Latest news with #HorizonZeroDawn
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lost Records explores the joys and dangers of our cultural obsession with nostalgia
I finished Lost Records: Bloom and Rage several days ago, but I'm still thinking about it. Developed by Don't Nod, the creator of the successful Life Is Strange series, it's a narrative adventure about four girls in a town in Wyoming, who meet one summer, form a band, discover a strange supernatural force in the woods and then meet up 30 years later to dissect what exactly happened to them. It is about growing up, growing apart and processing trauma, seen through a nostalgic lens. We meet the lead characters as adults, and join them as they scour their shared past, revisiting old places – a shack in the woods, their teenage bedrooms, the local bar – and exhuming old feelings. Lost Records has an excellent feel for the mid-90s when the girls were 16: you can explore rooms and pick up artefacts such as game carts, diaries and mixtapes and, if you were around at the time, you absorb the nostalgia as keenly as the characters themselves. While playing I was struck at what a vital role nostalgia plays in video game design. I don't mean in the extrinsic sense of playing and remembering old video games, and I don't mean games that call back to old titles. I mean nostalgia as a central theme and a motivational force for characters. So many role-playing adventures are about unlocking the past through narrative archeology. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, Avowed, Journey, Outer Wilds and Heaven's Vault are all games in which your primary aim is to discover what happened to some ancient civilisation and, through it, your character's own legacy and identity. It's nostalgia that infects the landscape of The Last of Us as much as the deadly fungus – Ellie's love of old comics, songs and joke books; the repeated use of ruined museums, theatres and playgrounds as key locations – that Naughty Dog wanted to tap in to by repurposing our own nostalgia for lost childhood pleasures. I'm reading Agnes Arnold-Forster's excellent book Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, which looks at the origins of the concept and how it was first considered a fatal disease of the mind, a sort of mortal home sickness. In Death Stranding, this idea is made physical in the shape of the Beached Things, the smoky tar-like spirits that haunt the game's ruined landscapes. Nostalgia is the perfect theme for video games, because we have the freedom to explore and discover in them. They immerse us in landscapes and provide countless objects for us to observe and interact with. They also allow us to collect our own mementoes – most major titles now have photo modes where we can capture specific scenes, composing and editing the footage to our specific emotional requirements. In Lost Records, you can record video footage on lead character Swann's camcorder; you do this throughout the game and then there's a lovely payoff, which reminded me a little of the unforgettable climax to Cinema Paradiso. What is particularly absorbing about Lost Records, however – and it has been one of the game's most controversial aspects – is that it deals in the inconsistencies of nostalgia as much as the comforts. It is unapologetically ambiguous, with its central mysteries remaining largely unresolved. There is no comfortable catharsis, no shock reveal – what the lead characters learn when they reunite is that memory is unreliable, perhaps even duplicitous. In this way, it reminded me a lot of independent genre cinema – We're All Going to the World's Fair, Skinamarink, It Follows. It is elusive and non-compliant. We often think about games as power fantasies, but they are equally fantasies of reconstruction and remembrance. Games make us yearn for worlds that were never there. Perhaps one day, some sort of brain-computer interface will allow role-playing adventures to be set in our own memories, our own nostalgic kingdoms. It sounds idyllic, but what video games have been trying to warn us is that our brains are unreliable narrators. Nostalgia is a door, but it's also a trap. If you were playing PC games in the mid-1990s, the chances are you were a fan of the real-time strategy genre. Dune II, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation … how the hours flew by as we harvested resources, built war machines and set out to destroy the other side's bases. Tempest Rising is a shameless paean to that era, set on an alternate 1990s Earth ruined by nuclear war and now housing two battling factions. The core loop of exploring, gathering, building and fighting is tight and compulsive, and the detailed visuals lend a modern sheen. Now let's have a new Advance Wars title for the Nintendo Switch 2. Available on: PCPlaytime: 20+ hours I love that Polygon has written a guide on how to take physical notes of the hit puzzle game Blue Prince. As someone who spent his childhood making maps of Commodore 64 adventures, I approve of this most tactile way to navigate games. Last year, I used multiple sheets of graph paper (complete with little flaps for hidden areas) to map Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and it was so fun to be back. The games industry can breathe a sigh of relief – it turns out Assassin's Creed Shadows has performed well, despite manufactured outrage over its use of a black samurai in the leading role. has a good opinion piece on the subject. Amid endless layoffs and studio closures, here's a piece from Eurogamer about how institutional memory helped make Indiana Jones and the Great Circle such an assured and entertaining game. It turns out that experienced teams who have worked together for years make good games together. Who'd have thought? Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Tape Two) – love, grief and self-recrimination as the girls reunite | ★★★★☆ Now Play This 2025 – the end of an era of experimental game design | Simon Parkin 'It's allowed me to see through his eyes': Super Mario, my dad and me Piece of the action: entering the British puzzle championship Super spicy! Jack Black's Minecraft song Steve's Lava Chicken becomes shortest ever UK Top 40 hit Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion This week's question comes from Andrew Wilcox, head judge and founder of the Cuprinol shed of the year competition, who asked via Bluesky: 'Why are there lots of sheds in games but no games about shed-building?' Considering how big the cosy games market is, you'd think some clever indie studio would have attempted a shed sim by now. Imagine pottering about in your own virtual wooden den, perhaps doing a spot of carpentry or sorting seeds to plant. You can build sheds in The Sims 4: Cottage Living and Farming Simulator, but these tend to have very specific utilitarian uses, such as grain storage. Anyway, I put the question to game designer and keen shed botherer, Will Luton, who has worked at Sega and Rovio and now runs the consultancy Department of Play. He said: 'There are two problems to consider here: what is the main action (AKA the core loop), and what are the ways you move through the game (AKA the progression vectors)? 'There are multiple ways you could address these. Is the main game more about designing the shed? Or are you making it to a specific design? This defines if it's more open-ended and creative (like Townscaper) or more systematic (like Car Mechanic Simulator). This decision also likely defines the type of interaction: isometric drag and drop v first-person traversal. 'Once you've made one shed, why do you want to make more? There must be some kind of 'unfolding' where new mechanics or possibilities unlock. So, for example, when you complete your first shed, you unlock a nail gun, which means you can assemble much quicker and more sturdily. Maybe now you can make sheds over 10sqm. Or perhaps you install electricity, which unlocks lighting and power tools. Maybe you have a shed yourself that you can constantly upgrade and add new tools to, which allows you to then make bigger and better sheds for clients. 'So to answer the question: there is no reason why someone hasn't made this game. Indeed, if the reader happens to have £500k, I'd help them to bring it to market.' If you've got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – email us on pushingbuttons@
Fox News
14-04-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
4-legged hydrogen-powered robot you can actually ride
What if your next off-road ride wasn't on a motorcycle or ATV but on a robot that moves like a wolf? Kawasaki Heavy Industries has introduced something that feels straight out of a video game: CORLEO, a hydrogen-powered, four-legged robot prototype designed to be ridden by humans. Unveiled at the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025, this futuristic machine is built to handle rugged terrain with ease, combining cutting-edge robotics and sustainable energy. Let's take a closer look at what makes CORLEO so cutting-edge. CORLEO isn't your typical off-road vehicle. Instead of wheels, it has four robotic legs that move independently, allowing it to handle uneven ground like rocks, grass and steep inclines. Kawasaki says the design was inspired by the skeletal structure of lions. The name CORLEO is derived from Cor Leonis, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Riders mount it like they would a horse, but instead of gripping handlebars or using pedals, you control CORLEO with your body. Lean forward, and it moves ahead. Shift your weight to the side, and it adjusts its steps accordingly. CORLEO is also environmentally friendly. It uses a battery paired with a 150cc hydrogen engine. The hydrogen engine generates electricity, which is stored in the battery. Kawasaki has been pushing hydrogen-powered vehicles for years, and CORLEO is their latest effort to combine sustainability with innovation. CORLEO isn't just about getting from point A to point B. It's packed with advanced features that make it feel like something out of the future. CORLEO's sleek design is as impressive as its tech. Built with durable materials like metal and carbon fiber, it's tough enough for outdoor adventures while still looking futuristic. Fans of video games might notice some similarities to designs from Horizon Zero Dawn, which reportedly inspired some of its aesthetics. Right now, CORLEO is still in the prototype phase, so there are some unanswered questions, like how fast it can go or how far it can travel on a full tank of hydrogen. And while the idea of riding a robotic wolf sounds amazing, we'll have to wait a while before it becomes available. Kawasaki estimates it could take up to 25 years before something like CORLEO hits the market. Still, this concept shows where off-road vehicles could be headed in the future. Kawasaki sees CORLEO as an alternative to traditional motorcycles or ATVs, something that could make exploring tough terrains safer, easier and more sustainable. CORLEO is part of Kawasaki's growing focus on robotics. The company has been making industrial robots for decades and recently expanded into new areas like collaborative robots (designed for manufacturing) and educational robots for classrooms. For example: With CORLEO, Kawasaki is showing how its expertise in robotics can go beyond factories and classrooms into outdoor adventures. Kawasaki's CORLEO is an entirely new way of thinking about off-road transportation. By combining robotics, AI and clean energy, Kawasaki is imagining a future where adventure meets sustainability. While we might not see robots like CORLEO on trails anytime soon, it's worth thinking about how this technology could change outdoor adventures forever. Who wouldn't want to ride a robot inspired by nature's most agile creatures? Would you feel safe riding a robot like Kawasaki's CORLEO across rugged terrain? Why or why not? Let us know by writing us at For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Follow Kurt on his social channels: Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions: New from Kurt: Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Aloy Voice Actor Ashly Burch 'Worried About This Art Form' After Horizon Zero Dawn AI Demo Leaks
Voice actor Ashly Burch responded to an internal Sony tech demo featuring a generative-AI controlled version of the hero she plays in the Horizon Zero Dawn games, Aloy, saying it's exactly why she and other game performers are currently on strike. 'I am worried for this art form,' she told fans in a new TikTok video. The leaked demo reported by The Verge showed Aloy carrying on a conversation with a Sony engineer by generating computer-voiced responses in real-time. It was an extremely crude interaction, but behind its obvious limitations was a stark warning about how the technology might be used in games once it improves. One of those potential consequences includes harvesting performances from real actors and then replacing them with digital replicas, as striking SAG-AFTRA members recently claimed. 'Guerrilla reached out to let me know that the demo didn't reflect anything that was actively in development,' said Burch—who also stars in the Apple parody of the game industry called Mythic Quest—in her recent video. 'They didn't use any of my performance for the demo, none of my facial or voice data. Guerrilla owns Aloy as a character. So all that said, I feel worried, and not worried about Guerilla specifically, or Horizon, or my performance, or my career specifically even, I feel worried about this art form, game performance as an art form.' tiktok-7481742753991314734 Burch explained how SAG-AFTRA, of which she's a member, has been on strike with many of the biggest video game companies—including Activision, Electronic Arts, and others—over AI protections, and pointed to the Aloy tech demo as a perfect example of what the group is fighting for. Burch noted that the performance rules the actors are asking companies to sign onto have already been agree to by others in various interim agreements. 'I just imagine a video like this coming out that does have someone's performance attached to it, that does have someone's face, or voice, or movement, and the possibility that if we lose this fight that person would have no recourse, they wouldn't have any protections, and way to fight back, and that possibility makes me so sad, it breaks my heart, it scares me,' she said. 'We have proposed a deal that terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor's performance in other games,' a spokesperson Audrey Cooling of the game company bargaining group said in a statement last week. 'We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal.' Burch suggested it's not enough. 'The technology isn't the problem, game companies wanting to use the technology isn't the problem,' she continued in her video. 'We're on strike and the bargaining group will not agree to give us common sense protections. I support the strike, I've always supported the strike, I believe fighting is what we have to do to protect the future and longevity of this career we all love so much.' . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Voice actor Ashly Burch, known for her role as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, shared her response to a controversial AI tech demo of her character leaked last week and, unsurprisingly, it has her worried about the future of the gaming industry. Burch explained in a TikTok video, "Gorilla reached out to me to let me know that the demo didn't reflect anything that was actively in development. They didn't use any of my performance for the demo, so none of my facial or voice data." "All that said, I feel worried. And not worried about Gorilla specifically or Horizon or my performance or my career specifically, even. I feel worried about this art form, game performance as an art form." Burch's response comes amidst an ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike hinging on protections for actors from the use of AI to replace them in the gaming industry. SAG-AFTRA fought a similar battle in the film and TV industry back in 2023 alongside the Writers Guild of America. Now, video game voice and motion capture actors are also striking to protect their careers and the future of their industry from AI. Ashly Burch summed up the situation in her video, stating, "The technology isn't the problem, game companies wanting to use the technology isn't the problem. The problem is that we are currently on strike and the bargaining group [for the game studios] will not agree to give us common sense protections." The leaked AI tech demo of Aloy is a stark warning about what the future of the gaming industry could look like if voice and motion capture artists don't win their fight for AI protections. The clip of the tech demo has been removed from YouTube, but the footage was noticeably more cold and robotic than Burch's phenomenal performance as Aloy. It highlights all the nuance and heart we lose when the human element is taken out of game performances. Fans are unhappy about the tech demo as well. As one Horizon player commented on Reddit, "If they use this AI tech in the next game. I will not be buying it or playing it." Another user called fans to support Burch, commenting, "As fans of games like Horizon, we should support the PEOPLE working to improve our entertainment experiences. I'm all for technical advancement, like she said. But it can't replace people." While Burch reassured everyone in her video that her performance wasn't used to train the AI Aloy shown in the tech demo, she admitted that the risk of actors' performances being exploited or used without their permission for AI is very real. Best of the best 2025 games: Upcoming releasesBest PC games: All-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together "I feel worried not because the technology exists, not even because game companies want to use it. Of course they do, they always want to use technological advancements. I just imagine a video like this coming out that does have someone's performance attached to it," Burch explained. She added, "If we lose this fight, that person would have no recourse. They wouldn't have any protections, any way to fight back. And that possibility… It makes me so sad." Actors and gamers alike are right to be worried about the future of the gaming industry. Voice and motion capture actors have become the heart and soul of so many great games and are getting much more recognition today than they once did. Hopefully, game studios take notice of the response to the AI Aloy clip from Burch and Horizon fans. AI can be a helpful tool in gaming, but if it's used to take actors out of the equation, that's a loss for gamers and gaming as a powerful storytelling medium. As Ashly Burch put it, "I love this industry and this art form so much and I want there to be a new generation of actors. I want there to be so many more incredible game performances. [...] If we don't win, then that future is really compromised."
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Horizon Zero Dawn star Ashly Burch responds to Sony's controversial AI Aloy by pushing for actor protections: "You have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you're using this AI"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Earlier this week, footage of an AI-powered character prototype developed by Sony and modeled after Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy leaked online. The game's community was immediately critical of the whole effort, and now Ashly Burch, the human actor behind Aloy's original performance, has published her own response. "I saw the tech demo earlier this week," Burch says in an Instagram video. "Guerrilla reached out to me to let me know that the demo didn't reflect anything that was actively in development. They didn't use any of my performance for the demo, so none of my facial or voice data." But still, "I feel worried," Burch says. "Not worried about Guerrilla specifically, or Horizon, or my performance, or my career specifically, even. I feel worried about this art form. Game performance as an art form." Burch is part of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes against the video game industry, and a key component of those strikes is the demand for better protections against the unauthorized use of actors' performances through generative AI. "What we're fighting for is that you have to get our consent before you make an AI version of us in any form," Burch explains. "You have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you're using this AI double." The actor previously participated in the SAG-AFTRA video game strike of 2016-2017, which saw the union demanding residual payments and more transparency around the roles actors were being cast for. Notably, the strike left Burch unable to reprise her role as Chloe in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm until the game's DLC bonus episode. The state of the negotiations in the current strike has had the union denouncing game industry proposals that are "still filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse." People like Resident Evil and Witcher 3 mocap director Steve Kniebihly remain confident that AI won't be replacing real actors "anytime soon," but those concerns are a big part of why the strike is ongoing. "I feel worried not because the technology exists, [and] not even because game companies want to use it, because of course they do – they always want to use technological advancements," Burch says. "I just imagine a video like this coming out that does have someone's performance attached to it – that does have someone's voice or face or movement – and the possibility that if we lose this fight, that person would have no recourse. They wouldn't have any protections, any way to fight back. That possibility, it makes me so sad." As Sony trots out an AI-powered Aloy, Horizon Zero Dawn fans revel in the irony: "The entire game is a warning against this kind of nonsense."
