Cable used to be the only game in town for wide entertainment. Sure, if you wanted to subscribe to a game like EverQuest or World of Warcraft, you could (and well, guess the rest of us were never seeing you again). But for variety, cable is what you had—and it wasn’t cheap. So when streaming services came along, they seemed like an answer to everyone’s budget prayers. These days there’s a digital subscription available for most interests, including gaming. And individually, they’re affordable. Or at least, they were. Xbox Game Pass just went up in cost. (Even if you use the conversion hack to get it cheaper.) So did PlayStation Plus. GeForce Now so far is exempt, but PC gamers haven’t been able to sit assured about much these days. Meanwhile, on the TV and movies side of things, Netflix is rumored to be raising prices yet again. Disney+ and Discovery+ have already announced hikes. And in an extremely annoying variation of shrinkflation, Amazon Prime Video and multiple services are adding adverts to their basic streaming plans (or have already done so). As for music, Spotify also got more expensive, sending notice to subscribers with little fanfare. Streaming was great when you were paying less than $25 per month for all the content you could want. But now subscribing to even three services ad-free runs almost $50 per month. Let’s say you want regular access to Game Pass, Netflix, and Disney Plus—that’s already $40 to start with, if you’re only a PC... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2023-10-04 14:10:27 UTC ]
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The Game Awards got it wrong this year. One of the titles nominated for Best Independent Game, Dave the Diver, was produced by Nexon, one of the largest video game studios in South Korea. No matter how hard you squint, it is not indie. Dave the Diver is an excellent pixel-art game about deep-sea... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-12-01 20:52:11 UTC ]
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Absurd Ventures, the new creative studio from Rockstar Games co-founder and ex-creative director Dan Houser, has announced its first projects. As it happens, neither of them are video games, at least not yet. The first of these two new universes is called American Caper, which will debut as a... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-29 21:02:58 UTC ]
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Absurd Ventures, the new creative studio from Rockstar Games co-founder and ex-creative director Dan Houser, has announced its first projects. As it happens, neither of them are video games, at least not yet. The first of these two new universes is called American Caper,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-29 21:02:58 UTC ]
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#keeping houser
#rockstar busy
#rumors suggest
#game awards
#comic book
#graphic novel
In his memoir Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov reflected: “Music, I regret to say, affects me merely as an arbitrary succession of more or less irritating sounds.” The furor over Lolita may have died down, but this confession still has the power to shock. Did the man just say he doesn’t like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-29 09:55:49 UTC ]
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I am, primarily, a guitarist. Dabbling in keys and synths has always felt a bit unnatural from a physical standpoint. A keyboard doesn’t respond the way a fretted instrument does. This isn’t surprising, nor is it a bad thing. It’s just not what I’m used to. The better... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-10 15:00:28 UTC ]
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The Sonos Beam has been our top pick for compact soundbars for a while now. It offers a lot in a small package and the second-gen version also supports more immersive Dolby Atmos audio. The Beam doesn’t have any upfiring drivers though, so the impact of that spatial... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-09 18:30:45 UTC ]
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Blaming inflation and customer price sensitivity, Indigo Books & Music, Canada's leading book retailer, saw a 12.4% decline in sales for the second quarter ending September 30. Sales fell both at physical stores and online. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A little over a month after launching in the U.K. and Australia, Spotify's new streaming audiobook service is now available the U.S., meaning that tens of millions of Spotify premium subscribers now have access to a catalog of more than 200,000 audiobook titles—including titles from all the Big... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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There is no such thing as the "best video game console," but figuring out which one is right for the gaming experience you want is more in reach. There are seven systems that you could reasonably call “current gen,” and others, such as Valve’s Steam Deck, further... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-10-27 14:00:06 UTC ]
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In the lead-up to this year's Esports Business and Gaming Summit, the event's organizers polled 112 North American gaming and esports executives about their thoughts on the industry’s current trajectory, representing a cross-section of executives in sectors including broadcasting and media,... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2023-10-24 04:01:00 UTC ]
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Get a backstage pass to the lives of Madonna, Tupac, and George Harrison in these biographies, which hit bookstore shelves this week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The world of ants is a mysterious one, as we’re still learning new stuff about the most populous insect on Earth. Soon we’ll be able to get a more hands-on approach with everyone’s favorite picnic-ruiners, thanks to the forthcoming insect sim Empire of the Ants. The... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-10-13 19:10:34 UTC ]
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The industry body says the music giant’s move to make more than 150,000 titles available has not been discussed with authors and may compete with salesThe Society of Authors (SoA) has said it is “deeply concerned” about Spotify’s new audiobook provision. The industry body cited “the devastating... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-11 15:40:05 UTC ]
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Judges praise the final six ‘exquisite and ambitious’ works in contention for the £50,000 award for nonfictionBooks tackling climate change, China, the NHS, European revolutions, ballet and music feature on the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction.The six-long list... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-08 19:00:48 UTC ]
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The company is also selling and spinning off some of its divisions as the video game industry faces cutbacks. Epic Games, maker of the smash hit Fortnite, isn’t immune to the troubles of the video game industry. The publisher announced Thursday it was laying off 16% of its staff, which works... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-09-28 14:15:00 UTC ]
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Writing literary fiction is a freeing thing—there are no rules, there is just a story waiting to be told. When I started writing my first novel, The Theory of Flight, I knew that I wanted it be a character-driven story that explored difficult social and political terrain in order to reveal... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-27 08:45:38 UTC ]
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Authors have entered a war over words with OpenAI for using their books as ‘training’ feedstockBattles between human and artificial intelligence are no longer science fiction. The strikes in Hollywood led by the united guilds of actors and screenwriters have a common, intangible enemy: the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-09-23 15:03:31 UTC ]
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Globally, the publishing industry is contending with diminishing revenues. With a recent report from intelligence provider WARC finding that global advertising revenue for total print will experience a 7.7% drop-off in 2023 from last year’s number, traditional publishers are looking to shore up... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2023-09-14 15:29:34 UTC ]
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Publishers of interactive formats extend key franchises with exciting new titles and products. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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If one thing kept me coming back (and back) to Homeworld, it was skirmish mode. Setting up a quick (“quick”) battle against the CPU would often rob me of a whole weekend while at college. Homeworld 3 sees a new mode arrive on the second sequel, a roguelike-inspired multiplayer co-op called War... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-08-25 15:30:05 UTC ]
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