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The Force was strong in him. One of Enzo Romero’s favorite activities is playing the guitar, which he effortlessly does with his bright blue hand. Initially, it used to hurt, as he used his handless right arm to press down on chords. But now, with fingers on the end, he can play music painlessly.


Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, marketed as simply The Empire Strikes Back, is a 1980 film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan from a story by George Lucas. It is the second part of the Star Wars original trilogy.

The film concerns the continuing struggles of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire. During the film, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia Organa are being pursued across space by Darth Vader and his elite forces. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker begins his major Jedi training with Yoda, after an instruction from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s spirit. In an emotional and near-fatal confrontation with Vader, Luke is presented with a horrific revelation and must face his destiny.

Though controversial upon release, the film has proved to be the most popular film in the series among fans and critics and is now widely regarded as one of the best sequel films of all time, as well as one of the greatest films of all time. It was re-released with changes in 1997 and on DVD in 2004. The film was re-released on Blu-ray format in September of 2011. A radio adaptation was broadcast on National Public Radio in the U.S.A. in 1983. The film was selected in 2010 to be preserved by the Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry.

AMD is at it again. 😃


The launch of AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D is imminent. Chips are out in the wild and early bird reviews and benchmarks are popping up on the web. Given that AMD has been touting the gaming prowess of the 5800X3D, we’ve been waiting to see if that claim holds up. And it appears that it does.

Peruvian hardware site Xanxo Gaming (via 3DCenter) managed to get hold of a retail Ryzen 7 5800X3D and put it through a comprehensive suite of benchmarks, comparing it to Intel’s Core i9 12900KF. As the site wasn’t sampled by AMD, it’s not subject to an embargo.

In 2021, there was an estimated 2.7 billion gamers globally, in a gaming market that is valued at $300+ billion. The opportunity for developers is huge — but so is the temptation for fraudsters looking for ways to take advantage of the revenue that’s pouring into the industry. But according to the recent Denuvo Global Gaming Survey, many developers don’t fully know how cheating, tampering, and piracy has impacted their revenues — or don’t think they’ve been affected at all.

When players recognize cheating in a game, they often simply quit, because after all, there are an endless number of titles available. Engagement then tanks, and so does a game’s reputation — especially when developers’ social media accounts are overrun with complaints and demands that the issues be fixed.

Tampering and piracy, which usually go hand in hand, undermine a game’s sales, player engagement, and retention, particularly in the first few weeks of a game’s release. While PC and mobile operating systems are more vulnerable, consoles can still be hit, especially because so many games have co-op modes and live updates. For free-to-play games and games that offer in-game items, tampering can also directly impact monetization.

AI will completely take over game development by the early 2030s. To a point where there will be almost no human developers. Just people telling AI what they want to play and it builds it in real time.


Over the past few years we’ve seen massive improvements in AI technology, from GPT-3, AI picture generation to self-driving cars and drug discovery. But can machine learning progress change games?

Note: AI has many subsets, in this article when I say AI I’m referring to machine learning algorithms.

First important question to ask is, will AI even change anything? Why use machine learning when you can just hardcode movement and dialogues? The answer to this question can be found in replayability and immersive gameplay.

The classic arcade game Cyclone has attracted many players, along with their coins, thanks to its simple yet addictive gameplay. In its most basic form it consists of a light racing around a circular track, which the player then has to stop at exactly the right place. Arduino enthusiast [mircemk] made a home version of this game, which allows addicts to keep playing forever without running out of quarters.

Instead of an arcade cabinet, this smaller version has an upright 3D-printed ring that holds 60 WS2812 LEDs. A further six in the center of the ring act as a score counter. An Arduino in the base drives the LEDs and runs the game, which is based on an earlier iteration built by [oKeeg]. An interesting addition is a large homemade “arcade button”, which is large and sturdy enough to withstand any abuse inflicted on it by a frustrated player.

Retro-style sound effects and flashing light sequences give the game a bit of an arcade vibe, even without a big cabinet and piles of coins. Simple LED games like this are always great eye-catchers in any home or office; if you like this one, be sure to check out other LED games like the handheld LEDBOY, the one-dimensional dungeon crawler TWANG, and this LED racing game.

The video surprises viewers when it’s revealed that, while the woman on screen is a real person, the main character speaking is an AI. It aims to demonstrate how entertainment studios can leverage AI to create highly convincing romantic encounters. This marks a significant milestone for Sonantic as its technology is now able to recreate subtle emotions and non-speech sounds, while also opening up new creative possibilities for studios.

The voice models, which already express a range of human emotions from happiness to sadness, can now convey subtleties such as flirty, coy, and teasing, amongst other new “Style” options. They also have the ability to capture non-speech sounds – such as breaths, scoffs, and laughs. This combination of advances in speech synthesis makes Sonantic’s platform more comprehensive than ever before, helping entertainment studios create life-like performances in record time.

“Human beings are incredibly complex by nature and our voices play a critical role in helping us connect with the world around us,” said Zeena Qureshi, CEO. “Sonantic is committed to capturing the nuances of the human voice, and we’re incredibly proud of these technological breakthroughs that we have brought to life through ‘What’s Her Secret?’. From flirting and giggling, to breathing and pausing, this is the most realistic romantic demo we’ve created to date, helping us inch closer to our vision of being the CGI of audio.”