La vuelta a los exclusivos de XBOX fue una gran noticia para todos los jugadores que querían que la marca volviese a tener una identidad propia y ofreciese motivos para comprar una consola. Esta noticia llegó con Gears of War: E-Day y el próximo Clockwork Revolution, los cuales no saldrán en otras consolas. Actualmente, E-Day es un auténtico juegazo, ofreciendo una campaña realmente divertida e impresionante y un modo multijugador muy completo con muchos modos de juego que te traer horas de diversión. Pese a eso, parece que las ventas podrían no ser las esperadas.

Una fuente que habló con Tom Warren de The Verge, afirma que actualmente, el juego ha vendido más de 400 000 copias en XBOX y Steam. Para muchos, esta cifra es realmente baja, sobre todo con los rumores que dicen que la entrega costó 500 millones de dólares. Evidentemente, estas no son cifras oficiales, por lo que no se puede dar nada por sentado. Como te hemos comentado anteriormente, Gears of War: E-Day marca el regreso de la compañía a las exclusivas de consola, aunque esto sucederá solo con algunos juegos. Como bien sabes, Forza Horizon 6 y el nuevo Fable también llegarán a PS5, sin embargo, si las ventas de E-Day no cumplen las expectativas, tal vez XBOX decida sopesar más hasta donde lleva esta decisión.

Lógicamente, en este número de ventas no está incluido nada de Game Pass, por lo que muchos jugadores pueden comprar cosméticos o incluso la mejora de la versión Deluxe pese a que disfruten el juego con el servicio de Microsoft, así que los ingresos podrían ser bastante superiores a lo que puedes estimar.

The Elder Scrolls VI podría ser otro de los grandes exclusivos de la compañía

Tras la noticia de que Gears of War: E-Day y Clockwork Revolution serían exclusivos, la gente ha empezado a mostrar nerviosismo con The Elder Scrolls VI. Como bien sabes, Bethesda pertenece a XBOX y desde luego, una de las opciones de la compañía podría ser hacer lo mismo con este nuevo RPG y convertirlo en un exclusivo de la marca. Sin duda sería un gran incentivo para los jugadores, pero las ventas de E-Day podrían hacer que ese RPG llegase a todas las plataformas.

Estaremos muy atentos para ver qué es lo que sucede próximamente, no solo con The Elder Scrolls, sino también con títulos como el próximo Fallout. Es evidente que los exclusivos serían una gran forma de que XBOX recuperase su identidad y convenciese a los jugadores más veteranos y amantes de la compañía, pero sin duda, las empresas necesitan obtener beneficios.

© Google

Los seguidores de The Elder Scrolls podrían conocer muy pronto noticias sobre la próxima entrega de la saga. Según un nuevo informe, Bethesda habría fijado The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel como título para el esperado juego y podría anunciarlo oficialmente el próximo mes de noviembre, coincidiendo con el aniversario de The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, que se estrenó en noviembre de 2011. Por el momento, la compañía no ha confirmado esta información.

El subtítulo de Sentinel lleva tiempo circulando entre las teorías de los jugadores. Una de las pistas señaladas por la comunidad apareció en una publicación de Asha Sharma, directora ejecutiva de Xbox, que incluía ocho asteriscos. Algunos jugadores interpretaron que podrían hacer referencia al nombre de la nueva entrega. Además, la misma palabra se ha localizado en Starfield, lo que alimentó las especulaciones sobre una posible conexión con el próximo juego de Bethesda.

La información procede de una publicación de Notepad recogida por The Verge. Según esta, el anuncio previsto para el próximo mes se limitaría inicialmente a revelar el título, mientras que otros detalles se reservarían para más adelante.

Hammerfell sería el escenario de la aventura

A pesar de no haber mucho más que mostrar en la revelación, todo apunta a que la aventura estaría ambientada en Hammerfell para ser «el primer juego sobre la historia de The Elder Scrolls», con el objetivo de descubrir los secretos de unos antiguos artefactos misteriosos. De confirmarse, esta orientación podría ofrecer nuevas claves sobre el pasado del universo de fantasía de Bethesda.

Una de las grandes incógnitas del proyecto sigue siendo su lanzamiento en diferentes plataformas. A día de hoy, se desconoce si The Elder Scrolls VI será exclusivo de las consolas XBOX o si también llegará a otros sistemas. De esta forma, solo queda esperar novedades oficiales de uno de los RPG más esperados de la compañía.

© Difoosion

Where do you live and with whom?
I live in Ayios Dhometios with my parents

What did you have for breakfast?
I never have breakfast, to sleepy to have anything

Describe your perfect day
No work, no university and lots of fun drawing and hanging out with friends and playing video games.

Best book ever read? Why?
I used to read a loooot of books, but I lost the focus to do so. I managed to read one couple of months ago called The Ruination by Riot games. The story is amazing with very well written characters and a very dramatic narrative

Best childhood memory?
Hanging out with my cousin. He was amazing and very, very funny. Best summers

What is always in your fridge?
Xixo Ice tea strawberry is always a must

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
Run boy Run by Woodkid

What’s your spirit animal?

A panda. A lot of people say that I look like Po from the Kung Fu Panta movies

What are you most proud of?
I have overcome a lot of obstacles that I thought I wouldn’t, both in life and art

What movie scene has really stayed with you? And why?
My favourite movie moment was from V for Vendetta when Evey Hammond went out in the rain and V saw himself when he was born in the fire, but Evey Hammond was born in water showing the contrast and the similarities of the characters.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. I would love to hear their journey.

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
Two points in time: 2010 when I went to my hometown (Xanthi) and had an amazing summer with my family, and 480 BC to witness the battle of Thermopylae and the glory of King Leonidas I

What is your greatest fear?

Disappointing the people around me, I don’t want to disappoint anyone when they believe in me. And also spicy food!

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
Nothing really, I believe things happen for a reason. I am fine with how things turned out.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone.
Unfaithfulness and dishonesty

What would you do if the world was going to end in 24 hours?
Spend it with friends and with a lot of Xixo Iced tea remembering the good time.

George Bilianidis is a Cypriot artist specialising in graphic design and geek culture, with a particular passion for comic books, manga, and fictional characters. He is a final-year graphic design student at Frederick University in Nicosia and creates fanart inspired by his favourite franchises and characters. He has participated in Cyprus Comic Con and other geek culture events, showcasing his work and connecting with fellow artists and fans. His goal is to continue growing as an artist, create unique illustrations, and establish himself as a cover artist within the comic book industry

Upcoming events: WackoManicas-Necro Comicon-Moondogs Christmas charity event
Social media links: https://www.instagram.com/george_bilianides_art?exln=eDgxcGJ2NTR1anc4

The Trump administration’s bid to separate 20,000 mail ballots in California that it says are likely from noncitizens met another defeat Wednesday as a trial judge refused to intervene.  U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled California can continue to accept the questioned ballots like any other. “This request violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over…

The Trump administration’s bid to separate 20,000 mail ballots in California that it says are likely from noncitizens met another defeat Wednesday as a trial judge refused to intervene.  U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled California can continue to accept the questioned ballots like any other. “This request violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over…

Welcome to Xbox's XP era.

• Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi announced layoffs of roughly 200 workers.
• Alkarmi said the cloud-based storage company is profitable but needs to make "hard choices."
• You can read his full email to employees below.

Dropbox is dropping the layoffs hammer.

Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi announced on Wednesday that the cloud-based storage company is laying off roughly 9% of its global workforce.

"Today, we're making difficult choices about where we invest and how we organize Dropbox to achieve the product and growth priorities that will matter most for our long-term strategy," Alkarmi wrote in an email to workers that the company posted publicly.

Alkarmi said Dropbox is eliminating roughly 200 roles across its across Engineering, Product, Design, and G&A team. The company, Alkarmi wrote, is profitable but needs to make "hard choices" about where it spends its money.

"Delivering on that strategy requires concentrating our resources on the priorities that will have the greatest potential for customer impact and growth," he wrote.

As part of the changes, Alkarmi also announced that chief technology officer Ali Dasdan will be stepping down.

Read the full email

Hi everyone,

Today, we're making difficult choices about where we invest and how we organize Dropbox to achieve the product and growth priorities that will matter most for our long-term strategy. As part of these changes, we've made the decision to eliminate about 200 roles across Engineering, Product, Design, and G&A teams (approximately 9% of our global workforce). For most impacted Dropboxers, today will be their last day.

S-team and I take full ownership of this decision and recognize that these colleagues have made meaningful contributions to Dropbox, our products, our customers, and our teams. Our first priority today is to treat every person affected with the care and respect they deserve.

Changes to Senior Leadership

I also want to share that Ali Dasdan has decided to move on from Dropbox. During his time here, Ali led and strengthened many of the technical capabilities we'll rely on as we move into the next phase of our transformation. I'm grateful for his leadership, his partnership, and the foundation he and the team have put in place. Ali's last day is November 18th, and he'll be focused on ensuring a smooth transition through next month. We wish him all the best in what comes next.

Why we're making these changes

Our business is profitable, and we've built real momentum this year. Our two-year strategy sets a clear direction for growth: solving more of our customers' critical workflows; reaching more of our chosen customers, including larger companies; and bringing our technology to new markets.

Delivering on that strategy requires concentrating our resources on the priorities that will have the greatest potential for customer impact and growth.

That means making hard choices about where we invest, how we're organized, and what work we simplify, scale back, or stop. Those choices include the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team.

How we'll prioritize going forward

In order to be successful, we can't take the same work and spread it across fewer people. We'll streamline teams and concentrate support and resources against product areas that have the highest impact on our customers and Dropbox as a business.

Taking care of impacted employees

To those leaving Dropbox, we're committed to supporting you through this transition. Departing Dropboxers are eligible for a severance package in line with the following:

Severance, equity, and transition support:

Sixteen weeks of pay beginning today, plus one additional week for each completed year at Dropbox. International packages will reflect local practices and legal requirements

Q4 equity vesting

For employees on the Corporate Bonus plan, a prorated lump-sum payment based on their 2026 bonus target

Immigration support for impacted visa holders

Healthcare and well-being:

U.S. employees will receive six months of COBRA subsidy, if elected and eligible

Modern Health access will continue through the end of the separation month to support mental well-being, with extension options detailed in severance packages

Payment for eligible current and approved upcoming paid leaves, including medical and family leave

Additional support:

Devices: Impacted employees will be eligible to keep (1) Dropbox laptop, (1) mobile device if assigned, and all existing desktop peripherals

Job placement: Job placement services and career coaching will be available at no cost

What comes next

Right now, our focus is on the colleagues who are leaving Dropbox. Please give them the space and support they need.

And to everyone leaving Dropbox: thank you. Your work to build our capabilities, serve our customers, and contribute to our culture has been deeply meaningful. I'm grateful for everything you've contributed.

Ashraf

December is when streaming companies bring out the really big guns, but November is no wimp when it comes to major releases.

Today we are taking a look at what’s coming to streaming next month, so grab your comfy blanket, put the kettle on and let’s dive right in!

The Greatest – Prime Video (November 4)

The life of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has been immortalised on screen before, but The Greatest casts a wider net and covers his whole life in detail over an eight-episode series.

Starring Jaalen Best as the legendary boxer, The Greatest follows the transformation of a young Cassius Clay into Muhammad Ali, exploring his struggles both inside and outside the ring.

A major plus for the series is the involvement of Michael B Jordan, who serves as executive producer.

Stick (Season 2) – Apple TV (November 4)

Guys, at this point I would watch anything released by Apple TV. A-ny-thing. I don’t know what’s happening over there, but their creative team is firing on all cylinders and it’s a wonder to behold.

Owen Wilson returns as Pryce ‘Stick’ Cahill, the washed-up golfer who, during season one, rediscovers his love for the sport by mentoring a young prodigy.

Wilson, who I strongly believe was born to play this part, now eyes his own comeback in season two, as he decides to return to professional golf and take a shot at winning the US Open.

Timothy Olyphant and the always welcome Marc Maron return, and to make the whole thing even better, Rhea Seehorn joins the cast as Pryce’s new coach. What more do you want?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 3) – Prime Video (November 11)

One does not simply walk into Mordor. Because it is currently under construction.

Amazon’s ambitious Tolkien adaptation returns for its third season, taking place five years after the fall of Eregion.

Sauron’s armies are spreading across Middle Earth, the Elves are fighting desperately to resist him and the Dark Lord is preparing to forge the One Ring.

Morfydd Clark returns as Galadriel, alongside Charlie Vickers as Sauron and Robert Aramayo as Elrond.

The season also introduces Jamie Campbell Bower, of Stranger Things fame, as Galadriel’s partner Celeborn, and Simon Pegg as the voice of the Balrog.

Guarding Stars – Netflix (November 18)

“Supernatural” star Jared Padalecki stars as Jack Stapleton, a famous action movie star who is in need of a new bodyguard. Leighton Meester is the reluctant professional who begrudgingly takes on the assignment and follows her client to his family ranch in Montana.

It is cheesy and predictable, so everything you want from a Christmas movie. Just what the doctor ordered for those cold winter nights to warm your heart!

The Altruists – Netflix (November 19)

Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison were among the biggest names in cryptocurrency, and they were making billions before most people had caught up with this new thing.

By 2022, their empire had collapsed. Both eventually ended up in prison, with Bankman-Fried ordered to forfeit $11 billion.

The Altruists dramatises this extraordinary story of love and fraud over eight episodes. Honestly, given how crazy the whole story was, I doubt that the writers had to do any writing at all. Sometimes real life is far more bizarre and outrageous than anything a writers’ room can come up with.

Steps – Netflix (November 20)

There are always two sides to every story. For years we have been listening only to Cinderella’s side of the story, one that painted her stepsisters as evil.

Are they, though?

Ali Wong stars as Lilith, one of Cinderella’s misunderstood stepsisters, who embarks on an adventure to save the kingdom after she accidentally plunges everything into chaos.

Blade Runner 2099 – Prime Video (November 25)

One of science fiction’s most celebrated franchises makes the jump to television.

Set 50 years after the events of “Blade Runner 2049”, this eight-part limited series returns viewers to a futuristic Los Angeles where the distinction between humans and artificial beings remains dangerously blurred.

Hunter Schafer stars as Cora, a fugitive who assumes the identity of a Blade Runner, while Michelle Yeoh plays Olwen, a replicant approaching the end of her life.

Original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott serves as executive producer.

The Hunchback, Soul of Paris – Netflix (November 27)

Having read Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I was always amazed by Hollywood’s lighthearted approach to the source material. The actual book is dark and heart-wrenching. There are no happy endings for anyone and definitely no singing gargoyles.

This film apparently decides to stick closer to the spirit of the novel, taking a far darker approach to Victor Hugo’s legendary character. I say “spirit” because the plot looks like a total deviation.

Set in Paris in 1830, against the backdrop of political unrest and a devastating cholera epidemic, the film follows a disfigured man hunted by authorities who want to use him for medical experiments.

Vincent Cassel the titular character.

The actress and Justin Timberlake's eldest child, Silas, appears in 'Matchbox: The Movie,' marking his first acting credit.

Why is Motherwitch – opening this Thursday in local cinemas – quite a special kind of film? Let us count the ways.

“It’s special because it’s Cyprus’ first folk-horror feature film,” says Minos Papas, who directed it and also co-wrote the script (with Nikolas Kouroumtzis and Euripides Dikaios).

It’s also special because “it’s based on Cypriot folklore that has not been seen onscreen before” – the fabled kalikantzari, mischievous goblins (sometimes said to be the spirits of lost kids coming back to haunt their parents) who appear during the 12 days of Christmas, and were previously immortalised in the silkscreen prints of Hambis Tsangaris.

It’s also special, says Minos, because “it’s shot in real locations of Cyprus – the abandoned 15th-century village of Parsata” (which the production spent a month restoring), and “the ruined monastery of the Holy Cross, ‘Timios Stavros’, in Anogyra.”

What’s more, “it’s a wintry Cyprus that we don’t usually see, the colour palette is grey and green and brown”. In fact, with its green fields and layered purplish hills stretching into the horizon, the landscape often seems more Balkan than Mediterranean, adding to the doom-laden atmosphere.

It’s also special because “it’s a movie where people will hear the actual Cypriot dialect of the late 19th century – or at least what we assume it was,” adds the director. Note that the film is being released not just with English, but also Greek subtitles – though he actually went back and forth on that, says Minos, the effect of the archaic dialect on modern Cypriot viewers (allowing them to catch the dramatic flow without understanding every word) adding a strangeness, “an arcaneness” that’s actually interesting.

Is that all? Not entirely.

Motherwitch is also special for genre buffs and special-effects geeks because its effects are almost entirely ‘practical’ (i.e. not computer-generated), a huge point of pride in the horror-fantasy world.

The filmmakers used “the ‘Schüfftan effect’ from the original Blade Runner” to create glowing eyes, says the director – an intricate effect, involving literal mirrors placed next to the camera – and also, for instance, used a “cloud tank to create these dreamy skies”, shot in his apartment in LA “then composited onto the skies here”.

Then again, lest we get too geeky, the film also provokes some emotional reactions.

“In Malta, I had somebody [from the audience] coming up to me sobbing – because she was going through a loss,” he reports. “She’d recently lost her mother, and she said –” Minos laughs out loud – “she told me to go fuck myself” for having hit a nerve so precisely. “Which was really touching…”

Motherwitch is the story of Eleni (Margarita Zachariou), a wandering painter in rural Cyprus in 1882, soon after it became a British colony. (The British play a small but significant part in the narrative.) Having lost her children in a tragic accident, she initially withdraws from life – but then, teaming up with an abused village boy, she embarks on a blood ritual that she hopes will bring back her kids. But “something ancient is unleashed” instead.

The film took seven years to make, much of that devoted to writing the script and finding the budget of €1.7 million – which sounds like a lot to the layman, but “the layman needs to get educated then,” jokes Minos grimly, “because 1.7 doesn’t go very far, especially in the European funding system [where] you have to pay for a lot of accounting and auditing”.

About half the funding came from the Cyprus government and Invest Cyprus, the rest includes equity (i.e. private investors) from both here and the US – the country that’s been Minos’ base for the past 27 years, since he went to study in New York at the School of Visual Arts. (Motherwitch is his third feature film.)

The idea was brewing in his head for a lot more than seven years, however, sparked by Tsangaris’ prints of the kalikantzari – but in fact they later meshed with something else, an artist friend in the US who lost her son when he was two days old and, grief-stricken, painted his portrait and wrote a book of poems (Poems for Wyatt) about her loss.

That unlikely mix lies at the heart of Motherwitch – and is also part (yet another part) of what makes it special.

The film’s done well on the festival circuit, having played Fantasia in Montreal and Sitges in Spain, two of the world’s biggest fests for genre films (a catch-all term for horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, and cult cinema) – but the most common reaction he gets, says Minos, is perhaps that “it’s unique, it’s its own thing”.

Wikipedia describes Motherwitch as a “gothic folk horror fantasy film”. The trailer calls it simply ‘A Cyprus Gothic’. It’s coming out for Halloween, and the shoe obviously fits – yet “I think ‘horror’ is my least favourite word for the movie,” admits Minos. “It’s the word we adopted because we had to classify it, y’know?

“In the beginning we were saying to people ‘It’s a fairytale’ – and we’d describe it, and they’d be like ‘Oh, so it’s a horror film’.” He laughs. “No, no, no! There’s no blood, there’s no violence…” There are creatures – kind of – but “you don’t really see anything”.

Minos’ own preferred term is ‘Gothic’ – “19th-century ghosts, more or less. A very sort of wintry, stone look”.

There’s a certain texture (“It’s a very handmade movie”), a certain melancholy, a certain atmosphere that sticks to your bones. It’s there in the visuals, the antiquated words, the emotional pull of the grief-stricken mother.

An unusual film? You could say that. An unusual Cypriot film? And how.

The ensemble also released their new EP 'Break Even' today.

En el mundo de los videojuegos hay una enorme cantidad de videojuegos publicados, los cuales ofrecen millones de horas a todos los jugadores. Lamentablemente, estas entregas no suelen durar para siempre y en esta ocasión, un juego exclusivo de consolas XBOX dejará de estar disponible en las tiendas el próximo día 30 de octubre de 2026. Si quieres disfrutarlo y jugarlo siempre que quieras, tendrás que comprarlo antes de esa fecha, porque luego será imposible comprarlo. Si quieres conocer más detalles acerca de qué título se trata, presta mucha atención, porque te dejamos toda la información justo debajo de estas líneas.

En esta ocasión ha sido Phoenix Reborn, la distribuidora del juego, quien ha confirmado que en un acuerdo mutuo con los desarrolladores, Brutalsoft, el juego será eliminado de XBOX Store próximamente. Se trata de Envasion, una entrega que te lleva a la vieja escuela de los disparos. Lo más curioso es que el juego no tiene modo online ni licencias que haya que pagar, por lo que su retirada de la tienda parece algo realmente raro. Sin embargo, parece que el juego seguirá estando disponible en Steam durante un tiempo más, aunque eso sí, con un nombre diferente: Invasion. Como te hemos comentado, por el momento se desconocen los motivos de esta retirada, así que si quieres hacerte con el juego y llama tu atención, aprovecha ahora, porque después podrás jugarlo siempre que quieras.

XBOX planea recuperar sus grandes exclusivas, según una nueva encuesta

Microsoft realizó una encuesta entre los usuarios de XBOX en la que habla de la posibilidad de que los futuros juegos de Fallout, Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Diablo, PHYSINT y Minecraft sean únicamente exclusivos de la consola de Microsoft. Desde luego, esto podría suponer un cambio realmente grande en la tendencia de mercado, por lo que habrá que ver cómo termina todo.

Juegos como Fallout, Diablo, DOOM o The Elder Scrolls son sagas mundialmente conocidas que cuentan con millones de jugadores. Si XBOX se convierte en la única plataforma para disfrutarlos, sin duda sería un gran golpe sobre la mesa. Además, PHYSINT, el nuevo título de Kojima, también está llamando mucho la atención.

© XBOX

Andy Burnham wants to look like a man of the people on Celebrity Gogglebox. But why not test his working-class credentials with Benny Hill or Love Thy Neighbour? Alexander McKibbin thinks he knows why.

The post Burnham’s Gogglebox Act: Get Ready for a Carnival of Woke Platitudes and Wearying Northern Homilies appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola (D) responded to the Justice Department’s (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to block her state from certifying its election results should her Republican challenger lose, saying Friday the move was “frivolous.” “This is clearly corruption. This is clearly a very desperate attempt to cling to power, using his allies in Washington, D.C.…

A new poll released Friday suggests half of Americans are concerned Republicans may try to overturn the results of November’s midterm election. Fifty percent of respondents to the New York Times/Siena University survey said they were either “very” or “somewhat worried” the GOP may use “illegal means” to overturn the election, compared to 49 percent…

The Sony ULT Tower 7 is one of our top party speaker picks and is at its lowest-ever price. Grab this or one of its sibling models before your next fete.

The sudden death of Greece’s popular singer Giorgos Mazonakis opened the Pandora’s Box about illegal medical practices and pseudo-scientific “alternative” methods aiming first of all at the healing of the pockets of scam doctors with warm euros. His sudden death shocked the Greek society and mobilized health and police authorities in a speed we could […]

The post Mazonakis’ death opens the Pandora’s Box of illegal medical practices in Greece appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.