Ninja Theory, the developer behind the Hellblade series, denies that it will replace human voice actors with AI.
In a response to a Twitter user asking if the studio would do such a thing, Ninja Theory stated: “No. For clarity, we use this AI tech for placeholder content only to help us understand things like timing and placement in early phases of development. We then collaborate with real actors whose performances are at the heart of bringing our stories to life.”
No. For clarity, we use this AI tech for placeholder content only to help us understand things like timing and placement in early phases of development. We then collaborate with real actors whose performances are at the heart of bringing our stories to life. https://t.co/Nz9F1NXOGD
— Ninja Theory (@NinjaTheory) September 23, 2022
This clarification comes after a report about the use of AI in video games and a company called Altered AI, which aims to provide game developers tools to create professional voice performances.
One of Altered AI’s clients is Ninja Theory, and the report called out the irony that Senua actress Melina Juergens got the role even though she was the studio’s video editor because they didn’t have technology like this during the prototype stage. The report also mentions that Curve Games has used AI voice tech for The Ascent.
AI has always been in video games, such as including them as opponents in combat. Big companies like Sony have been investing more in AI and developing AI Agents that can play alongside human players. Ninja Theory is working on several games right now, including Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and Project: Mara. The former has been confirmed to release on Xbox Series X|S and PC, while the latter only has a teaser trailer so far. Neither project has a solid release date yet.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
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