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GAINS Associates has announced the launch of GainsPad, heralding a new era in Web3 fundraising. With a legacy spanning six years, a fully transparent team, and an unrivaled track record exemplified by the success of Gains Private, the inaugural launchpad, the new platform is poised to redefine the landscape of Initial Decentralized Offerings (IDOs). As the team embarks on this journey, they invite individuals worldwide to join them in shaping the future of crypto fundraising. GainsPad presents a monumental opportunity, magnitudes larger than anything witnessed before in the IDO market. The team is not just offering a platform; they are fostering a community where participants can partake in life-changing deals, embodying the spirit of empowerment and inclusivity. What Are The Key Highlights? GainsPad introduces a novel approach to IDOs, focusing on accessibility and fairness while maintaining the highest standards of transparency and security. The platform boasts several key components designed to enhance the investor experience. Firstly, there is the ‘Refund Policy,’ which helps safeguard investors against unforeseen circumstances. The policy ensures peace of mind during the token launch phase. Next, there is the ‘Tiered System.’ With varying tiers tailored to different levels of engagement, participants can maximize their investment potential and increase their chances of securing allocations. Finally, there is the ‘Whitelist Process.’ Through engaging educational content and quizzes, the team streamlines the whitelisting process, ensuring that only knowledgeable and committed community members gain access to exclusive opportunities. Alongside maintaining strong foundational principles, the team’s approach entails a dual strategy: seizing opportunities within burgeoning trends ahead of their peak and investing in emerging narratives and ecosystems preemptively. They also possess the capability to transparently raise funds on-chain by leveraging a consortium of angel investors under one unified entity. Moreover, GAINS offers comprehensive support to various projects, including in-house marketing initiatives and facilitation of introductions to the platform’s expansive network encompassing over 250 Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), different launchpads, venture capitalists (VCs), marketing agencies, news platforms, exchanges, and market makers (MMs). Strategic Partnerships GainsPad is proud to collaborate with industry-leading partners such as ETHDubai, Polygon, BNB Chain, and Trust Wallet. These partnerships underscore the team’s commitment to excellence and their dedication to providing unparalleled value to the community. GAINS also boasts distinguished advisors such as Walid Benothman, known for his role in driving growth at 1INCH, Evan Luthra, a prominent Indian influencer, and Jonathan Faye, whose extensive experience includes a decade at the $125B AUM ODDO BHF, where he transitioned from a legal background to lead Open Innovation initiatives. Additionally, $GAINS has recently secured a listing on a premier centralized exchange. Key Figures: Evan Luthra Evan Luthra, a renowned figure within the cryptocurrency and tech world, has been named twice by Forbes as part of their esteemed 30 under 30 list. His expertise spans across multiple domains, from his prolific work in tech entrepreneurship to his passion for nonfungible tokens. Evan has been recognised by prestigious platforms like Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, thereby highlighting his impact as both an angel investor as well as a tech influencer. He is also a tech visionary with an impressive track record of creating more than 30 applications by the age of 17, in addition to fueling the growth of over 500 Web3 companies. As a tech visionary, Evan’s influence extends to a market cap exceeding a whopping $100 billion. Evans has also been actively involved in the crypto space for years, successfully managing a cryptocurrency investment bank, as well as investing in projects such as Ripple and Hashgraph. Evan has also shared his knowledge globally through platforms like TEDx alongside various institutions, educating audiences on topics ranging from cryptocurrencies and blockchain to the future of decentralized autonomous organizations. Walid Benothman Walid's Leadership roles in companies like 1inch and Curv demonstrate his expertise in driving growth and strategy operations. Walid was also an early employee at Ripple. His strategic initiatives at both Curv and Ripple played a significant role in advancing the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, thereby culminating in the acquisition of Curv by PayPal. Furthermore, from management consulting to creating the inaugural digitally managed semi-professional football club in Paris, Walid’s entrepreneurial spirit and foresight have also led to groundbreaking ventures at a consistent level.\ Jonathan Faye Jonathan has over ten years of relevant experience within the world of finance, as proven by his work at the aforementioned ODDO BHF, a French-German investment bank with €150b AUM. Although he began as a lawyer, Jonathan nevertheless played an important part in M&A, regulatory affairs, and private equity as well as VC. Eventually progressing to Global Head of Open Innovation, Jonathan concentrated on shaping corporate VC strategy while simultaneously pioneering blockchain technology for a modern age, supporting ventures such as Coinhouse and Ledger. Presently, Jonathan is in charge of JonVenture, his own advisory firm, providing key guidance to early-stage startups by utilizing his passion and experience for both angel investment and Web3. Investment Opportunity As a decentralized community VC established six years ago, GAINS operates a launchpad for private sales. Notably, the platform has deployed over $35 million for more than 300 projects, featuring notable successes such as Bloktopia (x1000), Quant Network (x500), Avalanche (x300), and Hashgraph (x50). GAINS CEO, Alexandre Raffin, stated that “At GAINS, we are driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a steadfast commitment to our community. With the launch of GainsPad, we are democratizing access to groundbreaking projects and revolutionizing the way individuals participate in Web3 fundraising.” To participate in GainsPad's IDOs, individuals are required to stake a minimum of 1,000 $GAINS, with additional tickets awarded for every 250 $GAINS staked. The aforementioned tiered system offers varying levels of bonuses and incentives, ensuring that each participant is rewarded according to their level of engagement and commitment. About GAINS GAINS Associates is the world's first decentralized venture capital firm, providing individuals holding $GAINS with access to the most promising crypto projects. With over six years of experience and a history of ultra-high return deals, GAINS is shaping the future of DeFi. GAINS stands for ‘Group Action Is Never Small’, symbolizing the collaborative spirit that is the essence of blockchain and decentralization. For individuals seeking to invest in the next generation of crypto unicorns, GainsPad represents the ultimate destination. GAINS remains steadfast in its mission to remove entry barriers to investing and empower individuals to seize opportunities in the crypto space. With a proven track record and a commitment to excellence, there is no better time than now to get started with GAINS as they have a fully doxxed team, an impressive track record for their first platform, Gains Private, that was launched back in 2021, and the fact that the team is finally ready to tap into the IDO market, which is a 10-20x bigger opportunity with potentially massive returns up for grabs. Visit the official website for further information and join GAINS’ Telegram channel to engage with the team members who are dedicated to assisting customers every step of the way. For regular updates, check out the X, LinkedIn, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Medium, TikTok, and YouTube channels as well. This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. GAINS Associates has announced the launch of GainsPad, heralding a new era in Web3 fundraising. With a legacy spanning six years, a fully transparent team, and an unrivaled track record exemplified by the success of Gains Private, the inaugural launchpad, the new platform is poised to redefine the landscape of Initial Decentralized Offerings (IDOs). GAINS Associates As the team embarks on this journey, they invite individuals worldwide to join them in shaping the future of crypto fundraising. GainsPad presents a monumental opportunity, magnitudes larger than anything witnessed before in the IDO market. The team is not just offering a platform; they are fostering a community where participants can partake in life-changing deals, embodying the spirit of empowerment and inclusivity. What Are The Key Highlights? GainsPad introduces a novel approach to IDOs, focusing on accessibility and fairness while maintaining the highest standards of transparency and security. The platform boasts several key components designed to enhance the investor experience. Firstly, there is the ‘ Refund Policy ,’ which helps safeguard investors against unforeseen circumstances. The policy ensures peace of mind during the token launch phase. Next, there is the ‘ Tiered System .’ With varying tiers tailored to different levels of engagement, participants can maximize their investment potential and increase their chances of securing allocations. Refund Policy Refund Policy Tiered System Tiered System Finally, there is the ‘Whitelist Process.’ Through engaging educational content and quizzes, the team streamlines the whitelisting process, ensuring that only knowledgeable and committed community members gain access to exclusive opportunities. Alongside maintaining strong foundational principles, the team’s approach entails a dual strategy: seizing opportunities within burgeoning trends ahead of their peak and investing in emerging narratives and ecosystems preemptively. They also possess the capability to transparently raise funds on-chain by leveraging a consortium of angel investors under one unified entity. Moreover, GAINS offers comprehensive support to various projects, including in-house marketing initiatives and facilitation of introductions to the platform’s expansive network encompassing over 250 Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), different launchpads, venture capitalists (VCs), marketing agencies, news platforms, exchanges, and market makers (MMs). Strategic Partnerships GainsPad is proud to collaborate with industry-leading partners such as ETHDubai, Polygon, BNB Chain, and Trust Wallet. These partnerships underscore the team’s commitment to excellence and their dedication to providing unparalleled value to the community. GAINS also boasts distinguished advisors such as Walid Benothman, known for his role in driving growth at 1INCH, Evan Luthra, a prominent Indian influencer, and Jonathan Faye, whose extensive experience includes a decade at the $125B AUM ODDO BHF, where he transitioned from a legal background to lead Open Innovation initiatives. Additionally, $GAINS has recently secured a listing on a premier centralized exchange. Key Figures: Evan Luthra Evan Luthra Evan Luthra Evan Luthra, a renowned figure within the cryptocurrency and tech world, has been named twice by Forbes as part of their esteemed 30 under 30 list. His expertise spans across multiple domains, from his prolific work in tech entrepreneurship to his passion for nonfungible tokens. Evan has been recognised by prestigious platforms like Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, thereby highlighting his impact as both an angel investor as well as a tech influencer. He is also a tech visionary with an impressive track record of creating more than 30 applications by the age of 17, in addition to fueling the growth of over 500 Web3 companies. As a tech visionary, Evan’s influence extends to a market cap exceeding a whopping $100 billion. Evans has also been actively involved in the crypto space for years, successfully managing a cryptocurrency investment bank, as well as investing in projects such as Ripple and Hashgraph. Evan has also shared his knowledge globally through platforms like TEDx alongside various institutions, educating audiences on topics ranging from cryptocurrencies and blockchain to the future of decentralized autonomous organizations. Walid Benothman Walid Benothman Walid Benothman Walid's Leadership roles in companies like 1inch and Curv demonstrate his expertise in driving growth and strategy operations. Walid was also an early employee at Ripple. His strategic initiatives at both Curv and Ripple played a significant role in advancing the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, thereby culminating in the acquisition of Curv by PayPal. Furthermore, from management consulting to creating the inaugural digitally managed semi-professional football club in Paris, Walid’s entrepreneurial spirit and foresight have also led to groundbreaking ventures at a consistent level.\ Jonathan Faye Jonathan Faye Jonathan Faye Jonathan has over ten years of relevant experience within the world of finance, as proven by his work at the aforementioned ODDO BHF, a French-German investment bank with €150b AUM. Although he began as a lawyer, Jonathan nevertheless played an important part in M&A, regulatory affairs, and private equity as well as VC. Eventually progressing to Global Head of Open Innovation, Jonathan concentrated on shaping corporate VC strategy while simultaneously pioneering blockchain technology for a modern age, supporting ventures such as Coinhouse and Ledger. Presently, Jonathan is in charge of JonVenture, his own advisory firm, providing key guidance to early-stage startups by utilizing his passion and experience for both angel investment and Web3. Investment Opportunity As a decentralized community VC established six years ago, GAINS operates a launchpad for private sales. Notably, the platform has deployed over $35 million for more than 300 projects, featuring notable successes such as Bloktopia (x1000), Quant Network (x500), Avalanche (x300), and Hashgraph (x50). GAINS CEO, Alexandre Raffin, stated that “At GAINS, we are driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a steadfast commitment to our community. With the launch of GainsPad, we are democratizing access to groundbreaking projects and revolutionizing the way individuals participate in Web3 fundraising.” GAINS CEO, Alexandre Raffin, stated that “At GAINS, we are driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a steadfast commitment to our community. With the launch of GainsPad, we are democratizing access to groundbreaking projects and revolutionizing the way individuals participate in Web3 fundraising.” To participate in GainsPad's IDOs, individuals are required to stake a minimum of 1,000 $GAINS, with additional tickets awarded for every 250 $GAINS staked. The aforementioned tiered system offers varying levels of bonuses and incentives, ensuring that each participant is rewarded according to their level of engagement and commitment. About GAINS GAINS Associates is the world's first decentralized venture capital firm, providing individuals holding $GAINS with access to the most promising crypto projects. With over six years of experience and a history of ultra-high return deals, GAINS is shaping the future of DeFi. GAINS stands for ‘Group Action Is Never Small’, symbolizing the collaborative spirit that is the essence of blockchain and decentralization. For individuals seeking to invest in the next generation of crypto unicorns, GainsPad represents the ultimate destination. GAINS remains steadfast in its mission to remove entry barriers to investing and empower individuals to seize opportunities in the crypto space. With a proven track record and a commitment to excellence, there is no better time than now to get started with GAINS as they have a fully doxxed team, an impressive track record for their first platform, Gains Private, that was launched back in 2021, and the fact that the team is finally ready to tap into the IDO market, which is a 10-20x bigger opportunity with potentially massive returns up for grabs. Visit the official website for further information and join GAINS’ Telegram channel to engage with the team members who are dedicated to assisting customers every step of the way. For regular updates, check out the X , LinkedIn , Discord , Facebook , Instagram , Medium , TikTok , and YouTube channels as well. official website official website Telegram channel Telegram channel X X LinkedIn LinkedIn Discord Discord Facebook Facebook Instagram Instagram Medium Medium TikTok TikTok YouTube YouTube This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. This story was distributed as a release by Btcwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here . here here

GainsPad Finally Launches And Ushers In A New Era Of Web3 Fundraising

How to Build an Employee Management CRUD App with Angular and Material UI

MODERN PROPHECIES

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The Game Awards, since its inception, has been one of if not the biggest gaming award show out there. Sure, there are others, but The Game Awards always seems to bring the most hype and excitement. Especially when it comes to their Game of the Year category. Of course, when choosing the best anything, opinions will clash. With that in mind, let’s look back at the previous Game of the Year winners, and you can decide if The Game Awards got it right or wrong. All of the Game of the Year Winners Dragon Age: Inquisition The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Overwatch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild God of War Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice The Last of Us Part II It Takes Two Elden Ring Baldur’s Gate 3 2014 Game of the Year Winner: Dragon Age: Inquisition The fight for Game of the Year was fierce during the show’s first year. But in the end, it was Bioware’s that took the award home. But was it the right choice? That’s up to you to decide. Here are the it was competing against: Dragon Age: Inquisition other games Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Dark Souls 2 Bayonetta 2 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor 2015 Game of the Year Winner: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Look, all of the 2015 nominees were amazing, but this category belonged to . It’s many people’s favorite game, and everyone knew it would win. However, maybe you think one of should have won: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt these games Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Bloodborne Super Mario Maker Fallout 4 2016 Game of the Year Winner: Overwatch It’s very impressive that Overwatch is still going strong 7 years later, but it’s even more impressive that it in 2016. It had in the form of some extremely popular games; let’s check some of them out: won the Game of the Year award strong competition Titanfall 2 Doom Inside Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End 2017 Game of the Year Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild It’s been 6 years since this game came out, and fans have been counting the days until its sequel releases. This a testament to how beloved the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is, so it should come as no surprise that it . But maybe another game deserved to win; take a look at the and decide: won in 2017 other nominees PlayerUnknow’s Battlegrounds Horizon Zero Dawn Super Mario Odyssey Persona 5 2018 Game of the Year: God of War A decade ago, God of War was very popular. But even its hardcore fans probably never imagined that not only would it become that popular again, but that it would surpass that level of fame. The 2018 version of God of War reinvigorated the franchise, and it ended up winning the . Let’s look at the it had: Game of the Year in 2018 competition Monster Hunter: World Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Marvel’s Spider-Man Red Dead Redemption Celeste 2019 Game of the Year Winner: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice After getting two of their games nominated but not winning, FromSoftware finally won the big one with their game . Although this game is amazing and people love it, it was surprising that it won over the juggernaut that is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Here are the rest of the : Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice nominees Resident Evil 2 The Outer Worlds Death Stranding Control Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2020 Game of the Year Winner: The Last of Us Part II Although the game might have been divisive with players, it was a hit at the award show. It won in numerous categories, including . 2020, in particular, was stacked with great games, and all of them had a strong argument for why they should win. The other were: Game of the Year nominees Hades Animal Crossing: New Horizons Doom Eternal Ghost of Tsushima Final Fantasy VII Remake 2021 Game of the Year Winner: It Takes Two Hazelight, the developer of It Takes Two, had a popular game in A Way Out. However, nobody expected their next game to be as huge as it was. It Takes Two took the world by storm, and it won in . Let’s look at the it had: 2021 competition Resident Evil Village Metroid Dread Deathloop Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Psychonauts 2 2022 Game of the Year Winner: Elden Ring No offense to the other games that were nominated, but everyone knew that the real competition was between two specific games, God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring. These two colossuses fought, and Elden Ring . Check out the that were in contention: came out the victor other games Xenoblade Chronicles 3 A Plague Tale: Requiem Horizon Forbidden West Stray God of War: Ragnarok 2023 Game of the Year - Baldur’s Gate 3 When Baldur’s Gate 3 came out in 2023, it immediately hit the ground running. The game’s peak number of concurrent players on Steam was , and it received multiple 10/10 ratings from gaming publications such as and 875,343 IGN Gamespot. Again, this year was just a case of the other nominees being great, but one game in particular just shining a bit brighter. The Other Nominees: Alan Wake 2 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Resident Evil 4 Super Mario Bros. Wonder The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom So, what do you think? Were any games snubbed? Or did they hit the mark every year? Make sure to say in the comment section below. More in Gaming AI Is Adding a Layer to Everything - Even Problem-Solving Games Gamefi 2.0: The Movement From Play To Earn To Blockchain Esports 10 Best Mario Party Games Ranked by Sales Feature image source

Every Game of the Year Winner in Chronological Order

We're not going to mince words here. Tech giants gave their employees a massive FU this past week, aggressively cutting down thousands of jobs and giving out corporate-y reasons for showing their employees the door. Corporate America has been looking to become leaner since at least mid-2022 after it became clear that its expectations for growth — fueled by the now defunct COVID-19 pandemic — were beginning to falter. So of course the first ones to go out were the thousands of employees that CEOs hired because they thought they could keep riding the euphoria of good business on the internet. But what the internet giveth, it also taketh away. And so has been the case with tech companies, who are now looking to course correct by canning their workers. Microsoft was the first big name to announce the layoffs this past week, noting that it would be letting go of 10,000 people in order to trim costs and remain competitive. "These are the kinds of hard choices we have made throughout our 47-year history to remain a consequential company in this industry that is unforgiving to anyone who doesn’t adapt to platform shifts," CEO Satya Nadella said in a note to employees, referring to change in customer demand in the cloud business, which, for years, has been the crown jewel of the company but has fallen prey to the inflationary pressure that businesses are currently experiencing. Even though Microsoft is going to take a $1.2 billion charge because of the severance and other benefits it has to pay employees leaving the company, the job cuts will (presumably) free up cash in the long term for the Windows maker's current obsession: artificial intelligence. Oh yes, Microsoft is betting hard on AI,  going as far as to tout their inclusion in its products with the help of a deepening partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT — an AI chatbot that has the internet incensed ever since it became public. Microsoft swooped in early with OpenAI, making an initial investment in 2019 and then in 2021, but with ChatGPT's most recent rocket success, the company is now funneling even more money in the startup (some media outlets suggest up to $10 billion), and facing head on its competitors Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon, both of whom have also been course correcting in the year of our lord, 2023. In fact, Alphabet was the second tech titan this past week to note that it will be cutting jobs, surpassing even Microsoft's numbers. The creator of Google, and arguably the only reason why "SEO Specialists" are a thing, said it would be saying goodbye to 12,000 employees. "As an almost 25-year-old company, we’re bound to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities," CEO Sundar Pichai said in a note to employees. Unfortunately, even 19 years of service didn’t save this loyal Google Engineer from the chopping block. Not to be snubbed by Microsoft, Pichai also noted a focus on AI moving forward. "We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly." According to some media reports, the company is preparing for a major AI launch later this year. Whether such a launch will rival OpenAI's offerings is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, the cumulative effect of all these job cuts have been that the numbers of layoffs in the tech sector have peaked since 2002. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, tech companies eliminated 97,000 jobs in 2022 alone, the most since the dot-com crash of 2002 when the industry shed 131,000 jobs, Reuters reported. If the trend continues, 2023 might end up becoming one of the messiest since then. Google ranked #7 in this week's Tech Company Rankings, followed by Amazon at #57 and Microsoft at #64. Even Media Companies Are Not Immune 🎵 If you thought that was the end of the layoffs news, we're sorry to tell you that there's still more. Spotify, universally one of the worst things to happen to artists, is also going to be letting go of hundreds of people. The music streaming service (and home to sometimes conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan), announced a reorganization that will see it let go of 6% of its workforce for the same reasons echoed by other tech CEOs: growth targets that simply aren't panning out because COVID-19 is virtually over. CEO Daniel Ek also said a reshuffle in the senior leadership, announced alongside the layoffs, will let him "get back to the part where I do my best work—spending more time working on the future of Spotify." We hope that the future does not involve further screwing over artists. Meanwhile, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales' for-profit spinoff Fandom also announced layoffs at video gaming publication behemoths Giant Bomb and GameSpot, Kotaku reported. FTX Comes Clean Over Crypto Hack 🖥️ And so it happened. FTX, once the second-largest crypto exchange in the U.S., has detailed the extent of a crypto hack it reported at the time it was going bankrupt. According to Reuters, the crypto exchange pegged the value of the stolen crypto at $415 million. What's interesting about all of this is that, so far, nobody has batted an eye about the hack, or at least not as much as we thought everyone would. It feels like the stealing of crypto and related funds via a hack is the least of anyone's problems, given the colossal f*ck up that was FTX. In Other News.. 📰 Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince thinks generative AI — such as ChatGPT, but also others like DALL-E — are good enough to be considered junior programmers in their own right.
In further good news for HODL gang: Bitcoin briefly crossed the $23k mark and investors are said to remain bullish.
"Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly." Actual words spoken by Elon Musk recently.
Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings is stepping away from CEO duties at the streaming giant. And that's a wrap! There's still time for you to tell us about your 2022 and gain some internet cred, and if you're one of the thousands impacted by the ongoing layoff decisions in the tech industry, you may want to share your story. See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ We're not going to mince words here. Tech giants gave their employees a massive FU this past week, aggressively cutting down thousands of jobs and giving out corporate-y reasons for showing their employees the door. Corporate America has been looking to become leaner since at least mid-2022 after it became clear that its expectations for growth — fueled by the now defunct COVID-19 pandemic — were beginning to falter. So of course the first ones to go out were the thousands of employees that CEOs hired because they thought they could keep riding the euphoria of good business on the internet. become leaner become leaner But what the internet giveth, it also taketh away. And so has been the case with tech companies, who are now looking to course correct by canning their workers. Microsoft was the first big name to announce the layoffs this past week, noting that it would be letting go of 10,000 people in order to trim costs and remain competitive. "These are the kinds of hard choices we have made throughout our 47-year history to remain a consequential company in this industry that is unforgiving to anyone who doesn’t adapt to platform shifts," CEO Satya Nadella said in a note to employees, referring to change in customer demand in the cloud business, which, for years, has been the crown jewel of the company but has fallen prey to the inflationary pressure that businesses are currently experiencing. Microsoft Microsoft 10,000 people 10,000 people fallen prey fallen prey Even though Microsoft is going to take a $1.2 billion charge because of the severance and other benefits it has to pay employees leaving the company, the job cuts will (presumably) free up cash in the long term for the Windows maker's current obsession: artificial intelligence. Oh yes, Microsoft is betting hard on AI,  going as far as to tout their inclusion in its products with the help of a deepening partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT — an AI chatbot that has the internet incensed ever since it became public. Microsoft swooped in early with OpenAI, making an initial investment in 2019 and then in 2021, but with ChatGPT's most recent rocket success, the company is now funneling even more money in the startup (some media outlets suggest up to $10 billion), and facing head on its competitors Google -parent Alphabet and Amazon , both of whom have also been course correcting in the year of our lord, 2023. tout their inclusion tout their inclusion ChatGPT ChatGPT its competitors its competitors Google Google Amazon Amazon course correcting course correcting In fact, Alphabet was the second tech titan this past week to note that it will be cutting jobs, surpassing even Microsoft's numbers. The creator of Google, and arguably the only reason why "SEO Specialists" are a thing, said it would be saying goodbye to 12,000 employees. "As an almost 25-year-old company, we’re bound to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities," CEO Sundar Pichai said in a note to employees . Unfortunately, even 19 years of service didn’t save this loyal Google Engineer from the chopping block. note to employees note to employees 19 years of service didn’t save this loyal Google Engineer 19 years of service didn’t save this loyal Google Engineer Not to be snubbed by Microsoft, Pichai also noted a focus on AI moving forward. "We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly." According to some media reports, the company is preparing for a major AI launch later this year . Whether such a launch will rival OpenAI's offerings is yet to be seen. later this year later this year Meanwhile, the cumulative effect of all these job cuts have been that the numbers of layoffs in the tech sector have peaked since 2002. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, tech companies eliminated 97,000 jobs in 2022 alone, the most since the dot-com crash of 2002 when the industry shed 131,000 jobs, Reuters reported . If the trend continues, 2023 might end up becoming one of the messiest since then. reported reported Google ranked #7 in this week's Tech Company Rankings , followed by Amazon at #57 and Microsoft at #64. Tech Company Rankings Tech Company Rankings Even Media Companies Are Not Immune 🎵 Even Media Companies Are Not Immune If you thought that was the end of the layoffs news, we're sorry to tell you that there's still more. Spotify , universally one of the worst things to happen to artists, is also going to be letting go of hundreds of people. Spotify Spotify letting go letting go The music streaming service (and home to sometimes conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan), announced a reorganization that will see it let go of 6% of its workforce for the same reasons echoed by other tech CEOs: growth targets that simply aren't panning out because COVID-19 is virtually over. sometimes conspiracy theorist sometimes conspiracy theorist CEO Daniel Ek also said a reshuffle in the senior leadership, announced alongside the layoffs, will let him "get back to the part where I do my best work—spending more time working on the future of Spotify." We hope that the future does not involve further screwing over artists. Meanwhile, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales' for-profit spinoff Fandom also announced layoffs at video gaming publication behemoths Giant Bomb and GameSpot , Kotaku reported . Giant Bomb GameSpot reported reported FTX Comes Clean Over Crypto Hack 🖥️ FTX Comes Clean Over Crypto Hack And so it happened. FTX, once the second-largest crypto exchange in the U.S., has detailed the extent of a crypto hack it reported at the time it was going bankrupt. According to Reuters, the crypto exchange pegged the value of the stolen crypto at $415 million . $415 million $415 million What's interesting about all of this is that, so far, nobody has batted an eye about the hack, or at least not as much as we thought everyone would. It feels like the stealing of crypto and related funds via a hack is the least of anyone's problems, given the colossal f*ck up that was FTX. In Other News.. 📰 In Other News.. 📰 Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince thinks generative AI — such as ChatGPT, but also others like DALL-E — are good enough to be considered junior programmers in their own right. In further good news for HODL gang: Bitcoin briefly crossed the $23k mark and investors are said to remain bullish. "Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly." Actual words spoken by Elon Musk recently. Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings is stepping away from CEO duties at the streaming giant. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince thinks generative AI — such as ChatGPT, but also others like DALL-E — are good enough to be considered junior programmers in their own right. good enough good enough In further good news for HODL gang: Bitcoin briefly crossed the $23k mark and investors are said to remain bullish . briefly crossed briefly crossed remain bullish remain bullish "Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly." Actual words spoken by Elon Musk recently. spoken spoken Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings is stepping away from CEO duties at the streaming giant. Netflix Netflix stepping away stepping away And that's a wrap! There's still time for you to tell us about your 2022 and gain some internet cred, and if you're one of the thousands impacted by the ongoing layoff decisions in the tech industry, you may want to share your story . tell us about your 2022 tell us about your 2022 you may want to share your story you may want to share your story See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️

Tech Giants Give Longtime Employees a Massive FU

Los gigantes tecnológicos brindan a los empleados de mucho tiempo una FU masiva

Les géants de la technologie offrent aux employés de longue date un FU massif

तकनीकी दिग्गजों ने लंबे समय तक काम करने वाले कर्मचारियों को एक विशाल FU दिया

テクノロジーの巨人は長年の従業員に大規模な FU を与える

Gigantes da tecnologia dão aos funcionários de longa data uma enorme FU

Teknoloji Devleri Uzun Süreli Çalışanlara Devasa Bir FU Sunuyor

Những gã khổng lồ công nghệ mang đến cho nhân viên lâu năm một FU khổng lồ

科技巨头为长期员工提供大量 FU

THE DARWIN FAMILY

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): Act Two - Helena’s Drawing Room—Ten years later. Morning

Photo Credit: Lorenzo Herrera Via Unsplash. Hey Hackers! I’m Michael Benko and I’m the Chief Marketing Officer of Improv Jam and gaming blogger at www.michaelbenko.com. First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2022 Noonies award! I’ve been nominated in the gaming category so please do check out these award pages and vote: HackerNoon Contributor of the Year: Metaverse HackerNoon Contributor of the Year: Games 1. What product/feature/project did you get nominated for? I wrote an analysis of Axie Infinity’s in-game economy, , and it was nominated for two Noonies. https://hackernoon.com/what-everyone-is-missing-about-axie-infinitys-economic-storm 2. Why did you design or develop it the way that you did? I had been reading analyses of the game’s economy, and from what I read, there were certain dynamics of the way the game Axie Infinity’s in-game economy worked that I didn’t think the analysts seemed to fully understand. There were basic parts of it that they definitely did. So the article was a humble attempt at voicing those dynamics from the perspective of a gaming guild participant. 3. What was the process like? It was frightening! The blank page in front of you :) But overall, it was a really good experience, as I continued the process, I felt more confident as what I wrote actually seemed to make sense to other people. 4. Were you expecting the nomination? Not at all, it came as a total and very pleasant surprise. I was on the way back from a family member’s wedding, in the car on the drive from Boston to Portland (I wasn’t driving, don’t worry) and I received the email. I was really surprised, and so pleasantly so! I’m a creator, and I know how easy it is to put out work after work, and never, ever have anyone acknowledge it. So for someone to have nominated me was a really big deal for me personally. I just really enjoyed the process and that I did work and it received a really nice result. Whether or not I win the Noonie, I’m honestly just thrilled to have been nominated. 5. What do you think made it successful? I believe it was a personal experience. I wasn’t writing about something in theory. I did a deep dive into a kind of obscure gaming economy that not many people do, or really should, be expected to understand past the basics. And I guess that made it fun, and my personal experience in the game really informed what I was writing. 6. If you could design the perfect project, what would it be? It would be a self-aware computer that ran on nanobots, that you could inject into your body and would be powered by your body heat. It would be able to speak to you, and it would be ultra-intelligent and also programmed to genuinely have your best interest at heart. Anytime, it could tell you what you should do in a given situation to absolutely master it, whether that’s what to do on any given day, or help you learn skiing in a nanosecond to get out of a bind. It would also be a great conversationalist, who you could have deep conversations with at any time, and if you wanted to, you could close your eyes and it would take you on awesome virtual adventures that could fit thousands of years into seconds. It could never break, or be lost. 7. What technologies in the games industry are most exciting? Decentralization. A million times over, decentralization. I believe that true innovation will be when everyone has the tools to create and can go off and do something amazing, potentially using APIs of pre-existing games to build in their universes--or create their own. Imagine if anyone could build a Pokemon game, and Game Freak had to compete with that--with the fans. What kind of amazing worlds would come out of that? 8. What is a major issue in the games industry that needs to be addressed? Scams. 1000%, scams. I say that specifically looking at the crypto gaming industry. For a while, I was looking for new NFT games to see if I could find some to be early on, and I keep going through chart after chart of tokens that launched, went super high, and then crashed super low (this was before the broader crash). I’m not saying that these were all scams, but I bet some of them were. I think for a healthier decentralized gaming ecosystem to develop, this needs to be addressed--I just don’t know how yet. Hopefully, there will be better community-created resources that help tackle this and can be go-to spaces to vet projects and enhance player safety for existing ones. 9. Is there something that you would like to shout-out? The person who suggested I write the article in the first place. That sent me on a really cool adventure. Thanks for being there for me. Then, friends + family. I just can’t say this enough. It’s rare for people to have your back, so I’m appreciative of the friends and family who do. Can I thank the editors and the HackerNoon staff and shout them out too? 10. How can gaming writers on HackerNoon set themselves apart from the mainstream gaming publications such as IGN and Gamespot? I think by covering the things that haven’t gone mainstream yet. The tech that’s around the corner, and in development now, which hasn’t been adopted yet by a wide audience. For me, this includes Blockchain in gaming, which there’s a ton of blowback for in some big gaming publications. As someone who’s loved video games most of my life (starting with NES), I’m really really sympathetic to gaming publications that don’t like Blockchain gaming as a trend. I look at pure gaming publications, and I think where it’s really good is they’re all about having fun, which I love. But I think that in the 20s, we’ll see Blockchain games develop as their own niche within gaming. So right now, some large gaming and non-gaming magazines might not love Blockchain gaming, and that’s okay, but in the future, there could be a situation when a Blockchain game comes out that’s so amazing, it’s just really hard for them to give it heat. Or some of their staff love it. Or, honestly, and I think this is likely--that NFTs are so much a part of so many games, we reach a point where it would be weird if you couldn’t own your in-game assets. Even if it’s not called an “NFT”, it would be hard to have ownership of it without Blockchain technology. Ownership which means you can do what you want like trading it or selling it. 11. Please give us the links to all your relevant social media profiles so we can use them to promote this interview! (Twitter and LinkedIn would be a huge plus) So most of the creating I do is here: . My Twitter is www.twitter.com/MichaelBenko, and my Linkedin is . And, can I throw this here? My website is www.michaelbenko.com. https://www.facebook.com/heymichaelbenko https://www.linkedin.com/in/himichaelbenko About HackerNoon’s 2022 Noonie Awards The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to , nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today. check out our award categories The 2022 Noonies are sponsored by: , and . Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees. BingX .tech

Axie Infinity And The Future Of Blockchain Games

Hey Hackers! I’m Bryan Applegate. First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2022 Noonies award! I’ve been nominated in the gaming category so please do check out these award pages and vote: : HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - GAME DEVELOPMENT https://www.noonies.tech/2022/gaming/2022-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-game-development HackerNoon Contributor of the Year- GAMING-INDUSTRY: https://www.noonies.tech/2022/gaming/2022-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-gaming-industry Address currently N/A Mom’s Basement Bandit - 1. What product/feature/project did you get nominated for? I got nominated for two Gaming-related categories. They are as follows. The first one is for Contributor of the Year in Game Development. The second one Is Contributor of the Year for Gaming Industry. 2. Why did you design or develop it the way that you did? I designed my review articles the way I did because I wanted to go discuss the positives and negatives of combat. I also wanted to go into lots of specific obstacles that annoyed me. Such examples include Darksiders III’s spiked girders of instadeath and the instadeath tornado in the final main area of the game (The Scar). I see why the developers (THQNordic and Gunfire Games) went with these obstacles: to test your mastery of Stasis. 3. What was combat like? Combat - as described in my review of Darksiders III, involves Witch Time-Esque dodging, and counterattacking with your whip, subweapons, and elemental Hollow powers. You start with the whip in the beginning.  Then you go gain more maneuvers by going through tougher and more complex areas and puzzles and acquire more weapons and hollows as you beat the 7 deadly sins. 4. Were you expecting the nomination? I wasn’t expecting this nomination, to be honest. My review heavily discussed the game’s enviroments, and combat mechanics so well.  I’m a reviewer and writer, first and foremost. I’m not much of a developer unless you wanna count coding in Codecademy. 5. What do you think made it successful? What I think made Darksiders III Successful is - to some - the ability to play as a female Horseman named Fury. To be fair to the development team, implementing a gameplay style that’d work for Famine and Conquest (magic-based combat, and Strategy RPG - respectively) would be VERY difficult. Creating Fury and Strife and implementing them at the chronological point in the series in this game occurs is utterly genius. 6. If you could design the perfect project, what would it be? If I were in charge of making the perfect Darksiders game, I’d make a Darksiders V where all 4 horsemen are playable in a co-op setting as they take on Heaven, Hell’s leader Lucifer, and the Charred Council in a final battle to protect humanity. A lot of people are interested in the idea, and the fans would love it as well. As for how it’d end…? Well, it’s a secret. 7. What technologies in the games industry are most exciting? Cloud Streaming, Game Pass-Esque subscriptions, and the Nintendo Switch are most exciting right now. Why do I say this? It’s due to Xbox Game Pass PC getting DEATH STRANDING, For Cloud Streaming, it brings games like Dying Light 2: Stay Human to Switch. For the Nintendo Switch, it’s super-popular and has sold over 100+ million units. 8. What is a major issue in the games industry that needs to be addressed? There are 2 major issues the Games Industry needs to address. They are DLC that can easily be made into a Complete sequel of its’ own, and NFTs/Crypto. They have become problematic in recent years, with instances like Resident Evil Village’s Winters’ DLC being proof of the former. As for Crypto and NFTs… So many other people on Twitter express it more eloquently than I could. 9. Is there something that you would like to shout-out? I want to shout out THQNOrdic for letting me review Darksiders III. I also want to shout out HackerNoon for letting me write to a MASSIVE audience. 10. How can gaming writers on HackerNoon set themselves apart from the mainstream gaming publications such as IGN and Gamespot? Here are 2 pieces of advice. In order, it goes as such. 1.  Be honest in all of your writings about a game, crypto, or NFT. If you got a negative opinion on one of them, then don’t be afraid to express it. People will appreciate your honesty. Don’t invest in Crypto or NFTs. It’ll disappear and devalue over time. 11. Please give us the links to all your relevant social media profiles so we can use them to promote this interview! (Twitter and LinkedIn would be a huge plus) Twitter: twitter.com/BryanApplegate5 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-applegate-306b99188/ Youtube (main Channel): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYujQ7fwl5-4ME-x3PfRTyQ Youtube (2nd Channel): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAp8b8GBpyrHO_4H-UMXRqw

How To Review A Game

Moby-Dick; or The Whale, by Herman Melville is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here: [ ]. Chapter 40: Midnight, Forecastle LINK TO TABLE OF LINK CHAPTER 40. Midnight, Forecastle. HARPOONEERS AND SAILORS. (Foresail rises and discovers the watch standing, lounging, leaning, and lying in various attitudes, all singing in chorus.) 1ST NANTUCKET SAILOR. Oh, boys, don’t be sentimental; it’s bad for the digestion! Take a tonic, follow me! (Sings, and all follow.) MATE’S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK. Eight bells there, forward! 2ND NANTUCKET SAILOR. Avast the chorus! Eight bells there! d’ye hear, bell-boy? Strike the bell eight, thou Pip! thou blackling! and let me call the watch. I’ve the sort of mouth for that—the hogshead mouth. So, so, (thrusts his head down the scuttle,) Star-bo-l-e-e-n-s, a-h-o-y! Eight bells there below! Tumble up! DUTCH SAILOR. Grand snoozing to-night, maty; fat night for that. I mark this in our old Mogul’s wine; it’s quite as deadening to some as filliping to others. We sing; they sleep—aye, lie down there, like ground-tier butts. At ’em again! There, take this copper-pump, and hail ’em through it. Tell ’em to avast dreaming of their lasses. Tell ’em it’s the resurrection; they must kiss their last, and come to judgment. That’s the way—that’s it; thy throat ain’t spoiled with eating Amsterdam butter. FRENCH SAILOR. Hist, boys! let’s have a jig or two before we ride to anchor in Blanket Bay. What say ye? There comes the other watch. Stand by all legs! Pip! little Pip! hurrah with your tambourine! PIP. (Sulky and sleepy.) Don’t know where it is. FRENCH SAILOR. Beat thy belly, then, and wag thy ears. Jig it, men, I say; merry’s the word; hurrah! Damn me, won’t you dance? Form, now, Indian-file, and gallop into the double-shuffle? Throw yourselves! Legs! legs! ICELAND SAILOR. I don’t like your floor, maty; it’s too springy to my taste. I’m used to ice-floors. I’m sorry to throw cold water on the subject; but excuse me. MALTESE SAILOR. Me too; where’s your girls? Who but a fool would take his left hand by his right, and say to himself, how d’ye do? Partners! I must have partners! SICILIAN SAILOR. Aye; girls and a green!—then I’ll hop with ye; yea, turn grasshopper! LONG-ISLAND SAILOR. Well, well, ye sulkies, there’s plenty more of us. Hoe corn when you may, say I. All legs go to harvest soon. Ah! here comes the music; now for it! AZORE SAILOR. (Ascending, and pitching the tambourine up the scuttle.) Here you are, Pip; and there’s the windlass-bitts; up you mount! Now, boys! (The half of them dance to the tambourine; some go below; some sleep or lie among the coils of rigging. Oaths a-plenty.) AZORE SAILOR. (Dancing) Go it, Pip! Bang it, bell-boy! Rig it, dig it, stig it, quig it, bell-boy! Make fire-flies; break the jinglers! PIP. Jinglers, you say?—there goes another, dropped off; I pound it so. CHINA SAILOR. Rattle thy teeth, then, and pound away; make a pagoda of thyself. FRENCH SAILOR. Merry-mad! Hold up thy hoop, Pip, till I jump through it! Split jibs! tear yourselves! TASHTEGO. (Quietly smoking.) That’s a white man; he calls that fun: humph! I save my sweat. OLD MANX SAILOR. I wonder whether those jolly lads bethink them of what they are dancing over. I’ll dance over your grave, I will—that’s the bitterest threat of your night-women, that beat head-winds round corners. O Christ! to think of the green navies and the green-skulled crews! Well, well; belike the whole world’s a ball, as you scholars have it; and so ’tis right to make one ballroom of it. Dance on, lads, you’re young; I was once. 3D NANTUCKET SAILOR. Spell oh!—whew! this is worse than pulling after whales in a calm—give us a whiff, Tash. (They cease dancing, and gather in clusters. Meantime the sky darkens—the wind rises.) LASCAR SAILOR. By Brahma! boys, it’ll be douse sail soon. The sky-born, high-tide Ganges turned to wind! Thou showest thy black brow, Seeva! MALTESE SAILOR. (Reclining and shaking his cap.) It’s the waves—the snow’s caps turn to jig it now. They’ll shake their tassels soon. Now would all the waves were women, then I’d go drown, and chassee with them evermore! There’s naught so sweet on earth—heaven may not match it!—as those swift glances of warm, wild bosoms in the dance, when the over-arboring arms hide such ripe, bursting grapes. SICILIAN SAILOR. (Reclining.) Tell me not of it! Hark ye, lad—fleet interlacings of the limbs—lithe swayings—coyings—flutterings! lip! heart! hip! all graze: unceasing touch and go! not taste, observe ye, else come satiety. Eh, Pagan? (Nudging.) TAHITAN SAILOR. (Reclining on a mat.) Hail, holy nakedness of our dancing girls!—the Heeva-Heeva! Ah! low veiled, high palmed Tahiti! I still rest me on thy mat, but the soft soil has slid! I saw thee woven in the wood, my mat! green the first day I brought ye thence; now worn and wilted quite. Ah me!—not thou nor I can bear the change! How then, if so be transplanted to yon sky? Hear I the roaring streams from Pirohitee’s peak of spears, when they leap down the crags and drown the villages?—The blast! the blast! Up, spine, and meet it! (Leaps to his feet.) PORTUGUESE SAILOR. How the sea rolls swashing ’gainst the side! Stand by for reefing, hearties! the winds are just crossing swords, pell-mell they’ll go lunging presently. DANISH SAILOR. Crack, crack, old ship! so long as thou crackest, thou holdest! Well done! The mate there holds ye to it stiffly. He’s no more afraid than the isle fort at Cattegat, put there to fight the Baltic with storm-lashed guns, on which the sea-salt cakes! 4TH NANTUCKET SAILOR. He has his orders, mind ye that. I heard old Ahab tell him he must always kill a squall, something as they burst a waterspout with a pistol—fire your ship right into it! ENGLISH SAILOR. Blood! but that old man’s a grand old cove! We are the lads to hunt him up his whale! ALL. Aye! aye! OLD MANX SAILOR. How the three pines shake! Pines are the hardest sort of tree to live when shifted to any other soil, and here there’s none but the crew’s cursed clay. Steady, helmsman! steady. This is the sort of weather when brave hearts snap ashore, and keeled hulls split at sea. Our captain has his birthmark; look yonder, boys, there’s another in the sky—lurid-like, ye see, all else pitch black. DAGGOO. What of that? Who’s afraid of black’s afraid of me! I’m quarried out of it! SPANISH SAILOR. (Aside.) He wants to bully, ah!—the old grudge makes me touchy (Advancing.) Aye, harpooneer, thy race is the undeniable dark side of mankind—devilish dark at that. No offence. DAGGOO (grimly). None. ST. JAGO’S SAILOR. That Spaniard’s mad or drunk. But that can’t be, or else in his one case our old Mogul’s fire-waters are somewhat long in working. 5TH NANTUCKET SAILOR. What’s that I saw—lightning? Yes. SPANISH SAILOR. No; Daggoo showing his teeth. DAGGOO (springing). Swallow thine, mannikin! White skin, white liver! SPANISH SAILOR (meeting him). Knife thee heartily! big frame, small spirit! ALL. A row! a row! a row! TASHTEGO (with a whiff). A row a’low, and a row aloft—Gods and men—both brawlers! Humph! BELFAST SAILOR. A row! arrah a row! The Virgin be blessed, a row! Plunge in with ye! ENGLISH SAILOR. Fair play! Snatch the Spaniard’s knife! A ring, a ring! OLD MANX SAILOR. Ready formed. There! the ringed horizon. In that ring Cain struck Abel. Sweet work, right work! No? Why then, God, mad’st thou the ring? MATE’S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK. Hands by the halyards! in top-gallant sails! Stand by to reef topsails! ALL. The squall! the squall! jump, my jollies! (They scatter.) PIP (shrinking under the windlass). Jollies? Lord help such jollies! Crish, crash! there goes the jib-stay! Blang-whang! God! Duck lower, Pip, here comes the royal yard! It’s worse than being in the whirled woods, the last day of the year! Who’d go climbing after chestnuts now? But there they go, all cursing, and here I don’t. Fine prospects to ’em; they’re on the road to heaven. Hold on hard! Jimmini, what a squall! But those chaps there are worse yet—they are your white squalls, they. White squalls? white whale, shirr! shirr! Here have I heard all their chat just now, and the white whale—shirr! shirr!—but spoken of once! and only this evening—it makes me jingle all over like my tambourine—that anaconda of an old man swore ’em in to hunt him! Oh, thou big white God aloft there somewhere in yon darkness, have mercy on this small black boy down here; preserve him from all men that have no bowels to feel fear! About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from Melville, Herman, 2001. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm#link2HCH0040 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Moby-Dick; or The Whale: Chapter 40 - Midnight, Forecastle

When the Nintendo Wii was introduced in 2006, it was a literal game changer for the company for 7 years. As Nintendo’s seventh-generation console, it was the first Nintendo home console to introduce features such as internet capabilities and backward compatibility for a previous console. Personally, I’ve found the Wii to be the best Nintendo console for retro titles through its (now defunct) virtual console option - it’s what I use mine for almost on a daily basis. The point is, the Wii opened a lot of doors for some pretty great games and proved to be one of the best game consoles of its era. There are plenty of these Wii games that are still worth revisiting today, but which ones deserve the most attention? The following list will answer that question based on Wii games with the , a site dedicated to aggregating reviews from top critics for different types of media. It will also list titles from lowest metascore to the highest. highest metascores from Metacritic 10. Rock Band 3 - Metascore: 91 Several gamers will recognize this franchise title right away. It brought out the inner musician in each player and created some of the best memories with friends and family back in the day. Rock Band 3 followed the pattern of gameplay found in its predecessors. Players attempt to sync the rhythm and timing of their “music playing” controls with on-screen prompts, which consist of scrolling color bars that represent different musical notes, in order to play the selected song as perfectly as possible. This third installment in the franchise differed from previous installments in that it debuted “Pro mode” where the game would up the ante in specific actions expected to complete the song, such as matching fingering on strings and frets of a guitar or accurate and precise fingering on a keyboard - one would really have to quite familiar with real musical instruments to succeed in this mode of gameplay. 9. Rayman Origins - Metascore: 92 Next on the list is the Rayman franchise! Rayman Origins was a highly praised Wii game due to its art aesthetic, level design, and unique sense of humor. It follows Rayman, Globox, and Teensies as they attempt to save the Glade of Dreams from Darktoons and many other harmful creatures. Its gameplay offers a variety of unique and bizarre challenges throughout the course of the story. Each level gives Rayman and his friends different abilities to use, like running up walls and changing size to access new areas of the level. Its challenge consisted of collecting hearts to avoid one-hit kills from enemies and yellow Lums needed for Electoons. The game was nominated for several awards, winning GameSpot’s Best Platformer of 2011. Eventually, it received two sequels (not Wii games) with the release of Rayman Jungle Run and Rayman Legends. 8. Xenoblade Chronicles - Metascore: 92 Part of the highly praised action-RPG franchise, Xenoblade Chronicles is all about revenge as it follows protagonist Shulk and his friends as they go against the Mechon for attacking their home. One of the best things about the Xeno series is its fantastical environment and the freedom of exploration within it - I mean, characters journey across the backs of frozen titans, how much more fantastical can a setting get, really? Exploration is essentially the core of this Wii game. If one chooses to pursue them, side quests and collectible items - for the “collectopaedia” - can determine the course of gameplay. Another important part of gameplay is relationships. Quests can affect the way characters think about each other and unlock other story components. There are also the different relationship “systems” that determine how well characters get along with each other and reveal the histories and personalities of the characters in question. Xeno really is an excellent Wii game to revisit simply because each session of gameplay can take a drastically different direction. 7. Rock Band 2 - Metascore: 92 Now we’re back to the Rock Band franchise. This series really stirred up the gaming scene back in the day, for sure. Rock Band 2 greatly improved the overall flow and features that the series had to offer. The gameplay is the same as other Rock Band titles and it was the first released to introduce “Drum Trainer” mode and “Battle of the Bands.” 6. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Metascore: 93 Okay, so it was obvious that a was going to show up on this list eventually. If fans of the series want to know the absolute beginning of the infinite conflict between the Triforce representatives, Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, then this game is certainly the best place to start. Not only that, but the story is one of the best ones in the franchise, in my personal opinion. Partly taking place on floating islands in the sky, players once again control everyone’s favorite pointy-eared protagonist as he sets out on a quest to save Princess Zelda after she becomes lost in the forbidden lands below. Zelda game Every Zelda installment brings its own unique flair and worldbuilding to the series, but Skyward Sword really went all out with it. As usual, players will find themselves traveling through forests, deserts, and volcanic lands as they track Zelda, but this time they are accompanied by Fi, the spirit of the Master Sword. There’s also the chance to complete side quests that will require Link to soar through the sky on the back of his Loftwing (a huge bird) to various locations. The game is filled to the brim with personality, from eccentric characters and creatures to the story itself, which will have players facing all sorts of challenges and battles until the final moment when they face Ganon once more. Skyward Sword recently received an HD remaster for the Nintendo Switch, so the Wii game version isn’t necessary to revisit the story. In the end, it doesn’t matter just as long as this masterpiece is given another well-deserved playthrough. 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Metascore: 93 Serving as Metacritic’s 2008 Game of the Year, Super Smash Bros. Brawl continued the popular crossover fighting series. Players choose from a slate of classic Nintendo characters and choose an arena, often an environment based on different Nintendo franchises, where the selected characters can duke it out. The game also allows for players to create their own arenas (referred to as stages in-game) that can be saved for later use. There’s also a story mode to experience where players battle against the antagonists called Subspace Army, led by the Ancient Minister. Other gameplay features include the Vault, where players collect trophies of different characters and video game artwork. There are also minigames that can be found in Stadium mode, with some making a comeback from previous Super Smash Bros. entries. 4. World of Goo - Metascore: 94 The goal of this Wii game is relatively simple. Players build things out of goo to progress through each chapter. However, there’s somewhat of a twist. There is a required number of goo balls that need to make it into a pipe (the official exit of the level) before players can progress to the next level. There are different types of goo players can collect and use to create structures needed to complete the chapter. Some goo has to be combined with other types to achieve different goals. That’s not all the game has to offer, however. Among all the goo, there’s a story to unravel, so there is more to the game than simply mixing and matching pieces of goo and sending them down a pipe. The unique style of gameplay and mixture of story are what make this game worth revisiting. 3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Metascore: 95 So who thought that another Zelda title would make the list? Let’s be honest, everyone did, and for good reason. I personally would have been immensely confused if Twilight Princess didn’t make this list eventually. It’s great to see that it earned a top spot. The story follows Link as he travels back and forth between the real world and a parallel dimension, known as the Twilight realm, in an attempt to keep Hyrule from becoming corrupt by evil forces (Ganon and his minions again) and the dark power that has taken over the Twilight realm. Did I mention that Link transforms into a wolf when surrounded by Twilight? It’s a neat gameplay touch. Once again, this Wii game relies heavily on motion controls. Players use the nunchuck and Wii remote to control both human and wolf versions of Link. The game also follows a similar pattern as previous titles, with players having to complete dungeon puzzles to progress through the story. The game was highly praised upon release and was the highest-rated game of 2006 on the Metacritic website. It went on to win several awards from organizations like the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and Game Critics Awards. Twilight Princess is still considered to be one of the best games of all time. 2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Metascore: 97 Super Mario Galaxy is one of those Mario series that continues to stand the test of time. Building on the success of the first Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy 2 allows players to, once again, visit a variety of themed galaxies and complete physics-based challenges - to track down and defeat everybody’s favorite Koopa King after he kidnapped Princess Peach. Its gameplay involves the usual platform-style expectations from the Mario series, but there are some new power-ups and environments to enjoy and explore. Oh, and Yoshi is part of the adventure this time, helping Mario with different obstacles. Another big plus for this game (that can also be found in the original) is the music. I always liked that the music sometimes matches what happens in the environment. It’s the little things that have the biggest effect at times. 1. Super Mario Galaxy - Metascore: 97 We’re finally at number one. I can personally vouch for this Wii game too. It follows the same pattern as Super Mario Galaxy 2 as far as gameplay and overall goal are concerned. But I can definitely see how it would rank as number one on Metacritic due to it serving as the introduction to the iconic Mario series. It’s the game’s original creativity mixed with the usual Super Mario platformer style that keeps gamers coming back to Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Hopefully, in the near future, Nintendo will bring these titles to the Nintendo Switch. Conclusion There are a lot of Wii games that are worth checking out, obviously. When the console was introduced, it felt like it was the official turning point for how Nintendo approached creating their games and the overall gaming experiences they strived to provide for gamers of all types. It’s great to see that a lot of these games are still actively played today.

10 Best Wii Games of All Time Ranked by Metascore

Los 10 mejores juegos de Wii de todos los tiempos clasificados por Metascore

10 meilleurs jeux Wii de tous les temps classés par Metascore

मेटास्कोर द्वारा रैंक किए गए सभी समय के 10 सर्वश्रेष्ठ Wii खेल

メタスコアでランク付けされた史上最高の10のWiiゲーム

10 melhores jogos de Wii de todos os tempos classificados por Metascore

10 trò chơi Wii hay nhất mọi thời đại được xếp hạng theo Metascore

Metascore 评选的 10 款最佳 Wii 游戏

Moby-Dick; or The Whale, by Herman Melville is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book Chapter 23: The Lee Shore here. CHAPTER 23. The Lee Shore. Some chapters back, one Bulkington was spoken of, a tall, newlanded mariner, encountered in New Bedford at the inn. When on that shivering winter’s night, the Pequod thrust her vindictive bows into the cold malicious waves, who should I see standing at her helm but Bulkington! I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon the man, who in mid-winter just landed from a four years’ dangerous voyage, could so unrestingly push off again for still another tempestuous term. The land seemed scorching to his feet. Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs; this six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington. Let me only say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship, that miserably drives along the leeward land. The port would fain give succor; the port is pitiful; in the port is safety, comfort, hearthstone, supper, warm blankets, friends, all that’s kind to our mortalities. But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship’s direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and through. With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, fights ’gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward; seeks all the lashed sea’s landlessness again; for refuge’s sake forlornly rushing into peril; her only friend her bitterest foe! Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore? But as in landlessness alone resides highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God—so, better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety! For worm-like, then, oh! who would craven crawl to land! Terrors of the terrible! is all this agony so vain? Take heart, take heart, O Bulkington! Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing—straight up, leaps thy apotheosis! About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from Melville, Herman, 2001. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Moby-Dick; or The Whale: Chapter 23 - The Lee Shore

Definition: What Is Web 3.0? Web 3.0 is the next third generation of the internet, in which websites and applications will be able to process information in a human-like manner using machine learning (ML), big data, and decentralized ledger technology (DLT), among other technologies. Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, initially referred to Web 3.0 as the Semantic Web, with the goal of creating a more autonomous, intelligent, and open internet. The Web 3.0 concept may be extended as follows: data will be decentralized, which is a significant improvement over the present generation of the internet (Web 2.0), in which data is mostly held in centralized repositories. Additionally, data will be able to communicate with individuals and machines. However, for this to occur, programs must comprehend information theoretically and culturally. With this in mind, Web 3.0's two pillars are the semantic web and artificial intelligence (AI). Web 3.0, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain We may anticipate to witness a significant convergence and symbiotic interaction between these three technologies and other disciplines as Web 3.0 networks run via decentralized protocols, the foundational blocks of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. In Africa, they can power microtransactions, censorship-resistant P2P file storage and sharing using Filecoin apps, and will be seamlessly linked via smart contracts to radically change the way every firm conducts and operates its business. In the near future, there will be many more DeFi protocols. History Of the web: Web 1.0 (1989-2005) Internet users in the Web 1.0 era were mostly consumers of the material that other people had developed. Web 1.0, also called the Static Web, was the first and most reliable internet in the 1990s despite only offering access to limited information with little to no user interaction. Back in the day, creating user pages or even commenting on articles weren’t a thing. Web 1.0 didn't have algorithms to sift internet pages, which made it extremely hard for users to find relevant information. Simply put, it was like a one-way highway with a narrow footpath where content creation was done by a select few and information came mostly from directories. The early 2000s marked an inflection point in the growth of the web and a key period of its development, as technology companies that survived the dot-com crash evolved to deliver value to customers in new ways amidst heightened skepticism around the web. Web 2.0 (2005-present) The Social Web, or Web 2.0, made the internet a lot more interactive thanks to advancements in web technologies like Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, etc., which enabled startups to build interactive web platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia and many more. This paved the way for both social networks and user-generated content production to flourish since data can now be distributed and shared between various platforms and applications. Since its inception in 2004, Web 2.0 has been referred to as the "read-write web" stage of the Internet's growth. Usability, simplicity of use, participative culture, and interoperability were all high priorities. Web 2.0-based platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Amazon were among the first to emerge. Creating an e-commerce business has become more popular thanks to CMS technologies like WordPress and blogging. Web 2.0 brought about a fundamental shift, where people could share their perspectives, opinions, thoughts, and experiences through a variety of online tools and platforms. For all the convenience that Web 2.0 brought, there lies some serious flaws and disadvantages… A user will make a HTTP request to the server and if everything is correct it will send back that webpage as a response. A major flaw here is that all data is stored on a centralised server, controlled by the platforms. Facebook, Google, Twitter and other platforms began storing users data in their servers so that they can serve us better content through machine learning. This in turn would make us stay on their websites longer, therefore providing more ad revenue for these companies. The companies eventually started selling our information to advertisers, which meant more money for them! In short… In the Web 2,0 era, the users are the product. Web 3.0 Web 3.0 is the next stage of the web evolution that would make the internet more intelligent or process information with near-human-like intelligence through the power of AI systems that could run smart programs to assist users. Web 3.0 aims to create a decentralized and secured Internet, where the users can safely and securely exchange information and money, without the need for any middlemen or Big Tech companies. Unlike Web 2.0 applications, in which all data are stored in a single database, Web 3.0 applications runs on decentralized networks like blockchain or peer-to-peer servers. In contrast to web 2.0, where you are the product, some people predict that in web3, you will be the content owner. According to web3 specialists, the corporation will be run by a decentralised group known as a removing the need of CEO’s and upper management in a company. Because your digital identity is not tied to your real identity in web3, you can be anonymous on the internet while still living your usual life. DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) An example of web3 application is Obsidian for Whatsapp, Odyessy, LBRY for YouTube, etc. Web 3.0… The web is for the end user. Distributed systems are inherently different from centralised systems and should not be thought about in the same way. Distributed systems enable the data and its processing to not be held by a single party. This is useful for companies to provide resilience, but it’s also useful for P2P-based networks where data can stay in the hands of the participants. For instance, if you were to host a blog the old-fashioned way, you would put up a server and publish to the Internet. Nowadays, your blog would be hosted on a platform like WordPress, Ghost, Notion, or even Twitter. If these companies were to have an outage, this affects a lot more people. In a distributed fashion, via IPFS for instance, your blog content can be hosted and served from multiple locations operated by different entities. Key Features of Web 3.0 To really understand the next stage of the internet, we need to take a look at the four key features of Web 3.0: Ubiquity Semantic Web Artificial Intelligence 3D Graphics Ubiquity Ubiquity means being or having the capacity to be everywhere, especially at the same time. In other words, omnipresent. In that sense, Web 2.0 is already ubiquitous since, for instance, a Facebook user can instantly capture an image and share it, which then becomes ubiquitous since it's available to anyone no matter where they are, as long as they have access to the social media platform. Web 3.0 simply takes this a step further by making the internet accessible to everyone anywhere, at any time. At some point, internet-connected devices will no longer be concentrated on computers and smartphones like in Web 2.0 since IoT (Internet of Things) technology will bring forth a plethora of new types of smart devices. Semantic Web Semantic(s) is the study of the relationship between words. Therefore, the Semantic Web, according to Berners-Lee, enables computers to analyze loads of data from the Web, which includes content, transactions and links between persons. In practice, how would this look? Let’s take these two sentences, for instance: I love Bitcoin. I <3 Bitcoin. Their syntax may be different, but their semantics are pretty much the same, since semantics only deals with the meaning or emotion of the content. Applying semantics in the Web would enable machines to decode meaning and emotions by analyzing data. Consequently, internet users will have a better experience driven by enhanced data connectivity. Artificial Intelligence Wikipedia defines AI as intelligence demonstrated by machines. And since Web 3.0 machines can read and decipher the meaning and emotions conveyed by a set of data, it brings forth intelligent machines. Although Web 2.0 presents similar capabilities, it is still predominantly human-based, which opens up room for corrupt behaviors such as biased product reviews, rigged ratings, etc. For instance, online review platforms like Trustpilot provide a way for consumers to review any product or service. Unfortunately, a company can simply gather a large group of people and pay them to create positive reviews for its undeserving products. Therefore, the internet needs AI to learn how to distinguish the genuine from the fake in order to provide reliable data. Google’s AI system recently removed around 100,000 negative reviews of the Robinhood app from the Play Store following the Gamespot trading debacle when it detected attempts of rating manipulation intended to artificially downvote the app. This is AI in action, which will soon seamlessly fit into Internet 3.0, enabling blogs and other online platforms to sift data and tailor them to each user's liking. As AI advances, it will ultimately be able to provide users with the best filtered and unbiased data possible. Spatial Web and 3D Graphics Some futurists also call Web 3.0 the Spatial Web as it aims to blur the line between the physical and the digital by revolutionizing graphics technology, bringing into clear focus three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds. Unlike their 2D counterparts, 3D graphics bring a new level of immersion not only in futuristic gaming applications like Decentraland, but also other sectors like real estate, health, e-commerce, and many more. Closing Thoughts The new internet will provide a more personal and customized browsing experience, a smarter and more human-like search assistant, and other decentralized benefits that are hoped will help to establish a more equitable web. This will be achieved by empowering each individual user to become a sovereign over their data, and creating a richer overall experience thanks to the myriad of innovations that is to come once it is in place. When Web 3.0 inevitably arrives — as hard as it is to fathom considering how smart devices have already changed our behavioral patterns — the internet will become exponentially more integrated in our daily lives. We will see nearly all of today’s normally offline machines, from home appliances like ovens, vacuums, and refrigerators to all types of transport become part of the IoT economy, interacting with its autonomous servers and decentralized applications (DApps), advancing new digital realms like blockchain and digital assets to power a myriad of new tech “miracles” for the 21st century. My original post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-web30-decentralized-internet-future-explained-iulia-diaconescu/?trackingId=wDh9KrtSBz4FnERdfAinuQ%3D%3D

What is Web3.0?! Explaining the Future of the Internet

Image taken via VGC In the past few years, cryptocurrency has spread like wildfire. It continues to gain notoriety today, from to the rise of NFTs. While public opinion is extremely divided, one can’t deny how much money has been circulating as a result of cryptocurrency. And that’s most likely the reason why cryptocurrency is starting to break into the gaming industry as well. the usage of GPUs to farm bitcoin “Crypto Gaming” is a broad term. Video games with NFTs or cryptocurrency embedded within can easily fall under this umbrella, though there are plenty of titles out there developed specifically around cryptocurrency. Hacker Noon even on recently released games built around NFT collection and trading. reported Crypto gaming isn’t in the same world as regular gaming. But that seems to be changing quite rapidly, with big names in the industry like Ubisoft joining the fray. Here’s how cryptocurrency has been breaking into the world of mainstream gaming, along with what that means for the future of video games. The Addition of NFTs in Games NFTs might be a difficult concept to grasp; those wishing to learn more about them can check out an explanation on their fundamentals . As for how NFTs have been affecting games, a video by GameSpot offers a great amount of insight towards their recent history and future. here Currently, the most notable example of NFTs being added into well-known video games is , a system being integrated into Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. These NFTs act as in-game items that can be sold to other players. Other companies are adding NFTs into their own titles, including EA. It’s clear the companies behind these additions have high hopes for them, but the same cannot be said for fan reaction. Ubisoft Quartz considering The trailer for Ubisoft Quartz gained a massive number of dislikes, at least 37,000 within just a few days of posting. It was even , though it’s unclear whether this was due to the negative response. Ubisoft isn’t the only company reeling from decisions of adding NFTs, as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was recently announced to include them…up until fan backlash led to . delisted from YouTube searches the decision to cancel them entirely Opinions on NFTs have been incredibly divisive. Environmental concerns are among the reasons consumers dislike them, as well as the recent . This is likely why NFTs in mainstream games were met with such negative feedback, but it’s hard to say whether this will influence decisions in the future. It’s ironic, as NFTs might owe their experience to - even if it was indirectly. announcements of NFTs using dead celebrities’ twitter accounts at least one video game Gaming with Crypto - The Example MIR4 Sets Image taken via Steam Community Outside of NFTs, cryptocurrency has made a mark on the gaming industry as well. While there hasn’t been a widespread push to add currencies like bitcoin and ethereum into existing titles, there are plenty of games made specifically with crypto in mind. A prime example of this is a game on Steam that has managed to avoid …at least, at the time of writing this article. the platform’s NFT and Crypto ban , a free-to-play MMORPG, offers players the chance to convert in-game “Darksteel” into cryptocurrency. As of December 21, it also has an that lets players sell characters as NFTs. It’s likely due to the money-making opportunities that MIR4 ended up with - an impressive number considering Steam’s vast library. The cryptocurrency conversion is unavailable on the Steam version of the game, but you can still farm items and change your client afterward. MIR4 update a lifetime peak player count of nearly 100,000 While MIR4 offers some insight into how successful cryptocurrency can be in games, it also shows how flawed such a system can be. The game currently holds a “Mixed” rating on Steam Reviews, with a common occurrence in negative reviews being the existence of bots and hackers. Some have even reported instances of . While these issues could amount to faults on the developers’ end, it brings up something dangerous about crypto gaming. legitimate accounts being randomly banned There will always be reasons for people to cheat and hack in video games. But the motivation for doing so will increase dramatically with real money on the line, forcing games with NFT or crypto systems in place to counter hackers effectively. Reinforcing the security of these systems is certainly possible, but it might also lead to more time being spent on keeping the game’s economy under control - and less time spent on actual game development. Final Verdict - Will NFTs and Crypto Change Gaming Forever? Image taken via CS:GO Steam Store Page It’s hard to say whether a full implementation of cryptocurrency and NFTs into existing and upcoming titles will result in much. Fan backlash might cause them to be removed and never mentioned again, or they could end up massively successful regardless. As no attempt has been made to implement cryptocurrencies in mainstream titles, its future in the world of gaming cannot be said with certainty. However, any implementation of NFTs will likely not change the gaming industry much. After all, a similar concept has existed for years. doesn’t use cryptocurrency. However, much like NFTs, it allows players to collect, trade, and sell virtual cosmetics and weapons. Each one even has a unique ID that can be tracked, providing a person’s proof of ownership for that item. All of this has been well-documented on websites such as , where everyone can see just how far the game’s player-made economy has come. This system is also prevalent in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, though not many other games have made use of it…until now, that is. Team Fortress 2 backpack.tf NFTs and cryptocurrency are pretty much a new implementation of this system. Players buy and sell virtual items to each other, pricing them at community-defined values and tracking each individual instance of those items. NFTs, even outside of games, work in an almost identical fashion; they’re just built off of different technology. Of course, the influence of NFTs in games will depend on how far companies wish to go with them. But whether you’re worried or excited about the rise of crypto gaming, it will be quite a while before this influence can truly be measured.

Crypto Gaming: How Cryptocurrency and NFTs Affect Games Today

It's already the month of June, and that means the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) will making its return in less than two weeks. As noted, this year's E3 will be an online convention running from June 12 through 15. Earlier this week, E3 more prolific guests and the Voices of E3 panel series for this year's online-only digital event. confirmed Among confirmed guests for this year's event will be rapper T-Pain, talent from 100 Thieves and Team Liquid, actress Erika Ishii of Destiny 2 and Apex Legends fame, Arin Hanson, Lazor Wulf's JD Witherspoon, WNBA player Aerial Powers and more. Also announced this week is the Voices of E3 panel series. According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the Voices of E3 panel series will focus on a "broad range of topics," such as diversity, accessibility, video game development, voice-over acting, the evolution of gaming media, current events impacting video games and more. In addition to guest appearances, E3 will also present a panel series titled “Voices of E3,” which will cover a broad range of topics including diversity, accessibility, video game development, video game voice acting, the evolution of video game media, the impact of current events on games, and much more. Here's a rundown of the confirmed panels: A roundtable discussing how games media acts and reacts in the current sphere of commentary with Editors-in-Chief from GameIndustry.biz, GameSpot, IGN, PC Gamer and Polygon. Nerdist’s Dan Casey hosts a session with the cast of the gaming-development focused TV series Mythic Quest.A conversation with legendary women of video game voice acting including Courtenay Taylor (Mass Effect, Fallout 4, Call of Duty), Anjali Bhimani (Overwatch, Apex Legends, Fallout 4: Nuka World), Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Overwatch), Carolina Ravassa (Overwatch, Valorant, GTA5) and Krizia Bajos (Sims4, League of Legends, Casagrandes). Insights from streaming leaders including Zack “ZackTTG” Mowery (100 Thieves), Fiona Nova (G4, RoosterTeeth), Jay-Ann Lopez (Black Girl Gamers) and Tanya DePass (I Need Diverse Games) about representation in games and empowering black voices. A discussion about young entrepreneurs in gaming that includes Nicole LaPointe Jameson (Evil Geniuses), Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes (Queens Gaming Collective), Katrina Salazar (weThink) and Brittani Johnson (G2 esports), moderated by Mary Margaret (Entertainment Weekly). More Panels, Guests and Events Confirmed for E3 2021 Additionally, E3 has confirmed that this year's convention is partnering with various streamers to co-stream multiple events across their channels. These include such notable streamers as Lirik, AnneMunition, CohhCarnage, Jordan Fisher, NoahJ, OMGitsFireFoxx, Queens.gg, ihasCupquake, GameRanx, Renee, AyChristene and Fextralife. The live broadcast for E3 2021 will start on Saturday, June 12. This year's event is promising to have new game reveals, major publisher showcases, live press conferences and more. While this year's event is online-only, it boasts a pretty impressive list of game companies and publishers, including Xbox, Nintendo, Warner Bros. Interactive, Capcom, Ubisoft, Konami and Take Two Interactive; and that's just to name a few. More in Gaming: Days Gone Director John Garvin Says Gamers Should Pay Full Price Zombies Ate My Neighbors & Ghoul Patrol Coming to the Switch Mega Man: The Wily Wars to Receive Special Collector's Edition Keep up with all the latest gaming news, features, and guides. Subscribe to our newsletter in the footer below!

E3 2021 Confirms Big Name Guests and Panels for Virtual Convention

This Slogging thread by JeffreyHarris, Jack Boreham, Jose Hernandez, Nicolas Ng and Limarc Ambalina occurred in slogging's official #gaming channel, and has been edited for readability. Should Google continue supporting Google Stadia, and are they telling the truth when an executive said the console is "alive and well?" As reported by , a Google marketing rep claimed that the console is "alive and well," despite there being heavy evidence to the contrary. Is the Google Stadia an area Google should continue focusing on and supporting GameSpot Based on a recent interview,  Google Stadia's developer marketing lead Nate Ahearn says the Google Stadia is "alive and well," and they plan to release 100 games in 2021. However, Google already closed Stadia Games & Entertainment.  Does Google understand the console gaming space, and is this a positive move for the company? Also, do you think their claims of releasing 100 games for Stadia this year are genuine? JeffreyHarris May 15, 2021, 7:25 AM Personally, I don't believe they should continue supporting Stadia. In my opinion, Google doesn't understand the console gaming space and what console gamers are looking for. Case in point, the Google Stadia Store didn't even have a search bar feature until last month. And they already closed their development studio for the console. They failed to make an impact and statement with Stadia that they promised. JeffreyHarris May 18, 2021, 3:57 AM Would be curious to hear your thoughts, Nicolas Ng Limarc Ambalina Jack Boreham Jose Hernandez Jack Boreham May 18, 2021, 4:40 PM 👍 1 Yeah, I agree. I don't think they're telling the truth. Xbox’s cloud streaming service is far better than stadia with all the games pass games. Stadia blew it, and from what I know, many stadia developers have left google to work on other projects. Stadia is dying, and google trying to cover this up is not helping. Google says 100 games but what it means is 50 third party titles. It may become a platform for third parties. But being alive and well doesn't mean it's achieved its objectives. It hasn't. With few first-party titles and shutting down studios means stadia will never be the fourth pillar in the gaming space to compete with the big guys and will be forgotten. Jack Boreham May 18, 2021, 4:41 PM 👍 1 Therefore Stadia will slowly lose support even from third parties.  I will be shocked if it hits the 100 games mark. JeffreyHarris May 21, 2021, 1:15 AM I agree. I definitely think they are giving corporate answers and spinning the truth when it comes to the Google Stadia. Not everyone needs to have a console platform. Jose Hernandez May 21, 2021, 1:32 AM 👍 1 To this day, I have never seen anybody say they own a Stadia, in person or online. That’s not to say there aren’t users out there, but to say the console is doing “alive and well” seems a tad bit facetious. JeffreyHarris May 21, 2021, 1:37 AM I hardly even see any reviews or videos about Stadia at all popping up on YouTube and social media. OTHER than discussion about how badly it's doing in sales, or statements from Google about how it's still alive and well, despite you know, shutting down their Stadia Games & Entertainment division. Those are the only times when I hear buzz about Stadia. Nicolas Ng May 23, 2021, 2:20 PM 👍 1 I really hate how Stadia seems to have failed to gain traction. It would have been amazing if it took off but I guess we've all got our own ways of gaming and Stadia doesn't really do anything that a console or PC already can while needing really fast internet. Given Google's rather poor track record of maintaining existing services, they're probably just speaking corporate when they say that Stadia is alive and well. Limarc Ambalina May 25, 2021, 12:21 PM 👍 1 I think the huge miscalculation in this market is that gamers are loyal to brands and want to explore and discover which console they'll like most. There is some fun to feeling like you belong in a group when you are "Team PS Vita". There is some fun to buying a Switch and discovering how different he UX is compared to PS4 or the 3DS. The discovery is part of the culture. Choosing a camp is part of the gaming culture. If Games As A Service takes off, I think a part of gaming culture will die. It'll be so boring, and there'll be less competition I think. Limarc Ambalina May 25, 2021, 12:24 PM 👍 1 It isn't the same as choosing Netflix over Hulu or choosing Amazon Prime Video over HBO max. Gamers are picky and playing a game with a PS4 controller on a TV is different than playing that same game with Mouse and Keyboard on PC. Not to mention, I don't want to NEED an internet connection to play games. No matter how fast and great our internet services become. I still want to be able to play a console regardless of the wifi available in the area. JeffreyHarris May 26, 2021, 7:23 AM Excellent points Limarc, and I think I mostly agree. I also still want the option to play offline games as well. I also still believe in owning physical media as well. Limarc Ambalina May 27, 2021, 12:38 AM 👍 1 I have a thought. Do you all think that Stadia could establish itself if it solved both of the things Jeffrey just mentioned? What if, like Netflix, Stadia allowed you to download games and play them offline. Not only that....what if they started producing physical cartridges for their 1st-party games as well, cartridges similar to the Nintendo Switch's cartridge design? Would that change your impression and belief in it? JeffreyHarris May 30, 2021, 7:02 AM I think there's a lot of things they could do to make Stadia more attractive and gamer friendly. However, I don't think Google is really taking the time and necessary steps to  make those changes and make it a real hot ticket item. At this point, getting a Stadia is like getting a cheap off-brand tablet, when what you really want is the iPad.

Should Google Continue Supporting the Google Stadia?

dropped some new unedited gameplay footage this week for Experiment 101's Biomutant. The upcoming action RPG is due out later this month, and it appears to be on track for an exciting experience for PC and console gamers alike. THQ Nordic The new footage, which was captured on PC, shows the player character in the game world at 60fps and 4K resolution (h/t ). The footage offers a nice look at combat, some traversal and a mini-boss battle. The way you can quick travel around the gameplay map by riding a rocket looks especially impressive. Gamespot In Biomutant, players will be able to create their own custom, anthropomorphized mammalian hero. The gameplay and graphical style also clearly takes some cues from comic book art and style. For the upcoming game, players portray the role of a hero attempting to unite the Tribes of the New World which is facing a plague that's ruining the land, while the Tree-of-Life is bleeding death from its very roots. The new gameplay footage also shows the Storyteller, a British voice narrating the journey, who will guide the player through the game. Biomutant Arriving Later This Month for PC and Consoles Recently, THQ Nordic also revealed the following Minimum and Recommended Requirements for the game on PC: Minimum Requirements: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64 bit) Processor: AMD FX-8350 or Intel Core i5-4690K or newer running at 3.5 GHz or higher Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 4 GB Direct3D 11 capable video card - GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 380 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 25 GB available space Sound Card: Integrated or dedicated DirectX 9 compatible soundcard Recommended Requirements: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 (64bit) Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i7-6700K or newer running at 3.2 GHz or higher Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: 6 GB Direct3D 11 capable video card - GeForce GTX 1660Ti or Radeon RX 590 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 25 GB available space Sound Card: Integrated or dedicated DirectX 9 compatible soundcard THQ Nordic is also recommending controller usage on the PC experience. Biomutant arrives on May 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. You can view that new gameplay video, along with some additional footage for the PS4 and Xbox One versions, below. More in Gaming: Days Gone Director John Garvin Says Gamers Should Pay Full Price Back 4 Blood Trailer Details Unique Game Director AI & Card System The Hybrid Future of Multiplayer Game Architecture Keep up with all the latest gaming news, features, and guides. Subscribe to our newsletter in the footer below!

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