saw: 5 movies in 2015, 9 movies in 2016, 146 movies in 2017, 162 movies in 2018, 192 movies in 2019, 44 movies in 2020, 86 movies in 2021, and 270 movies in 2022. This is my 6th year doing this ranking on /r/movies. This year, I was able to break my personal record and see 325 different movies in theaters. I went to 7 film festivals and saw movies in 39 different theaters. 67 screenings had cast and/or filmmakers/crew present for Q&As, and there were a few dozen North American & World Premieres. I went to re-watch 6 movies and there are a handful of special re-releases included. My rankings/reviews aren't meant to be taken super seriously, it's just something I like to do for fun. I don't keep a checklist or requirement for any ranking, it's mostly just an enjoyment scale. Basically: 7-10 is a 'good to amazing' , 5-6 is 'I had issues with and would probably never watch again', and 4 or less were just different levels of bad/terrible. I am not a professional movie reviewer in any way, I just like watching movies. The genres I usually stay away from are horror, documentary, surrealism/fantasy, and animation, but I make exceptions often. That being said, here's my ranking of every movie I saw in theaters in 2023: Tori and Lokita - 10/10 - The kind of movie that makes your blood boil, with a final 10 minutes that will stick in your head for a while. Two unknown actors in their first movie ever manage to build one of the most beautiful/heartwrenching/believable relationships I've ever seen on the big screen. It's short, but extremely potent. I don't think I've ever been as emotionally-invested in a main character's struggles as I was for this movie. The Dardenne Brothers have a really unique way of connecting you to a story. Falcon Lake - 10/10 - Maybe the best Canadian debut film...ever? Amazingly-acted, beautifully-shot, painfully-relatable, and smothered in a very eerie & haunting atmosphere. It's part ghost story, and part coming-of-age. Loved the existential dread, the dance scene, and the score especially. The director, Charlotte Le Bon, is my 'best breakout' pick of the year. Oppenheimer - 9/10 I Like Movies - 9/10 - Non-stop laughs with lots of heart thrown in. A nostalgic crowd-pleaser. Romina D'Ugo's monologue scene halfway through was one of the most well-acted moments of the year. Kind of an ode to movie nerds everywhere. Barbie - 9/10 Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 - 9/10 The Top Gun Maverick of 2023. A near-perfect summer action blockbuster that's just a thrill ride from start to finish. Need one of these once in a while. Anatomy of a Fall - 9/10 Perfectly-crafted courtroom thriller. A lot funnier than I expected too, especially the back-and-forth between the lawyers. Sandra Hueller was Oscar-worthy, Snoop is a lock for Doggo of the Year award, and 50 Cent's P.I.M.P has never been better. Stop Making Sense (Re-Release) - 9/10 - I hadn't seen this before, but an IMAX re-release seemed like the perfect moment. No regrets, instantly my favorite concert film of all time. The energy and joy was contagious, and the set-changes/graphics were mesmerizing. Killers of the Flower Moon - 9/10 Blackberry - 9/10 - A smart & funny white collar crime biopic. 120 minutes flew by, learned a lot of things I didn't know about Blackberry. Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton were a perfect duo for this. I love The Big Short and this reminded of that in a lot ways. The Zone of Interest - 9/10 War Pony - 9/10 - It's mind-blowing that this was made by first-time directors, writers, actors. A slow-simmering drama set on a Native American reservation. It just felt so honest. Love movies that have 2 completely different storylines that slowly & realistically merge as the movie goes along. His Three Daughters - 9/10 - My biggest surprise at TIFF. It wasn’t really on my radar but Elizabeth Olsen’s performance blew me away, definitely a career-best for her. Cried a few times throughout, capped off with really beautiful ending sequence. It's really about accepting death and the unbreakable bonds of family, all within the confines of a small urban apartment. I feel like this'll be one of Netflix's big Oscar plays for 2024. Olsen and Carie Coon especially deserver a lot of praise. One of the best family-dramas in a while. The Holdovers - 8/10 - Got to love a perfectly-written, smart, heartwarming, Christmas-time story of 3 lonely people that learn to open up to each other. Huge bounceback from Downsizing for Alexander Payne. This'll go on the annual holiday rotation for sure. Flora and Son - 8/10 - I love John Carney's movies. They are always sweet, heartwarming, funny, and filled with legitimately catchy and great songs (Once is a favorite of mine, and Begin Again is also amazing). This was no exception. Carney was there in person for this one and at the end played the big song of the movie on guitar and had the whole audience sing along (1500+ people). Very cool moment and a cute song. Eva Hewson was infectiously-sweet and kinf of a revelation. If I had a nickel for every Apple+ movie that used Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now for their emotional climax, I'd have two nickels, which isn't many but it's weird that it happened twice. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person - 8/10 - It doesn’t revolutionize anything but I really enjoyed this funny, lowkey, vampire coming of age movie. Best way to describe it would be: A great blend of Raw, Before Sunrise, Let The Right One In, and What We Do In the Shadows, and Warm Bodies. French-Canadian cinema is on the rise and I'm fully on-board. * *Hit Man** - 8/10 - Richard Linklater in top form. A sharp, sexy, fun crime-comedy. Glen Powell and Adria Arjona play perfectly off of each other. Was really impressive by Powell's acting chops in this. Especially during the montage of him with his different personalities. I could've wathced 90 minutes of that. Shame this was picked up by Netflix and won't get a proper theatrical release in 2024. It could've been a real crowd-pleaser with a big audience. The Promised Land - 8/10 The Eight Mountains - 8/10 - Very moving/emotional story. It finds a delicate balance between deep existential dread and quite hopefulness for the future. I love a movie that makes you feel nostalgic for something you didn't experience yourself. This movie did that, non-stop, for 140 minutes. A very moving father/son relationship too. The soundtrack from Daniel Norgren was perfect (I've had it on my playlist ever since), it felt like the movie couldn't exist without the album (and vice-versa). The constant time jumps can get a bit confusing but the narration helps smoothen that out. Jawdropping backgrounds of the Italian Alps, I couldnt wrap my head around how they were able to get some of the shots they got. Looked better than a $100M+ budget movie at times. The Bikeriders - 8/10 They Cloned Tyrone - 8/10 - Jamie Foxx with the most underrated performance of the year. The Iron Claw - 8/10 - A movie that keeps kicking you while you're down, holy shit. Go in prepared for an emotional rollercoaster. Bottoms - 8/10 - Probably the most quotable movie of the year. I could see this becoming a cult classic down the road. Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri are a perfect comedic pairing. It's absurd in all of the right ways. Side note: more movies should play the blooper reels during the credits. Priscilla - 8/10 - The only movie I went to see 3 times in theaters this year, once with Cailee Spaeny in attendance. The fact that this was left off of the Best Makeup & Hairstyle Oscar shortlist is a crime against humanity and someone should be jailed. Saltburn - 8/10 Riceboy Sleeps - 8/10 Living - 8/10 All of Us Strangers - 8/10 - The last 30 minutes of this movie caused an orchestra of cry-sniffles in the audience like I've never heard before. Leave the World Behind - 8/10 Dumb Money - 8/10 Air - 8/10 20 Days In Mariupol - 8/10 - Incredibly brave filmmaking. Maybe the first time I had to physically look away from the screen during a movie. Really tough watch, but important. Best documentary of the year. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - 8/10 - My #1 animated movie of the year. Loved the animation style, humor, and soundtrack. The Beasts - 8/10 Talk to Me - 8/10 - Questionable police work aside, this was my favorite horror movie of the year (Disclaimer: I usually skip most horror movies). The Royal Hotel - 8/10 - A very tight, tense, claustrophobic thriller set in the Australian outback. It really plays against expectations and doesn't follow the road you'd expect. Kitty Green is a very promising filmmaker, I also really liked The Assistant a few years ago. American Fiction - 8/10 Poor Things - 8/10 Past Lives - 8/10 The Teacher's Lounge - 8/10 Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 - 8/10 - A nice sendoff to one of the better superhero trilogies. Lots of laughs, great songs, emotional moments. In a year full of comic book flops, this was one of the few bright spots. The Creator - 8/10 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 8/10 Dicks: The Musical - 8/10 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - 8/10 - Sequel please. I Used To Be Funny - 8/10 - A really solid drama that gives Rachel Sennott all the room in the world to shine. Her background as a comedian really made her stand-up scenes very convincing and realistic. The flashback scenes take a bit of getting used to in the beginning but once they click, they really work. Bonus points for some Phoebe Bridgers bangers on the soundtrack. Creed III - 8/10 Maestro - 8/10 - Masterfully-crafted with 2 towering lead performances. "There's a saying that goes 'never stand under a bird that's full of shit', and I've been standing under one for much too long" is one of my favorite lines of the year. Gorgeous cinematography, including one of the best individual shots of the year (Carey Mulligan standing in Lenny's shadow). How to Have Sex - 8/10 - An impressive debut film. In my head canon, this is in the same universe as Aftersun, it had a very familiar feel. A care-free summer in a Mediterranean coast setting takes a darker turn. If you loved Aftersun (like me), you'll love this. Klondike - 8/10 John Wick: Chapter 4 - 8/10 - Quick shoutout to the overhead fire-shotgun scene, that shit was badass. The John Wick series is like a shot of movie adrenaline. My major complaint was that it gets a bit exhausting/repetitive in the final third, the movie feels too long. The Covenant - 8/10 Beyond Utopia - 8/10 - It’s 2 stories of attempted defection from North Korea, with 2 completely different results. It’s really half documentary and half real-life thriller (with the stakes being literal death). Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour - 8/10 - Top notch visuals, production, sound, dance sequences, etc. Overall a really good concert movie with amazing energy. 1989 and Red especially were non-stop great songs. Loved the slow-dancing part near the beginning. 'Betty', 'All Too Well', and 'the 1' were instantly added to my playlist after the movie. There are a lot of 'how in the world did they get this shot during a live concert' moments. Cairo Conspiracy - 8/10 Ferrari - 8/10 Concrete Utopia - 8/10 - If you can get past the weird tonal shift (it starts off like a really funny satire and slowly becomes a more-serious apocalyptic drama) and clunky religious allegorical ending, this was a really good one. It was a lot more graphic than expected which I liked. Theater Camp - 8/10 Titanic (Re-Release) - 8/10 The Duel - 8/10 - Pretty crazy that this movie hasn't found a distributor. It's a really solid indie movie about 2 ex-best-friends that decide to settle their relationship dispute with a good ole' fashioned pistol duel down in Mexico. It takes really wild and surreal turns. Somewhere In Queens - 8/10 You Hurt My Feelings - 8/10 Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie - 8/10 - Maybe the most well-edited documentary since Apollo 11. Loved the way the movie/TV scenes were intertwined in such a unique way with the documentary. La Chimera - 8/10 - Loved the beautiful blend of the mystical and the whimsical. Really great ending. It’s a movie that’s really hard to describe. Part heist-caper, part existential love story, part absurdist comedy-mystery. It doesn’t belong in any one box. Carol Duarte was mesmerizing as Italia. The Origin of Evil - 8/10 Paris Memories - 8/10 The Man in the Basement - 8/10 Les Indesirables - 8/10 - It doesn't quite reach the emotional heights as his previous movie (Les Miserables), but Ladj Ly still builds a strong and engaging political/social drama. Anta Diaw was the real standout, she was amazing. Ru - 8/10 Emily - 8/10 Monster - 8/10 Showing Up - 8/10 Memory - 8/10 - The scene where the 2 daughters confront their mom about their father’s actions was one of the most heartwrenching scenes of the year. Incredibly well written and acted movie. The Worst Ones - 8/10 Napoleon - 8/10 Only In Theaters - 8/10 RRR - 8/10 - Fun choreography (for both songs and fights), and over-the-top ridiculous action scenes. The 3-hour+ runtime flew by. I don't think my eardrums will ever recover from the abuse they took during this screening though. It was almost worth permanent hearing damage, almost. The Last Rider - 8/10 Women Talking - 8/10 Evil Does Not Exist - 8/10 Perfect Days - 8/10 - It's about enjoying the little things in life, and staying positive, and I loved it for that. Therapy in movie form. The Abyss (Re-Release) - 8/10 How To Blow Up A Pipeline - 8/10 The Persian Version - 8/10 - A sweet, colorful, music-filled, funny, and heartwarming immigrant story that clearly comes from a very personal place. I liked the stylistic choices made (freeze frames, animated parts, and breaking the 4th wall), I just wish they would have been more consistent. The freeze frames and animated portions were only in the first act, then completely disappear for the rest of the movie. A Good Person - 8/10 - Amazing performance from Florence Pugh, especially during the AA meeting monologue. Morgan Freeman seemed like he cared for the first time in two decades. If it wasn't for a ridiculous third-act scene, this could've been higher. It surprisingly manages to land the ending. American Symphony - 8/10 Sidney - 8/10 Yelling Fire In An Empty Theater - 8/10 - I had very low expectations going in, not something I'd ever thought I'd like, but it really grew on me and I found it very charming and witty. It's basically a student film made by a bunch of friends in a random apartment for less than $3,000, shot on a VHS-quality mini-dv camera about a pretty generic story (a naive girl goes to the big city). Really adorable performance by Isadora Leiva. Nowhere near as technically impressive or well-made as 99% of movies on this list, but it was a nice little mumblecore-tribute gem that's hard to describe. The Good Half - 8/10 Day of the Fight - 8/10 The Settlers - 8/10 - Dark, violent, anti-colonialist, and unflinchingly-bloody Western set in South America. If you liked Hostiles, you'll like this. It also deals with the political aftermath of the atrocities committed on the lawless lands, which I thought was an interesting. Passages - 8/10 Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. - 8/10 - Rachel McAdams deserves more recognition for what she did in the movie. Sweet little 1970s coming-of-age movie. Also, I love how Ben Safdie just shows up in stuff and kills it. Between Two Worlds - 7/10 Dream Scenario - 7/10 - It actually didn’t get as wild as I’d hoped it would. Above average as far as recent Cage projects go. The Burial - 7/10 - A well-made, feel-good, David v Goliath courtroom drama that gets a bit too preachy near the end, but a really fun & hammy show-offy performance from Jamie Foxx balanced by a good and grounded Tommy Lee Jones one keep this nice and balanced. Gives very early-2000s vibes but it works. May December - 7/10 - Killer score, setting, and a top-tier performance from Natalie Portman kept this interesting, but I just found it too melodramatic and dry to be great. I was lucky enough to see this at the Savannah SCAD Film Festival, where it was filmed, and seeing local landmarks throughout the movie along with crowd reactions as they came up was fun. Todd Haynes, the director, did an intro at the beginning and asked everyone in the audience that worked on the movie to stand up for an ovation, and at least 100 cast & crewmembers were present. Really cool moment, love stuff like that. Sanctuary - 7/10 Eileen - 7/10 Polite Society - 7/10 - Shades of Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Woman of the Hour - 7/10 - Really confident true-crime thriller from Anna Kendrick. Daniel Zovatto was super menacing and believable as real-life serial killer Rodney Alcada. He was born to play a role like that, perfect fit. It gets slowed down by a lot of the genre cliches but still solid for a directorial debut. The kill scenes are particularly brutal, like Holy Spider last year. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - 7/10 - Maybe a bit heavy on the singing (especially the scene where the gets picked for the games, very awkward) and fan service, but totally understandable. If you want to revive a dormant mega-franchise, you're gonna have to crack a few nostalgia eggs and give your lead something unique to do. Rachel Zegler and Jason Schwartzman and Peter Dinklage were great, Viola Davis was a bit much. I like a good non-superhero villain origin story once in a while (The Childhood of a Leader, We Need to Talk About Kevin, etc). It Ain't Over - 7/10 Blue Jean - 7/10 A Little Prayer - 7/10 Godzilla Minus One - 7/10 The Super Mario Bros. Movie - 7/10 Expats - 7/10 - I could watch the cover of Katy Perry's 'Roar' by the maids' choir at the beginning on an infinite loop. Inside - 7/10 Asteroid City - 7/10 - Like The French Dispatch before it, I wanted to love this, but couldn't get there. It's got an amazing cast, sets, and lines, but Wes Anderson is getting to be a more 'style over substance' for me recently. Like Alex Garland. Infinity Pool - 7/10 Broker - 7/10 Full Time - 7/10 Waitress: The Musical - 7/10 - Very charming musical that's just a bit too long. Sara Bareilles is a treasure and "She Used To Be Mine" is one my favorite musical songs ever. That song alone was worth the price of admission. Also all of those delicious looking pies. Hmmmmmmm, pies. A Haunting In Venice - 7/10 - Not as good as the first movie, but better than the second. I could watch Kenneth Branagh hamming it up as Poirot for as long as he wants to keep making them. No Hard Feelings - 7/10 Strays - 7/10 - Yes, it's dumb and outdated. Yes, I still had fun and laughed a bunch. No, I am not ashamed. (ok maybe I am a little ashamed) The Blackening - 7/10 The Good Mother - 7/10 Rustin - 7/10 Carmen - 7/10 - Great dance sequences and music. Nice chemistry between the two leads (Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrero). I just wish they leaned more into the Bonnie & Clyde/lovers-on-the-run aspect and less into the fantasy/surrealism. Sisu - 7/10 Scream VI - 7/10 Hell of a Summer - 7/10 - For a non-horror fan, this was a nice throwback campground slasher. It plays it pretty safe but everyone is clearly having a lot fun. Landmark with Invisible Hand - 7/10 Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - 7/10 To Catch A Killer - 7/10 - A really harrowing mass-murder beginning sets the tone for a solid seedy crime-procedural. Shailene Woodley & Ben Mendelsohn were a good pairing. It reminded me a bit of True Detective Persian Lessons - 7/10 I Wanna Dance With Somebody - 7/10 The Starling Girl - 7/10 Return to Seoul - 7/10 Lee - 7/10 God Is A Bullet - 7/10 - Some parts were outrageously-violent/gory and that kept me interested, but it was to long and should have ended 8 times at least. I'd love to know how a movie like this gets funded, but I'm not complaining. Wicked Little Letters - 7/10 Drift - 7/10 The Other Laurens - 7/10 Wonka - 7/10 Manodrome - 7/10 Nyad - 7/10 - Other than the perfectly-intertwined documentary footage woven into the movie (which I loved), it's a pretty safe and cliche sports biopic. An excuse for Annette Benning to make faces. It was okay. The Flash - 7/10 The Animal Kingdom - 7/10 Flamin' Hot - 7/10 - You could tell it took a lot of liberties but it's such an uplifting and fun story that it can be overlooked. Joy Ride - 7/10 Strange Way of Life - 7/10 - I enjoyed the hopeful ending and the two lead performances, but did not like the bad dialogue (explaining exposition). This is a short but I watched it as a double-feature with another Almodovar short, The Human Voice (see: much lower down this list) Blue Beetle - 7/10 Knock at the Cabin - 7/10 Robot Dreams - 7/10 Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - 7/10 - Good music, not so good camerawork. I want to see the show, not audience-face-closeups. The Punishment - 7/10 - Bunker - 7/10 - When You Finish Saving the World - 7/10 Fool's Paradise - 7/10 - A warmly endearing performance from Charlie Day mixed with an amazing score from Jon Brion and a few hilarious cameo roles (Glenn Howerton, Jason Bateman), brought down a bit by a lot of wacky plot turns, awful pacing, and some terrible cameos (Common, John Malkovich). Overall, I liked it. A Thousand and One - 7/10 Paint - 7/10 What's Love Got To Do With It? - 7/10 - I love Lily James. Sue me. Simon - 7/10 Hard Miles - 7/10 Along Came Love - 7/10 Smoking Tigers - 7/10 Juniper - 7/10 No Bears - 7/10 - Bittersweet movie for me because it was the last movie I watched at one of my favorite independent theaters before they shut down permanently. Missing - 7/10 Two Tickets to Greece - 7/10 - The ultimate Wine Mom Movie. Path of the Panther - 7/10 All the Beauty and the Bloodshed - 7/10 - There's 2 stories here, and they're both interesting and worth telling, but I can't help to feel as if they would've been more effective as 2 different documentaries. Turn Every Page - 7/10 Earth Mama - 7/10 Anyone But You - 6/10 - Powell and Sweeney had great chemistry. There's some clunky dialogue and awkward pauses, but overall it was a fine rom-com. I went in expecting Hot Rich People Go On Vacation: The Movie, and that's exactly what I got. Also, if going forward every movie could end with a full-cast kareoke montage of Natasha Beddingfield's Unwritten, that'd be awesome thanks. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - 6/10 - I saw this at a Regal 4DX. It was 2 hours of the seat shaking violently, water being sprayed in my face, blinding flashing lights in the corner of my eyes, and my feet being whipped by some broom-like contraption. 2/10 would not recommend. The movie itself was okay. Not as good as Bumblebee, not as bad as Michael Bayformers. Next Goal Wins - 6/10 The New Boy - 6/10 Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny - 6/10 Gran Turismo - 6/10 - It's filled to the brim with product placement, has a really cheesy first 30 minutes, Orlando Bloom is hilariously bad, and it's got every gamer/racing movie cliche, but all that being said it was better than I expected. Bit of a surprising, kinda seat-clenching scene at the halfway point and a thrilling last 20 minutes keep it afloat. Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose - 6/10 Plane - 6/10 The Little Mermaid - 6/10 Chevalier - 6/10 Dreamin' Wild - 6/10 - It was actually a pretty solid family/music drama with great performances and good songs until the very last scene. It takes a wild swing there and just completely misses. Susie Searches - 6/10 Fallen Leaves - 6/10 Elemental - 6/10 65 - 6/10 Finestkind - 6/10 Chile '76 - 6/10 Cocaine Bear - 6/10 - It was very clunky and not as funny as it should have been. Some very dry/awkward editing made it feel very disjointed. Okay score for the brutal death scenes and a few funny moments. M3GAN - 6/10 Daddio - 6/10 Gonzo Girl - 6/10 - Solid first half, and Willem Dafoe/Camilla Morrone are great throughout, but the second half is too repetitive. We get it, Hunter S Thompson did a lot of drugs. I’m not a fan of Ray Nicholson in general, but I thought he was distractingly-bad in this. Willem Dafoe surprised the audience and showed up for this so that was really cool. Thanksgiving - 6/10 Mob Land - 6/10 Drugstore June - 6/10 American Graffiti (Re-Release) - 6/10 - I saw this for the first time because it had a 50th anniversary re-release and I can't help but to think it has aged really badly. There's a few good scenes, but I can't really understand how this is widely considered a 70s classic. The Wrath of Becky - 6/10 The Lesson - 6/10 The Marsh King's Daughter - 6/10 - You ever watch a movie and think 'this was definitely a book before'? This was that movie. Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendehlson made it kinda-watchable. The Critic - 6/10 Kandahar - 6/10 - It's a Gerard Butler action pic. You know what you're gonna get. Surprisingly good special effects in this one, a few chuckles, 20 minutes too long, confusing plot. Boy Kills World - 6/10 No More Bets - 6/10 Haute Couture - 6/10 Valeria Is Getting Married - 6/10 Jules - 6/10 Silent Night - 6/10 - It had a few solid actions scenes (like the hand-to-hand combat sequence with the Mob Accountant Guy), but it was a very poorly balanced movie. I can't tell if it was purposefully or accidentally funny at times. We did get the world's first-ever drive-by knifing though, props to that. Jawan - 6/10 Golda - 6/10 The Boy and the Heron - 6/10 - Gorgeous visuals and an amazing score brought down by a confusing, boring, and grating story. At the 2/3 point, I just wanted it to end. Nonsense whimsical shit just kept happening for the sake of having nonsense whimsical shit going on. Biosphere - 6/10 Renfield - 6/10 L'Immensita - 6/10 - The Boys in the Boat - 6/10 - It's fine if you're in the mood for a safe, predictable, slightly-uplifting sports biopic with an underdog story. There's like 438 minutes of rowing montage though, could've done with a bit less of that. My Happy Ending - 6/10 They Called Him Mostly Harmless - 6/10 NAGA - 6/10 Shortcomings - 6/10 - Incredibly unlikeable main character with no arch made it hard to connect to this movie. Our Son - 6/10 Relax, I'm From The Future - 6/10 Panda - 6/10 - This is one of 3 short films on the list. Since I saw it in a theater, with an audience, at a festival, with director/actress Q&A, I am including it, but it was only 12 minutes. Story Ave - 6/10 The Baker - 6/10 Spinning Gold - 6/10 Monica - 6/10 Stay Awake - 6/10 Everybody Wants To Be Loved - 6/10 Tove - 6/10 Migration - 6/10 - Miranda's Victim - 6/10 Of An Age - 6/10 Charcoal - 6/10 Egghead and Twinkie - 6/10 - A cute little coming-of-age, road-trip, coming-out movie. The acting was pretty rough (it was mostly new actors from a local university I think) and the dialogue had some bad patches, but the fun animated moments made up for most that. Crazy what they were able to do with a $80,000 budget. Radical - 6/10 Beau Is Afraid - 5/10 - First hour: Really digged it. Next 8 hours: ???????what the fuck???????? Master Gardener - 5/10 - A whole lot of buildup for almost no payoff. Feels like Paul Schrader remade his own First Reformed but worse in evert way. Magic Mike's Last Dance - 5/10 - A series of diminishing returns. End it please. The Machine - 5/10 Haunted Mansion - 5/10 - The only actual laugh was the Owen Wilson “this exorcism is going above your heads” bit to the ghosts. Otherwise, totally forgettable and useless remake. The Last Voyage of the Demeter - 5/10 The Equalizer 3 - 5/10 - [see Magic Mike review] Sympathy for the Devil - 5/10 The Marvels - 5/10 Pathaan - 5/10 Sound of Freedom - 5/10 Wildcat - 5/10 - Maya Hawke really commits to the role but Ethan Hawke's direction is very sloppy and all over the place in this one. The whole cast and Ethan Hawke were there for Q&A though, so that made it a fun experience anyway. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - 5/10 Trolls Band Together - 5/10 Marlowe - 5/10 At the Gates - 5/10 - The premise itself was really hard to buy and that made the rest of the movie really hard to commit to. About My Father - 5/10 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken - 5/10 Wish - 5/10 - It was just so bland. Fitting In - 5/10 - I’m getting a bit bored with the “this person has a rare disease and things suck” genre. Ant-Man 3: Quantumania - 5/10 - CGI vomit with no heart. The whole franchise needs a hard re-evaluation and re-set. Last Summer - 5/10 - Catherine Breillat is known for being extremely provocative with her movies, but this ended up being pretty tame by her standards. Had higher hopes going in. If you’re into French talky-sex-dramas with an almost-incest twist, I guess this is for you. Games People Play - 5/10 Plan 75 - 5/10 - Slow, confusing, slightly irritating. Looked great though, and I appreciated the story idea. Like a Japanese Greek Weird Wave movie. Shttl - 5/10 - I felt like an outsider watching this movie. I didn't understand 95% of what the characters were talking about, but the one-shot "gimmick" kept me involved. KILL - 5/10 - Some good/brutal/bloody kill scenes, but overall an extremely repetitive, overlong, and derivative movie. It’s already been made 20 other times, usually in better ways. Watch Snowpiercer or Bullet Train instead. Thank You For Coming - 5/10 A Perfect Day for Caribou - 5/10 Big George Foreman - 5/10 Rimini - 5/10 The Mission - 5/10 - A boring documentary about a religious fanatic doing something wildly stupid. Gringa - 5/10 Space Oddity - 5/10 House Party - 5/10 - I appreciate how this just randomly turned into Eyes Wide Shut two-thirds of the way through. Love Again - 5/10 - This got savaged by critics but I found it so bat-shit insane/convoluted that it almost became a bit endearing, kind of like that crazy ass rom-com a couple years ago starring Emilia Clarke (Last Christmas). Sunnyland - 5/10 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck - 5/10 Where Life Begins - 5/10 Jesus Revolution - 5/10 Artist Unknown - 5/10 Divinity - 4/10 - I am confusion. A Man Called Otto - 4/10 - Sure, it gets a few tears at the end, but it feels very emotionally-manipulative. A really sweet & funny turn from Mariana Treviño though, she alone keeps this somewhat watchable. I'd recommend sticking with the original. Champions - 4/10 North Star - 4/10 - Like a modern day Downton Abbey (but with less warmth and charm). Carried by decent performances all around (Scarlett doing a British accent was…interesting) but the melodrama got too intense. The problems/drama are an contrived and overblown. Fast X - 4/10 Meg 2: The Trench - 4/10 Five Nights at Freddy's - 4/10 Origin - 4/10 - A sloppy/bloated/tearjerky documentary masquerading as a narrative feature The Retirement Plan - 4/10 She Came from the Woods - 4/10 Farewell, Mr. Haffman - 4/10 Cherry - 4/10 - Annoyingly-written main character that you just can't help but cheer against. The Kill Room - 4/10 - Dollar store version of Velvet Buzzsaw. Maya Hawke and Samuel L. Jackson keep this semi-interesting but aren't in it enough. I was dozing off by the end. Mafia Mamma - 4/10 Freedom's Path - 4/10 She Came To Me - 4/10 - Too many storylines, too many coincidences. 80 for Brady - 4/10 - Sally Field is a goddamn national treasure. A glorified, product-placement-filled, NFL ad that was slightly better than I expected it would be (still not good. I repeat: still bad) Hypnotic - 4/10 Freelance - 4/10 - This is a niche reference but this felt like an Andy Sidaris film from the 1990s except it just took out the gratuitous nudity. The Senior - 4/10 Moving On - 4/10 Mending the Line - 4/10 - Total borefest. I don't remember a movie ever using musical cues as a crutch as much as this one. It got really obnoxious. Every 4 minutes, a sappy, overly-emotional Lifetime-like song. I guess you need that when the script and acting are so dry. The Amazing Maurice - 4/10 Hilma - 4/10 The Magic Hours - 4/10 Slava Ukraini - 4/10 - I really didn't like how the director tried inserting himself into everything. It was very self-aggrandizing and took away from the stories that were important. Black Ice - 4/10 Hidden Blade - 4/10 - I was completely confused from start to finish. Too many flashback and fast forwards. It was hard to keep track of what side everyone was on, and what their motivivations were. Maybe I Do - 4/10 Alice, Darling - 4/10 Roise & Frank - 4/10 Book Club: The Next Chapter - 4/10 The End of Sex - 4/10 Candy Cane Lane - 3/10 Alta California - 3/10 Retribution - 3/10 - As an action movie, it's total garbage. As an unintentionally-funny movie, it's got a few hilarious moments. You People - 3/10 - Totally mean-spirited and unfunny. Transitions that felt straight out of a mid-2000s Degrassi episode. A waste of Eddy Murphy and Jonah Hill. Nobody had any chemistry and all of the jokes felt forced. Expand4bles - 3/10 The Human Voice - 3/10 - Torture in short film form. I know this is blasphemy, but I'm not high on Tilda Swinton in general. This did not help. Shelter in Solitude - 3/10 The Miracle Club - 3/10 The Old Way - 3/10 Rally Road Racers - 3/10 - I really have to stop going to see generic animated movies. I immediately forgot about this movie before leaving the parking lot. Sweetwater - 3/10 - Just another uninspired/bland sports-biopic. The whole thing also felt a bit...off. Weird religious/propaganda-like undertones. I don't know, gave me the creeps a little. The Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 - 3/10 - The People's Joker - 3/10 - Basically an overlong, edgy Youtube sketch from 2012 Wonderwell - 3/10 Shazam 2 - 3/10 The Son - 3/10 - I don't know what was worse, the writing or Zen McGrath's performance as the titular "Son". Either way, it was hard to watch. Overacted, showboaty garbage. Only thing keeping it from rock bottom is Hugh Jackman doing his best to balance it out. A huge drop-off from The Father. Will-o'-the-Wisp - 3/10 Padre Pio - 3/10 - Two completely different movies confusingly combined into one unintelligible one. Abel Ferrara and Shia LaBeouf sounds like a really interesting pairing on paper, but I have no idea what either of them were trying to do here. iMordecai - 3/10 All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt - 2/10 - Excruciatingly boring. I've had naps more interesting. The neon-green exit sign to the right of the screen might've been more captivating. Absolutely nothing happens for ~85 minutes of the 97-minute runtime. A good portion of the audience walked out before it was at the halfway point, most of the year by far. If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if Terrence Malick made a boring experimental coming of age story set in the deep south and forgot dialogue existed, I’ve got great news for you. Getting this score because at least it looked pretty good, if only we didn’t spend half the time zoomed into hands. Big W for the hand fetish community. In Fidelity - 1/10 - Chris Parnell honestly contending for an all-time worst performance in this. Unfunny and awkward all-around. Every character is extremely annoying. Poorly written dialogue. I'll give it a pass for the glaring sound issues (worst sound mixing ever, but apparently that wasn't finished yet), but the rest I can't look over. Maybe the worst rom-com I've ever seen. Aggro Dr1ft - 1/10 - A full-on assault to my eyeballs and ears and brain. A disgusting and repulsive blend of AI imagery, infrared cinematography, and repetitive dialogue. Even a midnight screening experience with a rowdy crowd and Harmony Korine himself in attendance couldn’t save this disaster. People will try to convince you this is a future cult classic masterpiece or something. Do not listen. It's Neal Breen by the way of Gaspar Noe by the way of pain & suffering. Watch at your own risk. Only reason it’s not a 0 is because of a few unintentional laughs. Probably more effective if you're under the influence of drugs, or possessed by the devil. Stats: Multiple Viewings: Priscilla x3 Barbie x2 Flora and Son x2 Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 x2 Past Lives x2 Maestro x2 Theater Distribution: AMC - 114 Regal - 44 Silverspot - 27 Cinemark - 12 IPic - 2 Other - 126 (Includes: Scotiabank Toronto, TIFF Lightbox, Royal Alexandra, Roy Thomson Hall, Trustees Theater, Lucas Theater, SCAD Museum, Savor Cinema, Classic Gateway, VIP DB, Living Room Theater, O'Cinema South Beach, Cinema Paradiso, Miami Theater Center, Princess of Wales, Enzian Theater, and others) Film Festivals Attended: Toronto International Film Festival - 35 Movies in 8 Days Savannah SCAD Film Festival - 28 Movies in 8 Days Miami Film Festival - 20 Movies in 8 Days Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival - 14 Movies in 9 Days Florida Film Festival - 7 Movies in 2 Days GEMS Miami Film Festival - 6 Movies in 2 Days Miami Jewish Film Festival - 4 Movies in 2 Days Theater Visits by Month: https://i.imgur.com/ylxaxB1.png Theater Visits by Day of the Week: https://i.imgur.com/1TxNTau.jpg Cast/Crew/Filmmaker Q&As/Appearances: Part 1 Part 2 Favorite Performances: https://i.imgur.com/g4i0qoD.png Past Rankings: 2018 (162 Movies) 2019 (192 Movies) 2020 (44 Movies) 2021 (86 Movies) 2022 (270 Movies) submitted by /u/BunyipPouch to r/movies [link] [comments]

[next] Lord High Pratulpet looked around the command deck of the ship, her arms crossed and squeezing her forearms with her three fingered hands. Her excitement was infectious and she could see that her crew was feeling the same exhilaration as she was. The ship still looked alien, despite the three month long trip aboard it. The seats had been modified to fit hier people, since they were originally designed for beings roughly two meters tall, with wide bodies, long legs and arms, and heavy weight. Still, the crew each held their assigned positions, sometimes two or three crewmen per station to take over the duties that just one of the original crew members had been able to perform. But the ship was theirs now, the species that created it dead and gone. The Department of Exploration and Scientific Discovery had discovered the ship nearly a decade before. A drifting hulk, coasting between the stars. Security charges had done their work and the weapons, drives, molycircs, and more had all been destroyed. But the hull remained. The Department of Exploration and Scientific Discovery had come up with a plan. Leave the battle damage. Restore the engines, make it space-worthy again. Then load up a Scientific Discovery Team inside a ship hidden inside the ship. Hide two ships full of Way of the Means military troops within the massive bays. Use the hulk to penetrate the heavily guarded systems at the edge of Dra.falten space. The systems were older systems, Forerunner systems, part of the Fallen Confederacy. It galled the Dra.falten people to admit it, but the Forerunners, as diminished and fading as they were, were still more powerful than the Dra.falten Empire. Worse, there were hundreds, thousands of stellar systems that the Fallen Confederacy had listed as interdicted, forbidden everyone else from exploring them or gathering the resources still remaining in the system. Any ships that intruded upon the system, that ignored any warnings, were blasted out of space by horrifically powerful weapons that defied understanding by Dra.falten science. But Pratulpet knew that this plan would not fail. Use a Terror hulk to camouflage the three ships. Move in-system to the nearest formerly inhabited planet, and gather relics and scientific data. "Leaving Induction Space," the Captain called out. Pratulpet nodded sagely, watching the viewscreen as the colors of the Induction Plane suddenly cleared away as the Terror hulk dropped from the alternate reality and back into what laymen referred to as 'realspace.' "Shields coming up. Switching power from induction engines to sublight engines," was called out. Pratulpet just smiled. "Incoming transmission," the communication officer called out, her ears flattening against her skull in response to her stress. She listened for a moment. "Automated. No lexicon exchange. It's demanding proof of life." "We're being targeted. Multiple signals, unable to determine all origin points," the Defense Officer said, her muscles tightening across her shoulders. "Transmit proof of life signals," the Captain ordered. Pratulpet squeezed her forearms tightly, her three fingers sinking deeply into her fur and the cloth of her uniform. "Signal accepted," the Communications Officer said. "Targeting lost. We're clear," the Defense Officer stated. The Captain looked at Pratulpet, his eyes wide. "We're in," he said, his voice breathless. "Of course we are," Pratulpet said. "The Department of Exploration and Scientific Discovery does not fail the Dra.falten Empire or the Dra.falten people," she lowered her chin slightly, making the male Captain duck down slightly. "The Department of Scientific Inquiry formulated this plan, there was no other outcome than success." "Set course for the third planet. The Terror Forerunners seemed to prefer the third or fourth planets," Patulpet stated. She stood there, hearing that it was going to take nearly forty hours for the ship to reach the planet. Three sleep periods. Part of her wanted to stay on the bridge the whole time, watch as the small blue dot eventually swelled to be an entire world. "NEW CONTACT!" the defensive officer called out. "MULTIPLE SOURCES! TWO, SIX, ELEVEN, TWENTY! MANY MANY SOURCES! ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND KILOMETERS!" "Who are they?" Pratuplet asked, grinding her teeth as anxiety spiked. The ships appeared on the viewscreen next to her and she felt her stomach sink. Fallen Confederacy vessels. Dozens of them. The computer, and the defensive officer, began to identify them. Multiple battle wagons, two parasite craft vessels, attack ships. "They're already deploying offensive and defensive pods," the defensive officer stated. "Incoming signal," the communication's officer said. "Use the overlay," Patulpet said. She stepped forward slightly. "I have studied ancient recordings and will attempt to appear as a Terror." The screen rippled and Patulpet managed to keep her face blank as the low resolution video manifested on the viewscreen. It was a massive insect. Easily two meters tall, a triangular head, two arms with manipulative digits, two arms that terminated in sharp blades, lower body with four legs. It was a dull tan with splotches of light green. It wore a sash that glimmered with hidden icons, a black and white uniform that covered its body. And a brimmed hat that had a softly glowing edge that ran through the visible light spectrum in a slow circle around the hat. The insect lit a white tube and exhaled smoke. "We are..." Patulpet started. "Not the TCSFV Fat Freddy Fastbender," the insect said. "That ship was lost during the Terran/Atrekna War with all hands." Patulpet stopped in mid-syllable. "You also aren't Terran," the insect said. It shook its head and exhaled smoke again. "I know Terrans, and you aren't Terran." Patulpet opened her mouth to speak. "That ship has a Mark IV Warsteel hull. You could have sold it to the Telkan for trillions of credits," the insect said. Patulpet felt her lip curl in a sneer at the mention of the isolationist and unfriendly Telkan, a Forerunner species known for their warlike ways and belligerence toward the Dra.falten Empire. "Definitely not Terran," the insect said. Patulpet made a motion for the overlay to be removed. "There you are," the insect said. "A Dra.falten, one of the new species out to make a name for themselves." "Yes. I am of the Dra.falten Empire," Patulpet stated coldly. "We are a peaceful scientific mission to a known Forerunner system." The big insect slowly nodded. "And the fact that your government has been informed repeatedly that this system has been placed under interdiction?" "Who are you to tell the Dra.falten Empire where they can and cannot go?" Patulpet snarled, her self-control snapping. "A fading and dwindling species whose strength is spent demanding that the mighty Dra.falten Empire kowtow to your demands." The insect was silent a moment and Patulpet felt a rush of satisfaction. Then the insect spoke. "You new children are the most ungrateful, disrespectful, arrogant species we Treana'ad have ever had the displeasure of encountering," the insect said. "We stop the Mar-gite cold, we even put down the resurgence after you idiots enabled them to spread to a thousand worlds, and we even go toe to toe with rogue autonomous war machines your own people built, and then you come in here waving your dicks around and demanding we give you what you want." Patulpet opened her mouth to reply but the insect, the Treana'ad, kept speaking. "In case you haven't notice, Senior Science Agent Patulpet, I have a full task force of Confederacy warships," the insect said. Patulpet felt her blood run cold as the Treana'ad identified her. "The weapons on that ship are mockups, its shielding is particle and debris screens only," the huge insect continued. "Where mine, well, mine are all cleared for action." "We're being targeted," the defensive officer said, their voice choked with fear. "Their combat pods have come online, they've gone to full shields." The Treana'ad stared for a long moment, then exhaled a cloud of smoke. Patulpet noticed that smoke was rising from behind it too, two little pillars of smoke on either side of the large insect. "We could blow you out of space with disposable wet-printed gun-pods," the insect said. It suddenly made a motion that the screen informed everyone was 'expresses pleasure/happiness'. "But today's your lucky day!" Patulpet frowned as the viewscreen suddenly had bright colorful sparkles shower across it with balloons and sparklers. At the bottom a bunch of cartoon Treana'ad all danced and waved pompoms. "You're a scientific discovery mission, from the highly militarized and pseudo-military Office of Scientific whatever the fuck you called it," the Treana'ad said. "So that means we'll be nice enough to escort you to the third planet and allow you to access the surface of both moons and even the planet itself for your scientific mission, which is obviously not a veneer over the fact you're here hoping to loot weapon and warfare technology and technical information." Patulpet scowled as she busked her back teeth. "We'll shadow you, make sure you don't try anything else," the Treana'ad said. The celebratory graphics vanished as the Treana'ad leaned forward. "You try to fuck me, and I'll blow your ship up, drag it back to where you came from, and use it to perform a kinetic kill on your shitty little empire's capital." The signal cut out before Patulpet could reply. She stood there, busking her teeth, the grinding soothing her nerves. After a moment she looked at the Captain. "Take us in." ----- The planet had two moons, the smaller one in a closer orbit, the larger one on the outer orbit moving faster than the smaller one. The planet turned at a fairly brisk pace, completing one revolution every 23.5 hours. The axial tilt was extreme, nearly 16.5%, with the orbit elliptical. It was only 8.5 light minutes from the stellar mass, meaning it was constantly bombarded by high levels of radiation. As the ship slid into orbit between the small moon and the planet itself, the Captain ordered scanning probes launched at the moons and the planet. Everyone aboard the ship ignored that six Fallen Confederacy vessels that kept appearing and disappearing on the scanners. Patulpet had slept poorly, having dreamed of being chased by a red-eyed creature through dark halls and dark rooms, her clawed feet slipping on the tiles, bumping off of unseen furniture, always moving slowly no matter how fast she ran. Now she stood in the Display Center, looking over what the probes had mapped and scanned. She took in the tilt, the thickness of the various atmospheric layers, the distance from the stellar mass. Patulpet knew that the world would suffer extreme weather variation, possibly even violent weather events. The amount and variation of flora and fauna was staggering. Even more surprising was just how many predator species the probes had found. But that wasn't what bothered her. She stared at the maps, moving through them. "Are you sure this is correct?" she asked the Chief Scanner Director. The male nodded, wringing his hands. "Yes, Senior Agent," he said, ducking his head. Patulpet had to resist having the four females of the Way of the Means Military Guard beat the truth out of the male. She stared at the map some more, as if she could will what she wanted to manifest. "Where are the cities? The manufacturing centers? The habitation complexes?" she asked. "Any structures that the probes were able to find were heavily overgrown by flora," the cringing male said, his voice trembling and servile. "Vehicles? Space ships? Any life forms higher than animals?" Patulpet asked. "No, Senior Agent," the male said. Patulpet busked her back teeth, reaching out to grab the bar and squeeze it. She flicked her ears in irritation as she stared at the map. The scanners and probes had found almost nothing. A world completely empty of higher life forms. No cities, no towns, no industrial complexes. There were a few buildings, but they were skeletal structures covered by foliage, standing alone in the middle of low hills covered in vegetation. "We found four complexes on the two moons. Three on the larger, one on the smaller," the cringing male said softly. "No orbital facilities?" Patulpet asked. The male signified a negative. "Any energy sources?" she asked. "Slight energy readings from the four lunar complexes. Other than that, nothing," the male said. "However, we have always had difficulty detecting Terror power sources, especially the kind they use in beacons, satellites, and warning buoys." Patulpet snarled, squeezing the railing hard enough her hands hurt. "Why are they protecting these regions so fiercely? What is here that they feel such a need to keep everyone else away from them?" Patulpet asked, staring at the maps. She looked up at the Ways of the Means Military Guard shift leader. "Gather four teams. There will be two Senior Scientists that you will be guarding," she snapped. The officer nodded curtly. "Weapons and armor, use an armored shuttle for each team," Patulpet stated. She looked back at the maps of the two orbital bodies. The facilities were largely covered in dust, almost invisible. But all four had obvious entry-points that were visible with a simple scan. "Take Means of the End Engineer Specialists with you," she said. She reached out and tapped the largest of the three complexes on the larger body. "This one has power," she smiled, a slow ugly thing. "It is time for the Terrors to relinquish their Forerunner secrets to the Dra.falten Empire. Once we have those, we will end this long protracted war and move onto what is truly important." She looked up, still expressing pleasure. "The time of the Forerunners, the Precursors, and the Fallen Confederacy is at an end." [next] submitted by /u/Ralts_Bloodthorne to r/HFY [link] [comments]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 Two to three nucleus sites always seemed to emerge in ice dance where every skater tended to gravitate. In the past, it had been with Dubova, Tarasova, Linichuk in Delaware, even Morozov or Zhulin to some extent. And within the previous 10 years, since Punsalan/Swallow earned a 7th place finish in 1998, Michigan had become another nucleus that Americans and Canadians seemed to be pulled toward as if they were magnets, drawn to the elite coaches who settled underneath the Great Lakes. The results from Belbin/Agosto prompted many skaters to abandon their previous coach for the promise of the Zueva/Shpilband partnership, including a young Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir who had worked with Zueva for their 2003-2004 junior programs before moving to Canton, Michigan full time. Their immediate junior results, rising from 11th to 2nd in just one season, prompted Meryl Davis/Charlie White to go down the street to work with different coaches. So it was in the post-Olympics offseason that three of the top four North American ice dance teams found themselves practicing within feet of each other. Which could only result in good things obviously. Tracking the gossip and buzz of the time through message boards is a fun experiment all things considered. And the buzz for a bunch of young ice dancers coming up the ranks could be traced back to 2004, when many of them entered the junior ranks. The post-Olympic season would be the first time that many of the ice dancers who grew up on step sequences and twizzles would be held to the standards of the veterans of the sport. How would a crop of such young skaters measure up with far less experience internationally but more comfort in the system? The retirement of many of those who finished in the top 10 at the Olympics, including the gold and bronze medalists themselves, left a lot of open space for rising skaters to fill as early as the next season. Some people were still skeptical about how quickly young skaters could rise up the ranks with the new system, wondering if things like performance quality could be artificially lowered to accommodate the older skaters. Audiences were anxious to see how their new junior favorites would fit into the picture of the senior ranks. Winning an Olympic medal? You’re lucky if it happens at all. So when it does, you take every opportunity you can get. That’s where Olympic silver medalists Belbin/Agosto found themselves in the 2006 offseason, taking every touring opportunity they could get to capitalize on their medal. But according to them, the landscape had shifted underneath their feet while they were away from Canton, coming home to the realization that Virtue/Moir and Davis/White had improved while they were away. Panicked, and with little time to fully prepare a free dance, Belbin/Agosto went into the season as one of 3 favorites for the medals at Worlds, alongside Denkova/Staviski and Dubreuil/Lauzon, who had decided to stick it out for one more season. Belbin/Agosto debuted a new free dance during the Grand Prix season set to the overture of “That’s Entertainment.” It was universally panned by audiences and judges alike, leaving them on the backheel in the fight for the World title. The program, overall, was fairly bland and didn’t do much to promote them. Plus that random hug in the middle is probably one of the corniest things I’ve seen in an ice dance program. They ultimately had to stick out the free dance until the end of the Grand Prix, when they choreographed a new routine before competing at Four Continents and Worlds. However, when Dubreuil/Lauzon beat Belbin/Agosto at 4CC, it became clear that Belbin/Agosto would not be competing for gold that year. Denkova/Staviski skated to “Lacrimosa,” with voiceover (including a…crying baby?) playing to the theme of the seven deadly sins. Which is kinda ironic given Staviski was later arrested for vehicular manslaughter…but I digress. The free dance was in the style of the many dramatic free dances of 2002 and earlier with a technical superiority that blew their competitors out of the water and gave them a well-deserved second World title. Dubreuil/Lauzon had led after the compulsory dance but Lauzon had a twizzle error in the original dance that left them playing catch up in the free. Of course, when asked about the twizzle error, Dubreuil smartly answered, “I don’t know [about his twizzles] but mine were good.” Dubreuil/Lauzon skated to “At Last,” which felt at times like they were trying too hard to recapture the magic of their 2006 free. It was enjoyable and the pair had so much charm and charisma that it actually sorta worked but Dubreuil/Lauzon were still not the strongest element skaters, which left them on the backfoot in the title race. But if nothing else shone, their lifts were absolutely magnificent in this program, providing an ease that could truly only be achieved with such a large height difference. Both teams retired from competitive skating soon after their medals were put around their neck. Belbin/Agosto competed in a close race for the bronze with Delobel/Schoenfelder. While skating their original dance, Belbin ran into the boards (it amuses me to no end that it was on the music) but ultimately still had the second highest OD score. Belbin/Agosto switched out their free dance for one that was set to the score of “Amelie,” which ultimately became my favorite program of theirs. Whimsical and lyrical, the free dance featured some of Zueva’s more inventive choreography. But the race for the bronze was tight and Belbin’s mistake on the twizzle cost quite a bit in technical score. Rumor has it that Belbin walked off the ice and started packing up, thinking that there was no way they’d win a medal. Meanwhile, Delobel/Schoenfelder skated to a “Bonnie and Clyde” free dance that featured more modern choreography. The program was meant to tell the story of a heist, complete with hand gestures to create guns and money bags. The judges rewarded them with a third-place finish in the free dance but it wasn’t enough to make up ground on Belbin/Agosto; Delobel/Schoenfelder were left at fourth place yet again, this time by 0.24 points. Lurking underneath the top four were familiar names relevant to the 2010 Olympics. Domnina/Shabalin earned fifth place after starting the competition in third after the compulsories. Meanwhile, Virtue/Moir rose from ninth in the compulsories to sixth overall after an entrancing free dance set to “Valse Triste.” Some on message boards were calling for Virtue/Moir to be on the podium right then and there…probably premature but I appreciate the enthusiasm. Davis/White also rose from tenth to seventh overall with a dynamic free dance that showcased their overwhelming speed. On the British Eurosport feed, a commentator made the prophetic assessment that, by 2010, Virtue/Moir and Davis/White could be first and second. One thing to mention here is that the 2006-2007 season was the first in the IJS to feature any program that had earned all level 4 elements in ice dance. Davis/White made history that year when they got straight level 4s in the FD at NHK Trophy. Although, they would end up in 4th at that competition, a new standard in technical elements had been set. Virtue/Moir would later be the first to earn all level 4s in the OD at Four Continents that year and the first to ever get all level 4s across both programs at Worlds that year (yes this did take an exhaustive amount of searching, please take pity on me), making them 2 of only a few couples (including Belbin/Agosto, Dubreuil/Lauzon, and Delobel/Schoenfelder) to ever get all level 4s in a single program (Virtue/Moir were the only ones competing to have ever gotten all level 4s in both programs). Not only were the young Canadian and American couples showing promise in their first senior seasons, they were delivering, and scaring the rest of their competitors in the process. After the offseason, Domnina/Shabalin came out with a force. The couple soon became favorites for the World title with their free dance to “Masquerade Waltz” truly highlighting the very best of them. Their heights and long lines filled the rink and were highlighted even further while in waltz holds. The free dance was well choreographed as well, highlighting key musical moments, albeit in over-the-top obvious ways. Their weakness, however, was lack of speed in step sequences; surprising given their technical skill otherwise. The duo ran away with the Grand Prix Final competition but very quickly withdrew from Worlds that season due to Shabalin needing knee surgery. The withdrawal opened up a very real pathway to Belbin/Agosto becoming the first American team to win a World title that year, as they had been a clear second to Domnina/Shabalin up to that point. The Worlds in Goteberg that year felt like the year that Belbin/Agosto would finally take the World title, after having withdrawn from Four Continents just a month prior. Whether it was nerves or just not meant to be, within a minute of the compulsory dance starting Belbin faceplanted during one of the sequences, effectively removing the pair from contention for even a medal. The World title was destined to be won by a team that had never previously medaled. Delobel/Schoenfelder, who were seen as the third place team for much of the year, took the opportunity laid at their feet, skating to a free dance with music from “The Piano” that highlighted their dedication to performance. The beginning of the free dance featured sign language to truly encapsulate the feel of the movie. Although Delobel/Schoenfelder felt, at times, like they were from a previous era of ice dance given the way that they skated the elements, especially in the twizzles and midline step sequence, their overall performance across the 3 dances put them comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. Their technical ability was also on full display, though the circular step featured more side-by-side choreography than was normal for the time. I once wrote a piece on IJS ice dance and neglected to mention Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski, and I feel bad about it most days. While Khokhlova/Novitski were so far from great technical skaters, what with skating with their hips so far apart you could probably walk in between them, and featured costumes that were reminiscent of Lobacheva/Averbukh as if to spite me, the one thing that this Russian pair brought to the table were their crazy inventive lifts. Them coming in third at this Worlds, and even placing ahead of Virtue/Moir in the OD, is honestly a bit of a crime but their free dance of this year featured so many interesting ideas for lifts, spiral sequences, and acrobatic choreography. While I would never say that this team was a technical marvel, they were incredibly fun to watch for these reasons. Their lifts, alongside Dubreuil/Lauzon’s, were among the reasons why Zueva called in Cirque Du Soleil performers for her own skaters. Virtue/Moir had a breakout season in 2007-2008, winning their first Grand Prix event, beating Delobel/Schoenfelder in the free dance at NHK Trophy, going to their first Grand Prix Final, winning nationals and winning Four Continents. They were riding on a high going into the Worlds with all confidence in the world that they could medal with or without Domnina/Shabalin there. And, in retrospect, watching their programs again makes it feel like it’s quite possible that Virtue/Moir deserved to place higher than second place. In any event though, it was their free dance to “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” that demanded that judges take them seriously. Virtue/Moir were of a generation that grew up on step sequences and twizzles and it showed, as the team was able to fly through step sequences with speed and ease while still executing the difficult turns in closed hold, something that even the other top teams were still struggling with. And while their lifts weren’t as acrobatic in 2008 as they would be later, the ease in which they were able to enter and exit their lifts stunned judges, audiences, and commentators alike. By the end of the free dance at Worlds, talk of Virtue/Moir being gold medal contenders in Vancouver started to heat up (and even more wild, comparisons to Torvill/Dean started to fly). Belbin/Agosto skated for bronze but were too far behind after the original dance to make up ground in their Chopin free. The free was meant to show a more mature side to the team after they had mostly been known for more light-hearted programs. But it proved hard to shake the old image and even harder to gain back momentum after face-planting so early in the competition. The Americans left disappointed, having given up momentum to the French and Canadian teams. Just for an idea of the vibes of this crop of skaters, figure skating forum users claimed that Italian ice dancer Federica Faiella disliked Khokhlova; Cathy Reed and Maxim Zavozin were more than a little friendly at the post-competition party; Belbin/Agosto gave cursory appearances before retreating to their rooms; and a certain ice dance silver medalist entered the party more than a little tipsy. A healthy mix of the older dancers with more history and the younger crop just starting to make their way. I want to take a brief moment here to emphasize something that kinda gets lost in recounting this era, and even the previous era to some extent. And that is how freaking often rules for each dance changed. And I’m not talking about the advances in technical difficulty brought on by multiple skaters. No, I’m talking about how often elements, number of elements, and how elements were combined changed year to year for, probably, 6 straight years of the IJS. We’re talking…constant. To the point where, if you were to take a second to look through the protocols from 2003 GPF to…2011 Worlds maybe, you’d find that the element order, construction, and inclusion are vastly different each time. The original OD under the IJS is frankly near unreadable in terms of what was expected simply because lifts had no specific designation in terms of type. Spins were included in the OD up until 2009-2010 when they were removed for the last year. Twizzles were non-existent in the OD for the first two years before being slapped onto the end of the non-touch midline in 2006, only to then become a separately judged element in 2007 called the non-touch twizzles, only to then be separated *again* in 2009 to become synchronized twizzles outside of the non-touch midline. The 5 original elements in 03-04 were expanded to 6 in 2007 only to get cut down to 5 again (albeit different from the original 5) by 2009 and 4 by 2010. And these changes were just to the OD! Countless lift requirements and element requirements changed in the free dance in that same time period, including expanding the twizzle section to include 2 twizzle sequences in the FD before reducing it to 1 by 2007. There were 12 elements scored on the 2003 GPF protocol sheet for the FD…and only 7 for the 2010 FD. All of this to say, trying to grasp the IJS was not a choreographer issue because they couldn’t understand a static thing, it was a choreographer issue because everything constantly shifted under everyone’s feet, year after year. Skaters not only were looking at 6s and 7s in PCS and 20s in technical score and not understanding what that meant, they were also consistently trying to play catch-up on the ISU’s ever-evolving idea of what ice dance should be in the IJS. Tanith Belbin remarked in an interview that, even though she and Agosto wanted to help define the system, dealing with the constant changes in rules put them on the backheel in that area. And in that sense, the fact that this era comes with so many adjustments and changes is probably the reason why so many years came with a power shift and a switch in the feel of the programs, including even the length of the program itself. With the landscape of ice dance constantly shifting, the 2008 offseason was one of incredible import. And therefore saw more action than the rest of the cycle. Belbin/Agosto, frustrated with their finish at Worlds and feeling like they had plateaued, sought out a new direction with Linichuk, who had relocated to Pennsylvania by this time. The move would put them in the same rink as Russians Domnina/Shabalin, who would move to Linichuk that June. Linichuk would go on to criticize Domnina/Shabalin’s former coach for forcing them to compete at 2008 Europeans; Alexei Gorshkov would say that RusFed forced them to compete. Rumors swirled that Virtue/Moir weren’t practicing as much and soon the news came out that they would be withdrawing from Skate Canada due to a surgery Virtue was recovering from. More rumors swirled that other women were looking to lure Moir away from his partner, playing to the idea that Virtue may not be back to her previous self and could cost them the Olympic gold. Moir refused to hear any of it and instead practiced with hockey sticks and sandbags to avoid skating with any potential suitors in disguise. An article published around the time of the Olympics revealed that Moir was the butt of some jokes on his training but Davis admitted it was inspiring to see him train and that she and White attempted to support him. In retrospect, Virtue admitted to being bullied in the rink around this time, to the point where she turned to Belbin for advice on how to handle it, to which Belbin responded that Virtue didn’t have to be friends with everyone at the rink and didn’t have to be liked by everyone, that these were just people she knew at “work” and didn’t have to define her. This seemed to help, and the only skaters Virtue/Moir appeared to be friends with from their rink were Davis/White, at least at this point (please enjoy this cringey “Hey look we’re friends!” fluff and the photos online of the two couples spending at least one Halloween and New Year’s together). The return of Domnina/Shabalin influenced the competition in the pre-Olympic year. Prior to that though, it wass Delobel/Schoenfelder who rode the high of winning Worlds the prior year. Their free dance to “Great Gig in the Sky” was the first of Dubreuil’s forays into choreography and the style of the dance perfectly displays that. Delobel/Schoenfelder are perhaps not the skaters to best present Dubreuil’s choreography given their mastery of the elements isn’t where it needed to be to make the choreography look as contemporary as it’s trying to be. That said, many elements of Dubreuil’s style can be seen here, especially in the step sequences that feature more side by side holds. Unfortunately, Delobel/Schoenfelder’s season ended after they won the Grand Prix Final with an injury to Delobel. So just as one Great Gig exited the scene, Virtue/Moir marked their return to competitive skating with their own Great Gig at nationals. Both skating couples had chosen their music in the offseason but the coincidence of them never competing at the same competition that season is truly remarkable. In Virtue/Moir’s absence, Davis/White had had a breakout season, earning a bronze medal at Grand Prix Final behind Delobel/Schoenfelder and Domnina/Shabalin. Davis/White had finally gotten better material that year and their free dance to “Samson and Delilah” was a crowd favorite due to its dynamic lifts and surging emotional music. When the Canton teams finally faced off at Four Continents, it was Davis/White who took the title after trailing Virtue/Moir in the compulsory and original dances. The win previewed what would be a close match-up, not only between the Canton teams but also between the Linichuk teams above them. Domnina/Shabalin’s return to the competitive ice came with all that you would expect of Russian politicking. The couple was simply not the same as they were prior to Shabalin’s surgery, with his knee appearing stiff at times and not allowing for deeper edges. They also struggled with lifts, as Shabalin wasn’t as strong as he used to be and risked his knee giving out. That said, the couple were strong technical skaters in compulsories and had solid edges in their step sequences, even if they were quite slow as a product of their generation. Their winning free dance was a classic Linichuk affair, featuring costumes with random fabric hanging off of them as they skated to a dramatic piece of music that allowed for obvious musical timing. They became the first couple to win a World Junior title and World title with the same partner. While the competition was somewhat close, no one on message boards of the time were particularly surprised by the winner, feeling that the Russians were being set up for the gold despite the stronger couples below them, notably Virtue/Moir and Davis/White. Belbin/Agosto skated to silver on home ice, arguably performing one of their strongest technical skates of their career to the music of “Tosca.” Obvious disgruntlement was heard from the American crowd after they were put in second but a lack of speed, a seeming staple of Linichuk, prevented them from a better finish. It would appear that Belbin/Agosto had reclaimed just a modicum of the momentum they had lost the year prior. Virtue/Moir skated a free dance that incorporated modern dance to “Great Gig in the Sky.” Virtue/Moir were barely clinging onto their third place position after an original dance chock full of minor errors when they entered the rink in simple black costumes, a big departure from their Nationals and Four Continents looks. The program was innovative in its usage of modern dance while also incorporating much harder lifts than had been the norm for this team while still maintaining their quality in the other elements (except spins, oh my god their spins were so bad). And while Virtue/Moir themselves felt that they never reached their potential with the free dance, skaters in the next generation often pointed to this free dance as one of their favorites due to the couple’s willingness to go outside of their own box. Davis/White skated after Virtue/Moir to their breakthrough free dance to the music of “Samson and Delilah,” which played to their dynamic speed across the ice and their ability to portray more dramatic relationships. The lifts in this free were the highlight, especially the opening lift that varied in height and position. The free also seemed to play more into letting the both of them shine, rather than the more popular method of ice dance at the time that relied on highlighting the woman of the team. The home crowd immediately stood on their feet at the conclusion of the free dance only for the score to pop up and confirm that Davis/White had missed out on the podium by a mere 0.04 points, which was met by the loudest boos of the night. (On a side note...I'm still very conflicted over who should've nabbed the bronze here.) Davis/White admitted that missing the podium fueled them in their quest for an Olympic medal the next year. It's worth noting here that the overall youth movement that was happening in this cycle was in full swing, with Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat earning a fifth place finish, a young Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte finishing in tenth, 2008 World Junior champions Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates finishing in eleventh, and the young couple of Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier finishing in twelfth. The new crop of skaters was primed and ready to take over for the older skaters as soon as they were called upon. And yet still, none had quite as much success as Virtue/Moir and Davis/White had gotten in such a short time. Many were pleasantly surprised at how the Canadian and American couples had become legitimate contenders for the Olympic gold. In the lead up to the Olympics though, many fans of the sport were still suspicious. Many still believed that Domina/Shabalin would be propped up by the Russian judges, even if they thought Virtue/Moir and Davis/White would have better cases. The media was equally conflicted, with various promotions of the event giving differing viewpoints on who would be the ones to beat. NBC ran a promotion that stated that Vancouver was Belbin/Agosto’s road to gold, with their biggest competitors being Domnina/Shabalin and Davis/White while Virtue/Moir were relegated to “medal contenders.” Canadian media was similarly confused as they ran a promotion closer to the Olympics that had Davis/White as the ones to beat, Domnina/Shabalin and Delobel/Schoenfelder as important competitors and Belbin/Agosto not even getting a mention. Also NBC ran this commercial that exclusively focused on American skaters except for a random Virtue/Moir clip and I feel it needs to be shared. The offseason also brought off-ice drama, per usual. Rumors started swirling around Canadian media that Virtue may have been the cause of the incoming divorce of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The rumors got so bad that ET Canada even covered it (I’m decidedly not lying, a mention of the rumor came up in promotion for Virtue/Moir’s book in 2010). Also that offseason, Belbin and White began a relationship; both admitted they had no idea what they could talk about when it came to their work LOL. Also apparently Tanith told Meryl at…Brooke Castile’s house? What a random place to do that. Delobel/Schoenfelder also announced that they would attempt to return for the Olympics, mere months after Delobel was set to give birth. Nothing if not determined. The Grand Prix series was utterly chaotic, with Domnina/Shabalin again opting out of their assignments to focus on Shabalin’s health before the Olympics and Belbin/Agosto coming up with a tooth emergency to get out of facing either North American team before the all-important Olympics. The real surprise came when Davis/White beat Virtue/Moir at the Grand Prix Final, though they split the original and free dances. The competition was officially up in the air come time to compete in Vancouver. Secretly hiding under the surface was Virtue’s chronic leg injury rearing its ugly head just in time for the biggest competition of their lives. Virtue spent most of her days in Vancouver on a physio table by her own admission, leaving her and Moir to question whether they could actually pull a win out. The competition of course began with compulsories but had immediate questioning of the scores by the skaters themselves. The NBC feed caught Meryl Davis rolling her eyes and shaking her head once she heard that the Russians had earned a 43.7 in the compulsory, later saying (privately) that she thought Virtue/Moir should have been placed first. But was not to be, as the top five skaters went into the original dance a point apart from each other each. *Sigh* So like here’s the thing. I think Domnina/Shabalin’s aboriginal dance…we all know it. It’s bad. It’s so bad. It’s so offensive I feel like I don’t need to belabor the point. The fact that they brought First Nation blankets into the Kiss and Cry to try to make it look better? Even worse. If you want a good write up, check out u/HopeofAkira’s bomb post for HobbyDrama that just about covers it all. What I’ll leave it as: according to Belbin/Agosto, they had no idea how bad the program would be since the couple couldn’t skate more than fragments of their programs at a time. They joked that they thought Linichuk was doing them a favor. Somehow, this original dance still managed third. In more respectful program, Davis/White performed a Bollywood dance for their original dance, which was a hit with the judges. In fact, the Olympics were the first time that the dance had lost anywhere. That said, Davis/White brought an ease to various elements of the dance, their speed allowing more pronounced lobes in their midline step and the twizzles of course being a tremendous standout due to the rate of revolution that they could get. And that’s not even taking into account the lifts. Virtue/Moir similarly looked the part of Olympic gold medalists while skating a flamenco, the music building up to a crescendo that brought the entire audience with them. The clean skate was highlighted by the closing midline step sequence timed to the music. Their technical skills were slightly superior to that of Davis/White at the time, making the original dance look cleaner and more advanced in a short amount of time. Compared with the other competitors and even the top competitors from four years prior, the North American couples simply looked like they were on a whole other planet in terms of the ease in which they were able to incorporate the elements into a seamless whole while still maintaining difficulty. But before I wax poetic about the top free dances of the night, I feel it’s even more important to give you the context of what they were going up against. Please watch the free dances from Domnina/Shabalin, Belbin/Agosto, Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali, and Delobel/Schoenfelder, who finished third through sixth that night. Domnina/Shabalin came under particular fire when Shabalin used the straps on Domnina’s costume to help lift her; the ISU introduced new rules to ban the practice for the future. I think even the most amateur of eyes can notice the base differences between these teams and the top two. Even Delobel/Schoenfelder, who had choreography from the woman who would later dominate in ice dance choreography (Dubreuil) look out of date and slow as well as featuring easier holds in step sequences. Linichuk’s choreography especially looked like it came out of a time long past, with both of the costumes for Domnina/Shabalin and Belbin/Agosto feeling like costumes straight out of 2002. In comparison, Virtue/Moir and Davis/White opted for far simpler costumes, letting their skating speak for itself. When compared with the others in the top six, it was soon clear who the skaters were who transcended the system rather than checking the boxes within it. No where was this better emphasized than in both of their free dances that year. Davis/White performed to “Phantom of the Opera” and attempted to capture the same magic as their free dance from the year prior. Even if the dance didn’t quite match that same magic, the speed in which the team raced around the ice as they performed all of the difficult elements within the flow of the music was just so superior to the skaters below them. Davis/White knew that their strength was in the dynamic and overly athletic side of ice dance and played into it to get results, pushing the sport forward through their willingness to test their boundaries on various lifts and their all-out approach to attacking a program. But it was Virtue/Moir’s free dance that left the biggest impression on ice dance for years to come. While Virtue/Moir and Zueva had dabbled in the past with incorporating new ice dance elements into a fluid whole, the Valse Triste and Umbrellas free dances had ultimately come up a little short, still not quite matching up to the music in the way that was possible and ultimately lacking some comfort in the elements and the emotional maturity. It was their 2010 free dance to Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 that finally managed to do what their past free dances couldn’t quite get a hold of. Virtue/Moir floated across the ice, appearing near weightless as their choreography subtly picked up on musical cues left and right, some that it took even me 3 or 4 watches to finally see. The lifts were both extremely difficult and perfectly fitted into the feel of the program itself. The step sequences were all technically superior, fast, and perfectly timed to the music in the same way that the transitions seemed to be just perfectly timed to the moment they were performed. It was ethereal, it was everything the IJS was supposed to be. It was proof that something akin to Bolero could exist within the structure of the new judging system. It’s arguably the most influential free dance of the post-IJS era. And it rightfully gave Virtue/Moir the Olympic gold medal. Davis/White were a full 8 points ahead of Domnina/Shabalin when all was said and done, a veritable blowout by ice dance standards of the time. The gold for Virtue/Moir marked the first time a North American had ever earned the Olympic gold in ice dance, the inclusion of Davis/White on the podium made it the first time two North Americans had ever been on the Olympic podium, Virtue/Moir became the youngest skaters to win an Olympic gold in ice dance and they became the first World Junior Champions to win an Olympic gold with the same partner. Davis was found backstage crying from happiness for both herself and White and Virtue/Moir. Both pairs received huge hugs from Samuelson/Bates before the medal ceremony. Virtue/Moir practically bounced off the figurative walls as they went to congratulate Davis/White during the medal ceremony. The glass ceiling had officially been broken for North American pairs. And as Virtue/Moir belted out “O Canada” in the Pacific Coliseum, it became clear that no North American would ever be locked out of a gold medal based solely on the flag next to their name. submitted by /u/jules99b to r/FigureSkating [link] [comments]

What is para para? Para para (and its associated dance styles, techpara and trapara) is a style of dancing in clubs made popular in Japan around the late 90s and early 2000s. Para para specifically is danced to eurobeat, while techpara is associated with hyper techno and trapara is associated with trance. All of them have certain elements in common, in the sense that they’re danced in place, involve standardized moves with hand waving, and very frequently consist of stepping back and forth in time with the music. The most popular example of para para is Niko’s Night of Fire. Most para para routines look something like the linked video. What’s interesting about para para is that there isn’t just one routine, or a few routines; there are thousands of routines to possibly learn, with more being choreographed all the time. The enthusiasts who have still stuck around after the initial boom in the early 2000s (referred to as “paralists”) do tend to know hundreds of routines, and the idea is to learn them from videos and club lessons (usually known as “koushuukai”) and dance them with other people at club events or in video compilations. Yes, this is like a group of people learning Crank That Soulja Boy in 2007, and deciding that there was a need for an entire genre of dances just like that, with shared moves and vocabulary across all of these songs. As you can imagine, the number of people willing to put in this kind of work and dedication is fairly limited, and so there isn’t much infrastructure for sharing lessons or having real-life meetups. While there are dedicated dance groups around the world, they almost all have fewer than 10 members. Since most of the routines with any clout are still choreographed in Japan, this means the only real way for anyone to learn lessons is through online videos. This leads us to today’s drama. Where are people learning these routines? When para para was popular in the late 90s and early 2000s in Japan, it was everywhere. One of the most popular male idols (and star of the Yakuza Judgement series) Takuya “Bucky” Kimura showed it on SMAPxSMAP, it was being danced at Tokyo Disneyland, and it was the focus of major events at notable venues like Velfarre. Labels like Avex were making video compilations (on VHS, of course) that showed the most popular dancers dancing the most popular routines, and they were filmed in a way that made it easy to follow along at home to learn the routine yourself. For anything that wasn’t Night of Fire or Mickey Mouse March, this was how most people would learn routines before showing up to the club. This wasn’t perfect, but there wasn’t exactly the video infrastructure we have today with sites like YouTube, so it was the best anyone had to work with. At least, it was the best for anyone living in Japan. For everyone else in the world with a passing interest, we got nothing. Anyone familiar with anime fansubbing at the time knew how hard it was to get anything good imported from Japan. At best, you would learn these routines from someone who either saw one of these rare VHS tapes, or if you were extremely lucky, that person would actually have a copy of the VHS tape. Even to this day, official releases for international audiences barely exist; we got ParaPara MAX US Mix in 2005, and that was about it. One might think this problem would resolve itself as sites like YouTube became more popular; after all, almost all of the sources in this writeup so far are on YouTube itself, so surely this was a minor road bump on the way to making all of the routines more accessible, right? Gotta learn them all Just because there is a place to make videos available, doesn’t mean that there are people who want to make these videos available. Sure, the most popular series like Para Para Paradise ended up on sites like YouTube, but videos from more obscure clubs often never showed up. For people who wanted to know if their favorite eurobeat song had a routine, they still probably couldn’t find it unless they happened to know someone with a copy of an extremely limited release. This isn’t a problem just limited to the early days; sneakernet distribution is still the most common way to find more uncommon releases, even in 2022. The only way things could get better if there was some central database that held all of these video releases, and all of the songs that appeared in such releases. If only such a thing existed… Such a thing existed One intrepid paralist took it upon himself to build this database of every commercial and club release of para routines, and broke it down by song and artist. If videos were available online, they would be attached. Now, users had a pretty good idea if a song they liked had a routine, or at least if it had a routine that wasn't filmed in someone's backyard. If there wasn’t a video online, the person who made this database probably had a copy, or knew someone who did. This was about as good as it could get without getting into an entire private torrent tracker, which likely couldn’t be sustained with the para scene as small as it is. This database is paraparalovers.com, and it was made by John Bohne, who is a central figure in this entire story. When I say John was dedicated, I mean it. He wanted every para release, including some videos that weren’t actually meant to be public. Remember, sometimes a club event is just supposed to be for the people at the club, and the videos were only meant to be a keepsake for the people who attended. John got those as well, and in the process got himself banned from pretty much every club in Japan. This guy was seriously doing the equivalent of collecting wedding photo DVDs from weddings he wasn’t invited to. In addition, a lot of his information was outright stolen without citing sources, leading to the best Japanese database, parapara2.info, IP blocking everyone outside of Japan, with the following quote as to why: John Bohne @john61590 の ParaparaLovers は、曲リストを無断転載しています。Paraparaopensource (YOUTUBE) は、動画を売買し無断アップロードしているようです。当サイトとは一切関係ありません。 ※参考にした、等の記載があれば特に文句も言わないのにあのNEEKはどういうつもりでしょうね・・・RESPECT YOUR TEXTBOOK. Translated by me: John Bohne @john61590’s ParaparaLovers has reprinted the song list on this website without permission. [The affiliated YouTube channel] Paraparaopensource appears to be buying and selling videos and uploading them without permission. It has nothing to do with this site. *If there is a reference on your site saying this site was cited, then why are you calling me a NEEK[sic] when I ask about it? RESPECT YOUR TEXTBOOK. (TL note: The original writer probably meant “NEET”, which refers to “Not in education, employment or training”.) Having a bad reputation with video holders isn’t entirely unexpected when you’re running a site like this, and while I think we probably could have done without a few of the releases catalogued here, ultimately he was doing what no one else thought was worth the effort, and this site was providing a legitimate service. Aside from the poor IRL reputation, things were going great until… The disappearance of paraparaopensource Remember how most of this database was predicated on having online videos attached so that you could actually learn the routine you just found? Most of the more obscure routines were hosted on an associated YouTube channel, paraparaopensource, also run by John Bohne. As you can probably guess, it didn’t take too long before the channel got entirely shut down by copyright claims, and therefore almost all of the videos went with it. At this point the only real option was sneakernet once again, but you could at least ask John for a copy right? Money Go, Money Go John actually did honor these requests for copies for a while, but eventually it became too much to handle. So in January 2021, he came up with the brilliant solution of charging $5.00 to handle any request for a copy. Mind you, he doesn’t have permission to reproduce any of this, and he decided to charge money for copies. Needless to say, the para community at large was not thrilled by this development. Not only did we no longer have videos for a lot of the more obscure compilations, but now we have to pay for pirated VHS and DVD rips? Pretty much everyone decried this development, and something new would have to step up to the plate to replace this database, preferably with a new approach that would still allow people to learn routines. The one wiki to rule them all A new community site called paraparawiki.com was being worked on in the background in 2018, well before any of this drama. It was made by primarily by two people /u/SuperEuroJimmy (known for Eurobeat Prime, an already well developed database) and DM Ashura (yes, the Dance Dance Revolution/Pump It Up artist). It didn’t really do much at the time, but it was developed with the idea that a large database like ParaparaLovers really shouldn’t be the responsibility of only one person to update. However, it never really had the critical mass of attention needed to get a decent number of articles with useful information. If only there was some major dramatic event that would prompt the community to change over to this new wiki… Sure enough, the decision to start charging money for pirated copies finally gave this wiki the boost it needed to get a decent number of videos and articles up and running, and now it was easier to find new and related songs thanks to the inherent features of a wiki format. The owners of the wiki were also able to mend some broken relationships caused by John Bohne, and eventually got parapara2.info to reopen to people outside of Japan. So what about all of the videos? Unfortunately, having a nice wiki with a good reputation doesn’t solve the issue of hosting videos with copyrighted music and videos. However, a few things happened in the meantime that means it’s not in as much immediate danger. For one, the para community had been more accepting of fans refilming routines as educational resources since the early 2010s. Given that the community mostly consists of hardcore enthusiasts, most of them are good enough that there’s no reason to doubt that they are performing the routine correctly. Additionally, at this point, even mid-tier phones record much better video than anything that was available during the original para para boom. The only reason they weren’t super popular was because they were hard to organize and find, and weren’t catalogued in databases dedicated to official releases. Paraparawiki has the ability to fix this issue, but it’s up to community participation to make this work since refilms are more obscure and have no promotion of their own. Since all of these video recordings are now original, and routines themselves can’t be copyrighted, all that’s left is the songs behind the routines. Most of the eurobeat labels involved are just happy to have anyone care, and at worst will take ad revenue. For the vast majority of songs, refilms mean videos have a good chance of staying up for a long time. Finally, at least for more recent routines, after para para faded in popularity, official clubs that had once been the focus of these commercial releases like Starfire and Super Euro Night started releasing koushuukai to their own YouTube channels, meaning fans could now keep up with the latest releases without having to hope for a less legitimate release later. The future of para para Para para still isn’t all that popular, and there’s still a real danger that some routines will just be lost to time, even though we live in an era where everyone has a decent quality camera. The knowledge of trapara in the west is quite literally being carried by one person, and the others are only kept alive as long as people are willing to put in the work to archive what happened. Still, there are some bright spots. Para para saw a bit of a resurgence during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it all consists of routines that could be easily learned at home. The same labels who had spent all of their time taking down fan reuploads of those older commercial para para releases started uploading clips officially themselves, and so a decent number of those popular routines that we had so much trouble getting in the early 2000s are now easily available to everyone. Fan compilations with refilms of all of these routines and more also became popular during the pandemic, with the international fan compilation series Stay Home & Dance reaching 17 volumes over the last year and a half. Ultimately, the responsibility for keeping these routines alive has spread out and become the task of everyone involved, whether it be eurobeat labels, fans, or the para events themselves, and the scene is probably a lot healthier for it. All because no one wanted to pay $5. submitted by /u/kevinturnermovie to r/HobbyDrama [link] [comments]

In this series I'll be covering most of WoW's biggest controversies, dramas and scandals, as well as plenty of smaller, weird little tales. Any one of these is worthy of its own write-up, but I assume no one wants to see 50+ different World of Warcraft related posts. By the time I finished writing up all the weird shit from WoW's first release, I had double the character count of a single post. And WoW has nine expansions and several spin offs, not to mention drama at its parent company, Activision-Blizzard. So I have decided to split this post up into parts. As for the entries in this post, I’ve tried to put them in chronological order, but there are some dramas that stretched out over many years – and in those cases, I placed them where they started. Part 2 - Burning Crusade Part 3 - Wrath of the Lich King Part 4 - Cataclysm Part 5 - Mists of Pandaria Part 6 - Warlords of Draenor Part 7 - Classic and Legion Part 8 - Battle for Azeroth Part 9 - Ruined Franchises Part 10 - The Fall of Blizzard Part 11 - Shadowlands What is World of Warcraft? While I’m sure almost everyone has at least some idea of what WoW is, I’ll give a little overview. World of Warcraft is an MMORPG developed by Blizzard Entertainment – a fantasy game which takes place in the colossal online world of Azeroth, where players can quest, fight, and interact with other players. There are two factions – the Horde and the Alliance – each had separate playable races, separate cities, economies, questlines, politics, backstories, and attitudes. The factions acted as the cornerstone for the game’s PvP. WoW was an immediate hit when it first came out in November 2004. It followed on the heels of games like Everquest and Ultima Online, but completely reinvented the formula, with more player conveniences, far greater variety, graphical fidelity, and storytelling. It was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnating genre, and went on to dominate the MMORPG genre for two decades. Here is a video beginner’s guide to those who need it. EDIT: Here's a great video essay which came out just after this series ended which gives a good introduction to the history of WoW. Part 1 - Beta and Vanilla ‘Vanilla’ is the term players use to refer to the game upon its release. The game was unpolished, its community a wild west where anything went. The rules and expectations of MMORPGs hadn’t really been figured out yet, and so this is when a lot of WoW’s strangest dramas took place. We won’t be touching crazes like the hilarious Onyxia Wipe or Leeroy Jenkins or The Talisman of Binding Shard, because there isn’t really enough meat on the bones there. But they’re fun to go back to anyway. The Goldshire Inn TW: Sexual abuse, Rape, Pedophilia Let’s jump right in at the deep end. From the start, one of WoW’s most niche (and enduring) attractions has been roleplay. The dominant RP (Roleplay) servers are Moonguard (US) and Argent Dawn (EU), and it is in these communities that we lay our scene. Over the years, many areas and races would be added to the game, giving players loads of different options for where, how and who they could roleplay. But in WoW’s early days, one building would develop a reputation for which it still lives in infamy today. A picturesque little tavern in a snow-white esque woodland. The Goldshire Inn. One large aspect of RP is ERP (Erotic Role Play). After all, Roleplayers need love too. In case it wasn’t obvious, this is the process of meeting up with other players and roleplaying out sexual encounters. Dwarves and Gnomes don’t do it for most players (not everyone can appreciate the taste of fine wine), so many ERPers would create a human character (or recreate one with a different appearance/sex) to get their digital rocks off. New humans started in Elwynn Forest at Northshire, and as you can see from the map, the nearest settlement is Goldshire. And Goldshire has an inn. With a bar, bedrooms, and a dark basement full of cobwebs. You can see where this is going. Goldshire Inn quickly became the hub of roleplay debauchery on WoW. A hive of the blackest scum and villainy. On a good evening, the inn heaved with the pixellated bosoms of naked women dancing on railings, the ‘thip thap thip thap’ of steps as players awkwardly move back and forth, clipping through each other’s bodies. Of course, not all of the roleplay falls into what we would consider ‘legal’. There are plenty of adults roleplaying as children, children roleplaying as adults, abuse, bondage, rape, vore, furry, scat – no matter what you’re into, there’s always someone at Goldshire who shares your degenerate sexual proclivities. The dwarf chases after an orc who runs through the inn with his snow cannon. Seconds later, a chat window pops up: "You horny? What's your number?" Those who spend time in the tavern quickly run into various characters, such as the night elves, who scurry across the screen in their lingerie, intensely eyeing them before announcing in all caps: "I'm going to fuck you unconscious!" Various Addons have been created which allow players to create RP profiles, detailing everything about them from age to gender to height to their no-doubt tragic backstories. But these profiles are only visible to other people with the Addon. So there’s often an entire subtextual layer beneath the obvious roleplay, only visible to those in the know. There’s a slight problem here, however. Humans are the most popular race for first-time players, and for many of them, their first interaction with the greater WoW community is at Goldshire. There are even important quests which force them into the inn, where they are bombarded with booties and breasts, whispered offers of sexual bliss, and confronted with sights that will stay with them forever. This has resulted in a lot of scarred psyches and a lot of awakened fetishes over the years. Aside from the obvious memes and jokes, Goldshire Inn has provoked discussions of ditigal consent, and child safety online. WoW has a minimum age rating of 12 and is available for free until level 20. For some ERPers, chasing and hunting down non-consenting players across the game-world is part of the fun. For others, they try to move the situation out of the game ASAP, offering to exchange pictures, meet up, or do video calls. In 2010, Blizzard announced it would ‘patrol’ Goldshire Inn and sanction players who infringed upon community guidelines, but that never seemed to do much. "It was supposed to be a nice evening. I created a mage and went straight to Goldshire. The tavern was packed. All the guests were wearing either fancy costumes or nothing at all. I've never seen so many purple breasts. I thought I'd landed in a real sex club," Klara said. "A female human really wanted to 69 with me as a few paladins watch and simulate ejaculation through spells that emit white light." As the old saying goes, what happens in Goldshire stays in Goldshire. The Warrior Indalamar This is actually a story from WoW’s beta, but I’m including it here. For WoW’s entire lifespan, it would see disputes, jokes, and complaints over which class is overpowered and which is underpowered. Before the game, one thing was certain – Warriors were the worst. A lot of players avoided them entirely, and refused to group up with them because they were so ineffective in battle. There were widespread demands for them to be buffed (made more powerful). But there was one man who sought to prove that Warriors weren’t so bad after all. This was Indalamar. He went against the consensus, insisting that Warriors were, if anything, overpowered. No one believed him. So he posted a video which tore through the community like wildfire. In the video, Andalamar ran around, downing enemies one after another in two hits or less. It turned out, the Warrior’s abilities held a power that no one had worked out yet. It all had to do with an ability called Bloodthirst – it became active after killing an enemy, and dramatically raised the damage of the next strike. As soon as you hit the next enemy, you would deal massive damage and raise your haste (attack speed) by 35%. The enemy would die almost immediately, activating Bloodthirst for the next enemy, and the next. Indalamar had been right. Warriors hadn’t been weak, they’d been the strongest class in the game. But before the video had even finished making the rounds, Blizzard nerfed them. The fact that a player had singlehandedly forced Blizzard to change the game made him a household name in the community, beloved by some and hated by others (mostly other Warriors). In fact, he received huge amounts of abuse online from players who felt he had made an already weak class even weaker. But this story has a happy ending. Indalamar was hired by Blizzard, and they have paid homage to him a number of times. He had his own card in the WoW Trading Card Game, and his own item in a raid named ‘Ramaladni’s Blade of Culling’ (Ramaladni is, of course, Indalamar backwards). To this day, Indalamar is a legend among WoW players. He was one of the first to reach the heights of stardom – but he would not be the last. The Suicide Scandal We’ll continue our morbid theme with a particularly upsetting story from China. The Chinese relationship with World of Warcraft is long and complicated, and I’ll be returning to it periodically throughout this post. Perhaps this event is an omen of things to come. On 27 December 2004, a thirteen year high school student named Zhang Xiaoyi logged onto his night elf and said his goodbyes to his fellow players. Then he leapt from a 24-storey window in Tianjin. He had just played World of Warcraft for a 36 consecutive hours. Players were quick to link his suicide to the trend of WoW Basejumping, in which characters jump off tall buildings or natural features and compete to see how far they can fall without dying. His suicide note said he wanted to join the heroes of the game, and he left behind a diary in which he obsessed over it day and night. The hospital in Beijing where Zhang was declared dead had this to say: "Zhang had excessively indulged in unhealthy games and was addicted to the Internet." Zhang’s parents sued Blizzard at Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing, requesting 100,000 yuan ($12,500) in compensation, which seems a paltry amount. They claimed the game was inappropriate for young people, due to the way it trapped them in a cycle of addiction, and they called for a warning label to be added to WoW’s marketing and packaging which said ‘Playing games excessively can harm health’. At the time, a report issued by the China Youth Association for Internet Development stated that up to 13.2% of young people were addicted to computers. The incident led to a massive outcry, both in the West and China, about the potentially harmful effects of video games. At the time, China had no age ratings like the US, where WoW was rated ‘T for Teen’. Zhang Chunliang, a Chinese expert on game addiction, called for ratings to be established. Many foreign countries have established strict game classification systems to help parents determine which games are suitable for their children. China should also establish such a system." The Chinese government refused. Several attempts have been made to push a ratings system, first in 2004 by the Chinese Consumer Association, then again by the Communist Youth League in China, then again in 2010 by the Institute for Cultural Industries, then again in 2011, then again in 2019. Critics accuse China of being too covetous over control. "The government is not willing to let go of the [market] control," Zhang Chundi, gaming analyst at London-based research firm Ampere Analysis, told Protocol. He explained that most rating systems involve an industry association that designated age-based labels for games, but Chinese regulators are wary of transferring such power to a private organization. This was WoW’s first taste of the dangers of video game addiction – and it was one of China’s too. But it was really just the start. World of Warcraft would go on to shape the conversation on video game addiction for years to come. It was compared to crack cocaine and overplaying has been associated with numerous health issues. In June 2018, the World Health Organisation listed “gaming disorder” as a disease which impairs control and causes victims to lose interest in other daily activities or hobbies. China would go on to create multiple laws combatting video game addiction, from limiting how long minors can play games, to banning all games on school days. They would even instate military-style boot camps to break video game addictions. Critics of these laws have called them authoriarian, and insisted that it is a parent’s responsibility to control their childrens’ access to online games. Many have pointed out that video game addiction is often not a disease, but is rather a symptom of other issues, and tackling these issues should be the main priority. To most, this seemed like a non-issue. What kind of idiot would get addicted to an online game? They would change their tune soon enough. The Million Gnome March Time to lighten things up a bit. This was one of WoW’s strangest dramas. Just two months after the release of the game Blizzard was still making drastic changes left and right to the balance of the classes. Players were eager to make their opinions known, because any change, however bad, could be the one Blizzard chose to stick with. But WoW had a huge playerbase, even then, and it took a lot to get Blizzard’s attention. Not everyone was an Indalamar. Only collective action would do. The date was 29th January 2005. It was a Friday evening on the server Argent Dawn, and the halls of Ironforge were bustling with players, all of them still new to the game, excitedly trading, looking for groups to tackle dungeons, discussing what new features might be on the way, and roleplaying in what would go on to become the game’s biggest RP server. Perhaps some of them knew about the thunderous anger boiling away on the official forums about nerfs to Warriors, but to the ignorant masses, what happened next came as a total surprise. A few level one gnomes waddled through the city’s colossal gate. That in itself wasn’t weird. But then a half dozen more followed. And a dozen after that. And then a hundred. And then a thousand. The gnomes kept coming, rushing through the Commons in a fleshy, knee-high torrent of pigtails and low-quality shields. Most of them were naked. In the words of one witness: ”I cannot adequately describe how horrifying a vision that is.” Said one liveblogger Ironforge was the main hub for Alliance players at the time, so they were welcomed by an audience of hundreds, which swelled uncontrollably as they were joined by other onlookers who wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and possibly join in the gnomery for themselves – first it was members of the Horde on Argent Dawn, then players from other servers. Nothing like this had ever been done before. Some of the locals demanded the protesters go protest somewhere else, and were presumably rewarded for their humbuggery with some nasty headbuts to the shins. But the Million Gnome March could not be stopped. It began to hit critical mass. The servers started to lag, players started falling through the world or being knocked out of the game. WoW couldn’t keep up. The Argent Dawn server was great at processing industrial amounts of elaborately emoted porn, but it had never handled crowds like this. Xanan appeared at the gates. He was a GM – a Game Master. They were WoW’s in-game moderators, reachable only through a reporting tool. To see one in person was an anomaly. It never happened. But the protest had called and Blizzard had answered. "omg omg, there's an actual GM character here now in Ironforge near the bridge," he wrote. "In 50-some levels, I have never seen an actual GM character EVER in this game.” But Blizzard wasn’t there to parley. Xanan’s first request was polite. "This is severely impacting other players' gaming experiences. Please be advised failure to disperse can result in disciplinary action." He said, to much derision. The gnomes refused. They would not be moved. The revolution had come and they would rather die on their adorable little feet than live as slaves. Meanwhile, Argent Dawn continued collapsing around them, to the point where many protesters couldn’t leave even if they wanted to. Blizzard manually restarted the server, knocking everyone offline, but they were back the moment turned on again. Xanan made one final warning. Attention: Gathering on a realm with intent to hinder gameplay is considered griefing and will not be tolerated. If you are here for the Warrior protest, please log off and return to playing on your usual realm. We appreciate your opinion, but protesting in game is not a valid way to give us feedback. Please post your feedback on the forums instead. If you do not comply, we will begin taking action against accounts. Please leave this area if you are here to disrupt game play (sic) as we are suspending all accounts. Shit had gotten real. A large swathe of protesters took this as acknowledgement of their goals, and logged off before the ban hammer started falling. Argent Dawn locals fled Ironforge in droves. And in a moment of uncompromising brutality that would foreshadow Blizzard’s treatment of protesters and unions for years to come, the suspensions began. The length of the bans varied from a few hours to multiple days, but the end result was the same. A desolated Ironforge. The Gnomes had fallen. They vented their anger on the forums once again, but the Million Gnome March had ironically pushed the plight of Warriors to the side. There was a far bigger debate going on now – the rights of players to assemble online, virtual protests, synthetic statehood and the ethics of Blizzard’s response. For its part, Blizzard claimed it had taken necessary action to protect its servers and to keep Argent Dawn running, and that repeating the protest would result in permanent bans. Did that make it acceptable? The protesters pointed out that disrupting society was the entire point of collective action. It was designed to force higher powers to pay attention. Much like the issue of Goldshire Inn, [people were beginning to realise that online worlds often the same political dilemmas as the real world, but unlike the real world, there were no protections or guidelines in place. These were lawless lands. Years would pass before governments truly began to create and enforce policy on how people and companies can act online. In the end, Warriors remained weak. Game Designer Tom Chilton wrote a totally separate post about the virtues of Warriors and their unique abilities, but outlined no plans to change them. Players had wide-ranging opinions on the protest. MMOGs are suppose to be virtual playgrounds, or at least that was the original ideal. However Blizzard doesn't seem to be able to handle that kind of abstract thinking. Others condemned the protest Blizzard does the right thing by breaking up the congregation and sending people away to reduce lag. It's not like the CEO and his cronies are sitting around Dun Murogh waiting to be impressed by your 'show of solidarity', the only people who are noticing what's going on are the people who suddenly can't loot their kills, pick their herbs, etc. because the servers are starting to meltdown. Another had this to say a MMORPG isn't a democracy. You do not have freedom of speech, you do not have the freedom to assemble. The Constitution does not apply to a virtual world that is owned by a company. The ToS you signed pretty much waive your rights in the real world. Frankly, assembling a mass to cause lag and crash a server is an idiotic way to voice your opinions. There are the forums, there is email, there are phone numbers, and there is the allmighty credit card you use to make your payments. Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow put it best ...real life has one gigantic advantage over gamelife. In real life, you can be a citizen with rights. In gamelife, you're a customer with a license agreement. In real life, if a cop or a judge just makes up a nonsensical or capricious interpretation of the law, you can demand an appeal. In gamelife, you can cancel your contract, or suck it up. Regardless of ethics or effectiveness, many protests would follow throughout WoW’s long history. From the Druids United protests to 2021 Stormwind Sit-in. When all else had failed, players would always return to collective action. The Menethil Ganker This is one of my absolute favourite stories from WoW. Legend tells of an orc Rogue who crippled his server for months in early 2005, slaughtering anyone foolish enough to step into his domain. His name was Angwe, and the server was Decethus (PvP). At this time, Azeroth was made up of two great continents, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. There were only a few ways of getting between them. Members of the Mage class could teleport, Warlocks could summon, and all players had a hearthstone which would take them back to a place of their choosing, though it had a long cooldown. But the bulk of player traffic went by the ships, which would round-robin back and forth from select points. On the Eastern Kingdoms, your options were Booty Bay in the south, or Menethil Harbour in the Wetlands (just above Ironforge on the map I linked). Since it linked to two of the three routes, Menethil was the pressure point of the game world. He who controlled the Harbour controlled the world (of warcraft). Enter Angwe. He spotted a part of the zone leading to Menethil which bottlenecked players, and slaughtered every Allaince player who tried to pass through. He controlled the path day and night in his determination to stop anyone from reaching the harbour. Angwe quickly rose into infamy, receiving more threats, insults and accusations than most people could imagine, but they only made him more determined. In fact, he lovingly collected them to preserve for future generations. That site has literally hundreds of messages. Players speculated on when he might sleep, or work, or do anything other than massacring noobs. They wrote extensive guides on the alternatives to going through the pass, such as sneaking under the water along the coast or creating sacrificial clones to distract him. In some cases, max level players would organise convoys to shepherd groups of newer players through the pass. Large groups of PvPers charged the bottleneck to wipe him out, but as a Rogue, he could simply disappear from sight, waiting for individuals to break away from the pack so that he could pick them off one by one. A particularly intrepid sore-loser tried to doxx Angwe but only ended up with his girlfriend’s name – so they assumed he was a woman (because he couldn’t possibly have a girlfriend). But Angwe was one step ahead of them. He created an Alliance character, inconspicuously named ‘Angwespy’, and used it to monitor his enemies, or taunt them after death. He infiltrated the forums of major guilds in order to intercept their comms. But where some men see ruin, others see opportunity. Players approached Angwe with offers of gold if he agreed to gank certain other players. To many, he was a celebrity with near mythical status. [Ancience] whispers: Can’t we make some sort of agreement, so that you can at least stop killing me? Gold? Armour? Exp? Something? [Angwe] whispers: no In October 2012, Angwe held an AMA, in which he finally revealed his secrets. It was just me, typically 8-10 hours a day. I didn't raid, level alts and only rarely did dungeons after 60. My goal was to get on average 100 honor kills in a day (this was before battlegrounds), which would put me either 1st or 2nd place weekly in the honor grind. For context, an ‘honor kill’ is a reward for killing a player of the same level. Of course, Angwe would also kill any low level players passing by ‘to kill the time’, even if he didn’t get anything for it. Good murder is its own reward. In 2006, the iconic South Park episode ‘Make Love Not Warcraft’ released, and while nothing has been publicly confirmed, there are those who speculate that the episode is based on Angwe’s reign of terror. "All the lowbies would wait back there, and I'd usually be fighting whoever is trying to kill me to get on the boat," Angwe explains. "And as soon as I'd die or whatever, you'd see a flood of people run for the boat. Even if the boat came [and I was still alive], they'd just try to get on the fucking boat. A lot of times, the goal wasn't to kill people at that point. I just wanted to make sure none of these fuckers made it toward the boat. If they did, everyone would lose interest in being there and I wouldn't be able to kill anybody anymore." Ultimately, it was not boredom that killed off Angwe, or defeat by combat. It was Blizzard. They introduced the new ‘Battlegrounds’ feature, which allowed players to fight in separate arenas. To get to a battleground, you had to go to its physical entrance, and the most popular of these was Alterac Valley – just north of Menethil Harbour. As a result, this once-remote zone was now throning with high level PvPers at all times of the day. Angwe has spoken out many times over the years. After Battlegrounds dropped, he left the game and went to study game design. He now works as a programmer for MMOs, but does not play them himself. The Kazzak Massacre One of the highest level zones in the game was ‘Blasted Lands’. In order to give it a sense of danger, Blizzard like to place extremely powerful bosses in questing areas and make them walk around, so that players were forced to be wary of their surroundings. One such boss was Lord Kazzak. Normally, it took forty max-level players to defeat Kazzak. He had many powerful abilities, including a shadowbolt attack that could hit anyone within a long range, as well as a skill called ‘Capture Soul’, which raised his health by 70,000 every time he killed. This meant that every player death made him considerably harder to defeat. Due to how WoW’s combat worked, enemies could be kited. Kiting is when a player allows an enemy to attack them, holding onto that enemy’s attention, and gradually runs away, but never fast enough that the enemy stops chasing them. Through this trick, any enemy could be kited to any part of the map. And it just so happened that Kazzak’s little corner of the Blasted Lands was tantalisingly close to Stormwind – one of the largest cities in the game. Kiting any boss to Stormwind would be an immense task, and Kazzak was no exception. Simply staying alive that long required entire groups working in unison. The trip from the Blasted Lands, up north through the Swamp of Sorrows, then across Dead Wind Pass, around Duskwood, and up into Elwynn Forest to Stormwind could take up to an hour, and Kazzak would continue unleashing fierce attacks the whole way. But once he arrived at Stormwind’s pearly gates, a chain reaction took hold. The low level players amassed in the city were instantly swept away by his shadowbolt, and every one of them added 70,000hp to Kazzak. He was also able to kill NPCs, who would quickly respawn and die again and again. His health rapidly spiralled into the tens of millions, then the hundreds of millions, as he feasted on a never-ending supply of noobs. A famous video from 6th March 2005 shows him wrecking the city and leaving devastation in his wake. Kazzak was unstoppable. Once he reached Stormwind, he became an invulnerable wrecking machine. Corpses filled the streets. There was no-where to hide – Kazzak’s shadowbolts went through buildings. The only option was to flee for the safety of the woods. All seemed lost. But those massacred players would come for Kazzak. You see, Paladins had an ability called reckoning. After being the victim of a critical strike, their next attack hit twice. But this ability could be applied any number of times, without limit. If you got two critical strikes, your next hit would do 3x the damage, and so on. Players were quick to exploit this. All it took was two people - a Paladin and a friend. The two would duel, and the Paladin would sit down while their friend hit them over and over. Hitting a player while they’re sitting down guarantees a critical hit, which meant they could trigger Reckoning as many times as they wanted. The highest recorded number of Reckonings at once is 1800 – that takes hours. But at that point, your Reckoning Bomb could instantly kill any enemy in the game with a single hit. Any player, any monster, and any boss. Even Lord Kazzak. And to this day, this is to be the only recorded way players were able to one-shot Kazzak. They never had a chance to try it out once he reached the city, because within 24 hours of the killing, the ability was nerfed. But it wasn’t enough. Eventually, Lord Kazzak was removed from WoW, and Reckoning was nerfed. Blizzard began clamping down on the many ways players were able to exploit the game. The Corrupted Blood This particular incident began on 13 September 2005. Patch 1.7.0 had just released, and with it came Zul’Gurub, a 20-man raid into a troll infested jungle. The final boss went by the name ‘Hakar the Soulflayer’, and had a spell called ‘Corrupted Blood’, which would inflict gradual damage to players, and spread to anyone within a certain radius. It disappeared from players who left the raid, and wasn’t meant to least more than a few seconds. But there was an oversight. The Hunter class are able to summon pets to fight for them in battle, and if a pet got afflicted with the Corrupted Blood and was dismissed, they would still have the curse when they were summoned again. Even if they were outside the raid. The first outbreaks were accidental. Hunters brought out their pets in the game’s major cities, only for the Corrupted Blood to spread like wildfire, infecting everyone nearby. Low level players were almost immediately killed off by the plague as it ate away at their healthbars. Many never got the chance to flee – and those who did flee often simply created new outbreaks elsewhere. Before long, these curiosities had developed into a full-blown pandemic. Much like a real virus, the Corrupted Blood was spread by animals. The NPCs could catch and spread the plague, but were almost impossible to kill, turning them effectively into asymptomatic carriers. Skeletons began to pile up in the streets of Ironforge and Orgrimmar. Dying causes gear to degrade, which is expensive to fix, so many players fled the cities to find safety in the wilderness. Others fuelled the chaos, deliberately causing new outbreaks wherever they could. These individuals were compared to biological terrorists. On the flipside, there were the ‘first responders’, who waded into the epicentres and attempted to heal the sick – though they often caught the Corrupted Blood themselves, and became spreaders in turn. Many of WoW’s 2 million players would log on just to see what was happening (and then get infected), or log off to isolate themselves. The economy of the game totally shut down as the cities became ghost towns. There were many parallels with how a real world virus would spread. To the powerful, it was just an inconvenience, so they went about their daily routines, whereas to low-levelled players (comparable to the weak and elderly), it presented an incredible danger. Blizzard tried to impose a quarantine rule on players to stop the spread, but many refused to obey or didn’t take it seriously. The last time anybody made a list of the top hundred character attributes of WoW players, common sense snuck in at number 79. In the end, it took several hard resets and patches to stop the spread. The virus was contained to Zul’Gurub on 8 October. Academics at Ben Gurion University in Israel published an article in the journal Epidemiology in March 2007, describing the similarities between the Corrupted Blood and SARS and avian flu. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention contacted Blizzard and requested statistics for research. One factor that simulations at the time did not consider was curiosity – players put themselves at risk to see what all the fuss was about, in the same way journalists might do in the real world. Nina Fefferman, a research professor of public health at Tufts University, co-authored a paper in the Lancet Infectious Diseases discusing the implications of the outbreak, and spoke out for MMOs to be used to simulate other real world issues. It should come as no surprise that many people have compared the Corrupted Blood to Coronavirus. Epidemiologists used research from the incident to understand the spread of COVID-19, specifically how societies respond to these kinds of threats. In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Dr Eric Lofgren is quoted as saying the following: "When people react to public health emergencies, how those reactions really shape the course of things. We often view epidemics as these things that sort of happen to people. There's a virus and it's doing things. But really it's a virus that's spreading between people, and how people interact and behave and comply with authority figures, or don't, those are all very important things. And also that these things are very chaotic. You can't really predict 'oh yeah, everyone will quarantine. It'll be fine.' No, they won't.” Click HERE if you would like to continue reading. submitted by /u/Rumbleskim to r/HobbyDrama [link] [comments]

Introduction Since 2011 was 10 years ago (2021 – 2011 = 10), I thought it’d be a good idea to reflect on what is considered one of the best years in gaming – I’d personally consider 2011 to be the peak of AAA gaming. Since AAA development cycles 10 years ago were half of what they are today (see this interview with Uncharted 1-3 director Amy Hennig), and live service games were a lot less common, we also got a greater quantity of AAA games than we do now. And while the indie scene was still blooming – 283 games released on Steam in 2011 versus 8290 games in 2019 – there were still a lot of high quality indie games that released in 2011, and the average quality of an indie game on Steam and the three consoles at the time was higher than it is now. A lot of things were happening in 2011: the release of both the 3DS and the PS Vita (Japan only for the PS Vita, 2012 for the West) were technically the start of the eighth generation. Furthermore, the 3D gimmick was big around this time, particularly in movies, and the 3DS allowed you to see these effects without the need for glasses. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 also supported stereoscopic 3D in a lot of their major titles in the early 2010s, with Killzone 3 and Gears of War 3 being some notable examples from this year. Sony’s PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect had released the year prior, and Nintendo’s Wii Motion Plus in 2009. Motion controls were a frequent hot topic on message boards, and Sony and Microsoft steering down this path halfway into the seventh generation made gamers fear for a much gimmickier future in gaming. Free to play games were beginning to take shape on PC and mobile devices but wouldn’t really come to consoles until a few years later. World of Warcraft was still dominating the MMORPG space, though the controversial Cataclysm expansion had released in December 2010. Skylanders was the first major “Toys to Life” game and would inspire several other Toys to Life releases, including Nintendo’s very own Amiibo in 2014. There was also a resurgence of local multiplayer in AAA games in 2011, including some of the biggest games of the year: Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, etc. I’ll be going through the list of games released for each of the major platforms with a little description for each. Keep in mind I haven’t played every game on this list but did a little bit of research for the ones I was less familiar with. This post is going to focus on North American release dates – even just 10 years ago release dates varied a lot more than they do now. Even Pokemon had separate release dates for each region 10 years (up until Pokemon X/Y in 2013, after which every mainline game has had a single international release date). Since the PS Vita only released in Japan in 2011, I’ll just leave this list of the 26 launch titles for the PS Vita in Japan. Multiplatform AAA Games Dark Souls – The spiritual successor to 2009’s PlayStation 3 exclusive Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls would expand its audience to many more platforms and would eventually spawn a whole subgenre titled “Soulslike” – nowadays it’s hard to remember a time when there weren’t multiple Souls inspired games every year. Dark Souls also took the level-based nature of Demon’s Souls and instead introduced a more open progression of levels. Dark Souls has become synonymous with difficult games, and although I think it’s a bit overblown, it’s easy to see why people think the series is so difficult: it’s a AAA game that allows you to get lost, doesn’t outright explain every mechanic, allows other players to invade your world to impede your progress, etc. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – This game still remains highly influential in the RPG genre nearly a decade after its initial launch. The game would go on to spawn many DLCs and ports, but despite its many bugs – particularly on the PlayStation 3 – it would become the mainstay of open world RPGs. It’s notable on PC for its modding scene, and its cultural influence, particularly on the Internet, can be seen in the many memes its spawned over the years: from “arrow to the knee” jokes to “like Skyrim with _____” to “you can play Skyrim on your fridge.” Rayman Origins – After an eight year hiatus, Ubisoft brought Rayman back to the delight of many and won many accolades in the process. The game was 2D, a lot faster paced, had 60+ levels, and featured four player local co-op. Rayman Origins and its 2013 sequel, Rayman Legends, are still seen today as some of the best 2D platformers of all time. Sonic Generations – It could be said that Sonic Generations was the last good 3D Sonic game. It was a celebration of the series’ history, featuring both 2D and 3D levels from previous games in the series. Through some time warp shenanigans, 2D Sonic and 3D Sonic worked together to thwart the plans of Dr. Eggman. Sonic Colors had released the previous year exclusively for the Wii, and it was thought that this might be a golden era for 3D Sonic games. Sadly no 3D Sonic game has matched the acclaim of Sonic Generations since, so it still remains the gold standard (though of course we had 2017’s Sonic Mania as the best 2D Sonic game possibly ever). Portal 2 – The original Portal was packaged together with a number of other Valve games in 2007, but Portal 2 was a complete package that stood on its own, with a much longer campaign and a separate co-op mode that could be played in split-screen or online. Dead Space 2 – Dead Space was very much a 7th generation series. EA has since seemed to drop the series, but between the main trilogy, its three spinoff games, and five comic books/novels between 2008-2013, it was a major discussion piece at the time. The sequel to the first game performed just as well as the original but replaced a little horror with a little more action. A lot of people didn’t like the direction Dead Space 3 went, so the second one (technically the third if you count Dead Space: Extraction) could be viewed as “the last good Dead Space game." F.E.A.R. 3 – F.E.A.R., like Dead Space, was another trilogy that existed for the 7th generation of consoles but died off soon after. The game allowed two player local co-op for the main campaign, and a local competitive multiplayer mode for up to four players. F.E.A.R. saw a free to play online co-op entry in 2014 on Steam, but it shut it down just months after its release and the series has been dormant ever since. Crysis 2 – This was yet another seventh generation shooter series that died off after its third entry. Despite the first game being used as a benchmark for PC performance back in 2007, the sequel expanded its audience to console gamers (though the original did release for consoles three years after its initial release). Crysis 2 also feature an online PvP mode. Deux Ex: Human Revolution – Deus Ex was the first game in the series since 2003’s Invisible War. It was both a prequel and soft reboot taking place in 2027, 25 years before the events of the original game. Despite skepticism during its development, the game received high praise from critics and fans alike. Batman: Arkham City – The new wave of Batman games beginning with 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum would spark a rebridled confidence in video game tie-ins. Arkham City expanded the scope of the series with an open world and introduced dozens of hours of more gameplay. This was well before “open world fatigue” – open world games were still novel during this time, so Arkham City was better appreciated for its incorporation of an open world. Alice: Madness Returns – After 10.5 years, fans of the cult classic American McGee’s Alice finally got a sequel. This told the story of Alice recounting the events of the day of the fire that took her family’s lives. The game came packaged with the original on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. EA marketed it as a horror game much to the ill wishes of American McGee. de Blob 2 – de Blob 2’s gameplay revolves around painting objects to bring a city back to life. The original de Blob was exclusive to iOS and the Wii, but the puzzle platformer expanded to the other consoles with its sequel. In addition to its split-screen party mode, deBlob 2 also introduced two player co-op to the main campaign, with the second player controlling a “helper” much akin to Super Mario Galaxy’s co-op. Bulletstorm – Serious shooters were the flavor of the day back in 2011, but Bulletstorm took a less serious and more arcady approach to its action. The developers even released a free to play 20 minute parody titled “Duty Calls” that mocked the popular gun metal gray corridor shooters like Call of Duty of its time. Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds – Marvel vs. Capcom 2 released 11 years earlier, so the announcement of a sequel in 2010 produced a lot of excitement. With such a long hiatus, newer characters from both universes were introduced into the series for the first time, like Viewtiful Joe, Virgil, and Frank West. Mortal Kombat – This was technically the ninth installment as well as a reboot for the series. It performed better than the last decade of new entries in the series and brought with it the 300 Tower Trials. These were a series of mini-games and fights strewn together, sometimes altering the gameplay in significant ways. L.A. Noire – This was a neo-noir detective game with real time facial animation set 1940s Los Angeles. The player would make dialogue choices in the game when interrogating suspects, and there were also action sequences. Dirt 3 – Dirt 3 ditched the “Colin McRae” in the title and just became Dirt with this entry. This off-road racing game featured 98 courses, a career mode, and online play. Catherine – This was Atlus’ weird game of the year. A man is torn between two love interests – Catherine and Katherine. The game featured a combination of social simulation, platforming, and puzzle solving. Battlefield 3 – Battlefield 3 was one of the best looking games out there at the time. Battlefield 3 was unique for the series in that it introduced an online co-op mode, in addition to the single player campaign and online competitive/versus multiplayer mode. Rocksmith – Guitar Hero and Rock Band were still pretty big franchises around this time. Players could used a real guitar for this game. Just Dance 3 – Ubisoft continues to make Just Dance games, but Just Dance seemed to be at its peak popularity during the Wii era, though the games were also available on the other two major consoles of the time. Just Dance incorporated motion controls to dance to the beat of the music. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – This was the finale to the Modern Warfare series. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg claimed that Modern Warfare 3’s release was the largest retail release in the industry’s history. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s certainly very believable. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – This was a linear action RPG with split-screen co-op. The game takes place at the dawn of the Second Age and follows a different cast of heroes from the original trilogy, and allows players to choose who they play as. Dragon Age II – Dragon Age II wasn’t loved as much of the previous game or the one that proceeded it, but Dragon Age II still performed well in spite of adopting a more hack and slash approach to its combat system. In terms of black sheep in video game franchises, Dragon Age II is a cut above the rest at least. Homefront – This was a FPS that received quite a bit of hype but ultimately failed to live up to expectations despite receiving decent reviews. The game takes place in 2027 with a united North Korea and South Korea that has invaded and taken control of parts of the U.S. The game was banned in South Korea and generated some controversy for its subject matter. Homefront also feature online multiplayer. Dead Island – The success of this game’s trailer actually pushed the release date ahead of schedule. The development team hired more people to cash in on the hype, but the actual game had little to do with the trailer and received middling reviews when released. Duke Nukem Forever – Duke Nukem Forever spent 15 years in development before finally releasing to extremely poor reviews in 2011. Gameplay aside, the game was also considered offensive for its portrayal of women and spawned an online petition with 7500+ signatures asking Walmart to remove the game from store shelves. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Skylanders kickstarted the “Toys to Life” genre in 2011 – Disney Infinity, Nintendo’s Amiibos, and Lego Dimensions would follow in the subsequent years. The franchise had a new entry every year from 2011-2016. By February 2015, the franchise had exceeded $3 billion in sales, and by 2016, the franchise had sold over 300 million toys, and Skylanders had become the 11th biggest console franchise of all time. With a lack of new releases its influence has fallen considerably, but Skylanders was hugely popular in the early to mid 2010s. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Saints Row the Third Driver: San Francisco Shift 2: Unleashed Need for Speed: The Run Brink Shadows of the Damned Serious Sam 3: BFE Rage Red Faction: Armageddon AAA PC Exclusives In 2011, Steam hadn’t yet been the one place to go for every PC game (of course this has also changed in the last couple of years). None of the games listed below appeared on Steam until some time after their initial release. The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings – This was one of the few cutting edge PC exclusives of its time (it would release on Xbox 360 a year later). The series hadn’t yet gone open world, instead focusing on a more linear narrative. The Witcher 2 is actually the first game I know of to have elements of it inspired by a Souls game – Demon’s Souls from 2009. Star Wars: The Old Republic – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repbulic 1 & 2 were single player RPGs developed by Bioware released in 2004 and 2005 – The Old Republic expanded the series into the MMORPG space. This was back when every MMORPG was competing for that World of Warcraft spotlight. While it didn’t quite meet expectations, it still received great reviews. It eventually went free to play a little over a year later and continuous updates improved the overall quality of the game. Age of Empires Online – This was to be the original Age of Empires IV but instead went down a different path. This iteration probably isn’t remembered as fondly as others on the list, but it represents a big publisher’s early dip into the free to play space. The servers for the game only lasted until July 1, 2014 before they were shut down – less than three years after its initial release. Total War: Shogun 2 PlayStation 3 Exclusives Sony’s studios emphasized multiplayer in their titles a lot more in the latter of the PlayStation 3’s life, even including it in titles that games that are traditionally solo experiences, like inFAMOUS 2, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and later God of War: Ascension (2013). Sony’s 2011 line-up included a great mix of single player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer games, as well as a few PlayStation Move games. Of the 11 non-PS Move games listed below, 6 of them included local multiplayer and 9 included online multiplayer. LittleBigPlanet 2 – This was a big evolution of the original game and introduced a number of mechanics that expanded what could be done with the level editing tools. Like the first game, this one would receive a large number of DLC packs, but unfortunately some of them – like the Marvel Level Pack – were removed a few years ago due to licensing expirations. The marketing really wasn’t a lie this time around, it truly went from “a platformer game” to a “platform for games” with the wide array of different tools at your disposall, including the addition of tweaking physics, cut-scenes, Sackboys, and even changing the camera perspective. MotorStorm Apocalypse – This was the last major entry in the series (a spinoff released a year later) and made for a great trilogy of racing games on the PlayStation 3. The game featured both online and split-screen multiplayer, as well as number of different vehicle classes: dirt bikes, ATVs, buggies, monster trucks, big rigs, etc. The courses would be altered from apocalyptic happenings as you raced through them. The developer, Evolution Studios, is now defunct so this series might be gone for good. inFAMOUS 2 – This continued Cole’s story from the first game and was set in Louisiana. The sequel also brought with it a unique online sharing mode that allowed for some small customizable levels. inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood would also release later in the year as a small scale standalone title. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – While Uncharted 3 didn’t outdo the overwhelming critical reception to the second game, it still performed very well and featured a lot of content: the single player campaign, split-screen online multiplayer, and its co-op mode. Uncharted 4 would abandon the split-screen and co-op mode. Resistance 3 – This marked the last major release in the Resistance series. It featured online and local co-op and an online multiplayer mode. Resistance 3 brought back the weapon wheel and health packs from the first game, as many felt Resistance 2 borrowed too heavily from Call of Duty. Killzone 3 – After the long wait for Killzone 2, Killzone 3 released just two years later. It featured local co-op and an online multiplayer mode. The online scene introduced classes with different functions. Killzone 3 also dropped the weight and heft of the guns from the second game and introduced stereoscopic 3D functionality. SOCOM 4 – From 2002 to 2011, SOCOM had ten games released between Sony’s consoles and handheld. SOCOM 4 was the second SOCOM game on the PlayStation 3 and the last entry in the series released since. In addition to the online multiplayer mode the series is known for, the game also featured a single player campaign. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One – This was a top down platform game that could be played with up to four players online or locally. It allowed players to choose their character: Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, or Dr. Nefarious. MLB 11: The Show – Believe it or not, this game was actually released for PlayStation 2 as well, and also PSP. It also featured two other gimmicks of its era – stereoscopic 3D and PS Move functional f Home Run Derby mode. PlayStation Move Ape Escape, PlayStation Move Heroes, & EyePet and Friends – We can’t forget the motion controls of this era. Unfortunately none of these games performed well and people saw the crossover of Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper as a wasted opportunity in PlayStation Move Heroes. Disgaea 4 Yakuza 4 Xbox 360 Exclusives Microsoft seemed to push its seventh generation gimmick, the Kinect, more than Sony pushed the PlayStation Move, especially later in the generation. While we never did get to see Milo, Kinect would see a number of games built around it beginning with its launch in November 2011. I’m not going to go through all of them, but here were a few notable ones from 2011: Kinect Sports: Season Two, Dance Central 2, Kinect Fun Labs, The Gunstringer, Rabbids: Alive & Kicking, Rise of Nightmares, Microsoft Kinectimals Now with Bears, and Child of Eden (not exclusive). Gears of War 3 – Gears of War 3 was to supposedly wrap up the series into a neat little trilogy. We of course know better now, but regardless, Gears of War 3 retained its high pedigree for the series. Gears of War 3 would also introduce a fun novelty to its time – Stereoscopic 3D. Forza Motorsport 4 – Forza Motorsport 4 was the first Forza Motorsport game to include Kinect functionality. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition – This was a remake of the original 1 years after its original launch. You could switch back and forth between the graphics of the old and new version of the game on the fly. This version also featured Kinect functionality via voice commands for video navigation, in-combat directives, and environment-scanning. Kinect Disneyland Adventures – This was one of the better reviewed games built around Kinect (73% on Metacritic). It featured an open world play style with mini-games to engage in Players could also customize their own character. Wii Exclusives Nintendo was winding down the Wii generation in 2011 and showcased the Wii U at E3 2011. The Wii got a few multiplatform games like Rayman Origins, de Blob 2, the Lego games, and a bastardized version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Modern Warfare 1 had received a demake port the same day Modern Warfare 2 was released for other consoles, and Modern Warfare 2 never saw the light of day on the Wii. In addition, there were a few shorter AA games that would probably be downloadable only games for a smaller price if they were released today. Some examples include The Kore Gang, Lost in Shadow, Go Vacation, Fishing Resort, and Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – This was the first console Zelda game since 2006’s Twilight Princess. It used the Wii Remote Plus. Releasing halfway into the Wii’s life, few games really utilized the Wii Remote Plus, which was an add-on for the Wii Remote that improved the motion controls. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land – Kirby shed its yarn aesthetic and returned to a style more reminiscent of 2000's Kirby 64. This game had four player local co-op and allowed players to play as many other Kirby characters, and it also had a separate mini game mode. Fortune Street – This was a crossover between Mario and Dragon Quest characters. It was like a fusion of Monopoly and Mario Party, though it didn’t feature any mini games. Featuring a number of boards from both Mario and Dragon Quest, players are challenged to play real estate and stock markets to win. Mario Sports Mix – Originally released in 2010 in Japan, Mario Sports Mix made its way to the West in early 2011. Mario Sports Mix featured four sports: basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, and hockey. This was the third Mario developed by Square Enix, after Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. In addition to the traditional cast of Mario characters, there were a few of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters as well. As with many later Wii games, the game gave you the choice to play with or without motion controls. The game received mediocre reviews overall. Conduit 2 – High Voltage Software was a studio that wanted to bring more mature experiences to the Wii, like the ultimately canceled The Grinder and the Conduit games. If you followed the seventh generation hype train, you would know about the first The Conduit game – a sci-fi FPS exclusively developed for the Wii, released in 2009, that’s ultimately been forgotten about in the test of time. Given the middling reviews of the first game, Conduit 2 didn’t receive nearly as much hype and scored roughly the same as its predecessor. Conduit 2 included a single player campaign, online multiplayer, and added split-screen multiplayer, which was not in the previous game. Wii Play Motion – As Wii Play featured a number of mini-games centered around the capabilities of the Wii Remote, Wii Play Motion did the same but with emphasis around the Motion Plus attachment. It also expanded the number of mini-games from 9 to 14, but in my experience nothing matched Wii Tanks from the original game. It received mediocre reviews overall. AAA Local Multiplayer Games for Consoles A lot of AAA games in historically split-screen-heavy genres – namely racing games and FPSs – dropped support of the feature at the beginning of the generation and allocated resources towards online play for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This was especially damning given that these consoles weren’t entirely backwards compatible and the indie scene hadn’t really taken off yet (indie games are a huge source of local multiplayer games in today’s market – see my post here). It should be noted that the Wii was a great system for local multiplayer from the beginning and end of its life, and a lot of its marketing revolved around local multiplayer games, similar to Nintendo’s marketing today. That said, the second half of the generation saw a lot more AAA games incorporate local multiplayer, and 2011 was the best of them, in my opinion. Several of the series that introduced local multiplayer in the second half of the seventh generation ended up removing the feature at the start of the eighth generation, such as Uncharted 3 (2011) to Uncharted 4 (2016), Killzone 3 (2011) to Killzone: Shadow Fall (2014), and Far Cry 3 (2012) to Far Cry 4 (2014) – these series each have only had one entry with split-screen multiplayer, all around the same time as each other. There were a lot of options from this year alone. Since I already covered them earlier in this post, I’m just going to list them below. LittleBigPlanet 2 MotorStorm Apocalypse Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Resistance 3 Killzone 3 Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One MLB: The Show 11 Gears of War 3 Forza Motorsport 4 Portal 2 de Blob 2 Mortal Kombat F.E.A.R. 3 Just Dance 3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Rayman Origins Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Lord of the Rings: War in the North Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game Driver: San Franciso F1 2011 Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Fortune Street Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics Mario Sports Mix Wii Play: Motion Conduit 2 [Yearly sports games, including the notable NHL 10] Indie/Small Scale Games Terraria – It’s hard to believe Terraria released 10 years ago and is still receiving updates – I really can’t think of too many other indie game that has received updates for that long. Terraria originally released just for PC and was referred to as “2D Minecraft” a lot more when it first released, but it’s since been ported to a number of different platforms, has received a number of updates, and has carved out quite a legacy for itself. The Binding of Isaac – This came from one of the creators of Super Meat Boy, Edmund McMillen, which received universal acclaim the year prior. The Binding of Isaac came out well before the wave of roguelites/roguelikes we see today, and with many new updates, it still remains one of the best around. To the Moon – To the Moon tells the story of two doctors fulfilling the last wish of a dying man using artificial memories. This is probably the most notable game using the RPG Maker game engine. Funnily enough, there are no RPG elements to speak of – the game instead focuses on its narrative and solving puzzles for the gameplay. Bastion – Bastion was developed by Supergiant Games, the same developer behind Hades. Bastion shares some similarities with Hades, but it’s a shorter adventure with no roguelite elements. Bastion had the unique twist of a man narrating your actions in the game, as if he was telling a story. Trine 2 – Trine 2 is a physics-based sidescrolling action platformer featuring three player local co-op. You used the powers of the three different characters – the wizard, the thief, and the knight – to navigate each level. Trine 2 performed better than the first game and delivered a pretty unique experience back in its day. Ms. Splosion Man – Ms. Splosion Man is a sequel to 2009’s 2D puzzle platformer Splosion Man. The main campaign can be played in local or online co-op for up to four players, and there is a separate campaign designed around the co-op experience. Solo players can still play the co-op mode by controlling two characters in what is termed “2 Girls 1 Controller.” Outland – Metroidvanias were coming back to life around this time, and Outland was an early example of this. It’s primary mechanic was switching between blue and red energies to overcome obstacles and barriers, similar to Ikaruga. It featured online co-op for the whole campaign, and a separate co-op mode with challenges built with two players in mind. The developer behind Outland is currently working on Returnal, due in April 2021. From Dust – This came from Ubisoft Montpellier (totally not indie but small scale) and was one of the few console entries in the “God Game” genre. Players would control certain types of matter in real time and would help save a nomadic tribe. Minecraft - Minecraft technically released in 2011, after first being available as an Early Access title in 2009. Payday: The Heist DS Games Although the 3DS released the same year, the DS would still be supported long after the 3DS thanks to its extremely high sales. Pokemon Black/White – This technically came out in 2010 in Japan, but Westerners wouldn’t get their hands on it until 2011. Pokemon Black/White expanded the roster to 649 Pokemon but only allowed you to capture the 156 new ones until you finished the game. It would be the last mainline 2D Pokemon game. Kirby Mass Attack – This title played a bit differently from most games in the series, although the Kirby series is no stranger to new gameplay mechanics. Kirby Mass Attack was a Lemmings-styled platformer, with the player using the stylus and touch screen to play the game. Using up to ten Kirbys on screen at once, the player could send commands to the Kirbys, or use them as projectiles. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – First released in 2010 in Japan, Westerners first got play one of Capcom’s more unusual games in 2011. This was directed by Shu Takumi, the creator of the Ace Attorney franchise. Ghost Trick was an adventure game that had you controlling a dead man named Sissel, who would use his ghostly possession powers to save lives. Aliens: Infestation - Developed by Gearbox Software (Borderlands series) and WayForward Technologies (Shantae series), Aliens: Infestation was a Metroidvania with an interesting permadeath mechanic – the player controls one marine in a party of four, and if that one dies, the player then plays as a different marine. The player loses the game if all four die. The development team created 20 unique characters with game’s dialogue carefully rewritten 20 times for each of the characters, to give some emotional investment to each one of them. Professor Layton and the Last Specter – This was first released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2011 Japanese players already had their hands on the sequel, Miracle Mask. These games were a big part of the seventh generation, seeing eight releases between 2007 and 2013. Since then, there’s been just one title released, in 2017. 3DS Games The 3DS was released for $249.99 USD in Q1 2011 in NA. The 3DS was a novel concept at the time as it allowed you view games in 3D without the need for those pesky glasses. While the 3D effect was abandoned on 3DS games in later years – and Nintendo even introduced a budget 3DS called the 2DS with no 3D capabilities – at the time it was a fun novelty. It also introduced AR (Augmented Reality) and the eShop to the wider market. While the DSi technically introduced the eShop, it was the 3DS that made it standard for the generation. The 3DS wasn’t selling so well for its initial five months, and so the price was slashed significantly, down to $169.99. Early 3DS adopters received 10 NES games and 10 GameBoy Advance games on the 3DS as compensation for being early adopters. These games were only ever available for early adopters only. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – If you wanted to play Ocarina of Time at more than 20fps, this was the way to do. This was a full fledged remake and not a port, and it introduced many quality of life improvements in addition to the 3D effect. Star Fox 64 3D – Star Fox 64 3D added more dialogue between missions, gyro controls, and a new “3DS Mode” that adjusted the difficulty and objectives of the original game. There was also a four player battle mode, though this was only through LAN. Super Mario 3D Land – Previous Nintendo handhelds outside of the original GameBoy had mostly hosted ports or remakes of older Super Mario platform games, but the 3DS would bring with it an entirely new title, one that was 3D in both senses of the word. Mario Kart 7 – This may just be seen as another Mario Kart game in a long series of games, but at the time, this still produced a lot of excitement. With this entry, players were able to customize their vehicles with different kart frames, wheels, and gliders. The game also introduced the hang glider and underwater sections. Nintendogs + Cats – Despite the high sales figures of the series, this would be the last Nintendogs game for what has now been an entire decade. Previous entries only included dogs, but – inspired by his own pets ability to get along and the Disney film The Incredible Journey – Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make a game with both species of animal. Pushmo/Pullbox – Possibly the single biggest downloadable only 3DS exclusive to come to the system, Pushmo (Pullblox in Europe) came at a time when there weren’t a lot of small scale games. It’d probably be viewed as an indie game, but this was actually developed by Intelligent Systems, the same people behind Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, and Advance Wars. Studio Closures Unfortunately every year is greeted with a number of studio closures – it’s easy to forget them over time, so let’s take a look at some of the ones that went away in 2011. Black Rock Studios – Pure, Split/Second – Although both Pure and Split/Second received favorable reviews on Metacritic (low to mid 80% critic average), its parent company Disney Interactive Studios decided to close the studio – after having reduced the size of the studio just a few months prior – likely due to the poor sales of Split/Second. Split/Second ends with a “To Be Continued,” and while the initial phases of the sequel had been worked on, it’s likely it didn’t get very far in development given that it was canceled in December 2010, while the original had released in May 2010. This video talks about the canceled sequel. Bizarre Creations – Project Gotham Racing, Geometry Wars, Blur – Blur and Split/Second were two arcade racers that released within a week of each other in May 2010 – in addition, Red Dead Redemption released the same day as Split/Second and a week before Blur. As a result, Red Dead Redemption stole much of the spotlight and the two arcade racing games ate into each other’s sales. Like Disney with Black Rock Studios, Activision also decided to shut down the then 17 year old studio. Bizarre Creations released a video retrospective of their work. Team Bondi – L.A. Noire – Team Bondi was a source of controversy in 2011 shortly after the release of its one and only game that took seven years to make. Former employees criticized the long working days and managerial style that resulted in high turnover, and The International Game Developers Association launched an investigation into the studio as a result of these interviews. Team Bondi also left or incorrectly listed 130 L.A. Noire staff members in the game’s credits and later developed a website called “L.A. Noire Credits” that gave credit to the previously uncredited. At the time of the studio’s closure, Team Bondi owed over $1 million Australian dollars to 33 staff members. Despite the studio’s closure, a definitive edition of L.A. Noire would be remastered for eighth generation consoles. Blue Tongue Entertainment – The Polar Express, de Blob 1 & 2 – This THQ studio mostly produced games based on movies and TV shows up until de Blob in 2008. The studio was closed down under a restructuring and realignment plan by THQ. Kaos Studios – Frontlines: Fuel of War, Homefront – Despite a lot of hype surrounding Homefront, the game received mediocre reviews and parent company THQ suffered a 26% stock drop shortly after the game’s release. Most of the studio was transferred to THQ’s Montreal studio, which was now developing the Homefront sequel. THQ filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and was later acquired by Ubisoft, while the Homefront sequel was developed by Crytek UK. THQ Studio Australia – The Last Airbender, Megamind: Ultimate Showdown – Yet another THQ closure in 2011, THQ Australia had an eight year run and developed mostly games based on popular Nickelodeon TV shows. AT the time of their closure, they were working on an The Avengers video game. Closing Hope you enjoyed looking back on some of these games. The market was a bit different back then – stereoscopic 3D games, motion controls, a prominent handheld market, etc. Many games from back then still remain impactful today, most notably Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Portal 2, Terraria, and The Binding of Isaac. Others you probably haven’t heard about in awhile but are great all the same. It also featured some great experimental games from larger developers as well, like Capcom’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Gearbox Software’s and WayForward Technologies’ Alien: Infestation, Ubisoft’s From Dust, THQ’s de Blob 2, and Intelligent Systems’ Pushmo/Pullbox. One thing I like better now is that every game that comes out for a Nintendo console essentially doubles as both a handheld and console game. Even up until a few years ago there were handheld exclusives that people wanted on consoles (Mario Party: The Top 100 from 2017 is a notable example that was 3DS only). As someone who prefers playing on consoles and doesn’t have as much of a need for handhelds, I also personally like that Sony’s studios are all focused on making games for the PlayStation 4/5, and resources aren’t being spent on the PS Vita. The biggest thing I love though, is the explosion of the indie scene and having much more of them on consoles now. One thing I liked better back then were more finite single player/co-op experiences from AAA developers. There’s a lot more bloat now in single player/co-op AAA games now, so thank goodness we have the indie scene to fall back on. Although it is important to note that many people complained about 10 hour $60 single player games back then, so there’s no appeasing everyone. On one hand we get a lot more bang for our buck now, on the other it seems studios like Naughty Dog will never be able to reach the output of past generations given how long development cycles are now (four games for PS1, PS2, PS3, three games for PS4, possibly less for PS5), even with longer console generations. Where were you in 2011? What do you think of some of the games looking back? What about the market did you like better back then compared to now? What’s better about games today? Were there any games listed here that you hadn’t thought about in awhile? submitted by /u/Underwhere_Overthere to r/Games [link] [comments]

Game Information Game Title: Hitman 3 Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Jan 20, 2021) PlayStation 4 (Jan 20, 2021) Xbox One (Jan 20, 2021) Google Stadia (Jan 20, 2021) PlayStation 5 (Jan 20, 2021) Xbox Series X/S (Jan 20, 2021) Trailers: HITMAN 3 - Launch Trailer (4K) HITMAN 3 - Opening Cinematic Introducing HITMAN 3 (Gameplay Trailer) [4K] HITMAN 3 - Nintendo Switch Announcement HITMAN 3 - The Thornbridge Mystery (England Location Reveal) HITMAN 3 - VR Announcement Trailer HITMAN 3 - The End of A Journey (Developer Insights) HITMAN 3 - Announcement Trailer HITMAN 3 - Dubai Cinematic Gameplay Trailer Publisher: IO Interactive Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 87 average - 97% recommended - 63 reviews Critic Reviews 33bits - Euyen Esquefa Pons - Spanish - 90 / 100 Hitman 3, more than a third installment of a video game sub-saga, is more like a third season of it. It is totally continuous and does not hide in this sense. It is true that it does not add anything substantial, but it is also true that the base it inherits is very, very good. And the new maps show the experience already acquired from the two previous games, offering us some of the best maps of the trilogy. 3DNews - Михаил Пономарев - Russian - 7 / 10 Despite the plot flaws and disappointing ending, Hitman 3 remains a fine assassin playground with a huge gameplay variety. ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy While it has some inconsistencies, Hitman 3 delivers the best story the Hitman games have had, and a couple tremendous levels, as well as almost endless substantial replayability. Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech - Unscored A solid if unambitious expansion pack—and that should tell you whether to buy this one or catch up on Hitman 2 instead. Atomix - Sebastian Quiroz - Spanish - 85 / 100 Hitman III is one of the first strong cards of the year. IO Interactive has given us an entertaining experience focused on experimentation and replayability that no fan of the stealth genre can miss. Attack of the Fanboy - Diego Perez - 5 / 5 stars Hitman 3 is the ultimate murder simulator. Now that the World of Assassination trilogy is finally complete, there's no excuse to not play Hitman. In order to truly appreciate the game's intricacies, you have to commit to replaying levels, attempting challenges, and testing out new strategies. However, if you put in the time, you'll be treated to one of the most engaging and rewarding stealth experiences in all of gaming. COGconnected - Paul Sullivan - 92 / 100 The locations and level designs in Hitman 3 are among the best IO Interactive have built. Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 is a beautiful, wonderful and exceptionally well-made game that I’m so glad exists. IO Interactive have created something simply amazing that should be lauded for being right up there with the smartest design in the industry. Critical Hit - Darryn Bonthuys - 8.5 / 10 Hitman 3 is full of surprises beneath its familiar systems. It manages to break out of its own sandbox without disrupting its formula too much, ending on a subtle note that brings the world of assassination saga to a satisfying end. Cubed3 - Luke Hemming - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 succeeds in every respect by being a fantastic ending to analready great series. It's also a joy to see that IO Interactive ensured players would be able to slip right back into the shoes of a veteran killer,but didn'trest on their laurels by not offering anything new. Although the touches of permanent shortcuts and new gadgets may seem small, once implemented it's hard to imagine playing without them as they integrate seamlessly into mission stories. Add to that the same freedom to approach a hit that the series is famous for, as well as ensuring every playground looks absolutely stunning and its clear that even without good friends, Agent 47 really does find the perfect blend. Cultured Vultures - Ashley Bates - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 takes everything good about the rebooted series and combines it with worthwhile features and levels that are more interactive than ever before to create one of the best stealth games of the last decade. DASHGAMER.com - Dan Rizzo - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 is unequivocally IO’s magnum opus; a tour de force within the overall longstanding Hitman franchise, and its essential pick within the trilogy. [...] leads the charge in 2021 for compelling action-adventure. Destructoid - Chris Carter - 9 / 10 Coupled with extra gadgets (some of which can be imported - though not as swimmingly on PC), Hitman 3 is really fun to dive back into; or introduce someone to for that matter, just to see what they come up with. It's the little things that add up and really make Hitman 3 special. Digital Trends - Tom Caswell - 4 / 5 stars A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy with the best locations in the series DualShockers - Kris Cornelisse - 8 / 10 New levels, new targets, new graphical improvements, same Hitman taste. Hitman 3 won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the niche should be extremely satisfied. EGM - Michael Goroff - 10 / 10 Hitman 3 is a fantastic capstone to a standout series. Yes, a lot of what you experience will seem familiar if you've played the last two games, but IO Interactive continues to take interesting risks that largely play off while still perfecting the elements that make Hitman so special. The best compliment I can pay Hitman 3 is that I want to finish writing this review so I can go back to playing it. Eurogamer - Edwin Evans-Thirlwell - Recommended IO's final World of Assassination game is closer to a seasonal content update than a sequel, but it's a thrilling endeavour all the same. Everyeye.it - Giuseppe Arace - Italian - 8 / 10 Killer who kills you don't change. IO Interactive does not revolutionize its playful formula, widely gnawed in the excellent Hitman 2, and proposes it again with slight but pleasant additions also in the third and (perhaps) last chapter of the World of Assassination saga. Agent 47 returns more shrewd and lethal than ever before, within an experience that knows how to enhance the murderous instincts of gamers. All this takes the form of a stealth adventure full of possibilities, a sandbox full of ideas and alternative solutions that stimulate the variety of approaches and benefit from a level design sometimes in a state of grace. A few falls in style in the last stage, a story only of contour and a general lack of courage in a fixting some stumbles of the past episodes, such as a not-so-exciting IA and very coarse shooter phases, however, prevent Hitman 3 from taking a big step forward compared to the second act. The work therefore moves in perfect continuity with what is... Game Informer - Jeff Cork - 9 / 10 Agent 47's journey ends on a high note, at least as far as players are concerned. New levels are memorable and cater to the freedom fans have come to expect Game Rant - Cameron Corliss - 4.5 / 5 stars All told, though, Hitman 3 is one of the best stealth games ever made. Game Revolution - Michael Leri - 8.5 / 10 The bald, barcoded assassin has had many hits in his 21-year career, but even though it might be his last for quite some time, Hitman 3 is one of 47’s best executions yet. GameByte - Sara Heritage - 9 / 10 stars Hitman 3 feels like a love letter to the ‘World of Assassination’ and I can’t think of a better way to conclude the series. With its delightfully witty dialogue and the fact that all existing Hitman content (as long as you’ve bought Hitman and Hitman 2) has progression carry over into Hitman 3, this game is a joy to play and the best Hitman has ever been. It takes all the best parts of the series we’ve come to love and leaves us with a bittersweet, Agent 47-sized gap in our hearts. GameMAG - Russian - 9 / 10 There's simply not a lot of stealth-action games that can hold a candle to Hitman III, with its hours upon hours of engaging gameplay and high replayability. The sheer variety of different locations and missions, and also the inclusion of all the legacy content, turns this title into something you don't want to miss at the start of 2021. GamePro - Dennis Michel - German - 82 / 100 Hitman 3 is exactly what fans of the IO Interactive games expect: an open sandbox dream in which thousands of paths lead to Rome or rather to Berlin, Dubai, China, England, Argentina and Romania. On this point, there is simply no second genre representative who leaves so much room for our creativity. The six locations are wonderfully varied and great, but I never got rid of the feeling of playing a story DLC here. After a good five to six hours, that's it. GameSkinny - Mark Delaney - 9 / 10 stars Hitman 3 brings to a close one of gaming's great trilogies with one last display of immaculate level design and intoxicating mood from IO Interactive. GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 9 / 10 Chances are we aren’t going to be placed in control of Agent 47 again; at least for a fair while, anyway. But with Hitman 3, IO Interactive has at least made sure he’s had a worthy send-off. GameSpot - Phil Hornshaw - 9 / 10 What's good about Hitman--its level design and the creativity, experimentation, and exploration that affords--is great in Hitman 3. It closes out the trilogy by brilliantly playing off everything that came before it GameWatcher - Marcello Perricone - 9 / 10 Hitman III is a fascinating finale to the franchise that shyly continues the series' tradition to iterate and improve on each entry. GameZone - Cade Onder - 8.5 / 10 While Hitman 3 is the end of this trilogy, it's clear IO will be coming back to 47 after they play around in the 007 sandbox for a while. This isn't so much the end of Hitman as it is this iteration of 47 and I will be eagerly awaiting his return. Gameblog - Gianni Molinaro - French - 9 / 10 Could IO Interactive have ended the World of Assassination Trilogy better ? Probably not. Even if Hitman 3 sticks to previous episodes formula and plays it safe, keeping its usual flaws, it offers gorgeous and incredibly well-convceived destinations that will indeed please fans. There are so many good trails to follow, so many possibilities that you'll sure end up with the urge to try everything in order to go for the perfect kill. If you own Hitman 1 and Hitman 2, there is some serious amount of challenges waiting. A PlayStation VR ? Prepare for a game-changing experience. GamesBeat - Jeff Grubb - 5 / 5 stars Hitman is a world made up entirely of Chekhov’s guns, and it’s a blast finding out how to get Agent 47 into position to pull the trigger. GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley - 4.5 / 5 stars A slick and entertaining conclusion to the trilogy. GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 represents the peak of the series, of IO Interactive, and of the social stealth genre. God is a Geek - Chris White - 8.5 / 10 Hitman 3 is a satisfying farewell to Agent 47, with stunning locations, and endless opportunities to take out your targets. Hardcore Gamer - Adam Beck - 3.5 / 5 In the current trilogy, Hitman 3 would be considered the weaker of the three. Hobby Consolas - David Martinez - Spanish - 80 / 100 Hitman 3 is a good entry in the series. It deliver beautiful levels, such as Dartmoor or Chonqing, new assassination tools and it allows players to import maps from the previous games (with improved graphics), buy still, it´s mechanics and some AI elements feel outdated. IGN - Luke Reilly - 9 / 10 Rich, rewarding, and highly replayable, Hitman 3 is one of the barcoded butcher's best appearances. IGN Italy - Andrea Giongiani - Italian - 8 / 10 A nice conclusion to the World of Assassination trilogy. Hitman III is "just" more of the same, but that's not a problem when the original material is that good. Kotaku - Riley MacLeod - Unscored Narratively and structurally, Hitman 3 strips its own make believe away, leaving the series’ core darkness on display. Metro GameCentral - Patrick Dane - 8 / 10 A great finale to the World of Assassination trilogy and the perfect time to end the reboot era, as the once revolutionary formula begins to show its age. MonsterVine - Diego Escala - 5 / 5 Hitman 3 is a phenomenal closer to what has been an excellent trilogy in a series I hold dear. Noisy Pixel - Azario Lopez - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 builds on the structure of its predecessors but doesn't recycle old mechanics. Its creative sandbox systems encourage multiple playthroughs with possible outcomes only limited by your imagination. Returning fans will get the most of this narrative as it ties up a few loose ends but doesn't totally stick the landing. It's absolutely brilliant in execution, though, as you replay missions for different results providing the most robust experience to those who spend the most time playing. PC Gamer - Andy Kelly - 90 / 100 A beautiful, deep, and endlessly replayable murder sandbox, featuring some of the best levels in the series. PCGamesN - Jordan Forward - 8 / 10 Another fine outing for Agent 47, and a fitting, hopefully brief, farewell to one of the best stealth series of the last decade. PlayStation Universe - Neil Bolt - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 closes out the World of Assassination Trilogy with developer IO Interactive in confident mood. Lessons learned from the past five or six years have worked their way into this splendid epitaph for a series that looked dead and buried more than once along the way. As with its predecessor's, there are some lows to go with the highs, but those highs? They are truly something special and make the future of IO Interactive an exciting prospect. Player2.net.au - Matt Hewson - A or higher A franchise like no other comes to an epic and satisfying conclusion. Hitman III is the culmination of both story and development skill that will leave fans everywhere smiling with joy. Polygon - Samit Sarkar - Unscored IO Interactive delivers a terrific, thrilling finale for its trilogy PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 9 / 10 It's enormously addictive and is endlessly replayable. For one of the first major releases in 2021, Hitman is an absolute home run Press Start - James Mitchell - 8.5 / 10 HITMAN III is a decidedly epic conclusion to the events established in the first two games. It offers fantastic, well-realised locales with objectives that are unconventional, at least by HITMAN standards, to come out feeling fresh. Though in pursuit of this, it has lost a bit of the breadth we've come to expect from the series. Ultimately, it delivers what it promised to - a strong conclusion to the trilogy. Push Square - Sammy Barker - 9 / 10 On its own, Hitman 3 is a moody conclusion to a generation-defining trilogy, but when taken as a complete compilation, it's the ultimate stealth sandbox. IO Interactive has honed its gameplay formula to perfection, and it's on top form here Rectify Gaming - Dave Rodriguez - 9.6 / 10 After two decades of pasta cans, silver ballers, suitcase snipers and more, Hitman 3 delivers the perfect hit. Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Brendan Caldwell - Unscored As a final act, Hitman 3 is as capable and pleasing as its trilogy-siblings. As a trilogy, it is one of the most fun-loving games of the previous decade. Screen Rant - Christopher Teuton - 4.5 / 5 stars Hitman 3 is the best of the newer Hitman games and quite possibly the best Hitman game in the franchise. Shacknews - Bill Lavoy - 9 / 10 It’s great on its own, but combined with Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2 it helps make up the masterpiece which is the World of Assassination trilogy. Spaziogames - Italian - 8.8 / 10 Hitman 3 is an amazingly crafted epilogue for the World of Assassination trilogy and the best modern Hitman yet. The Games Machine - Daniele Dolce - Italian - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 dances asymptotically with the concept of perfection, often approaching it without ever really grasping its essence. Nevertheless, IO Interactive manages to improve and refine a well-established formula, while offering a a truly satisfying conclusion to 47's struggle against Providence. Although there are some flaws, they're almost entirely eclipsed by the incredible quality of everything else. TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves - 8 / 10 Charting the series' progress since that 2016 Paris debut has been a fascinating journey. IO have learned a lot over the past five years and that really shows in Hitman 3. It's a flashier, more fluid evolution of IO's original template - a rewarding conclusion to one of the most unique video game franchises around, and one we'll continue playing for many weeks and months to come. TrueAchievements - Sean Carey - 4.5 / 5 stars All in all, IO Interactive has stuck with what it knows best with Hitman 3: gorgeously crafted open playgrounds for the player to wreak slick and murderous havoc in. TrueGaming - نواف النغموش - Arabic - 9 / 10 Hitman 3 is the quintessential stealth game. Twinfinite - Tom Hopkins - 4 / 5 Without straying far from the successful sandbox formula, it’s an excellent final part of IO’s trilogy. While the increased freedom and level variety won’t be for everyone, Hitman 3 boasts some of the best locations and stories the series has ever seen, and there’s so much to uncover in each and every one of them. VG247 - Alex Donaldson - 5 / 5 stars Taken individually, Hitman 3 feels like great value, with plenty of variety and lots to do. When taken as a whole, the World of Assassination trilogy is hands-down one of the best and most complete-feeling trilogies in video game history. WellPlayed - Dylan Blereau - 8.5 / 10 Hitman 3 does an excellent job of wrapping up the World of Assassination Trilogy, pairing the predictable yet enjoyable narrative with the refined and forever reliable Hitman gameplay Windows Central - Zackery Cuevas - 4 / 5 stars Hitman 3 features some of the most complex and most creative levels in the series history while polishing the gameplay to perfection. Unfortunately, it's held back by some hefty paywalls, uneven mission pacing, and some occasional clunky AI. Worth Playing - Andreas Salmen - 8.6 / 10 The third Hitman game delivers a satisfying and worthwhile ending to the series and some fun and varied stages, all while adding a bunch of minor adjustments and content that fans will enjoy for hours. If you're a fan of the series, Hitman 3 is a very competent end to the trilogy that provides a massive and deep Hitman experience that is easy to recommend. submitted by /u/diogenesl to r/Games [link] [comments]

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Horizon Zero Dawn Review Thread Release Date: Feb 28, 2017 - NA Mar 1, 2017 - EU Developer: Guerrilla Games Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Metacritic: 88/100 OpenCritic: 88/100 Subreddit: /r/Horizon Original review thread by /u/sonuyosrox This was my error in removing the thread hastily when a banned domain was referenced while I was juggling about a dozen tabs and the modqueue. We've had to manually approve the threads in the past because they occasionally trigger the automod. Sonuyosrox always does great review threads for us. Scored Reviews Ars Technica - Approved Horizon is huge in every way that counts, and it should be celebrated for doing what too many games don't these days: telling an enthralling, time-consuming journey that's already complete on the disc—and one we'll remember for years to come. Attack of the Fanboy - 4.5/5 Horizon: Zero Dawn has been a long time coming, but it is finally here and it does not disappoint at all. Featuring a likeable new protagonist in Aloy alongside a compelling story, the game will keep you invested, whether through the main story or even the countless side quests that add more lore to this intriguing world. Complete with a deep combat system and stunning visuals, Guerrilla Games has already raised the bar for exclusives this year with Horizon: Zero Dawn. CG Magazine - 8.5/10 Horizon Zero Dawn isn’t out to break the mould, but at the end of the day that doesn’t matter. Guerilla has made a sprawling, gorgeous, tight gameplay experience that anyone with a PlayStation should pick up. Cheat Code Central - 4.9/5 When all is said and done, Horizon Zero Dawn far exceeds my expectations and is on course to be one of the best titles the gaming community has seen in a long time. A critic’s review doesn’t do justification to the awesomeness contained within this living work of art. It’s a story-centric adventure that will certainly send you on a captivating journey from start to finish, and then some. Destructoid - 7.5/10 Horizon Zero Dawn is a fascinating premise wrapped in a tortilla of tropes. It has detective vision, radio towers, skill trees, masked load screens (Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gets no credit for popularizing this in 2005, by the way), and a world map littered with billions of points of interest -- all stuff you've seen before. But after you set up and execute a cunning plan to decimate a pack of giant robot crocodiles and that smile hits your face, it's more excusable. Easy Allies - 4/5 Video Review Link Horizon Zero Dawn feels like a franchise in the making. While not packed with narrative high points, it’s still a compelling introduction to a world in turmoil that answers a lot of questions, but still gestures toward a more climactic future. Its primary element, squaring off against mechanized animals, is such a success, it makes up for the ongoing repetition of the game’s activities. When we look into Horizon’s future, we see a sequel that can take this world and make it into something remarkable. Forbes - 9/10 If you’re overloaded on open world games, I don’t blame you, but Horizon is one of the better entries in the crowded genre, and it’s kind of cool to witness the birth of what’s probably going to be a pretty key franchise for PlayStation in the coming years. No, Horizon probably isn’t as monumental of an experience as playing Uncharted or God of War for the first time, but it’s well-made, engaging and probably worth your time. GameInformer - 8.8/10 None of Horizon's faults stopped me from sinking 55 hours into the game, or walking away supremely satisfied with the experience. Horizon may not be a revolution for the open-world genre, but it is a highly polished and compelling adventure that proves Guerrilla is more than a single franchise. GamesRadar+ - 4.5/5 Like a real ecosystem, Horizon: Zero Dawn is brilliantly balanced. Aloy feels like an inextricable part of it, halfway between prey and predator. Whether you’re climbing cliff-faces with a weightless, fluid joy, hunting, or travelling through the landscape, Horizon: Zero Dawn takes you on a tour of discovery. An endless sense of wonder and awe push you onward no matter what you’re doing. The more time I spend in Horizon: Zero Dawn’s world, the less I want to leave. GameSpot - 9/10 This is first departure from the Killzone series for developer Guerilla Games, and though you might think the team took a risk by stepping out of its FPS comfort zone to create a third-person open-world action game, you'd never know it was their first rodeo. For every minor imperfection, there's an element of greatness that recharges your desire to keep fighting and exploring Zero Dawn's beautiful and perilous world. Guerilla Games has delivered one of the best open-world games of this generation, and redefined its team's reputation in the process. Geek Culture - 10/10 Aloy’s journey of 30-odd hours is a perfect example of when everything just falls nicely into place. With an engaging story driven by one of the best characters in recent memory, and a gorgeous world which encourages exploration and plenty of action to keep you occupied, it is instantly familiar but oh so refreshing. You would be remiss to pass up on what could be the next incumbent franchise for years to come, Horizon Zero Dawn notches up yet another win in PlayStation’s strong start to 2017 after Nioh. Giant Bomb - 5/5 Horizon: Zero Dawn is familiar but also really refreshing. It's not a short game (I spent around 30 hours with it), but the storytelling still feels concise and efficient. The combat has some nice options that make encounters fun, even when you're just stacking up stealth kills from the relative safety of a bush. And the presentation end of the game holds up its end of things with a solid soundtrack, great voice acting, and a cohesive design that makes all its disparate parts fit together. All in all, it's a great game, it's Guerrilla's strongest release to date, and I suspect I'll go back in after the fact to clean up whatever side quests and errands I have remaining, if only to spend a little more time in that world. God is a Geek - 9.5/10 There’s so much to enjoy, and you’re never going to run out of cool stuff to do. The Carja AI is a little poor at times (if you see a dead body, making a song and dance about it!), and the GPS waypoint system can be misleading, but these are minor issues. This game is damn near perfect, and you’ll going to absolutely love it. IGN - 9.3/10 Across a vast and beautiful open world, Horizon: Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity - combat - is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising - and moving - conclusion. Jim Sterling - 9.5/10 Horizon: Zero Dawn is just brilliant. I speak as a critic who has played more “open sandbox” games than any one human should and has grown so very weary of them. I should have gotten sick of this thing in an hour, but I’ve been glued to it for days and days and I don’t want it to end. I love existing in this world – a world of desperate survival but of growing culture and a sense of hope. A world of giant metal animals that promise some breathtaking fights. KindaFunny - Recommended NZ Gamer - 8/10 Aloy’s quest through the post-post-apocalypse is one of pros and cons. Encounters with robotic wildlife are equal parts tactical and reflexive, but fights against humans are awkward, and the camera is unwieldly. The world is lush and gorgeous, but traversing it can be a chore. Horizon Zero Dawn is a breath of fresh air, and a welcome departure from Guerrilla’s previous offerings – but the journey takes some missteps. Polygon - 9.5/10 Those duller moments are a footnote, however, and they did little to slow down the game's momentum and my interest in it. Horizon Zero Dawn thrums with the energy of a creative team finally allowed to explore something new. It builds on elements of open-world and loot-and-craft gameplay that we've seen before, but it does so within a context, a setting and a style that feel fresh. Horizon Zero Dawn discovers a stronger sense of its own personality in one game than Killzone ever managed across half a dozen. Guerrilla Games has long been developing some of the most buzzed-about games in the industry; with Horizon, it feels like it has finally found its own voice, one worthy of all that buzz. PlayStation Lifestyle - 10/10 A massive, open world filled with equally massive, terrifying robots, juxtaposed against the beauty of the Earth, nature fighting back the darkness as it tends to do. Horizon Zero Dawn is the kind of game you play to get lost in, and can be enjoyed by players of all types. This could be the beginning of a stellar franchise, and there is something for everyone here. If you own a PS4, you owe it to yourself to give Horizon Zero Dawn a go. PlayStation Universe - 9.5/10 Beneath the beautiful surface is something greater: a triumphant beginning. Horizon enters rarefied air by telling an amazing story and building a compelling world atop excellent, challenging gameplay. With this debut, Guerrilla Games reinvigorates the open-world RPG, setting a laser focus on what’s fun and meaningful while permitting only mechanics that complement the player’s skill. Its rewards don’t come easily, but they are tremendous. Horizon Zero Dawn stands among the greatest debuts in modern gaming and is one of PS4’s best games. Push Square - 9/10 Debuts don't get much stronger than Horizon: Zero Dawn. Guerrilla Games' latest borrows liberally from a variety of different sources, and yet it leverages these fundamentals to forge an experience that's daringly unique. The main quest tires a little towards the end, and the writing never hits the same highs as The Witcher 3 – but the tactical action stands leagues ahead of what we've come to expect from the genre, and the presentation is quite simply unmatched. Shacknews - 9/10 When I began Horizon: Zero Dawn, I was anxious it wouldn't be able to maintain itself for thirty-plus hours. I'm thrilled that fear was unfounded. The play was constantly rich and rewarding, and the mysteries constantly unfolding. I'm left not just feeling satisfied the entire time, but wanting more. This one is something special. Stevivor - 7/10 Once you see through its flash, Zero Dawn comes off a bit tired, rehashing concepts you’ve seen before. Its true failing is its everything but the kitchen sink mentality; if a little focus was applied, this would have been spectacular, not merely satisfactory. That’s said, let’s not mourn what could have been — just yet, anyway — and celebrate what is a decent groundwork for something bigger and better to come. TheSixthAxis - 8/10 Horizon: Zero Dawn is a bit of a slow burn, but there’s more to Guerrilla Games’ latest than just its staggeringly pretty graphics. The story surprises as it takes several twists and turns and explores the past, but the games beating heart is with its excellently tense and engaging robotic monster hunting. The Telegraph - 5/5 Aside from the occasional bit of weak voice acting and some bad lip sinc, there’s not a lot to complain about with Horizon. Side quests can be rather simple, often asking you to track someone or something, or sending you to gather items, kill, or get somewhere. Similarly, the moment-to-moment dialogue doesn’t do much to motivate you, but the action itself is good enough to carry it and the overarching story is dripping in mystery which, crucially, pays off. On the surface, Horizon seems like a jumble of influences but, just like the murderous machina wandering its lands, the game is far more than its component parts, delivering a gripping story, satisfying combat, and the most gorgeous video game environments I’ve ever seen. Twinfinite - 5/5 Horizon Zero Dawn is a treat to every PS4 owner. Its magical world is a wonder to explore, it controls and looks exceptional, and the unique, modular build of its enemies ensures that combat never gets old. Yes, items could have been more accessible, and I was left with more questions than answers by the end, but these were mere speed bumps in the bigger picture. Horizon Zero Dawn is the PS4’s first major exclusive of 2017, and it couldn’t have gotten much better. US Gamer - 2.5/5 Horizon Zero Dawn is disappointing. It has a story that I struggled to care about (complete with massive expository dumps—yay), a bland protagonist, and overtly repetitive and constraining missions that worked against its open world sensibilities. When Horizon Zero Dawn hit its rare strides—from its gloomy Cauldrons to traveling across its sprawling vistas—it only made me wish the rest of the game were as worthwhile. Unscored Reviews Eurogamer - No Score Given yet Horizon: Zero Dawn is a work of considerable finesse and technical bravado, but it falls into the trap of past Guerrilla games in being all too forgettable. For all its skin-deep dynamism it lacks spark; somewhat like the robotic dinosaurs that stalk its arrestingly beautiful open world, this is a mimic that's all dazzle, steel and neon yet can feel like it's operating without a heart of its own. Reviews will continue to be posted as they go live. submitted by /u/falconbox to r/PS4 [link] [comments]