Gaming in Israel. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

In recent developments, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, has signalled the company's intention to broaden the presence of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games on Netflix Games, buoyed by the success of the GTA Trilogy on the platform. Reports indicate a surge of interest in GTA titles on Netflix following rumours last fall of a potential collaboration between the two entities. Ultimately, Netflix confirmed the inclusion of the GTA Trilogy in its gaming service lineup, much to the delight of fans, the performance was seamless, particularly on devices such as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. However, Speculation abounds regarding which GTA instalments may join the Netflix Games roster in future. While conventional wisdom might suggest the inclusion of older titles, such as GTA 4 or GTA 5, recent precedents, such as the successful performance of Resident Evil Village on select tablets, also hint at broader possibilities for the franchise's expansion on the platform.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an extensive, $95 billion national security package that sends financial aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. Tucked inside that bill is a piece of legislation the government’s been trying to pass for a while — a purported “TikTok ban.” Called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controller Applications Act, the bill won’t exactly ban TikTok; instead, the goal is to force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular app. The legislation signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday will give ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok. (Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days, too.)

Independent creatives have joined together to form The Palestinian Relief Bundle - which gives you over 300 video games, tabletop games, soundtracks, and comic books for just $8 - to raise funds for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund charity.

This article contains potential spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World

AI roundup: Microsoft is planning to make a huge investment in Japan to accelerate the country's AI development. Additionally, the investment will also aid Japan in building strong cybersecurity defence to combat enemy countries. In other news, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Amazon and Nvidia to fund an AI research program. Know more about such AI news of today. 

Chinese use AI to commemorate departed loved ones; Israeli military allegedly relies on AI for Gaza bombing targets; CBSE adds AI and data science electives for class 11l; Yuval Noah Harari sounds alarm on AI's threat to humanity. All this, and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

Frazer Blaxland, the actor who portrays Dammon in Baldur’s Gate 3, is under fire after fans discovered he was following accounts and liking posts that expressed anti-LGBTQ and Palestine sentiments. Backlash from players and colleagues, as well as Blaxland’s own recent actions on social media, suggest the actor may have been fully canceled by Baldur’s Gate 3 and its community.

Gamers worldwide have been awaiting titles like , for nearly a decade. Capcom's new action-adventure RPG, has received rave reviews, bolstering the already impressive hype surrounding the game. But the success of the title arrives with a huge cost — literally.

In 1974, my aunt and uncle returned to the United States from a honeymoon world tour. Over the course of their travels, they ventured through India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, before winding up in Israel, where my aunt’s sister — my mother — had recently lived for two years on a collective kibbutz.

The rising tide of AI scams targets vulnerable populations; US hosts first military AI conference with global allies; Israeli startup harnesses AI for antibody discovery; AR Rahman advocates AI as tool for music enhancement, not job displacement- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

Scream is a franchise in free fall. After two successful quasi-reboot sequels, and a plan to seemingly move away from the series’ roots, it seems that Paramount and Spyglass Media are bringing Neve Campbell back to Scream. The actor announced her return to the series on Tuesday, but didn’t provide any further details on what the story of Scream 7 would be.

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James Gunn has confirmed a report that actor-comedian Bassem Youssef was cut from the upcoming before his appearances on Piers Morgan — something the actor recently claimed was part of his removal from the film.

Influencers on X are monetizing misinformation about conflicts in the Middle East, leveraging the platform's contentious policies that researchers say prioritize engagement over accuracy. Since Elon Musk's turbulent 2022 acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, the site has restored thousands of once-banned accounts and introduced a paid verification system that critics say has boosted conspiracy theorists.

 Six years ago, automakers and tech companies thought they were on the cusp of putting thousands of self-driving robotaxis on the street to carry passengers without a human driver.

A federal court in California is enforcing a subpoena for Elon Musk to testify before the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding potential violations of federal securities laws in connection with his purchase of Twitter. 

 India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services will be rolled out in Sri Lanka and Mauritius at a virtual ceremony on Monday that will be witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top leadership of the two island nations.

Samsung has enhanced the call recording functionality on its Galaxy smartphones, enabling users to record calls in VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi) mode. This advancement is currently exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, operating on OneUI 6.1, built on the Android 14 OS. It is anticipated that this feature will extend to older Samsung smartphones in the near future.

Midjourney considers ban on Political images amid election misinformation concerns; Suffolk expert forecasts AI to takeover in coding within a decade; AI Pilot project saves lives by detecting heart attacks in Assam Hospitals; Adnan Sami supports positive use of AI in music creation- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

The anticipation surrounding GTA 6 has ignited a surge in interest for decades-old GTA Trilogy titles on Netflix's gaming platform. Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnik, revealed during a recent earnings call that the "Grand Theft Auto Trilogy" dominated downloads on Netflix Games following the announcement of "GTA 6."

Apple plans to settle a lawsuit that accused chip startup Rivos of stealing its trade secrets related to computer-chip technology, according to a joint court filing on Friday in California federal court. The companies told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that they had "signed an agreement that potentially settles the case," and that the agreement allows Apple to examine Rivos' systems and recover any confidential information.

Israel's army has deployed some AI-enabled military technology in combat for the first time in Gaza, raising fears about the use of autonomous weapons in modern warfare.

Before Israel’s war in Gaza, Palestinian programmer Doaa Ghandour was working on Palestine Skating Game’s grind rails. Any skater — be that skateboarding or roller skating — knows rails are essential to street-style skating. In Palestine Skating Game, these grind rails weave through the West Bank, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater-style, for use as you spray graffiti on the Israeli-built separation wall.

Once every year, a select group of nuclear, climate and technology experts assemble to determine where to place the hands of the Doomsday Clock. Presented by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock is a visual metaphor for humanity's proximity to catastrophe. It measures our collective peril in minutes and seconds to midnight, and we don't want to strike 12. In 2023, the expert group brought the clock the closest it has ever been to midnight: 90 seconds. On January 23 2024, the Doomsday Clock was unveiled again, revealing that the hands remain in the same precarious position.

A Harvard College graduate trying to win a seat on a prestigious alumni council won backing from one of the school's most famous dropouts: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Sam Lessin, a venture capitalist who once worked at Zuckerberg's social media giant, began campaigning last month for the Board of Overseers — a group that counsels university leadership on plans, priorities and strategic initiatives. Lessin said Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, would join him on a Zoom call Friday to discuss his effort to get on the overseers ballot as a write-in candidate. 

Intel Foundry has announced a "strategic" collaboration with the famous Taiwanese semiconductor firm UMC as they vow to move together in semiconductor development.

OpenAI and Arizona State University forge partnership to boost AI in education; Israel invests $2.7 mn in AI to enhance traffic safety; WHO issues ethics guidelines for advanced AI models in healthcare; Amazon's AWS to invest $15 billion in Japan for cloud computing expansion- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

This article was originally published on PocketGamer.biz.

Stranger Things actor has addressed the backlash he’s received over his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Sometimes, a game has a lot riding against it, and it has to go the extra mile to prove its excellence. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered isn’t in the worst position pre-launch, although it has a steep hill ahead of it to prove why it should exist at all. Staying true to its history, Naughty Dog manages to not disappoint, and delivers a package filled with upgrades and a few surprises. 

 The Earth is heating up, as is conflict in the Middle East. The world economy and Ukraine's defense against Russia are sputtering along. Artificial intelligence (AI) could upend all our lives. The to-do list of global priorities has grown for this year's edition of the World Economic Forum gabfest of business, political and other elites in the Alpine snows of Davos, Switzerland. It gets going in earnest Tuesday and runs through Friday.

EA Sports has added five fighters, including high-ranked bantamweight Mayra Bueno and undefeated Irish welterweight Ian Machado Garry, to the UFC 5 lineup. This is the latest addition to a constantly evolving roster that also includes boxing legends such as Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali fighting alongside current UFC stars.

A target appears on your back when you’re a long-reigning champ. No longer the enigma you once were, contenders begin studying your body of work to figure out the path to ending your time at the top. The best way to fend off would-be challengers is to continually build and evolve. Developer EA Vancouver seems to understand this because while no legitimate contenders have emerged in the mixed-martial-arts genre, EA Sports UFC 5 retools several key areas to show the franchise isn’t resting on its laurels.

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Nier Automata is a game about existential despair and searching for a reason to live in a meaningless world. But in the end, it’s also about finding that meaning and that humanity in each other. And in line with that message, director Yoko Taro has shared a sincere end-of-year letter to call for change in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s escalating attacks in Gaza. 

Today is the last day of 2023, and while the world is immersed in bidding adieu to the year, the artificial intelligence space is still brimming with intriguing developments. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the youth of the nation to explore AI tools, especially those that pertain to real-time language translation as a way to preserve and promote India's native languages. In other news, a research team in South Korea has developed a generative AI-powered acoustic simulation technology that can help in lowering the technical barriers in brain ultrasounds. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

 So what did we learn this year? Specifically, I am asking how the real-world events of the past 12 months should have caused us to update our social scientific views. In a year rich with news, which insights turned out to be more useful, or less? The first big lesson from 2023 is hopeful: Huge gains in technology can be made very quickly.

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It’s the 25th of December, and for many people that means coming together with family and friends, opening presents, and hopefully a visit from a jolly, rotund character in a red suit. As we’re into games, that might well be Mario, but wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing, we hope you enjoy this season of wonder, and from all of us at TheSixthAxis we wish you Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas!

Joyce Loaiza lives alone, but when she returns to her apartment at a Florida senior community, the retired office worker often has a chat with a friendly female voice that asks about her day. A few miles away, the same voice comforted 83-year-old Deanna Dezern when her friend died. In central New York, it plays games and music for 92-year-old Marie Broadbent, who is blind and in hospice, and in Washington state, it helps 83-year-old Jan Worrell make new friends.

Today, December 22, the artificial intelligence (AI) space is asking us deep, philosophical questions, as new developments point towards its innovative use cases and its internal nature. A talkative robot called ElliQ, created by Intuition Robotics, is helping senior citizens in the US combat loneliness by offering them companionship. AI for companionship is a hotly explored space, and it is something even Elon Musk has talked about. In other news, a coalition of scientists is raising serious questions about the AI consciousness. They say the answers to these questions will shed light on the ethical usage of the technology as well as help us guide AI safety measures.

 The European Union took the first formal steps against Elon Musk's X over allegedly breaking rules on how it handled illegal content and disinformation, in the first such probe of a major online platform since the bloc's Digital Services Act came into force this year. 

2023 marked a landmark year for India with the nation taking the global centerstage on multiple fronts, Chandrayaan-3 mission and G20 captured netizens' attention and reflected in the list of top trending searches in India, according to Google.

Google searches of 2023: Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived. Well, actually, the world's. On Monday, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023's top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer ), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions.

By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.

Elon Musk's verbal assault on advertisers who have shunned X (formerly Twitter) threatens to sink the social network further, with the tycoon warning of the platform's demise, just one year after taking control.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

66 members of The Game Awards Future Class, a program intended to honor people «who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future for video games,» and hundreds of others involved with the videogame industry have signed an open letter calling for a statement acknowledging the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza during The Game Awards show in December.

Dozens of members of The Game Awards’ Future Class — a program that honors the “bright, bold, and inclusive future” of the video game industry, according to The Game Awards’ website — have signed an open letter to host Geoff Keighley and TGA Future Class director Emily Bouchoc asking for recognition of the Gaza humanitarian crisis during December’s live event.

Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) is going through advertising revenue troubles after many of its major advertisers such as Apple, IBM, Comcast, and others have pulled ads from the platform. But despite the hiccup, the platform continues to bring new features for the users. In a new announcement that came directly from Musk, the platform is introducing another way for its Premium subscribers to get a larger reach on the platform, this time with some strategic control over it. Musk has revealed that adding posts to the Highlights tab, which was introduced in August, will enable users to reach more users.

Melissa Barrera has reportedly been fired from the upcoming due to comments the actress made regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft has pulled its live advertising from X, formerly Twitter, amidst the ongoing row over antisemitism on the platform.

 An Israeli spyware company that was sued by WhatsApp Inc. four years ago over an alleged malware-hacking scheme failed to persuade a US judge to move the dispute to its home country.

X (formerly Twitter) has once again found itself in troubled waters courtesy its billionaire owner, Elon Musk. Ever since the Israel-Hamas conflict began, the social media platform has been filled with hate posts, propaganda, and misinformation. But recently, brands have pulled the plug on advertising on the platform citing antisemitism as a big reason. Recently, IBM, Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, and EU pulled ads, and now Apple has joined the list as well, as per a report. Incidentally, the big chunk of the advertisers exiting came after company owner Elon Musk replied in support of a post accusing Jewish people of hating white people.

Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his own tweets endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

If Intel's feeble 6GHz Intel Core i9-14900K Raptor Lake refresh CPU ain't doin' it for you, don't panic. A new and as yet unannounced variant, running at an all important 200MHz faster, has been spotted. Give it up for the Core i9 14900KS, that critical «S» indicating that this is a 6.2GHz chip.

People fact-checked social media posts more carefully and were more willing to revise their initial beliefs when they were paired with someone from a different cultural background than their own, according to a study my collaborators Michael Baker and Françoise Détienne and I recently published in Frontiers in Psychology.

The EU added Meta and Snap to a growing list of tech companies it is probing to see how they are complying with a new law meant to stop illegal content online. The European Commission said it has sent formal requests for information to Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, and Snap, which runs the Snapchat image and messaging app, on what measures they have taken to protect minors online. They have until December 1 to reply.

The weekend is just around the corner but before you let loose, you should know about the top developments in the artificial intelligence space. In the first incident, Air India has planned to introduce new features to its generative AI virtual agent that handles more than 6,000 customer queries daily. In other news, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued a statement that multiple AI-generated videos are being circulated targeting the Olympic officials, including one particular video where Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has been seen saying that officials are “slowly and painfully destroying the Olympic sports that have existed for thousands of years”. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

EA Sports UFC 5 has been out for a while and is available for 10 hours for those with an EA Play subscription on either Xbox Series consoles or the PS5. While the core gameplay has seen some tuning up from the prior entry, one thing we have never seen before is the inclusion of this many early versions of fighters. UFC Undisputed 3 had UFC and earlier PRIDE versions of some fighters – but certainly not to this extent. The first season of Origins versions of fighters has now launched with eight fighters getting new virtual incarnations based on key early moments in their careers.

Social media researchers have canceled, suspended or changed more than 100 studies about X, formerly Twitter, as a result of actions taken by Elon Musk that limit access to the social media platform, nearly a dozen interviews and a survey of planned projects show.

Rovio has said it is now blocking a «disturbing» pro-Israel ad featuring graphic content after a Reuters report highlighted its discovery in Angry Birds and other family orientated games.

On the first day of November, global-scale development on artificial intelligence was seen. At the UK AI Summit, global leaders from 28 different countries came together and committed to evaluating AI-related dangers together. In other news, billionaire Elon Musk, who is also at the AI Summit, reiterated his previous statement and called AI a risk. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

Indie developers have launched a wide-ranging charity bundle to raise money for relief efforts in Palestine following escalating attacks from Israel. The Games For Gaza bundle has quickly surpassed the initial $10,000 fundraising goal and has now raised over $240,000 in just five days.

An Israeli government advertisement showing graphic footage of the Gaza conflict has reportedly appeared in mobile games including Angry Birds.

 Broadcom Inc. said on Monday that it expects its $61 billion deal to buy software maker VMware Inc. to close before a November deadline, working to reassure investors amid concerns that a slowdown in China's review process could quash the deal. 

A group of indie developers have raised more than $200,000 for United Kingdom-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. With nine days left for fundraising, the Games for Gaza bundle is looking to meet its next goal of $300,000. The bundle costs $10 for 256 different tabletop and video games, soundtracks, and books.

An Israeli advertising campaign aimed at garnering support for its military offense in Gaza has crept into the world of video games—and it's apparently placing violent imagery in front of children playing them.

Elon Musk is trying to stop users from posting viral misinformation on Twitter/X by clamping down on its revenue-sharing program.

An Itch.io game bundle launched to fund medical services and support for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and Lebanon has raised $200,000 in five days. Organised by Esther Wallace of Oak Grove Games, and due to run till 9th November 2023, the Games for Gaza bundle includes 256 videogames, physical games, assets, soundtracks and books from 140 designers for $10, with all proceeds going to the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Elon Musk is facing criticism from the Israeli government for wanting to supply Starlink access  to humanitarian aid groups working in Gaza.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday said that his Starlink satellite service would support internet access for "internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza," which have faced a telecommunications blackout since Friday.

The option to view Twitter/X without ads is finally here, but it’ll cost you $16 per month. 

There aren’t many easy jobs in information security, but protecting people against nation-state attackers is the hardest of them all. And yet security researcher Runa Sandvik did not sound hopeless during a talk at a conference about the threat of intelligence agencies targeting commercial spyware at reporters, activists, and opposition politicians.

Artisan Studios, an independent game developer with a reputation for creating premium role-playing games, plans to open a game development studio in Saudi Arabia.

Not content with trashing one treasured website this year, Elon Musk has turned his sights on another: Wikipedia, the crowdsourced encyclopedia founded in 1999 that has come to represent the very best of what the internet has to offer.