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Marvel recently came under fire in the wake of accusations of whitewashing roles made for Asian actors. In Doctor Strange the role of Sorcerer Supreme was given to Tilda Swinton who despite the negative reaction did an amazing job playing the ancient protector of the multiverse. They again came under fire for the casting of Finn Jones as Danny Rand/Iron Fist. However in comic canon Iron Fist has been an American male.

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Speaking of Comic canon; Iron Fist was created during the 70s kung fu craze. Danny in that version was a friend of Luke Cage and they fought crime in New York. In the Netflix series however Danny is the billionaire boy believed dead in a plane crash along with his parents.

He comes back to New York fifteen years later shocking those who were once his childhood friends Joy and Ward Meacham who now run Rand Industries.

The first part of the series focuses on Danny’s return to the modern world. His fight to be acknowledged as Danny Rand as well as take his place in his father’s company. Jones does an amazing job of playing a socially stunted hero. Danny vanished when he was 10 years old, and taken to a monastery then trained to be a weapon. In real life Danny would lack any form of adult social skills and Jones plays this perfectly. The rest of the series focuses on Danny’s fight with The Hand, you may remember them as the main villain in Daredevil seasons one and two. In addition to his battles Danny tries to become the CEO he was supposed to be, all the while being the Iron Fist and figuring out his place in this crazy world.

We once again meet some familiar faces from the other Marvel Series. Rosario Dawson reprises her role as Claire Temple who this time is training under Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick). We also get to see Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth; the powerful lawyer who has Jessica Jones on retainer and at the end of Daredevil season two hired Foggy Nelson for her firm. Even the mysterious Hand leader Madam Gao played by Wai Ching is a main villain in this series. We learn just a tiny bit more about her backstory and a bit more about The Hand and how it operates.

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Despite some negative reviews from critics Iron Fist is a step away from the Marvel series we’ve seen recently. The series features various forms of martial arts such as wushu, and my personal favorite drunken boxing. It also pays homage to classic martial arts films, with scenes such as Danny’s fight with some hatchet wield gangsters in a hallway then in an elevator.

The first season of Iron Fist leaves you with some answers but even more questions. I can’t help but wonder how the end of this season is going to tie into The Defenders. I would love to see at some point an origin episode for Madame Gao. To have it done in the same style that was done for Daredevil’s King Pin.

If you love Bruce Lee classics, even the Kill Bill series and the movies that inspired it. Fire up Netflix and binge watch this series.

Gamer and Geek since birth. Lover of RPGs, FPS, Tabletop, Books, Tv Shows, Movies, Cartoons, puppies and kittens. Honest girl telling you what she likes and what she doesn't like. might also be insane...

Artificial Intelligence

Gaming models are created by Auctoria using generative AI

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Aleksander Caban, co-founder of Polish VR game developer Carbon Studio, noticed a major problem in modern game design several years ago. He manually created rocks, hills, paths, and other video game environment elements, which was time-consuming and laborious.

Caban created tech to automate the process.

In collaboration with Michal Bugała, Joanna Zając, Karolina Koszuta, and Błażej Szaflik, he founded Auctoria, an AI-powered platform for creating 3D game assets. Auctoria, from Gliwice, Poland, is in Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2023.

Auctoria was founded on a passion for limitless creativity, according to Zając in an email interview. It was designed to help game developers, but anyone can use it. Few advanced tools exist for professionals; most are for hobbyists and amateurs. We want to change that.”

Using generative AI, Auctoria creates various video game models. One feature generates basic 3D game levels with pathways, while another converts uploaded images and textures of walls, floors, and columns into 3D versions.

Like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, Auctoria can generate assets from text prompts. Or they can submit a sketch, which the platform will try to turn into a digital model.

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All AI algorithms and training data for Auctoria were developed in-house, according to Zając.

She said “Auctoria is based 100% on our content, so we’re not dependent on any other provider.” It’s independent—Auctoria doesn’t use open source or external engines.

In the emerging market for AI game asset generation tools, Auctoria isn’t alone. The 3DFY, Scenario, Kaedim, Mirage, and Hypothetic startups create 3D models. Even Nvidia and Autodesk are entering the space with apps like Get3D, which converts images to 3D models, and ClipForge, which generates models from text descriptions.

Meta also tried tech to create 3D assets from prompts. In December, OpenAI released Point-E, an AI that synthesizes 3D models for 3D printing, game design, and animation.

Given the size of the opportunity, the race to market new solutions isn’t surprising. According to Proficient Market Insights, 3D models could be worth $3.57 billion by 2028.

According to Zając, Auctoria’s two-year R&D cycle has led to a more robust and comprehensive toolset than rivals.

“Currently, AI-based software is lacking for creating complete 3D world models,” Zając stated. “3D editors and plugins offer only a fraction of Auctoria’s capabilities. Our team started developing the tool two years ago, giving us a ready-to-use product.”

Auctoria, like all generative AI startups, must deal with AI-generated media legal issues. Not yet clear how AI-generated works can be copyrighted in the U.S.

However, the Auctoria team of seven employees and five co-founders is delaying answering those questions. Instead, they’re piloting the tooling with game development studios like Caban’s Carbon Studio.

Before releasing Auctoria in the coming months, the company hopes to raise $5 million to “speed up the process” of creating back-end cloud services to scale the platform.

Zając stated that the funding would reduce the computing time required for creating worlds or 3D models with Auctoria. Achieving a software-as-a-service model requires both infrastructure and user experience enhancements, such as a simple UI, excellent customer service, and effective marketing. We’ll keep our core team small, but we’ll hire more by year’s end.”

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Comics

Syphon Filter on PlayStation Plus Premium: Dark Mirror and Ape Academy 2 Have Awards

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Even though trophy support for older games on PS Plus Premium isn’t always great, you can always count on Sony’s first-party games to have it.If you like collecting these digital trinkets, you’re in luck, because today’s big PlayStation Plus update includes two classic games that can now be used to earn Trophies.

Each trophy list for Ape Academy 2 and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror includes the platinum cherry on top. You can look at their respective listings here and here if you’re interested.

The list for Dark Mirror appears to be quite simple—you can basically earn them all by finishing the game. The trophies in Ape Academy 2 appear to be a little more complicated, requiring you to complete particular objectives in card battles and advance to specified rankings. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem too difficult, so we’re looking at a couple of quite simple platinums.

Ridge Racer: Type 4 is this month’s other premium classic game; sadly, it does not offer trophies. But it makes up for it by being a complete banger.

However, will you be obtaining some of these trophies with a nostalgic flavor?

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Comics

Beautiful New Book Teaches About the Art of Horizon Forbidden West

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This year, Sony produced some truly outstanding work, releasing four high-profile games on the PS5 and PS4 (not to mention the numerous PC ports). The earliest of these, Horizon Forbidden West, arrived in February of 2022 and got the year off to a strong start. One of Aloy’s sophomore journey’s greatest strengths, among the many other things we like about it, is its excellent art direction. The Art of Horizon Forbidden West allows you to now delve deeply into the game’s visuals.

This coffee table book, which was published by Dark Horse Books, contains 200 pages of concept art and developer commentary. It provides an inside look at the process used to develop engaging characters and settings, and Forbidden West is certainly not lacking in either.

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There will be two editions of the book: standard and deluxe. Both are hardback books, with the deluxe edition having pages with metallic edges and a unique slipcase. These are now up for pre-order and will go on sale on April 25, 2023.

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