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“Batman and Harley Quinn” – A Speculative Pre-review from a Batman “Traditionalist”

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Batman and Harley Quinn movie poster

On May 30, Warner Bros. released the cover art and announced the release date (August 15) of the upcoming animated movie “Batman and Harley Quinn.” The premise is that Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man undertake a plan to save the earth that involves destroying most of humankind. Batman and Nightwing learn of the duo’s plot and recruit Harley Quinn in order to foil their nefarious plans.

There are three things that I must state up-front in the spirit of full disclosure. The first is that I don’t like comic stories/characters that rely on campiness. The second is that I don’t like the Harley Quinn character. The third is that I lean towards a more traditional approach to the Batman (if such a thing is possible for someone who has read comics since the early ‘80s). I assume that you now understand my lackluster reaction to the movie announcement.

Mary Ellen Thomas, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President of Family and Animation Marketing, said “In this all-new movie, we give Harley Quinn the starring role she deserves […].” There is only one reason that Harley deserves a starring role, and that is her inexplicable popularity. Granted, popularity is a fantastic reason for a starring role, since the definition of “popular” equates to quite a good metric for determining headliners and potential profit margin. However, the character is boring.

My use of “inexplicable” is the key word. I just don’t understand why Harley Quinn has such a following. The character lacks depth beyond her origin story. I see her as failed recipe: combine the Florence Nightingale effect with the Stockholm syndrome, shake violently, electrocute a handful of times, shake some more, burn, then pour. Voilà! Meet a one-dimensional character. Her job solely consists of eye-rolling dialogue and acting as Joker’s sidekick so that there can be a true dichotomous relationship with Batman and whoever his sidekick happens to be at the time.

My “traditionalist” view of the Batman makes it is hard for me to envision a scenario in which he would compromise his values and partner with a psychotic murderer, especially considering Harley’s relationship with Joker. An aspect of Batman’s appeal is that he refuses to compromise. He will take a different path, often more difficult, so that he doesn’t compromise his core values. Harley Quinn embodies everything that he hates. She willingly performs actions that are in direct contradiction to the Batman’s value system. Even the threat of humanity’s destruction doesn’t convince me that Batman would make such a choice.

The movie may be good. I hope that it’s good and many people enjoy it. Most likely, I won’t watch it, choosing instead to contemplate when Bruno will make her appearance in Batman’s regular continuity.

You can watch the trailer on DC’s website here.

Or, sit back in your hammock and just click “play” below:

Archaeology, technology, science, movies and TV shows, video games, government and politics, reading sci-fi and fantasy, '60s/70s classic rock. These are the areas in which I spend my days (somewhere in there are food and travel...).

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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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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