Shenmue Named Most Influential Video Game of All Time in BAFTA Poll

IT is a game about love and identity, but there is also Forklift track races. It’s a game about bloody revenge, but while you’re waiting for retaliation, you can buy lottery tickets and visit the arcade. When BAFTA recently asked gamers to vote for the most influential game of all time, it’s unclear whether even the most enthusiastic Sega fans have gambled on the success of the singular Dreamcast adventure from 1999.

How did this happen, especially given that the game is considered a financial failure at release? It won’t be able to recoup the incredible development costs of that time (for the reported $70 million, you’ll now get about a third of Horizon’s banned West or Star Wars outlaws). Well, nostalgia is interesting. So is the concept of cultural influence. When it was released over 20 years ago, Shenmew was a strange thing. This is an open world role-playing adventure that follows martial arts student Ryozuki in search of revenge for his father’s murder. But there were plenty of fights and puzzles, but there were plenty more. The game used an internal clock to switch between day and night and cycled through seasons. In many cases, Ryo had to kill time by wandering the Yokoshiro streets in the mid-1980s, as people needed to speak (or beat) (or beat) at certain times were available. You can go to the shop, play old Sega Arcade games and visit the hot dog stands. The world was filled with quirky characters and odd mini-games, including the aforementioned forklift race.

What players also enjoyed was the systematic and strangeness of the story. While designer Suzuki spent the 1980s, he had made some of the best arcade games of all time including Burner and Outrun after Hang On, he was a stickler for credibility and simulation. He also loved experimenting with gameplay conventions. Shenmew has led to the adoption of quick time events. This is a highly choreographed action scene in which the player determines the action by following a specific button prompt. For example, it was controversial, but interesting. Even in the game, players are pretty wooden voice acting and closed clipped conversations. To this day, the idea of ​​Ryo wandering through the dock asks, “Do you know where I can find the sailor?” For those who know it, it’s comedy gold.

This was the first time an epic, immersive role-playing adventure has been portrayed in elements of life simulations and dating games to expand a player’s interactive repertoire. Later titles such as Grand Theft Auto III expand on this idea, but it can be said that the concept of a living, exploreable world came from Shenmuye and seasoned everything that continued from Assassin’s Creed to Skyrim.

Shenmew won the sequel and then the third title to close the trilogy. I was at video game event E3 in 2015 when Yu appeared on stage at a Sony press conference and announced that the Shenmue III was in development. It was a pandemonium. Certainly, Super Mario Bros. is more influential as they popularized the concept of platformers and video game mascot characters. It’s a destiny, as it made first-person shooter games the most important genre in PC games. But I like the fact that Shenmue won, I love Sega and it’s not just because I edited the Dreamcast magazine of the time. That’s because it shows that gamers still enjoy the weird and exotic games. If so, there will be some weird and exotic games. In Shenmuye’s non-gi-sama kids’ success, it certainly shows that action, dating and stupid games still have hilarious effects, like Yakuza and Dragon games.

I like to stop fighting for a moment, head to the dock and think that players looking for sailors are always happy.

Bafta largely Influence video game all Complete time list

1. Shenmew (1999)

2. Doom (1993)

3. Super Mario Bros. (1985)

4. Half-Life (1998)

5. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (1998)

6. Minecraft (2011)

7. Kingdom Come: Rescue II (2025)

8. Super Mario 64 (1996)

9. Half-Life2 (2004)

10. Sims (2000)

11. Tetris (1984)

12. Tomb Raider (1996)

13. Pong (1972)

14. MetalGear Solid (1998)

15. Worldof Warcraft (2004)

16. Baldur’sGate III (2023)

17. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

18. Dark Souls (2011)

19. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)

20. Skyrim (2011)

twenty one. Grand Theft Auto (1997)

Source: www.theguardian.com

Gallup Poll Shows Increasing Number of Americans Unable to Afford Healthcare

The high cost of living in America not only drives up egg prices and housing costs but also contributes to the unhappiness of its citizens. The affordability of healthcare remains a major concern for millions of people. A recent investigation published on Wednesday sheds light on the challenges many individuals face in affording doctor visits and prescription medications, even before discussions about reducing government aid.

According to the survey, 11% of respondents reported being unable to afford necessary medication and care in the past three months, marking the highest level in the four years of the survey. More than a third of those surveyed, approximately 91 million adults, stated they would be unable to pay for medical care if needed.

The survey, conducted by Western Health and Gallup from mid-November to late December 2024, revealed a widening disparity between black and Hispanic adults and individuals with lower incomes. A quarter of respondents earning annual household incomes under $24,000 expressed inability to afford care in the past three months.

“The extent to which this issue is magnified highlights the vulnerability of these particular groups,” noted Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup.

While white adults and high-income earners reported no significant change in their ability to afford care, the rising premiums, additional physician costs, and recent reductions in Medicaid coverage all contribute to the financial burden on individuals. The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers’ arguments about repealing Medicaid cuts and tax reductions under the Obamacare plan could further exacerbate the issue, experts warn.

“This puts additional strain on already burdened systems and leads to financial toxicity,” stated Tim Rush, president of the West Health Policy Center. Many families are already grappling with medical debt. Rush emphasized that avoiding necessary care due to financial constraints could result in severe health consequences or even death.

Sarah R. Collins, vice president of healthcare coverage and access at the Nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, pointed out that even with insurance, many individuals lack sufficient coverage to meet their healthcare expenses. She warned that proposed cuts by Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration could lead to a rise in the number of people unable to afford care.

Collins remarked, “We’re regressing to pre-Affordable Care Act levels.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk reinstates Alex Jones and Infowars on X platform following user poll

Elon Musk has restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media site Infowars. Jones and his Infowars X account were “permanently banned” from Twitter by his former management in 2018 for posting abusive content and violating the platform’s rules.

On December 9th, Musk ran a user survey on X asking whether it would be appropriate to bring Alex Jones back to the platform. Nearly 2 million people voted, and about 70% said Jones’ account should be restored. Hours after the poll closed, the company reactivated Jones’ account. Infowars accounts had also been restored at the time of publication.

After posting the poll, Musk agreed with users who argued that a permanent ban on his account would be “against free speech.” “It’s hard to agree with this,” Musk said.

When a user raised concerns about misinformation circulating on the platform as a result of restoring Jones’ account, Musk pointed to a community note that said parts of the program “need to be fixed.” We will respond promptly to AJ’s post.”

Jones is notorious for spreading conspiracies surrounding the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, which killed 28 people. The conspiracy theorist was charged and had to appear in court claiming the shooting was staged.a court in connecticut ordered Jones pays $1.5 billion in damages last year.

Musk’s move comes as X struggles to retain the biggest advertisers on its platform. Prominent companies including Apple, Disney and IBM stopped advertising spending on social networks after Musk called anti-Semitic theories “actual truth.”

He later clarified and apologized for his comments, calling them “stupid.” But Tesla’s CEO wasn’t happy with people opting out of advertising on X. In a conversation with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook conference, Tesla’s CEO told advertisers to “fuck off already.”

“If someone’s going to blackmail me with an ad, blackmail me with money? Fuck it,” Musk said. “Go. Shit. Yourself. Is it obvious?

He also mentioned Disney’s Bog Iger, who also spoke at the conference. In the same interview, Musk said the advertising boycott was going to “crush the company” and that those who conducted the boycott would be responsible for the company’s eventual demise.

Restoring Jones and Infowars’ accounts could raise further eyebrows and frustrate advertisers and others who monitor hate speech. In response to users, the owner of X acknowledged that while the repair could be financially detrimental to the platform, “principle is more important than money.”

After Musk took over X, he reinstated a number of controversial figures, including singer Kanye West, former US president Donald Trump, far-right influencer Andrew Tate, and right-wing scholar Jordan Peterson. I’ve let it happen.

Source: techcrunch.com