#Meta AI Studio

[elsa16744]

Facebook-parent Meta launched AI Studio, a new platform that enables users to design their personalized AI characters. AI Studio allows users to create, share, and discover AIs. Read More: https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/meta-ai-studio-create-your-own-custom-ai-chatbot-tool/

[portsandstars]

Revisiting Red Spring Studio's Interview with Blerdy Otome - Select Quotes

It's been almost a year since RSS had this interview, but I think that many people have not listened to it, or recently revisited it. I thought I'd highlight some quotes from it, though the entire interview is worth watching! Some of these quotes I have lightly modified for clarity or succinctness but the majority are direct transcripts.

23:30: "Touchstarved is a horror romance visual novel where the entire cast is made up of characters where you're like, "I can fix them!" but you actually can't. I think that Touchstarved is a very complex and mature story with really really complex themes and interwoven routes and obviously it's very sexy at the same it's a romance - and I think it's one of those games that I've always wanted to see exist and I think that a lot of the team has always wanted to see this game exist as far as being this kind of like dark, broody, moody, but also very deep, right, and authentic and honest exploration - Monsters, and the feeling of being a monster - feeling of being an "other", right, whether you're queer or POC or anything like that… we've created a game that's not only really fun and action-packed and bloody and all that kind of stuff… but very heartfelt in a way that I hope readers can pick up on.

Imo, this line of reasoning ("you can't fix them", and the cast's monstrous nature and how it intrinsically ties to/is an analogy for being queer, or POC) - makes me think that even in the good endings for the game, your character won't be minimizing the character's monstrousness. For example, even if your character has the Power of True Love, it's not going to make Vere nonviolent or absolve Kuras's guilt.

25:35: "These themes are pretty complicated in a way that's messy and honestly bloody and I think for that reason is why we're looking at a mature rating - that said, when we set out to make the game our goal wasn't really to be explicit, it was much more to focus on sexiness . . ."

Just clarifying that there won't be explicit sex scenes in the game.

28:55: "What are some aspects of the story that you are most excited to showcase?" "I'm so excited that people get to die terribly, that just gets me so pumped up. Like in previous jobs I have not been allowed to brutally murder . . . main characters permanently and it's very important to me that I now have the power to write really just messed up awful endings…Don't worry, there's also good endings there too, they just get as much passion and all that stuff as the bad endings… but the bad endings, oh my gosh, those are some of my favorites."

This line makes me curious about whether the main characters are just MC, or if the other characters will brutally die as well!

30:50 "A little while ago we posted Kuras's character reveal and people really like the fact that he can't cook so for me it's really cute and innocent seeing people obsess over that fact and I really just want them to see the contrast between that version of Kuras in their head and what he's actually like in his route. Like I just really want to see them react to like the terrible things he's going to do. . . They're all awful in different ways that I'm really excited for people to see it - it's very funny to see everyone be like _Literally name any of the characters of the cast and be like "they're my little meow meow" and it's like, oh. good. I hope this continues once they learn more about the characters. Obviously they're all wonderful - right, the characters are all awful but they're also all wonderful".

32:26 : "the theme of monstrousness and how each character kind of approaches it differently . . . because they're all monsters, even if they're not literally monsters . . .it also plays into each character's brand of horror in their own way as well that ties into their monstrous nature."

This line especially (to me) hints at how Leander is likely not SPECIFICALLY a monster, but a human with a monstrous nature.

34:30: - Ais was the first character they made and each of the other characters build upon him, so they spent a lot of time getting him right. Vere was the easiest to create and they made him in a weekend. Kuras was the hardest to create (especially visually).

38:00 "This is a romance game and a big draw of the game is making a love connection with these characters - do you all plan on including platonic friendship routes in addition to romance routes, or is it strictly romance?" The way that we planned out this game is that we wanted to focus on the intimacy of these individual relationships between the main character and the love interest and the route that they're on, right, so this is the way we had planned the game from the beginning. We really like poly romances, for example, and friendships, but we think that it wouldn't have made much sense for the characters in the story that we had written for them because this entire story - with who the main character is and why they're having to turn to these mysterious monstrous strangers - there's a level of intimacy involved in the themes and stories that we really focused on for how we're writing…

It's almost like a narrative design intentionality we did early on because each route that you'll be able to play from the main five cast is very driven and each character is like a ticking time bomb in their own way. So if you choose to romance Vere, Kuras's route still continues and you can see the effects of what not choosing Kuras is in Vere's route when you're playing Vere's route. So the world is meant to be very interwoven and interconnected where you can see the ripples of everyone's choices even when you're not romancing them and in that way we've designed this cast that's woven together. So if we did want to do a poly route, we would probably have to do entirely new characters . ."

43:30: "One of the fundamental goals of this game was to have, as you've been saying, a living world - a world that's evolving, and one of the ways that we wanted to communicate that was with the idea that these characters are not doing great… um, they're all in very very bad situations, uh, they're all essentially doomed if you do not go with them and it's seeing that carried out in each route that I hope will be really interesting for people.. it will be very sad, in a good way".

ARGHHH this is the WORST. This means that if you choose a character, you're essentially dooming the others. Though this will undoubtedly manufacture delicious angst, I'm soooo sad at imagining each of the other characters faltering and ultimately failing on their paths because you didn't chose them. Though, I wonder if there are some routes where multiple characters turn out ok, or if the entire cast is doomed as soon as you don't select them (in different ways depending on the route)?

54:30: "I also want to clarify too that even though we've been talking about blood a lot and all that kind of stuff and death and we love those parts of the story, um, if you get those endings there's a reason why, you know what I'm saying - you have to actively try to get those endings - poke the bear with a stick."

Definitely referencing Vere's bad ending in the demo. Personally I am too curious to avoid them, but it's encouraging that some of the MC deaths appear to be because you deliberately make dangerous choices, rather than simply "tricking" the player and surprising them.

Let me know what you think of these quotes, and the whole interview is definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it!

[anam-mana]

I keep coming back to that post from Red Spring Studio where MC catches Ais leaving a brothel and he says he was visiting friends.

I’m wondering if

1) he knows Elyon. Which would make sense as to why he was there, and also we have yet to know what Elyon and Sen’s kinda fit in the cast dynamics are.

Or

2) if there are members of the hive mind who either work at or hover around the brothels (not necessarily as sex workers or clients since I think that might go into too icky a territory for me considering they’re in a hive mind controlled by Ocudeus and what that implies about the ability consent, but think servers and or such). Because, if you think about it, that could be a very good way for Ocudeus to gather information. Or, you know, maybe Ocudeus has his hive mind recruiting in the brothels, looking for desperate souls the way he has them walking around near the Senobium when they try to recruit MC.

3) Ais has normal friends. Possible. Idk, I just find it hard to imagine they weren’t trying to tell us anything. Especially since Ais’s way of curing loneliness in the demo is going to drink with Leander and Vere and waiting for someone to mess up enough that he can justify fighting them. Kinda makes it seem like he doesn’t have a lot of normal friends to me. Heck, he even says he doesn’t have friends outside Ocudeus.

[gkscanonline]

Clones de famosos vão 'conversar' com seguidores por meio de IA da Meta; entenda

Dona de Instagram, WhatsApp e Facebook está trabalhando no Creator AI, que permite criar versões virtuais de figuras públicas. Recurso começou a ser liberado em texto nos EUA, mas deve ganhar em 2025 uma versão que simula chamadas de vídeo com famosos.A Meta, dona de Instagram, WhatsApp e Facebook, quer aproximar influenciadores de seus seguidores. Para isso, a empresa está trabalhando em uma…

[jiyunews]

Metaが「Llama 3.1」ベースの「AI Studio」を米国でリリース！

[applesferablog]

Meta Libera AI Studio para Creadores: ¡Chatbots de IA Personalizados al Alcance de Todos!

AI Studio de Meta: Empoderando a los Creadores con Chatbots de IA. Meta ha dado un paso audaz al lanzar su innovador AI Studio a todos los creadores en los Estados Unidos. Esta herramienta revolucionaria permite a los usuarios crear chatbots de IA personalizados que pueden interactuar con los seguidores, responder preguntas, generar contenido y mucho más. ¿Qué es AI Studio y Cómo Funciona? AI…

[opticflux]

What is AI Studio and How Can You Create Your Virtual Character on Instagram?

What incredible news! The new AI Studio from Meta is able to develop artificial intelligence characters for use on Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp! The best part? Well, if you are a creator, you can enjoy your own digital doppelganger and even engage in direct messages with your followers. Zuckerberg has stated that he anticipates people to develop their personalized artificial intelligence…

[dduane]

“I can now say with absolute confidence that many AI systems have been trained on TV and film writers’ work. Not just on The Godfather and Alf, but on more than 53,000 other movies and 85,000 other TV episodes: Dialogue from all of it is included in an AI-training data set that has been used by Apple, Anthropic, Meta, Nvidia, Salesforce, Bloomberg, and other companies. I recently downloaded this data set, which I saw referenced in papers about the development of various large language models (or LLMs). It includes writing from every film nominated for Best Picture from 1950 to 2016, at least 616 episodes of The Simpsons, 170 episodes of Seinfeld, 45 episodes of Twin Peaks, and every episode of The Wire, The Sopranos, and Breaking Bad.”

😡

[rebloggingrexan]

since the videos were uploaded out of order and it was hard to tell which were saved or not, i listed them out! :)

1. AI AnimationStudios Live Stream 2. Alan & Miguel's Drawing Fight 3. Alan & Miguel's Comic Story Time 4. - 5. Live Stream 6. Q&A's Your Questions our Drawings 7. Drawing Extravaganza 8. - 9. 10secs, 30 secs, 1 minute Draw Challenge 10. Draw till you Drop X_X 11. !!Surprise Announcement Stream!! 12. ALAN MASH -- Mash em up Stream 13. WE'RE BACKKK!!! 14. Drawing Shenanigans 15. Goodbye to Miguel 16. VERSUS Drawing challenge - Alan vs Stephan 17. Whisper Challenge - ILLUSTRATED 18. (23.08.2019) Surprise stream for Flug 19. - 20. (09.2019) THIS IS IT'S ALIVEEE!!! Frankenstein Challenge Tonight!! 21. - 22. (21.09.2019) Saturday's are for the boys

IDK AI AnimationStudios Live Stream

Hello! First of all, I just came on here to say thank you for all of the hard work you do to make Villainous an easier fandom to experience for non-Spanish speakers who are fans of the show, you are the best!

Second, I had a question: I am new to the fandom so I have been wanting to learn new things about the show through things like livestreams and videos on YouTube. But for some reason all of the livestreams from Alan I come across are private. Do you know why this is? Also, is there any way to see those streams anymore? Thanks!

Hey! Thank you for the kind words! :)

There was never an official statement about why they made the livestreams private, I suspect it's a CN thing. Either way some of them are uploaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XWfiRKEFUe7VXZ7BDdCP9NnuekAeIpSw

Enjoy! And don't forget I've summarized ALL of them under the villainous livestream tag.

[possessedopossum]

The Veilguard: my full review [positive, long post, less about game mechanics and more about meta, spoilers]

The thing that makes Veilguard special to me is how self aware the game is. In every dialogue, plot twist or quest I can feel the presence of somebody who wanted to share something with me. Be it personal experience, message, pain or joy. As of 2024, many games have lost their creative spark. Video game industry is no longer a nerd only zone, it's a business no different than others. Many studios utilize AI to write their plots, chase after current trends or simply make decisions that would create the biggest audience possible at the expense of something people love the franchise for. Veilguard did well, because it showed me something I haven't seen in a very long time: the human soul.

Perhaps you have noticed it on your own. The world has gone completely nuts after the covid. Or maybe it has always been this way and I only noticed it now. It is not a surprise to me that players want their game to be darker, to have more aggressive dialogue and to have a morally grey or even evil protagonist. For the past few years I've been feeling like someone had turned the lights off. And the game gave me an impression that someone at bioware feels this way too.

Only negativity gives content creators views and money these days. Open any social media, read any post or watch any video. If something is on top, it's almost always a hate post. What was the last movie most reviewers enjoyed? The last game? Perhaps the one that was released 10 years ago? What was the last time, you, my dear reader, have smiled? Not bitterly or sardonically, but out of genuine joy?

It is extremely fitting that Rook's mentor figure is Varric. Varric is somebody who always sees the best in people. He grew up in one hell of a city but he still loves it. He can find something to laugh about no matter how dire the situation is. He is a people person who can build friendship with anybody. Varric is very charismatic and tends to avoid conflict. He is a chronic liar but that doesn't make him bad because he never lies with malicious intentions. And in some ways, Rook is similar to him.

Yes, Rook can't be a complete asshole. Because the game is not about being an asshole. One of our antagonists, Solas, considers the world to be sick. Modern Thedas is a grave mistake that haunts him. He can't forget and move on because even the elves themselves wear his mistakes on their faces. Many things that are normal to the player character aren't normal to Solas. The world is so wrong and disgusting to Solas that he is willing to sacrifice things and people who are dear to him just to make the twisted world better.

Rook is nice because they are supposed to represent what is good in modern Thedas. They are supposed to be somebody who thinks the world is worth fighting for. And to a certain extent, their factions as well. The crows are contract killers and the lords of fortune are thiefs. Grey wardens are very concerned with politics and all the secrets they refuse to share constantly get people killed. Mourn watch has their immoral power hungry politicians as well and veil jumpers are sometimes willing to trade people for ancient secrets. They all aren't without sin but that's not the point. The point is, even with all the ugliness and darkness, there is still a place for light. And the light in the darkness is the exact message bioware tried to convey. The crows not being comically evil is not bad writing. It is a conscious writing choice to give us a human face for something we consider ugly and not worth fighting for. The player is metaphorically Solas, who needs to be persuaded that the world is worth at least something. The writers didn't need to bare the souls of player factions in all their mistakes, imperfections and cruelty. Because they showed us the factions' humanity. Some cruelty is still there, on the background, but it doesn't overshadow what is good. The crows, no matter how terrible, are a family. Viago may call Rook an idiot and while Rook considers their training literal torture, they sure love Viago back.

In fact, familial love is one of the core themes of the Veilguard. We have Emmrich and Manfred, Davrin and Assan and uncle Endrin, Lucanis and Caterina and Illario, Taash and Shathann, Bellara and Cyrian. It's a bit less direct with Neve and Harding. Neve has a lot of love for her city which is almost like a person to her, and Harding...I'll explain with a quote. "You're Lace Harding! You're more than this rage! You believe that the world is beautiful! That people are good! Hold onto it, hold on to who you are!".

Even the evanuris share the theme of family. Rook can compare Elgar'nan and Solas to relatives who can't get along. Elgar'nan calls Ghilan'nain his sister. Both shards of Mythal consider modern elves her children. Different but no less beloved, as Morrigan puts it.

Veilguard shows family without rose-tinted glasses. It shows that sometimes to love your children is to sacrifice something else you love (Lichdom for Emmrich), that parents have their own problems that may harm their children no matter how much parents wish to protect them (Shathann understands she is not the best mother and has complicated relationships with the Qun that harmed Taash), that sometimes parents do not understand their children at all and it's only up to children themselves to close the gap in understanding (Mythal, Solas and Rook), that familial love and desire to protect your family may turn into something ugly (Caterina being cruel to her grandchildren to prepare them for harsh realities of the antivan crows).

There is conflict in Veilguard, of intergenerational nature. Companions and their families, Rook and their faction leader, elves ancient and modern. It's up to the player how to deal with the last one. Humans, dwarves and qunari may not share blood ties with ancient elves but they still live in the world ancient elves created. As Rook, you're allowed to lash out in anger at Mythal and Solas. You can call Mythal guilty of all modern problems and fight her. You can bind Solas to the veil by force, call him asshole and express your frustrations with him multiple times throughout the game. You can also express sympathy and forgive them both. Because forgiving is neither condoning nor condemning, it's understanding and letting go. Being understood and allowed to peacefully let go of his mistakes is the exact thing that Solas needs to change his mind.

I believe that the Veilguard companions are one of the very best I've ever seen in a video game. They may not have as many different fates as for example Alistair has but is goodness measured with the amount of ways a character can be killed? I love the Veilguard crew because they all feel very real. Their personal problems are universal and very close to the player. Taash's story is not about being non-binary. It's about growing up, finding your place in the world, separating from your family and learning to appreciate it despite the mistakes your parents did while parenting you.

It's hard to decide who is my favorite. Taash's story made me cry but so did Harding's and Bellara's. The last scenes of Lucanis romance made me feral. I can't stomach the scene where Davrin and Assan die. The consequences of destruction of Minrathous/Treviso were hard to look at. I felt guilt, and if a game makes me feel something, it's a good game. I laughed, I cried, I was afraid and I felt joy, I was angry, I felt shame, I felt love. The game made me feel alive, I played through Rook's story like it was my own, what not to love about it?

The double blight wreaking havoc in Southern Thedas is sad but beautifully symbolic. Almost like a love letter from a long lost lover, It felt like bioware's meta commentary to me. "Yes, a whole lot of time has passed. We are no longer as young as we used to be, and so are you, not only the player, but our treasured friend as well. We have changed, you have changed and so did the world around us. Gaming and the video game industry are not what they used to be. We will never be able to go back no matter how much we want it because the only path that is left is the path forward. It doesn't mean that we no longer remember our shared past, no. We may not be able to go back but we promise to remember it fondly. We are still capable of creating beauty and the past will serve as a foundation for something new. We still have hope, and so should you".

The Veilguard to me is about nostalgia as well. I don't want to feed my inner Solas who sees the current world as sick. I want to make space for my inner Rook who is hopeful about the world just enought to fight for its future.

[doubledeadstudio]

Hello! Welcome to the official Double Dead Studio Tumblr, the solodev behind Reanimated Heart, Another Rose in His Garden, and Pygmalion's Folly.

Reanimated Heart is a character-driven horror romance visual novel about finding love in a mysterious small town. There are three monstrous love interests with their own unique personalities and storylines.

Another Rose in His Garden is an 18+ erotic Omegaverse BL visual novel. Abel Valencia is an Omega who's hidden his secondary sex his entire life. Life's alright, until he meets the wealthy tycoon, Mars Rosales, and the two get embroiled in a sexual affair that changes his life forever.

Pygmalion's Folly is a survival murdersim where you play as Roxham Police Department's star detective, hellbent on finding your sister's killer... until he finds you. 

Content Warning: All my games are 18+! They contains dark subject matter such as violence and sexual content. Player discretion is advised.

This blog is ran by Jack, the creator.

Itch | Link Tree | Patreon | Twitter

Guidelines

My policy for fanwork is that anything goes in fiction, but respect my authority and copyright outside it. This means normal fan activity like taking screencaps, posting playthroughs, and making fanart/fanfiction is completely allowed, but selling this game or its assets isn't allowed (selling fanwork of it is fine, though). You are also not allowed to feed any of my assets to AI bots, period, even if it's free.

Do not use my stuff for illegal or hateful content.

Also, I expect everyone to respect the Content Warnings on the page. I'm old and do not tolerate fandom wank.

For more details about how I view Fanwork, refer to this post.

F.A.Q.

Who are the main Love Interests in Reanimated Heart?

Read their character profiles here!!

Who's the team?

Jack (creator, writer, artist), mostly. I closely work with Exodus (main programmer) and Claira (music composer). My husband edits the drafts.

For Reanimated Heart, my friend Bonny makes art assets. I've also gotten help from outsiders like Sleepy (prologue music + vfx) and my friend Gumjamin (main menu heart animation).

For Reanimated Heart's VOs, Alex Ross voices Crux, Devin McLaughlin voices Vincenzo, Christian Cruz voices Black, Maganda Marie voices Grete, and Zoe D. Lee voices Missy.

Basically, it's mostly just me & outsourcing stuff to my friends and professionals.

How can I support Double Dead Studio productions?

You can pay for the game, or join our monthly Patreon! If you don't have any money, just giving it a nice rating and recommending it to a friend is already good enough. :)

Where do the funds go to?

Almost 100% gets poured back into the game. More voice acting, more music, more trailers, more art, etc. I also like to give my programmer a monthly tip for helping me.

This game is really my insane passion project, and I want to make it better with community support.

I live in the Philippines and the purchasing power of php is not high, especially since many of the people I outsource to prefer USD. (One time I spent P10k of my own money in one month just to get things.) I'll probably still do that, even if no money comes in, until I'm in danger of getting kicked out the street… but maybe even then? (jk)

What platforms will Reanimated Heart be released in?

Itch and then Steam when it's fully finished. Still looking into other options, as I hear both are getting bad.

Will Reanimated Heart be free?

Chapter 1 will be free. The rest will be updated on Patreon exclusively until full release.

Are you doing a mobile version?

Yeah. Just Android for now, but it's in the works.

Where can I listen to Reanimated Heart's OST?

It is currently up on YouTube, Spotify, and Bandcamp!

Why didn't you answer my ask?

A number of things! Two big ones that keep coming up are Spoilers (as in, you asked something that will be put in an update) or it's already been asked. If you're really dying to know, check the character tags or the meta commentary. You might find what you're looking for there. :)

Will there be a sequel to Pygmalion's Folly?

It's not my first concern right now, but I am planning on it.

Tag List for Navigation

Just click the tags to get to where you wanna go!

[arielavader]

Facebook Amazon MGM studio account asking about The onscreen Kiss that Changed the trajectory of your life and Good Omens fans showing up of course, but the Meta AI summary of the comments is gold. 😈😇

[mariacallous]

For people who make video games, 2024 was a year of holding on for dear life. At the annual Game Developers Conference in March, “Survive till ’25” was this year’s incantation, summoned to keep morale on pace. Others resorted to full-on screams, as layoffs in the industry charted record highs and developers found themselves under attack online for conspiratorial nonsense.

In 2023, more than 10,000 developers lost their jobs; one-third of game-makers surveyed at the beginning of this year reported they’d been affected by layoffs in some way. While there were wins for labor organizers at big studios like Activision Blizzard, and collective action around fighting for protection from the encroachment of AI on employment, the industry’s collective brain drain continued in 2024 as workers lost jobs en masse. Six months in, this year’s layoff tally had already surpassed that of 2023. According to Matthew Ball, an adviser and producer in the games and TV space, 2024’s job-loss count will wind up being about 40 percent higher than the previous year’s.

"The explanation is complex and wide-ranging for the same reason the layoffs are so deep and continuous, and sit alongside many studio closures and even more canceled games,” Ball says.

As the industry faltered, games suffered. High-profile releases like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League were commercial failures. While there were many reasons for this, online right-wing groups reduced it to a single mantra: “go woke, go broke.” By their logic, if a game does poorly and has even a whiff of diversity—be it regarding gender, sexuality, or race—that disappointing performance is the fault of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Although there have been incredible games released this year—Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong—they just couldn’t distract from the troubles faced by the people making them. They couldn’t make up for the fact that the meta-narrative of video games in 2024 was bleak.

Ball says that the blame for all of this can’t be pinned to a single thing, like capitalism, mismanagement, Covid-19, or even interest rates. It also involves development costs, how studios are staffed, consumers’ spending habits, and game pricing. “This storm is so brutal,” he says, “because it is all of these things at once, and none have really alleviated since the layoffs began.”

For indie developers, specifically, the threat to their existence has been substantial. Dozens of small studios shuttered in 2024, though it’s difficult to get a full picture of how many indie studios the industry lost, as they’re more likely to shut down quietly and without much fanfare—or before many players even know they exist.

With dwindling opportunities to get funding from investors and little cash to go around, developers sought alternative methods to fund their games in the past year. Some took bankrolling into their own hands. Among Us creator Innersloth launched an initiative to give fellow developers backing to finish projects. Others, like Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent Studios, made their plans public in early development in hopes of attracting investments—all while fending off racist attacks from the anti-DEI crowd, making the challenges they’re facing twofold.

Even studios owned by tech juggernauts weren’t immune to the industry’s contraction. Microsoft shuttered Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks; Sony shut down Firewalk. The latter’s shuttering wasn't wholly surprising. Its big 2024 release, Concord, was largely considered a flop. But having a hit didn't give any studios a safety net. Near-universal acclaim for Tango's Hi-Fi Rush didn't stop Microsoft’s ax. (It did, though, give Tango just enough juice to be revived by a new buyer.)

In other words, it’s been a dismal year for morale. When developers gathered in Los Angeles in June for Summer Game Fest, developer New Blood Interactive bought out a billboard solely to memorialize their fellow developers who’d lost jobs: “We love you. We miss you. We hate money.”

This year may have been the 10th anniversary of Gamergate—the 2014 online hate movement that shaped the internet harassment tactics apparent today—but online, conversations felt like a trip back in time. Conservative ideologues bemoaned the inclusion of characters who did not fit the cookie-cutter image of a white, cis, hetero man. They complained that DEI was being forced upon them. (It wasn’t.)

In March, harassment toward a small consultancy company called Sweet Baby Inc. reached new heights as bad actors organized through Discords, Steam forums, and other online spaces. Branding themselves as Gamergate 2.0, online mobs harassed developers using tweets, DMs, YouTube videos, and Twitch streams. They targeted anyone with any connection to Sweet Baby and other consultancies—a fairly wide net, as consultants are often brought on to advise on accuracy, sensitivity, and more. Their mission was fighting against “wokeification.” The realities of the economic issues impacting games they love had no place in their tactics; the specter of diversity had more pull than analysts and experts.

Games with Black leads and characters were derided as forced. Female characters deemed unattractive or masculine were suffering from “DEI chin.” Dragon Age: The Veilguard, was criticized by far-right trolls for its customization options, which allow players to create characters with top surgery scars or play with a nonbinary companion. After reviews were released, conspiracists latched onto clichéd phrases or other language as proof that studio BioWare was instructing reviewers how to talk about their game.

Even not-yet-released titles faced bombardment. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, about a young Black woman in the Deep South, drew ire from the anti-DEI crowds on platforms like X, where they’ve photoshopped the heroine to make her looks less “repulsive” and put forth conspiracy theories about Sweet Baby’s influence on the game’s development.

But pressure to remain apolitical—a curious agenda for an entertainment form that marries the artistic preferences of narrative and imaginary worlds with agency granted to players who inhabit them—did not come just from a vocal minority. Following the release of Black Myth: Wukong, some streamers were given instructions to avoid talking about Covid-19 or “feminist propaganda.” The guidelines had the opposite effect, encouraging streamers to lead with the code words they’d been barred from: a push against standards meant to actually censor players.

Looking ahead to 2025, Ball says he hears more pessimism generally, but “it just sucks to contemplate, let alone predict.” If there is one plus, he says, it’s that there is “a lot more hiring happening than is generally believed. Downside is, it’s not nearly compensating overall, especially at indies.”

As 2024 comes to a close, the industry is operating—from the outside—with a business-as-usual mindset. In early December, developers gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate at The Game Awards. On stage, host Geoff Keighley made a small speech, amid game announcements, accolades, and a performance from Snoop Dogg.

“The sad reality is that over the past few years the gaming industry has suffered significant and unprecedented industrywide layoffs,” Keighley said. “Those affect the games we get to play and, even more important, the people who make the games we love. We can debate and certainly disagree with the reasons why, and honestly as a show we kind of struggle with how to address these topics in a constructive way.”

Keighley used the segment to introduce TGA’s first “game changer” award, a nod to an individual who has positively impacted the industry. Then the show continued, with headline-dominating announcements about major projects like The Witcher 4 and the next title from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog.

Amid all of this is the specter of AI. There’s still little insight on how much AI will continue to grow and how future games might use it, but it’s a rising concern as rank-and-file workers are laid off. No one knows when, or if, the industry will bounce back with sustainable jobs and compensation. Yes, there will be games to play. It’s harder to say how many people will be able to make them.

[mezzopieno-news]

GLI OCCHIALI CON L’AI RENDONO INDIPENDENTI I NON VEDENTI

Una nuova tecnologia che utilizza l’intelligenza artificiale al servizio delle persone con disabilità visive riesce a rendere autonomi gli ipovedenti nella loro vita quotidiana.

Gli occhiali prodotti dalla collaborazione tra Ray-Ban e Meta rendono possibili diverse funzionalità grazie alle telecamere incorporate collegate con un potente processore AI. La funzione “Look and Ask” permette agli occhiali di riconoscere oggetti, situazioni e luoghi, fornendo informazioni utili in tempo reale attraverso una voce guida che viene udita solo dall’utilizzatore degli occhiali. L’utente può, per esempio, orientare gli occhiali intelligenti verso un oggetto e ricevere una descrizione vocale di ciò che sta vedendo, facilitando la navigazione in ambienti sconosciuti o l’identificazione di oggetti. Un’altra funzione, “Be My Eyes”, riesce a connettere le persone non vedenti con altre persone o con volontari vedenti, tramite videochiamata, per permettergli di ricevere assistenza visiva per svolgere attività quotidiane, come eseguire operazioni complesse, trovare oggetti o orientarsi in nuovi luoghi o in spazi ostici o trafficati.

Gli occhiali si presentano uguali a quelli tradizionali e sono una tecnologia indossabile praticamente invisibile che permette, tra le altre cose, di riconoscere e leggere i testi su etichette, cartelli o indicazioni, ma anche libri o menu e di realizzare traduzioni in tempo reale, di ricevere una navigazione assistita grazie alla connessione al GPS, effettuare il riconoscimento facciale delle persone e gestire i dispositivi smart collegati come telefoni o altri apparecchi di ausilio. Un accompagnatore virtuale utile anche a persone anziane o con altri tipi di disabilità, in grado di migliorare la qualità della vita.

___________________

Fonte: Ray-Ban; foto di Cottonbro studio

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[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica # 342 - The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds, 1966

Per cause di forza maggiore, loro che sono stati i sovrani delle copertine con le spiagge non sono comparsi tra le scelte del mese scorso. Ma si rifanno con i fiocchi nell'ultimo appuntamento dei dischi di band con più di due fratelli. I congiunti della band di oggi sono tre, Brian, Dennis e Carl Wilson, a cui si aggiunsero un cugino, Mike Love, e il compagno di liceo di Brian, Al Jardine che formano la line up originale di uno dei gruppi più importanti della storia della musica occidentale, The Beach Boys. In seguito, nel 1964, dopo che Brian Wilson si prese una pausa almeno dai concerti per problemi di salute, dopo una serie clamorosa di 12 album usciti nei primi quattro anni (1960-1964) si aggiunse la star della musica country, e già collaboratore musicale dei nostri, Glen Campbell. Questi nel 1965 lasciò in maniera fragorosa il gruppo e fu sostituito da Bruce Johnston, che suonava le tastiera e come gli altri era bravissimo a cantare.

I Beach Boys non solo sono uno dei gruppi più di successo nella storia (si calcola in 400 milioni di copie le vendite totali di tutte le loro pubblicazioni), 36 singoli nella Top 40 statunitense e 56 nella Top 100, 4 numeri uno, ma sono tra i pochi che hanno non solo segnato l'immaginario musicale, ma hanno creato un genere, il surf rock, che ha portato la California ad essere la meta dei sogni degli anni '60 dei giovani di mezzo mondo.

La storia del disco di oggi tuttavia inizia quando, nel dicembre del 1965, dopo il successo di Barbara Ann, uno dei loro brani iconici, Brian Wilson ha tra le mani Rubber Soul dei Beatles, uscito qualche settimana prima. Rimane affascinato dalla coerenza del disco, dal fatto che è composto solo di brani autografi e dal suono fresco e coinvolgente che i quattro di Liverpool furono capaci di fare. Si mette in testa di realizzare "il più grande disco rock mai realizzato". Manda gli altri in tour nelle Hawaii e in altre zone dell'Oriente e inizia a lavorare a questo progetto. Chiama un pubblicitario, Tony Asher (che diventerà un fido collaboratore futuro) a scrivere dei testi, organizzandosi così: lui dava ad Asher delle idee generali, Asher li trasformava in testi. Brian Wilson, a cui non mancavano tempo e risorse, continuò a lavorare su questo progetto per altri 5 mesi, un'enormità rispetto ai ritmi di un disco ogni 2 mesi fino ad allora mantenuto. Spese 75 mila dollari, una cifra spaventosa all'epoca, per le registrazioni, con un'orchestra intera, i migliori musicisti sulla piazza anche di musica classica e di jazz (gruppo che arrivò a contare 75 persone, soprannominato The Wrecking Crew) e un'idea musicale che si ispirava al wall of sound di Phil Spector: Wilson creò prima le basi con l'intera orchestra che suonava dal vivo, per poi aggiungere le parti vocali. Proprio come Spector, Wilson fu un pioniere dell'uso dello studio come strumento: esplorava le nuove combinazioni di suoni che emergevano dall'uso simultaneo di diversi strumenti elettronici e le univa alle voci con eco e riverbero. Spesso raddoppiava le parti di basso, chitarra e tastiere, accorpandole con suoni di strumenti insoliti per inventare nuovi sound, spesso usando novità assolute per la prima volta: nella sua orchestra insieme ai violini, ottoni, pianoforte, clavicembalo, armonica, fisarmonica, sassofono, flauto, clarinetto, vibrafono, triangolo, marimba, tamburello, campanelli, due bassi, chitarre, batteria, percussioni varie c'era, per la prima volta su un disco pop, una variante del theremin. Wilson registrò tutto, e attese gli altri solo per le parti vocali e per qualche aggiunta strumentale. Ma la reazione degli altri fu niente affatto entusiasta: il più arrabbiato fu Mike Love, che impaurito che questo distacco dal suono familiare della band potesse essere un fiasco disse "Chi ascolterà questa merda? Le orecchie di un cane?", da cui Wilson in maniera beffarda scelse il titolo a questa opera, Pet Sounds.

Uno degli album più importanti di tutti i tempi esce nei negozi il 16 maggio del 1966, in copertina delle foto scattate allo Zoo di San Diego dopo che fu scelto il nome, con le caprette che mangiavano bocconcini dalle mani dei nostri. Eppure il primo brano, divenuto celeberrimo, era molto rassicurante: Wouldn't Be Nice non si scosta tanto dal suono "surfin'" del repertorio precedente, ma è quasi un gioiello canoro per sviare dal resto, fatto di brani dove la stratificazione musicale e vocale arriva a vette insuperate, come nei primi singoli Caroline, No (che nasce da un errore, Asher scrisse Caroline, I Know, ma Wilson sbagliò a cantare il testo), dolente e malinconica, e da Sloop John B, in origine un vecchio brano folk tradizionale caraibico delle Indie occidentali, intitolato The John B. Sails, portato al successo dal Kingston Trio: Al Jardine, grande appassionato di musica folk, fece sentire la melodia a Brian, che prima in maniera timida, poi più convinto, ne fece una cover cambiando anche leggermente il testo. Il disco è dominato dalla malinconia, nelle memorabili Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder), I Know There's An Answer, I'm Waiting For The Day. Ma c'è un aspetto più sottotraccia, che lo stesso Love anni dopo userà per attaccare Brian, e cioè l'uso dell'LSD come "motore ispiratore", che non fece altro che sprigionare tutto "l'ego" di Wilson: tra l'altro i brani, pur se nei crediti hanno i nomi dei vari componenti, furono tutti opera di Brian, che concesse agli altri solo minime correzioni. Non si può lasciare in questo disco altre due perle, una che c'era, e l'altra che all'ultimo momento fu scartata. God Only Know, quella che c'è, è una delle primissime canzoni a far comparire Dio nel titolo, uno dei pezzi più sofisticati, per melodia e orchestrazione mai registrati su un disco pop; Good Vibrations, che non c'era, fu concepita per essere una sorta di "sinfonia tascabile: registrata secondo la leggenda in 26 take, con le più sofisticate tecniche dell'epoca, sembrava pronta, ma all'ultimo momento Brian decise di scartarla, non ancora contento. Ci lavorò ancora per mesi, finchè non uscì come singolo nell'ottobre del 1966.

Il disco è una pietra miliare: presente in tutte le classifiche dei dischi più importanti di tutti i tempi, fu un pugno nello stomaco. Come preannunciato da Love, il disco fu di minor successo commerciale, ma fu il motore creativo che Wilson si preannunciava. I Beatles, sentito Pet Sounds, si innamorano di questa idea di album totale, e l'anno successivo sfornarono Sgt. Pepper's And Lonely Hearts Club Band. Wilson, così fiero del suo lavoro, ascoltando il capolavoro dei Beatles, e così follemente innamorato di quella musica, decise di raccogliere nuovamente la sfida, spronato a rispondere a quell'opera d'arte. Ma quel progetto, Smile, lo portò ad una sorta di esaurimento nervoso che ne segnerà la carriera. Una sfida alla perfezione che in quel momento lo vide soccombere: riprenderà quel progetto solo quasi 35 anni dopo, pubblicandolo nel 2011.

[sprouttheclown]

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