Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Review (PS5)
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Review (PS5)
Citzien Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is enthralling. The world combines hostility and hope, with people who do what they can to make a place for themselves. Tense encounters become captivating as your crew pushes against their limits to achieve what they desire. Whether it is knowledge, power, or freedom, the characters of this world push against restraints enforced upon them by this world and those who govern it. With dice systems that are willing to place short-term and long-term consequences on your character, this RPG combines dramatic and mechanical tension to create one of the best games I have played.
On the run
You play as a sleeper, a synthetic android implanted with the copied consciousness of a human. Originally built for corporate servitude, this sleeper had escaped from their corporation and fell into the clutches of the gang leader Laine. In exchange for disabling the corporation’s tracking device and providing Stabilizer, a drug necessary for a sleeper’s survival, the sleeper was forced into working for Laine. After the sleeper is interrupted from an attempt to reboot and free themself from Laine and the Stabilizer, they must escape with another of Laine’s former workers, Serafin. On the run, the sleeper and Serafin must do what they can to survive in the Starward Belt.
To survive, the sleeper must build a crew and take on work in the various settlements in the Belt. While doing so you meet a full cast of characters that like the first game range from sympathetic companions to monstrous antagonists. As you continue to work and interact with them, you have the opportunity to learn more about their desires, their past, or just their quirks. The opportunity to just exist with these characters is immensely satisfying as your crew is well-rounded and likable. Whether it is a headstrong courier or a kind mechanic, each character is a welcome addition to the crew.
And this world is imaginative and gripping. Whether it is the inner conflicts within the various stations or the corporate war raging out of the system, it is easy to become involved with both your crew’s struggles and the surrounding issues. One of the challenges in Citizen Sleeper 2 is deciding how altruistic you can be. You are constantly put under pressure to take care of yourself, so helping others can feel like a sacrifice. There were points where I was pulled between staying loyal to my crew, helping the local population, and taking care of myself. These choices help reinforce that navigating this world can be difficult, especially if you choose to do so kindly.
The pressures and hostility are reinforced in the resource management that permeates Citizen Sleeper 2. While you may not need Stablizer, you do need supplies to eat, fuel to power your ship, components to make repairs, and money to buy all this stuff. On the small scale, just making enough money or scavenging enough supplies can be a challenge, especially if you are already exhausted from previous adventures. There were multiple times I was at the edge of my seat trying to earn enough to bounce back from a failed job.
Power of dice
Success in these jobs is dictated by your skills and your dice. Every cycle you roll five six-sided dice and you use these dice to complete various skill checks. The higher the roll, the more likely you are to receive a positive outcome. Depending on your class, you will also have various skills that influence how effective you are at various tasks. If you have basic competency with engineering, your dice will function as normal, but if you are more skilled in engineering, you will receive a buff to your dice. If you are not skilled in engineering, you will receive a penalty to every dice you use. Finding tasks that align with your skill set is essential to completing jobs and surviving in the Starward Belt.
The lack of money that comes from on-station jobs encourages you to take on contracts, off-site jobs that promise greater risks and rewards. You must manage both your fuel and supplies on these contracts, which dictate whether you can reach the job site and how long you can safely stay working. Your crew becomes a mechanical asset, as their skills help complement your own as you attempt the various tasks necessary to complete the job. In addition to managing your supplies, you must manage the stress levels of the crew as too much stress can cause crew members to no longer be able to function. Keeping your crew calm and fed can be difficult as these contracts are also more complex and time-consuming than the on-station jobs. There were multiple times that I scraped by with the skin of my teeth, leaving with both temporary wounds and permanent scars.
Those wounds often come in the form of damage to your dice. As you fail skill checks or fail to eat, you receive stress. As stress increases, you receive damage to your dice and when the dice lose all of their health, they break. Repairing the dice requires scrap components or rare components for a cleaner fix. The repaired dice often come with glitches that influence future rolls. Your dice also serve as your health so if you lose all of your dice, you die. This causes more permanent glitches to your dice depending on the difficulty. These glitches provide consequences for failure that stick with you in meaningful ways. It places your narrative struggles in mechanical terms.
Your struggles, your crew members, and the world around you are portrayed mostly through text with the occasional portrait. The writing is evocative whether it is describing artificial consciousness, the personal struggles of one of your friends, or the cold machinery of a space station. I was constantly drawn to the writing and how well it paints these portraits through text. Citizen Sleeper 2’s writing is the primary draw of this game and is wonderful to experience.
Conclusion
Citizen Sleeper 2’s blend of strong writing with mechanical systems that provide meaningful consequences creates a phenomenal RPG. With an alluring world, a cast of likable characters, and text that creates better pictures than some of the best graphics I’ve seen, this is easily one of the finest RPGs that is out there.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector releases today.
William Dowell Contributor
William Dowell is a freelance writer with bylines on Unwinnable, Fanbyte, and Rock Paper Shotgun. When not writing, William maintains a career as a freelance musician.
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AstraZeneca ditches £450m investment in *** plant
AstraZeneca ditches £450m investment in *** plant
AstraZeneca has scrapped plans to invest £450m in expanding a vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside, blaming a reduction in government support.
The pharmaceutical giant announced its decision just two days after Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out Labour’s plan to go “further and faster” to boost economic growth.
AstraZeneca said that after “protracted” talks, a number of factors influenced the move, including “the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government’s proposal”.
The Treasury said a change to the “make-up of the investment” that had originally been proposed led to the government grant being reduced.
“All government grant funding has to demonstrate value for the taxpayer and unfortunately, despite extensive work from government officials, it has not been possible to achieve a solution,” said a Treasury spokesperson.
AstraZeneca said despite ditching its investment plans, its site in Speke would “continue to produce and supply our flu vaccine, for patients in the *** and around the world”.
It added that none of the current jobs at the plant would be affected.
On Wednesday, Reeves named AstraZeneca as one of the “great companies” as she set out her plans to kickstart economic growth, saying she was “determined to make Britain the best place in the world to invest”.
But shadow business secretary Andrew Griffiths said: “There’s no vaccine for incompetence.
“In the same week they talked about growth, Labour seem to have fumbled a deal with AstraZeneca, one of the ***’s largest companies and central to the critical life sciences sector.”
Labour has made boosting the *** economy its main objective in a bid to raise living standards but growth has remained sluggish.
The government has been trying to encourage more firms to invest in the *** and create new jobs.
Plans to expand AstraZeneca’s site at Speke had been set out by the previous Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in last March’s Budget.
But reports subsequently emerged that talks over the plans between the new Labour government and the company had run into delays.
Hunt called AstraZenca’s announcement an “absolute tragedy” and urged Reeves to “pick up the phone” to the company’s boss, Sir Pascal Soriot.
“If she believes in growth short term penny pinching cannot be the answer,” he wrote on X.
AstraZeneca’s decision was announced as some businesses brace for tax rises in April, with an increase in the rate of National Insurance that employers have to pay.
The threshold at which firms start paying National Insurance is also being lowered.
The chancellor has recently shifted her tone about the ***’s growth and investment prospects after she and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were accused of negativity over the country’s finances.
But some companies have warned that the extra costs they face, along with minimum wage rises and a reduction in business rates relief, could impact their ability to hire workers and invest in growth.
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What I’m hearing: NFL insiders skeptical there’s a franchise-caliber QB available in draft
What I’m hearing: NFL insiders skeptical there’s a franchise-caliber QB available in draft
MOBILE, Ala. — This is not shaping up to be The Year of the Quarterback.
Teams in search of a quarterback this offseason are facing a major dilemma. The prospect pool is way down, to the point where some personnel executives around the NFL don’t believe there’s a franchise signal-caller in the draft, and the veteran market doesn’t have a prized asset, either.
Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are still viewed as the top pair of quarterbacks in the draft class, and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart seemed to have won the week at the Senior Bowl to generate buzz among teams as a potential first-rounder.
But not all draft classes are created equal.
Over the past month, numerous front office sources echoed a common refrain to The Athletic: They would not rank any of the draft prospects ahead of the six quarterbacks who were selected in the first round last year.
“I would guess 90% of the people here (at the Senior Bowl) would feel that way,” one executive said this week.
That sentiment will put teams at the top of the draft in the danger zone. The Tennessee Titans (No. 1 pick), Cleveland Browns (No. 2), New York Giants (No. 3), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 6), New York Jets (No. 7) and New Orleans Saints (No. 9) could all be in the market for a QB. The Giants and Raiders have made no secret over their desperation to find a long-term answer at the position.
A couple of executives highly skeptical of the class, though, believed it’s much too dicey to take a QB in the top five this year, especially with Texas’ Arch Manning and a host of other promising prospects eligible for the 2026 class.
“If the Giants select (the wrong QB), it could set the franchise back years,” one of those executives said.
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Giants GM Joe Schoen on QB prospect Shedeur Sanders: “He’s a great kid”
The Titans, who have a need at QB, have a fascinating decision ahead of them with the top pick. They have a new regime after hiring general manager Mike Borgonzi, and it’s believed by some that they prefer Ward to Sanders. However, the Titans met with Sanders for about an hour last week at the East-West Shrine Bowl, according to a league source. That’s viewed as a longer time than usual to meet with a prospect in that type of setting.
It could be chalked up to pure due diligence or even a smokescreen. But because evaluators want to meet with Sanders to see where football lies on his list of priorities, the extended meeting could also be a strong sign of their serious interest in the son of the Pro Football Hall of Famer. Deion Sanders, by the way, called into Shedeur’s meeting with the Titans, the league source said.
It also can’t be ignored that Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker recently said they “won’t pass on a generational talent with the first pick.” Considering the general lack of excitement over the quarterback class, it’s conceivable Brinker was referring to a player at another position, perhaps Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter or Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter. A few executives also believed the Titans would be better off trading the pick.
The debate between Ward and Sanders is interesting. Ward has the ******* arm and is more physically gifted, but he needs to be more disciplined with the football. Sanders had better tape and is the more accurate passer, but he doesn’t have an electric arm.
And again, teams are curious whether Sanders will fully dedicate himself to being a great player at the NFL level, which is something they hope to uncover over the next couple months of meetings. If teams like what they learn, Sanders will likely be a high pick. If not, one executive went so far as to predict he’ll fall out of the first round.
There’s also the wait-and-see approach. Dart might have worked his way into the first round this week in Mobile, even though he’s not perceived as a surefire starter, because quarterbacks are in such high demand. Dart’s case may be comparable to Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix, who weren’t considered first-round locks this time last year but have so far validated their teams’ aggressive draft-night approaches.
Alabama’s Jalen Milroe is another early-round possibility. Milroe is loaded with natural talent but needs time to refine it and develop into a more accurate passer. If he isn’t rushed into a bad situation, there’s a chance he could eventually materialize as a starter.
Of course, teams will also explore the veteran market, but there are more temporary fixes than long-term solutions. Sam Darnold was viewed for a while as the best player available, to the point where it seemed to be a lock he’d get a contract worth north of $40 million annually, but his poor play over the Minnesota Vikings’ final two losses has scared teams. It’s unclear how his offseason will transpire at this point.
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The Atlanta Falcons could cut or trade Kirk Cousins, who should theoretically be better in 2025 due to his recovery from a torn Achilles.
Those options might not excite a fan base like a draft pick, but they could ultimately be preferable to a front office that is afforded patience by ownership to wait for the 2026 class.
To be fair, it’s entirely possible to draft Ward, Sanders or anyone else in April and develop them into long-term starters. A good situation matters, just as it does when perceived generational talents are failed by bad organizations.
But if teams are playing the odds with the current class, there seems to be more skepticism around the league than usual.
(Photo: Julian Leshay Guadalupe / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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The Greatest Terror for Marvel Rivals Healer Mains Isn’t Iron Fist But Another DPS Hero With Godlike Mobility
The Greatest Terror for Marvel Rivals Healer Mains Isn’t Iron Fist But Another DPS Hero With Godlike Mobility
It’s been nearly two months since Marvel Rivals made its official debut, and the game’s community is still uncovering the hidden strengths and weaknesses of each hero. While various heroes are standing out, it turns out that the true menace lurking in the shadows is none other than Spider-Man.
Support players are not enjoying one hero’s abilities. | Image Credit: NetEase
This beloved web-slinger has become an absolute terror for one archetype in particular: Strategist, essentially healer mains. With his unpredictable mobility and disruptive abilities, he has quickly become the most feared character for healers, and players are searching for ways to deal with him.
Spider-Man has become a master of disruption in Marvel Rivals
Players are looking for ways to deal with the web-slinger. | Image Credit: NetEase Games
Players were excited to see the friendly hero swing into action in Marvel Rivals. After all, this is the same Spider-Man who’s always been known for his quick wit, charm, and ability to lend a hand in times of crisis. Who wouldn’t want him on their team, right?
Well, it turns out, that while he might be friendly to his allies, he’s been far from friendly to enemy support mains. His web-shooting skills and mobility have made him a disruptive force that’s constantly throwing a wrench, in this case web, in the plans of support players.
His core abilities center around his mobility and his web-shooting skills, giving him quick and unorthodox movement. These webs don’t just slow down opponents, they can stun and pull enemies in.
This ability to stun and reposition heroes, especially support (who have less measure to deal with him) makes it nearly impossible for them to focus on healing/supporting their teammates. Well, support players are not happy and are trying to find new ways to deal with the web-slinger.
Comment byu/Ordinary-Albatross44 from discussion inmarvelrivals
Comment byu/Ordinary-Albatross44 from discussion inmarvelrivals
Comment byu/Ordinary-Albatross44 from discussion inmarvelrivals
Many have taken to social media and gaming forums to express their frustrations. While players are complaining, they can’t do anything as this is what the character is simply made for. Players are now looking at ways to deal with him.
Spider-Man mains playing the role to perfection
Players are enjoying the menace that is Spider-Man. | Image Credit: NetEase Games
Just like how Iron Fist is a menace to the adversaries (with his dash and great damage), Spider-Man has also become one in the hands of a skilled player. Players are now maximizing the hero’s abilities to create chaos and devastation.
While he can certainly deal damage, players have quickly recognized his role as a DPS and disruptor. When played effectively, he will weave in and out of combat, isolating enemy support players and preventing them from doing their job.
For healer mains, well, this is what makes him painful. So, support mains have to do a bit of extra work to learn other useful support heroes, particularly Loki, who with his clone can easily confuse others.
Everything considered, it’s all about how players utilize the various hero abilities, as if played effectively, any hero can be a menace. As more heroes get added to the roster and meta changes, it’s clear that Web-slinger has found a perfect balance between eliminating enemies and dismantling enemy support.
In the end, whether you’re a healer trying to keep your team alive or a DPS player trying to find the perfect counter, one thing is certain: Spider-Man is here to stay.
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Barclays hit by major IT outage on HMRC deadline day
Barclays hit by major IT outage on HMRC deadline day
Customers of Barclays Bank have been left unable to access web app and online banking, make payments to and from their accounts, or access customer services, in the wake of a significant IT outage at the bank which struck on Friday 31 January.
According to Ookla’s Downdetector service, reports of issues affecting *** customers began shortly after 5am on 31 January, and have remained relatively constant since then, with peaks at approximately 7am and 9:20am in the morning.
In a statement posted to social media network X (formerly Twitter), Barclays confirmed it was experiencing an ongoing outage and apologised to those who have seen issues with its services as a result.
“We’re having some problems with some of our systems today – we’re sorry about this and we’re working hard to fix the issue,” a spokesperson said.
“You may have trouble using some features in our app, Online Banking, as well as payments in and out of your accounts – we’re also unable to help you over the telephone or our Message Us service.
“You can still use your cards and cash machines as normal,” said the spokesperson, although this goes against reports from customer, some of whom are saying that they have had their cards repeatedly declined.
The bank also said that if people have been unable to make a payment, they should not attempt to make it again. More information on affected services is available here.
Banks and other financial services organisations are acutely vulnerable to IT disruption given the extent to which they are relied on by consumers and businesses alike, and such outages are not infrequent.
Earlier this month, an outage at Capital One in the United States saw customers locked out of online banking services for days following a supply chain incident that was ultimately traced to a power outage at FIS Global, a third-party supplier of fintech services such as payment processing that works with Capital One.
At the time of writing, there is no evidence or indication to suggest that the downtime at Barclays has been caused by a cyber attack or other form of security or supply chain incident.
In instances where they are responding publicly to questions, Barclays’ customer service teams are currently referring only to “technical issues”.
Bad timing
However, the IT outage at Barclays has a significant sting in its tail given Friday 31 January is the HMRC deadline for filing self-assessment tax returns, which must be done by midnight.
This has raised justifiable concerns among self-employed customers because those who miss this deadline face an initial fixed penalty of £100 even in the event that there is no tax to pay, or payment has been made on time, with additional penalties following.
People who provide HMRC with a reasonable excuse for missing the annual deadline may avoid a penalty, but all these cases are always considered on an individual basis.
This has left many Barclays customers concerned, with many taking to social media to ask if the bank will compensate them for any fines incurred.
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Trump to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico starting March 1: sources – National
Trump to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico starting March 1: sources – National
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U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce new tariffs against Canada and Mexico that will begin on March 1, but will include a process for the countries to seek specific exemptions for certain imports, three people familiar with the planning told Reuters.
The tariff situation remained fluid on Friday and no decision is final until Trump makes a public announcement.
The sources, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said they did not have details on a final tariff rate, but noted Trump has consistently said that he plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from the two countries on Saturday.
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Separately, an administration official said Trump on Friday was reviewing tariff plans, which may allow for some exemptions. Still, any exemptions would be “few and far between,” the official said.
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While the announcement of tariffs may roil financial markets and strain the U.S. relationship with its top two trading partners, offering a 28-day window before implementation and a process for exemptions would suggest a more careful approach by the Trump administration.
It also would buy time for negotiations over actions by Canada and Mexico to meet Trump’s stated goals for the duties, to pressure the two U.S. neighbors to halt the flow of ******** immigrants and deadly fentanyl across the U.S. border.
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U.S. Tariff Dispute
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Former Trafigura executive Mike Wainwright convicted in bribery case
Former Trafigura executive Mike Wainwright convicted in bribery case
Switzerland’s highest court has convicted the commodities trading giant Trafigura and one of its senior executives of bribery over payments made by the firm to gain access to Angola’s lucrative oil market.
In a landmark case, the court handed the company’s British former chief operating officer Mike Wainwright – who has also competed as a racing driver – a 32-month jail sentence and fined the company $148m (£119m).
This is the first time an entire company has been charged by Switzerland’s highest court, and bribery convictions of senior staff are rare.
Trafigura’s lawyers said they intend to appeal against the verdict.
The case against Trafigura has had all the elements of a financial thriller: millions of dollars, shady middlemen and a chain of shell companies located in offshore havens like the Virgin Islands.
Trafigura’s strategy, the court heard, was to set up a complex payment web, through which an official with Angola’s state oil company was paid almost $5m (£4.02m; €4.81) between 2009 and 2011.
Documents presented to the court by Swiss prosecutors showed payments authorised on Trafigura’s own headed notepaper.
The strategy appeared to work: over the next few years, the court heard, Angola signed contracts with Trafigura worth almost $144m (£115.93; €138.56).
Trafigura, whose lawyers appeared bullish before the verdict, denied bribery. The company said its own compliance and anti-corruption measures had been independently assessed and found to be excellent.
But the sheer weight of the evidence – which included dozens of documents, emails and memos – revealed a different picture: strict anti-corruption measures on paper but an intricate structure set up to evade those measures in reality. At the heart of it sat a middleman named “Mr Non-Compliant” in an anonymous Geneva office.
The case will send a chill through commodity brokers worldwide but especially in Geneva, where Trafigura and many other commodity trading houses are headquartered.
In an eerie coincidence, the night before the verdict was delivered, a fire broke out at the five star Hotel des Bergues – where, court documents showed, an Angolan official stayed at the expense of Trafigura in 2008.
Swiss federal prosecutors hope the case will be a symbol that the old ways of doing business are finally over.
They brought the charges to Switzerland’s highest court, reserved for the worst crimes, such as terrorist offences.
Trafigura now faces a large fine and Wainwright, who was in court for the verdict and denied the charges, was told he must serve at least one year of his 32 month sentence in jail. However, he was not immediately detained, pending an appeal.
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How Pam Shriver’s Grand Slam trophies, stolen during the LA wildfires, were found
How Pam Shriver’s Grand Slam trophies, stolen during the LA wildfires, were found
Pam Shriver, the 21-time Grand Slam doubles champion, got a call from the general manager of the Doubletree Hotel in Marina Del Rey on Monday.
“We have your awards,” he told her.
She thought he was talking about hotel rewards, following her family’s recent stay there. It was their evacuation destination as the Palisades fire in Los Angeles creeped dangerously close to Shriver’s Brentwood home.
Soon, she realized he was talking about the Grand Slam trophy collection that had been in her son’s car when it was stolen from the hotel. 11 trophies from the U.S. and French Opens were taken overnight Wednesday January 15, along with a number of family photos.
They came back too.
“Whoever stole the car, I don’t think they realized they were getting some photos from my mother’s side of the family and a bunch of trophies,” Shriver said in an interview Thursday.
Just under two weeks after they were taken, a box of trophies and photos appeared near the hotel’s parking lot gate. Shriver said that Det. Damien Levesque of the Los Angeles Police Department told her that they collected the box Tuesday. The footage, the detective said, showed someone emerging from a ****** SUV to leave the box by the hotel. Shriver collected the trophies the next day after they were fingerprinted.
Recovery of the photos and the trophies ended phase one of a story that began two weeks ago when Shriver woke up at the Marina del Rey DoubleTree and realized her son’s car had been stolen. Shriver won many of her titles with Martina Navratilova, the former world No. 1 who won more than 50 majors during her storied career, and described having the trophies returned as “feeling like [they] won another major” in a post on X.
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Pam Shriver says 11 Grand Slam trophies stolen during L.A. fire evacuation
Shriver spent the day trying to deal with that unfortunate event while sending messages to Donna Vekic, the top Croatian tennis player she helps coach. Vekic, the No. 18 seed at the *********** Open, was preparing for her third-round match in Melbourne, 7,000 miles away.
Vekic won, but there was no news of her belongings aside from her five Wimbledon doubles trophies. They were in a racket bag that had ended up in a different car to her son George’s stolen Dodge Durango.
Despite their prestige and meaning, the trophies — and sports memorabilia in general — have very little value because they are self-evidently stolen. The car was the item of greater value to any would-be thief.
Shriver was glad to have them back, she said, and to be back in her home, which was not damaged as firefighters were able to hold the fire line about a mile from her property. In the rush of the evacuation, the contents of that box was something of a blur.
Among the Grand Slam trophies, was another cherished award — a totem for being named the Brentwood Country Club’s most improved golfer in 2001.
That’s something Navratilova doesn’t have.
(Photo: Susan Mullane / USA Today Sports)
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Drop Duchy Preview: Tetris, Strategy, and Roguelite Gameplay – MonsterVine
Drop Duchy Preview: Tetris, Strategy, and Roguelite Gameplay – MonsterVine
“The Paris-based (France) indie games publisher The Arcade Crew and indie games developer Sleepy Mill Studio, today announced with great delight and thrill that their block-dropping strategy/roguelite “Drop Duchy”, is coming to PC (via Steam) this Fall (2024).” – Jonas Ek, TGG.
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These companies reporting next week have momentum going into earnings
These companies reporting next week have momentum going into earnings
A few companies have momentum by their side ahead of their quarterly results out next week. The fourth-quarter earnings season is off to a strong start, with just more than 77% of S & P 500 companies that have reported exceeding expectations. That is well above the 10-year average of 75%, per FactSet . Heading into the busiest week of the reporting ******* — more than 100 S & P 500 names are slated to post results — CNBC Pro set out to find which stocks analysts have become more bullish on ahead of the releases. Using FactSet, we looked for companies in the broad market index that have seen their average price target move up 10% or more over the past six months. Each stock we found has also had analyst earnings per share estimates increase 10% or more over the past three and six months. Take a look below for the handful of stocks that met this criteria: Shares of software company Palantir have jumped about 11.7% in 2025, after advancing more than a whopping 424% over the past year. Analysts have increased their earnings forecasts for the company by 16.4% over the past three months and roughly 27% over the past six months. After the stock’s massive runup, however, Morgan Stanley has turned negative on future gains. Analyst Sanjit Singh assumed coverage of Palantir earlier this month with an underweight rating. He noted that shares are trading at a premium valuation and that broadly improving artificial intelligence skills could make it difficult for the company to sustain its momentum. Palantir is set to report quarterly results on Monday after market close. PLTR 1Y mountain Palantir stock performance. Allstate , which is due to report on Wednesday, has also had analysts increase earnings estimates about 26% over the past three and six months. The stock is trading just above the flatline in the new year after being hit with worries that the Los Angeles wildfires could lead to losses for the insurance company. Some investors think Allstate, along with other insurance companies and reinsurers, will be able to largely recover from their losses. “It’s possible that the companies will use these fires to justify rate increases around the country in the future. But how insurers will fare if another large natural disaster strikes before this young year concludes is the big question,” a Jan. 16 note from Yardeni Research reads. Allstate shares are still up more than 27% over the past year. ALL 1Y mountain Allstate stock performance. Other stocks on the list with accelerating momentum include media giant Fox and cybersecurity stock Fortinet . Fox and Fortinet are due to report on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
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Nvidia’s DLSS 4 is amazing – here’s what AMD’s FSR 4 needs to do to take it on
Nvidia’s DLSS 4 is amazing – here’s what AMD’s FSR 4 needs to do to take it on
Nvidia’s DLSS 4 has set the bar for AMD’s FSR 4, with its new transformer model
The first looks at FSR 4 in performance mode are very promising
Team Red may struggle to compete if the entire package of FSR 4 is exclusive to RDNA 4
Nvidia has impressed me with its new DLSS 4 transformer model, which provides great image quality and stability even at super-resolution ‘performance’ modes – and now, I’m really hoping that AMD can keep up with FSR 4.
Based on my previous coverage regarding DLSS 4’s enhancements across several games, Team Red definitely has a big task ahead at potentially competing with Nvidia in this space. At the time of writing, FSR 4 is only confirmed to be available on RDNA 4 GPUs (no news yet on whether it can be used on RDNA 3 GPUs), so it may already be at a disadvantage up against DLSS 4 in terms of its capability of catering to older GPUs, since Nvidia’s new upscaling tech will be compatible with GPUs way back to the RTX 2000 series.
Taking DLSS 4’s jump from CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) to the new, superior transformer model into consideration, games will benefit from this, particularly in cases of poor optimization – while this shouldn’t give game developers an excuse to slack off in the optimization department, it’s hard to deny how important it will be going forward.
Demo footage of AMD’s FSR 4 is already out in the wild from CES 2025, and a prime example of this is the Hardware Unboxed FSR 3.1 and FSR 4 comparison video on YouTube (available below). In the same manner that Nvidia’s DLSS 4 impressed me with its improved visual clarity with DLSS 4 in performance mode, FSR 4 appears to follow in those same footsteps – now there’s no frame rate counter, so it’s difficult to judge just how good this mode will be performance wise, but it’s certainly a good sign.
Hands-On With AMD FSR 4 – It Looks… Great? – YouTube
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If AMD’s FSR 4 comes close to Nvidia’s DLSS 4, what does this mean in terms of competition?
In the event that FSR 4 goes toe-to-toe with DLSS 4, the only aspect that would then be holding Team Red back from competing would be the possible exclusivity to RDNA 4. While that could come down to hardware limitations preventing it from working on older GPUs, I’ve once held the same frustrations with Nvidia before regarding DLSS 3’s Frame Generation being exclusive to RTX 4000 series GPUs – so the same case applies here.
In this case, it would be an even ******* omission – we’re not just talking about FSR 4’s frame gen potentially being exclusive to RDNA 4, but the entire package that includes its super-resolution technology too.
As much as I absolutely want AMD to provide the necessary competition against Team Green in the GPU market, it already stated that the focus will be on mid-range GPUs (which we’re yet to really determine with the RX 9000 series), and DLSS 4 will be available on all RTX GPUs – if we’re being honest, it won’t help AMD’s position in this race…
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Intel co-CEO confirms Nova Lake is on track for 2026 — some parts will be produced externally
Intel co-CEO confirms Nova Lake is on track for 2026 — some parts will be produced externally
In its latest earnings call on Thursday, Intel finally provided a release timeline for its next-generation desktop family codenamed “Nova Lake.” Set to arrive in 2026, Nova Lake is said to succeed the existing Arrow Lake series, though we aren’t sure if these CPUs will retain LGA-1851 compatibility. Furthermore, co-CEO Michelle’s comments assert that some parts of Nova Lake will be outsourced to external foundries, likely TSMC, but that much was already expected.
Tempering expectations and working within means, Intel has delayed its Clearwater Forest server CPUs to 2026. Similarly, Falcon Shores, succeeding Gaudi 3, is now axed and will be used as an internal chip to help shape software and hardware support around Intel’s hybrid approach. That bit was disappointing, but it spared us a greater letdown from a rushed, half-baked release.
Michelle Holthaus, interim co-CEO of Intel, reasserted that Panther Lake, powered by Intel 18A, is on track for the second half of 2025. We spotted a few Panther Lake-H powered laptops at CES, wielding 12 cores (likely Cougar Cove/Darkmont) and an Xe3-powered integrated GPU. She further detailed that Nova Lake is planned for a 2026 release: “2026 is even more exciting from a client perspective as Panther Lake achieved meaningful volumes, and we introduced our next-generation client family codenamed Nova Lake.”
“Nova Lake will have die(s) both inside [Intel Foundry] and outside for that process. So, you’ll actually see compute tiles inside and outside.”
Former CEO Pat Gelsinger said 70% of Panther Lake would be built on Intel Foundry silicon. This number is expected to improve with Nova Lake, though Intel will still rely on external foundries (TSMC or even Samsung) for some variants or tiles. Regarding internal nodes, Intel hasn’t named a definitive node for Nova Lake. However, if things go as planned, 14A is a possible candidate as equivalent bleeding-edge nodes from TSMC might be a costlier alternative.
We’re still in the dark about specifications; however, Nova Lake is rumored to address the flaw that is crippling Arrow Lake: Memory latency. Reportedly, while the IMC is still separated from the Compute Tile, Intel is allegedly working on several optimizations to negate the effects of an off-die memory controller. Shipping records indicate that Nova Lake test chips are undergoing validation as we speak.
There wasn’t any comment on platform support for Nova Lake, which could make LGA-1851 one of the shortest-lived platforms in Intel’s history. This will come with the inconvenience of spending extra cash on a new motherboard and possibly even a new DDR6 memory, but that’s just a guess.
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Concert ticket prices soar, but music fans don’t care
Concert ticket prices soar, but music fans don’t care
From Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter to Kendrick Lamar and SZA, 2025 promises to be another big year for live music events. That may also mean concert-goers will be shelling out more for their favorite shows.
After rising steadily post-pandemic, admission to movies, theaters, and concerts jumped 20% since 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index data.
And yet, consumers have demonstrated a high tolerance for the increasing price tag, also known as “funflation.”
Concert goers attended an average of seven shows in 2024, and most plan to see more in 2025, according to a recent report by CouponCabin.
The survey of more than 1,000 music fans in December found that nearly 36% said they will spend $100 to $499 on concert tickets in 2025, while over 17% plan to spend up to $1,000.
Chalk it up to ‘funflation’
After testing new limits in 2024, Americans proved a willingness to splurge — even travel abroad — to catch shows like Taylor Swift’s Era Tour, bringing so-called “passion tourism” into the spotlight, some experts say.
Younger adults, particularly Generation Z and millennials, have even said they would go into debt to pursue some of these experiences, other recent reports show.
Nearly two out of five Gen Z and millennial travelers have spent up to $5,000 on tickets alone for destination live events, one recent study from Bread Financial found.
Why concert tickets got so expensive
“Dynamic pricing” is partly to blame for the escalating price tag, according to Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College of Music.
Originally coined by economists in the late 1920s, dynamic pricing refers the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand. Consumers often associate it with shifting airline ticket prices or how ride-hailing services adjust fares at busy times, Bennett said.
“We all know that if you are looking for an Uber or Lyft, there are certain times of night when it’s more expensive. The market seems to have adapted to that,” he said. “But concert tickets were generally a fixed price.”
That’s no longer the case. And now there is heightened awareness — and controversy — around the practice when it comes to buying highly sought-after event tickets.
More from Personal Finance: ‘I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art’ Recession pop: How music hits on economic trends ‘I’m looking for a man in finance’
How and when dynamic pricing is used is at the discretion of the artist or management, according to Andrew Mall, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University — and it is often determined under the radar.
However, with so many recent high-profile tours, “for sure, dynamic pricing has surged to the forefront of concert goers’ attention,” he recently told CNBC.
Ticketmaster is under investigation in the U.K. for its recent use of dynamic pricing in sales of reunion concerts from Britpop band Oasis.
Many Oasis fans took to social media to complain that they ended up paying more than double the face value of the ticket without warning. The band said it would abandon the practice for the North American leg of its tour.
Taylor Swift reportedly refused to dynamically price her Eras Tour tickets because “she didn’t want to do that to her fans,” Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, which promoted the event, told HITS Daily Double in October.
How ticket pricing evolved
Throughout the 21st century, revenue from recorded music has gone down while revenue from live music events has gone up. By the mid-2000s, concerts “provided a larger source of income for performers than record sales or publishing royalties,” economist Alan Krueger wrote in a paper on the economic issues and trends in the rock and roll industry.
Live music industry revenue jumped 25% in 2023 alone, according to data from Statista.
Ticketmaster in 2011 first introduced an early version of dynamic ticket pricing, which is now the standard for live music ticketing sales.
In more recent years, “ticket sales went crazy” driven by post-pandemic pent-up demand and a surge in mega-star stadium tours, Bennett said.
“You can see why it’s tempting,” he said. “The live music industry is constantly leaving money on the table that fans would pay. Dynamic pricing is sort of a capitalist inevitability given the forces at play, but I don’t want to live in a world where it costs $1,000 for my daughter to see Taylor Swift.”
Still, it’s now common for ticket-selling platforms to charge more per ticket depending on demand for the event at any given time — whether consumers like it or not, according to Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst.
“It’s not very popular, as you might imagine,” Schulz said. “Businesses and musicians are trying to see what the market will bear, and it makes things really difficult for the consumer.”
Why pricey tickets are here to stay
“Consumers don’t like the idea of dynamic pricing, but there is a renewed ‘YOLO’ [you only live once] attitude over the past few years since the pandemic and, increasingly, that drives a ******-may-care approach when it comes to spending on discretionary experiences,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
Even with household budgets strained, “you get to a point where there are just some experiences where consumers draw the line and say, that’s not something I’m willing to give up,” he said.
Ticket sellers are apparently aware of this mentality, too.
“Our research consistently tells us that concerts are a top priority for discretionary spending, and one of the last experiences fans will cut back on,” Live Nation said in a quarterly earnings call in 2023.
But as consumers continue to spare no expense to see their favorite artist or group, that means that means dynamic pricing is here to stay, at least for now.
“The live music sector has been leaning into this attitude for a long time,” Northeastern University’s Mall said.
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Colombia’s president calls for migrants to leave jobs in the US and return home
Colombia’s president calls for migrants to leave jobs in the US and return home
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president is calling on his compatriots working without legal status in the United States to leave their jobs and return home as soon as possible.
“Wealth is only produced by the working people,” Gustavo Petro said in an early morning post on the X platform. “Let’s build social wealth in Colombia.”
The leftist president said his government would provide loans to those who take up his offer to return home and enlist in one of its programs to start a business.
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Petro made his comments following a bitter feud over immigration last weekend with U.S. President Donald Trump that nearly triggered a trade war and rupture in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and its historic ally in South America.
Petro, in an earlier social media storm, accused the Trump administration of mistreating migrants who entered the U.S. illegally by handcuffing them and removing them on military flights to Latin America. Trump exploded when Petro denied two such flights permission to land.
Later, the two sides negotiated a truce amid protests by investors that Petro was sabotaging Colombia’s export economy, which relies heavily on purchases from the U.S.
Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the U.S. from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024.
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Classic Cartoon-Style Shooter Mouse: P. I. For Hire Won’t Have Microtransactions
Classic Cartoon-Style Shooter Mouse: P. I. For Hire Won’t Have Microtransactions
Games free of microtransactions have become increasingly uncommon, but one such game is on the way. The upcoming Mouse P. I. For Hire breaks away from that with the developers announcing to players the cartoony FPS won’t feature any sort of microtransactions whatsoever.
On the game’s official Twitter account, the creators promised an “awesome single-player, noir-fueled, guns-blazing FPS” without the need for microtransactions so players can buy the game and enjoy it as is.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire will NOT feature microtransactions. It WILL be an awesome single player, noir-fueled, guns blazing FPS that we’re pouring our hearts into pic.twitter.com/EwUp0Hq83I
— MOUSE P.I. For Hire (@mousethegame) January 31, 2025
Developed by Fumi Games and PlaySide Studios, the shooter features a classic cartoon aesthetic resembling that of Fleisher Studios of the 1930s. You play as Private Investigator Jack Pepper in the corrupt and crime-ridden city of Mouseburg.
“His journey starts with a seemingly cliché damsel in distress, but as P.I. Pepper begins to scratch the surface of Mouseburg’s seedy underbelly,” the official synopsis reads. “His journey for justice quickly spirals into a complex web of intrigue, involving *******, corruption, and the unlikeliest of enemies.”
From what we’ve seen from the footage and trailers, the gameplay will have a classic Doom or Duke Nukem feel–even with Pepper sounding like he’s doing a really good Duke impression. The weapon system slides more into cartoonish violence territory with not just tommy guns and shotguns, but playful-looking bazookas with enemies falling in comedic and violent ways.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire is coming to PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, although it does not yet have a release date. You can wishlist it now on Steam, where it’s said to be launching in 2025.
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Manufacturers prepare for higher costs
Manufacturers prepare for higher costs
As President Donald Trump threatens to impose his first tranche of tariffs on the world Saturday, ******** manufacturers are bracing for impact.
Though Trump is pledging to take his biggest initial swing at Canada and Mexico with a proposed 25% tariff, the U.S. president has suggested China is still on his radar. Earlier this month, Trump said initial tariffs could start at 10% as soon as Saturday. On the campaign trail, he threatened tariffs on ********-made goods of 60% or more.
Trump has contended tariffs boost U.S. manufacturing and job growth, and early in his second term has used the threats to gain leverage in policy negotiations. Even so, the levies could raise prices for U.S. consumers on everything from furniture to electronics.
In China, new duties could damage exporters who rely on the U.S. market. On a recent trip to the manufacturing belt of Guangdong province, CNBC found factory owners preparing for the tariff threat. Here are three main takeaways:
Tariff threat already raising prices for U.S. consumers
Hoping to beat Trump’s tariffs, furniture seller Harry Li is doubling the number of products he ships to the U.S. and stockpiling them in warehouses there.
He expects the strategy will force him to raise prices as much as 10% — no matter what Trump’s tariffs turn out to be.
He sells four out of five of his tables and other large furnishings to American consumers.
“I have to ship them in advance and take on more risk,” he said at his Foshan factory.
His company Tianyiled plans to keep the extra inventory in the U.S. until Trump’s tariff plan for China becomes clearer.
******** factories adopt coping strategies
In addition to stockpiling, Li is considering other ways to avoid the border taxes.
“One thing we can do is to pick those products not on the tariff list and export them to the U.S. instead,” he said.
In the nearby industrial city of Guangzhou, water purifier maker Zheng Yu is scouring the globe to find a new production base to supply the U.S. outside of China.
He plans to set up assembly lines in a third country, buying some equipment and components from China while hiring locally for certain jobs.
Zheng’s company Tesran is considering Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico as manufacturing bases, but is leaning toward Dubai even though costs will be 30% higher than in China.
“The domestic market is too competitive. We have been wanting to jump out of it for some time,” he said. “Trump’s tariffs gave us the final push.”
The Tesran founder is also already in touch with his U.S. clients to discuss splitting the tariffs. He is hoping his partners will take on at least half of the cost.
******** factories have a breaking point – which could lead to less choice for U.S. shoppers
All the businesses CNBC spoke to had a breaking point at which it would no longer make sense to sell to the U.S. The tariff thresholds ranged from 20 to 60%, and depended on the industry and the size of a company’s margins.
Water purifier maker Zheng said another wild card is whether President Trump unleashes proposed universal tariffs that, in his case, would raise costs for Dubai.
“Then the U.S. is out,” he said.
Across Guangzhou, Leng Rong, who makes skin care products, is worried he might have to stop exporting to the U.S. completely.
His goods got hit with tariffs north of 20% during Trump’s first term and it caused big losses for his company, Keni.
With his thin margins, Leng is hoping he can pass the cost of any tariff to his customers.
“In the past, we all felt the U.S. market was the greatest market that everyone wanted to sell to. But with all the uncertainties and unfriendly decisions, the U.S. is less attractive now,” Leng said at his Guangzhou factory. “It’s a real pity.”
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Elden Ring Nightreign Network Test Codes Are Being Scalped On eBay
Elden Ring Nightreign Network Test Codes Are Being Scalped On eBay
The Elden Ring Nightreign network test begins later this month and people are already starting to scalp codes.
Participants of the network test haven’t gotten their codes yet, but that’s not stopping them from listing their future codes on eBay. As proof of having access to the network test, scalpers are using providing confirmation screenshots that they’ve been selected as a participant. The price range varies from $5 all the way to $300, although it doesn’t look as if any have been sold.
The network test information page states that it’s prohibited to transfer, purchase, sell, or lend the codes to others. If someone is discovered to doing so, then their eligibility will be voided.
eBay listings for the Elden Ring Nightreign network test
The Elden Ring Nightreign network test will run from February 14 to 17 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Participants will play a portion of the game, and various online systems will be inspected by carrying out large-scale network load tests.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a co-op multiplayer game where players must survive three day and night cycles. Up to three players can join a single session, and they can find loot and other items to power themselves up to fight back against increasingly powerful foes, including ones from the Dark Souls series. Unfortunately, the game will not feature cross-play, meaning that players from different platforms will not be able to play with each other. However, those from the same console family, like PS4 and PS5, can play together.
This isn’t the only thing being scalped this week. Some participants have been trying to sell their non-transferable Nintendo Switch 2 Experience tickets for exorbitant prices.
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Bennu Asteroid Sample Reveals Organic Compounds That May Hint at Life Beyond Earth
Bennu Asteroid Sample Reveals Organic Compounds That May Hint at Life Beyond Earth
A sample from asteroid Bennu, delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2023, has revealed a collection of molecules and minerals that play a fundamental role in biological processes. Organic compounds such as amino acids, nucleobases, and ammonia, along with minerals formed in saltwater, have been identified. The findings suggest that the necessary conditions for life may have been present in various regions of the early solar system, raising the possibility that life could have developed beyond Earth.
Key Findings from the Study
According to the study published in Nature and Nature Astronomy, 14 of the 20 amino acids essential for protein formation and all five nucleobases found in DNA and RNA were detected in the Bennu samples. The presence of ammonia and formaldehyde was also noted, both of which are significant in the formation of complex organic molecules. These compounds, previously identified in meteorites, were found in an uncontaminated sample collected directly from space, reinforcing the idea that asteroid material could have contributed to the emergence of life’s building blocks.
As reported by NASA, Danny Glavin, senior sample scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and co-lead author of the Nature Astronomy paper, stated that the pristine nature of the Bennu sample allowed researchers to detect compounds that would have been easily altered or destroyed upon exposure to Earth’s environment.
Traces of Water and Ancient Chemistry
Mineral analysis of the sample revealed the presence of evaporite minerals such as calcite, halite, and sylvite—indicative of prolonged water activity. The study, led by Tim McCoy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Sara Russell of the Natural History Museum in London, suggests that these minerals formed as saltwater evaporated over time. Similar brines have been observed on celestial bodies such as Ceres and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
McCoy noted that while evaporites have been found in meteorites, this is the first time a complete mineral set preserving an extended evaporation process has been identified in extraterrestrial material. The discovery of trona, a mineral never previously observed in samples from space, adds further significance to the findings.
Unanswered Questions and Future Research
One of the key questions that remain is why amino acids on Earth predominantly exhibit a left-handed molecular orientation, while the Bennu samples contained an equal mixture of left- and right-handed forms. Jason Dworkin, project scientist for OSIRIS-REx and co-lead author of the Nature Astronomy paper, pointed out that the data contributes to a broader understanding of the solar system’s chemistry but leaves open the question of why life has only been observed on Earth so far.
The OSIRIS-REx mission, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was a collaborative effort involving multiple institutions, including the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin Space, and international partners such as the ********* Space Agency and Japan’s JAXA. The sample continues to be studied at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where further research is expected to provide additional insights into the origins of life’s essential components.
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Boats return to the Potomac River for DC plane ****** recovery and investigation – The Associated Press
Boats return to the Potomac River for DC plane ****** recovery and investigation – The Associated Press
Boats return to the Potomac River for DC plane ****** recovery and investigation The Associated PressExclusive: CNN obtains videos showing new angles of DC plane ****** CNNDC plane ******: What to know about the mistakes made leading up to the fatal collision Fox News
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Is Apparently Off To A Rough Start On PC
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Is Apparently Off To A Rough Start On PC
This week saw the arrival of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC, and similar to several other PlayStation Studios games ported over to that platform, it looks like the game is experiencing a rough launch. On Steam, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 currently has a mixed reception in the user reviews section, with many players claiming that they’ve experienced frequent bugs and poor optimization so far.
“To say this is ‘rough’ is an understatement,” one of the user reviews reads. “Lighting doesn’t load in some cutscenes, those same scenes run at seconds-per-frame, audio desync issues up the wazoo, freezing, stuttering, and just about every other performance issue I can think of.”
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Other players have mentioned hard crashes to desktop at an alarming rate, numerous bugs, and a generally unplayable experience even with PC hardware that meets the recommended system requirements, which were only revealed a day before launch. This wouldn’t be the first time that a PlayStation Studios game has launched in a buggy state, as The Last of Us Part One and Horizon Zero Dawn are two infamous examples.
At the time of writing, Nixxes has not yet responded to complaints about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 but it is asking for players to reach out and report any issues that they have encountered so far. Similarly, Square Enix’s former PS5 exclusive Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth arrived on PC this week as well, but it also suffers from a range of issues, according to tech analyst site Digital Foundry.
Sony’s next PlayStation port will be The Last of Us Remastered Part 2. This will be the remastered version that was released last year–and was enhanced even further for the PS5 Pro console launch–and it comes with all the new modes and extras introduced in that edition of the sequel. It’ll launch on April 3, and PC specs have not yet been revealed for it.
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Concert ticket prices soar, but music fans don’t care
Concert ticket prices soar, but music fans don’t care
From Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter to Kendrick Lamar and SZA, 2025 promises to be another big year for live music events. That may also mean concert-goers will be shelling out more for their favorite shows.
After rising steadily post-pandemic, admission to movies, theaters, and concerts jumped 20% since 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index data.
And yet, consumers have demonstrated a high tolerance for the increasing price tag, also known as “funflation.”
Concert goers attended an average of seven shows in 2024, and most plan to see more in 2025, according to a recent report by CouponCabin.
The survey of more than 1,000 music fans in December found that nearly 36% said they will spend $100 to $499 on concert tickets in 2025, while over 17% plan to spend up to $1,000.
Chalk it up to ‘funflation’
After testing new limits in 2024, Americans proved a willingness to splurge — even travel abroad — to catch shows like Taylor Swift’s Era Tour, bringing so-called “passion tourism” into the spotlight, some experts say.
Younger adults, particularly Generation Z and millennials, have even said they would go into debt to pursue some of these experiences, other recent reports show.
Nearly two out of five Gen Z and millennial travelers have spent up to $5,000 on tickets alone for destination live events, one recent study from Bread Financial found.
Why concert tickets got so expensive
“Dynamic pricing” is partly to blame for the escalating price tag, according to Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College of Music.
Originally coined by economists in the late 1920s, dynamic pricing refers the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand. Consumers often associate it with shifting airline ticket prices or how ride-hailing services adjust fares at busy times, Bennett said.
“We all know that if you are looking for an Uber or Lyft, there are certain times of night when it’s more expensive. The market seems to have adapted to that,” he said. “But concert tickets were generally a fixed price.”
That’s no longer the case. And now there is heightened awareness — and controversy — around the practice when it comes to buying highly sought-after event tickets.
More from Personal Finance: ‘I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art’ Recession pop: How music hits on economic trends ‘I’m looking for a man in finance’
How and when dynamic pricing is used is at the discretion of the artist or management, according to Andrew Mall, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University — and it is often determined under the radar.
However, with so many recent high-profile tours, “for sure, dynamic pricing has surged to the forefront of concert goers’ attention,” he recently told CNBC.
Ticketmaster is under investigation in the U.K. for its recent use of dynamic pricing in sales of reunion concerts from Britpop band Oasis.
Many Oasis fans took to social media to complain that they ended up paying more than double the face value of the ticket without warning. The band said it would abandon the practice for the North American leg of its tour.
Taylor Swift reportedly refused to dynamically price her Eras Tour tickets because “she didn’t want to do that to her fans,” Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, which promoted the event, told HITS Daily Double in October.
How ticket pricing evolved
Throughout the 21st century, revenue from recorded music has gone down while revenue from live music events has gone up. By the mid-2000s, concerts “provided a larger source of income for performers than record sales or publishing royalties,” economist Alan Krueger wrote in a paper on the economic issues and trends in the rock and roll industry.
Live music industry revenue jumped 25% in 2023 alone, according to data from Statista.
Ticketmaster in 2011 first introduced an early version of dynamic ticket pricing, which is now the standard for live music ticketing sales.
In more recent years, “ticket sales went crazy” driven by post-pandemic pent-up demand and a surge in mega-star stadium tours, Bennett said.
“You can see why it’s tempting,” he said. “The live music industry is constantly leaving money on the table that fans would pay. Dynamic pricing is sort of a capitalist inevitability given the forces at play, but I don’t want to live in a world where it costs $1,000 for my daughter to see Taylor Swift.”
Still, it’s now common for ticket-selling platforms to charge more per ticket depending on demand for the event at any given time — whether consumers like it or not, according to Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst.
“It’s not very popular, as you might imagine,” Schulz said. “Businesses and musicians are trying to see what the market will bear, and it makes things really difficult for the consumer.”
Why pricey tickets are here to stay
“Consumers don’t like the idea of dynamic pricing, but there is a renewed ‘YOLO’ [you only live once] attitude over the past few years since the pandemic and, increasingly, that drives a ******-may-care approach when it comes to spending on discretionary experiences,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
Even with household budgets strained, “you get to a point where there are just some experiences where consumers draw the line and say, that’s not something I’m willing to give up,” he said.
Ticket sellers are apparently aware of this mentality, too.
“Our research consistently tells us that concerts are a top priority for discretionary spending, and one of the last experiences fans will cut back on,” Live Nation said in a quarterly earnings call in 2023.
But as consumers continue to spare no expense to see their favorite artist or group, that means that means dynamic pricing is here to stay, at least for now.
“The live music sector has been leaning into this attitude for a long time,” Northeastern University’s Mall said.
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Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins tells Unai Emery he will reject Arsenal to stay
Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins tells Unai Emery he will reject Arsenal to stay
Fellow striker Jhon Duran is expected to complete a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in a deal worth up to 85m euros (£71.09m). The Saudi transfer window closes on Friday.
Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, admits the club will need to keep some of the money brought in to help comply with profit and sustainability rules.
He said: “It is an important operation for a player with tremendous potential.
“But these types of offers, for the club and the player, are difficult to reject. Between fixed and variable amounts, it will be close to 85m euros.
“There are a few small details left and for the player it is an incredible economic leap.
“The first thing we are going to do with the money we receive from the ***** of Duran is to keep a portion of it because of the fair play rules, which are very demanding.
“A significant part of the income will go towards that.”
Chelsea striker Joao Felix and Paris St-Germain forward Marco Asensio are on the Villa’s wishlist before Monday’s 23:00 GMT deadline as they look for reinforcements.
Felix has seven goals in 20 games for Chelsea having moved to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid for £45m in the summer but has made just three Premier League starts.
Spain international Asensio, 29, has made 16 appearances for PSG, scoring twice, but just eight of them have come in Ligue 1 for the leaders.
Monchi told Spanish radio station El Larguero: “Then there are names, one of them being Joao. Emery likes him, because in the three transfer markets I have been in, the fourth with this one, he has always been mentioned and has been a small object of desire for Emery.
“But it is complicated, and I don’t know if we will be able to be there.
“The first time, Aston Villa were in the Conference [League] and he wanted the Champions League – that’s why he went to Barcelona. Then, in the operation with [Conor] Gallagher and Atletico he had to enter into negotiations with Chelsea and we couldn’t get in.
“It’s a similar case to Asensio there is also an important love affair. Shortly before my arrival, Aston Villa tried to sign him and came close, but he went to PSG.
“He is a player that Emery has always had in mind because he believes in his quality.”
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Samsung Is in Chaos Mode, The Galaxy S25 Ultra Is 70% Off Until This Friday Night – Gizmodo
Samsung Is in Chaos Mode, The Galaxy S25 Ultra Is 70% Off Until This Friday Night – Gizmodo
Samsung Is in Chaos Mode, The Galaxy S25 Ultra Is 70% Off Until This Friday Night GizmodoI’ve tested every Samsung Galaxy S25 model – and my favorite isn’t the Ultra ZDNetPre-order Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 Ultra and get up to $1,250 in savings USA TODAYThe Morning After: Our verdict on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 EngadgetiPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra Camera Comparison: Which Takes Better Photos? CNET
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