Trump is backing away from getting Iran's enriched material: "You could make the case, why even bother? It's not very valuable stuff."

Child killed after officer fires upon car following reported shoplifting at a Walmart in Mississippi, police say abc7.com/post/child-dead-pol…

#BREAKING: Deposing Attorney: Do you regret that people lost income to support their lives?  DOGE Bro: “No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero.” Deposing Attorney:  Did you reduce the federal deficit? DOGE Bro: “No, we didn’t.” Deposing Attorney: So you weren’t able to reduce the federal deficit and you still don’t regret that people lost some of their livelihood based on your actions? DOGE Bro: “No.” 🤦‍♀️

If Compulsion Games shuts down, I will be DEVASTATED! Not only for its contribution to the art of this medium, but also from my side of the industry, accessibility knowledge that is lost, that Xbox needs. That knowledge doesn't get built overnight. They deserve much better.

Hey @Steam can we please add a way to filter out games that use AI when browsing for Next Fest demos on the event page, instead of having to check every individual page for disclosures? Very disheartening when on stream I'm scrolling through, watching trailers, only to find out countless times mid trailer that the games outsourced creative elements to AI. It really killed my enjoyment for Next Fest, and I've pretty much lost all interest in browsing demos and games, and honestly interacting at all with similar events in the future if there is not a way to filter. I love browsing game demos and indie game events because I love checking out all the amazing things that devs have been working on and seeing all the creativity on display. I want to see what humans have crafted and made with love. Not what has been outsourced to bots for a quick buck or to save time. Can we please have a filter so people who don't care can see everything, and people who do care aren't forced to filter through COUNTLESS AI games? (According to SteamDB, 1698 of them....just in Next Fest...)

Ninja Theory staff were told on a call today the studio is being shut down by Xbox Ninja Theory is hoping a potential buyer can save the studio [via @theverge]

Post-Lament Anthropocene: Stars Intertwined "...Long time no see, Rover."—Yangyang: Xuanling Archive>> Born the second daughter of a renowned musical family from Mingting, gentle yet strong, pure-hearted and romantic. She is a "Votary of the Voice" who can commune with the Streams. Free as a breeze, bold in her chivalry, her life and her blade exist only to protect. #WutheringWaves #YangyangXuanling

Insider Gaming: Arkane and Compulsion Games are “at risk” of closure ▶️ resetera.com/threads/mike-st…

Is Swan totally wrong? So many in games media trashed or called these games underwhelming at launch and created negative hype. They didn’t even sell well on PlayStation or Switch. A lot of people like myself love hyping up these games but can’t get them to support or buy them all the time. It’s a sad reality of gaming. Sony has been closing studios left and right, same with Ubisoft and others. I really wonder how the industry would look now if COVID never hit, because it does feel like it messed up everything again.

Bloomberg: Several Xbox Studios, including Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine, are in active negotiations with Xbox to spin off as they try to avoid closure bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

People will attack this policy, but after extensive government consultation, 90% of the parents of under-16s support it. They have watched social media consume huge portions of their children’s lives, so have a very different perspective. Social media amplifies narcissism, materialism, envy and division at an age when young minds are still developing. It keeps children trapped in a digital ecosystem designed to maximise engagement at the expense of real-world experiences, time outdoors, hobbies, independence, and learning how to socialise and build genuine friendships. Perhaps most damaging of all, it encourages constant comparison. Children are measuring themselves against carefully curated versions of other people’s lives every hour of every day. It creates feelings of inadequacy and anxiety on a scale that older generations simply never experienced. There will be much outrage about this, but this policy is truly about protecting children, and anyone who cares about the future of society should support it.

The Verge: Xbox is closing down Hellblade creator Ninja Theory "Staffers were told on a call on Monday about the closure, but they are hoping the studio will find a buyer." theverge.com/games/950204/xb…

In 2016, I received an email from an aspiring manga artist in Morocco. It began like this: “I want to become a mangaka, but there is no manga publishing industry in Morocco.” Many people around the world love manga and read it, but when you look globally, there are many countries where manga is simply not published at all. In some places, there is not even a publishing system(including publishing, translation, and distribution) in place. Even where books exist, the infrastructure for printing, distribution, and bookstores is often lacking, making it very difficult for a true industry to develop. Telling manga fans in those countries, “Your country has a relatively high GDP per capita, so you should buy manga,” is meaningless if there is no actual way for them to buy it. That is something I find deeply painful. Why is it that the manga industry has not been able to properly serve those regions? Even in countries where publishing exists, manga books are often too expensive. The price of a single tankōbon book is $ 15 to $ 20, which is high even in the United States, especially when today’s digital entertainment offers so many alternatives at much lower prices. So, this is why I believe the future of manga is clearly not limited to print publishing, but must include digital services—manga that can be enjoyed in a reasonably accessible and affordable way. If such systems are established globally, I believe the manga industry could grow dramatically. In North America alone, a tenfold expansion would not be unrealistic. Even countries without any publishing tradition could develop sustainable manga industries. Once official digital services exist in each country, they can generate tax revenue, and governments can more seriously address piracy. At that point, creators and aspiring manga artists can also demand proper enforcement and protection. Most importantly, it would create opportunities for local aspiring manga artists. And those opportunities would, in turn, strengthen the global industry as a whole. When a country’s manga ecosystem develops properly, it becomes a cultural export industry. From a government perspective, piracy then becomes something that can and should be actively addressed. The first people to pay for legitimate manga services will, in many cases, be the very readers who once relied on piracy. They are not enemies of the industry—they are its earliest supporters in waiting. Pirated manga readers are not our opponents. They are our future audience. They are proof that demand already exists. In late 1990s Korea, manga piracy was widespread, and attitudes were often very hostile toward paid content. Many believed that paying for manga was unnecessary, or even that the industry itself should not exist. At the time, Steve and I did not fully understand this. We were wrong in many ways. But later, when proper legal services were introduced in Korea, readers were more than willing to support them. They paid for content gladly, and the Korean webtoon industry grew stronger, eventually becoming a major source of IP for film and television. We learned, through experience, that the joy of not paying cannot compare to the deeper satisfaction of supporting and sustaining the culture you love. Piracy users were never the enemy. They were simply manga fans. And all manga fans, in the end, are on the same side. Through our mistakes, Steve and I came to understand this more clearly. What needs to be done is simple: build proper digital manga services. Ensure fair pricing. And most importantly, help each country develop its own manga ecosystem. Because only then can a truly global manga industry exist. And only then can the works we create truly reach the world. To be continued...

Jalen Brunson’s toast at the Knicks team party last night: “F**k Wemby.” (h/t @SMHighlights1)

NEW: At the Turning Point USA women's summit, conservatives speak freely about willingly giving up their right to vote. "I would be okay with giving up my right to vote, because I know that [my husband] would represent me well,” said one attendee. democracydocket.com/news-ale…