Welcome back to the WIRED Games newsletter, friends! Between the Steam Summer Sale, Prime Day, and a bunch of new stories from the last week, we have a lot going on in this newsletter. Ready? Buckle up, it's all good stuff, I promise. Let's get started. First up, Geoffrey Bunting has a great piece that explores how artificial intelligence may be the key to making games accessible to all players, including those with visual, movement, or processing disabilities. He sits down to talk to some designers and product developers about the tech they're working on to make video games available to everyone. The story is so forward-looking that we've included it in our 30th anniversary celebration, which features articles about people and organizations that are working to make the future a better place. Check out the whole project on our 30th anniversary site! Speaking of AI, Will Bedingfield has a piece this week on how the generative AI gold rush is going to lead to some pretty awkward copyright infringement very soon. He uses the example of the game AI Dungeon, which already uses AI to generate in-game content, but no one knows who actually owns the content that the model is generating. It's not a good look, but it's one that's becoming increasingly common as AI shows up everywhere. Jon Bailes presents a different forward-looking question about gaming and culture: As games get more and more visually realistic, to the point where we have engines and computers capable of highly lifelike visuals, do we need to revisit the conversation about video games and violence? He highlights the FLESH system (short for Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids) in Dead Island 2, which, as the name implies, is pretty brutal. But as always, no one's going to punch in the skull of a zombie in a game and think "that looks fun to do irl." So is there a point in discussing it at all? Well, yes, Bailes says, and so do his sources. The results are clear: In-game violence doesn't increase real-life violence. But the context in which that violence is presented to us matters a lot. For a little lighter fare, Eric Ravenscraft has been playing a ton of Tears of the Kingdom, as I imagine you may be as well, but he's in love with a little gadget called the Flipper Zero, which he describes as Gen Z's version of a GameShark. If you remember GameShark, then you and I can be friends. Also that means we're both old. Sorry, I don't make the rules. Anyway, Eric has been using the Flipper Zero to collect as many legendary horses as possible, and if you want to do the same, you should check out his article. Last, but by no means least, our Gear team has been busy updating their roundup of their favorite laptops, so if you're in the market for a new one, and you want a suggestion that's powerful enough to get some real work (and gaming) done but portable and lightweight enough that you won't mind carrying it around or traveling with it, check out our up-to-date guides! Here are our best laptops for work and play anywhere, and our best cheap laptops, if you're operating on a budget. Now then, keep on gaming, and I'll see you back here next week. |
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