games & graphics
The Antidote to Snapchat Dysphoria? Getting Weird.
AR-enhanced face filters are here to stay, and Ines Alpha is working to free them from tired beauty standards.
Source: The Antidote to Snapchat Dysphoria? Getting Weird. – NEO.LIFE
How ‘Roblox’ Became a Playground for Virtual Fascists
Thousands of players flocked to a digital world filled with draconian rules, slavery, and anti-Semitism—and tested how far “just a game” can go.
Source: How ‘Roblox’ Became a Playground for Virtual Fascists
Twitch Turns 10, and the Creator Economy Is in Its Debt
The livestreaming platform for gamers helped pioneer the patronage systems that prop up so much of the internet today.
Source: Twitch Turns 10, and the Creator Economy Is in Its Debt
Netflix reportedly plans push into video games market
Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Google have all tried to create a “Netflix for games”, offering unlimited access to a library of titles for a flat monthly fee. But a growing number of reports suggest they may be about to face stiff competition from the streaming company itself.
Source: Netflix reportedly plans push into video games market
Welcome to Planet Egirl
The most well-known egirls are a distributed vision, an internet melt, collectively funded, in part, by fans’ thirst. They’re queens of the parasocial microcelebrity thing, charging $25 to $35 a month for OnlyFans “gamer girl” lewds or $25 for cosplay photosets. “It’s one of those fantasy things,” says Rusty Fawkes , an egirl with 1.5 million TikTok followers.
Source: Welcome to Planet Egirl
Indie Video Games Have Finally Embraced the Tabletop Scene
Monster Train isn’t alone. We are living through a renaissance of video games that take direct influence from tabletop ideas. Take 2017’s Slay the Spire, one of the most popular games on the internet. A lonely knight ventures through a grim gauntlet of beasties, slowly adding better cards to their deck.
Source: Indie Video Games Have Finally Embraced the Tabletop Scene
STEM’s Racial Reckoning Just Entered Its Most Crucial Phase
One year after George Floyd’s murder, science and technology institutions continue to evolve. The most radical and necessary step remains..
Source: STEM’s Racial Reckoning Just Entered Its Most Crucial Phase
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Women hide when they game online to fend off sexist comments, discrimination and harassment
59% of women who play video games online mask their gender to avoid harassment, according to a new study by Reach 3. Why it matters: Women face harassment that makes simply enjoying a multiplayer video game online a fraught proposition.
Source: Women hide when they game online to fend off sexist comments, discrimination and harassment
Twitch, in response to action against hot tub streamers, promises not to discriminate against ‘sexy’ people
Twitch published a blog post on Friday in response to a trend of users streaming from hot tubs while wearing bikinis. The company admitted that advertisements had been pulled from some accounts at brands’ requests. Twitch said “being found to be sexy by others is not against our rules,” and said it was creating a new category for users.
Rick and Morty Creator Launches First Crypto Blockchain Series, Krapopolis
Dan Harmon, the creator behind Rick and Morty, is launching an all-new animated series for Fox titled Krapopolis , which is the first animated series curated on the blockchain.
Source: Rick and Morty Creator Launches First Crypto Blockchain Series, Krapopolis
How AR VR Apps Are Gamifying Exercise And Workout
Augmented reality ( AR ) mixes up the digital content into a person’s actual environment and makes it interesting. Businesses are benefiting from this …
Gaming Influencers Are the Future of Esports
Top players have left pro leagues to pursue streaming full-time as the industry veers more toward content creators.
A New Brain Implant Translates Thoughts of Writing Into Text
In early experiments, a paralyzed man with implants in his premotor cortex typed 90 characters per minute—by envisioning he was writing by hand.
Source: A New Brain Implant Translates Thoughts of Writing Into Text
Why Is It So Hard to Be Evil in Video Games?
I have always loved the idea of choosing my own path in a game. Moral dilemmas make virtual worlds more interesting. Sometimes they change the outcome and give you a reason to play the game all over again. But as much as I like the idea, I often struggle to take the evil route.
Meet Jennifer Daniel, the woman who decides what emoji we get to use
Jennifer Daniel is the first woman at the helm of the Emoji Subcommittee for the Unicode Consortium and a fierce advocate for inclusive, thoughtful emoji. She initially rose to prominence for introducing Mx. Claus, a gender-inclusive alternative to Santa and Mrs. Claus; a non-gendered person breastfeeding a non-gendered baby; and a masculine face wearing a bridal veil.
Source: Meet Jennifer Daniel, the woman who decides what emoji we get to use
Apple and Epic Games are revealing a ton of industry secrets in court filings — from untold billions in ‘Fortnite’ profits to private email exchanges, these are the 5 juiciest bits
“Fortnite” maker Epic Games is suing Apple, and the bench trial started this week in California. Epic says Apple’s App Store is a monopoly. Apple says Epic broke its developer contract. Through court filings, major secrets from Apple, Epic, Microsoft, and more have been revealed.
The Strange, Soothing World of Instagram’s Computer-Generated Interiors
The 3-D-modelling software used to design digital interiors lends itself to certain elements, such as plastics, curves, and soft light. Space design and rendering by Nareg Taimoorian and Charlotte Taylor Last spring, several months into the pandemic , a series of images appeared on Instagram, depicting a luxury home nestled into the cliffs of the Scala dei Turchi, on the coast of Italy.
Source: The Strange, Soothing World of Instagram’s Computer-Generated Interiors
How Pixar Uses Hyper-Colors to Hack Your Brain
The animation studio’s artists are masters at tweaking light and color to trigger deep emotional responses. Coming soon: effects you’ll only see inside your head.
Extremists Find a Financial Lifeline on Twitch
QAnon adherents and other far-right influencers are making thousands of dollars broadcasting election and vaccine conspiracy theories on the streaming site.
How Big Tech got so big: Hundreds of acquisitions
For decades Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google gobbled up their competition to become behemoths of the tech industry, which has drawn attention from Congressional leaders and other critics who claim they’ve stifled innovation in the industry.