The Verge has produced interactive text game experiences about several of the topics it covers. They include Wake Word, a text adventure game about trying to leave an apartment controlled by an overly helpful AI; The Moon Channel, an occult horror surveillance gadget simulator; and Cyberpunkland, a city management game about running a gritty, dystopian resort.
It’s reportedly with the permission of the human announcers John Buccigross and Darren Pang who do in-game voiceovers. As a long-time player of the series I’m very curious what you think about this. For me, it seems like one of the best possible use cases for AI generation, considering it’s annoying to hear the exact same commentary over and over, and because there’s no possible way humans could record VO for every possible scenario.
EA’s Iron Man game, first announced back in 2022, just had some internal video leaked on ResetEra. The video shows Tony Stark effortlessly zipping through New York City in a way that instantly recalls the well-received Spider-Man series. It’s nice that the studio in charge basically confirmed the leak in a social media post:
The US military has offered all kinds of incentives over the years to bait reenlistment, from training to sizable cash bonuses and extra time off. The commander of the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion in Georgia got a little more creative: offering a 4-day pass to specifically coincide with the release of Grand Theft Auto VI. But anyone who’s played GTA knows this should be a 30-day pass.
EQL just officially launched, and, for this writer, it’s one of the most exciting games in years. (Yes, even though the original EverQuest came out in 1999.) You can play the game now if you’re willing to wait through launch queues, which don’t currently seem too bad. For more on EQL, check out my retrospective and Kallie’s interview with the developers.
[Daybreak Games]
the need for speed brand partnerships. EA’s original live-action trailer for Battlefield 6 immediately killed off celebrities like Zac Efron as a joke, but now the game is embracing Hollywood. Battlefield is partnering with Paramount to include Top Gun heroes (Tom Cruise excluded) as part of its upcoming season 4 update. I might just hop back in to fly the F-14 Tomcat.
I never knew I needed a full live concert of the original soundtrack from 1997’s GoldenEye 64, but now I can’t live without it. I wish I had seen Cor64 perform this live at LA’s Pauhaus, but the next best thing is watching it on YouTube:
Techno-occultism, surveillance, and vacuum cleaners
An algorithmic nightmare
