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Thursday, May 12, 2011
Howard Stern Doesn't Get Gaming, Trolls TooManyGames Convention
- 0 Comments
Howard Stern turned his attention towards gamers during a recent show that aired on Sirius. According to a write-up on the situation at 1Up, Howard sent a crew member who goes by the name "Wolfie" to seek out (very awkward) interviews at the TooManyGames 2011 convention in Philadelphia for use on the show.

Surprise surprise, it's pretty apparent after listening that Howard and the rest of the crew are absolutely clueless about the game industry, and that they believe gamers are socially inept basement dwellers. Quick, GET THE NERDS!

Former US Navy F-18 Pilot Sues Bethesda, Sony Over Seizure
- 5 Comments
During better times John Ryan McLaughlin was a F-18 pilot for the U.S. Navy, until he experienced a grand mal seizure while playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. According to claims in a recent lawsuit filed at a Superior Court in the state of California, the seizure caused the pilot to sustain a closed fracture of, in more simpler terms, a joint in his shoulder, and rib pain. More concerning to McLaughlin though was the reaction of the Navy, who took away his wings.

The suit seeks relief from Bethesda Software, Zenimax Media, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Sony Disc Manufacturing for damages relating to:

  • Negligence
  • Breach of Express and Implied Warranties
  • Strict Product Liability - Design Defect
  • Strict Product Liability - Manufacturing Defect
  • Strict Product Liability - Failure to Warn
You can scope out the suit for yourself, but the question remains if seizure warnings in the manual (if they existed back then at all) were sufficient enough to protect the accused parties of any responsibility. It's a sad story all around.

Source: G4TV

IGN Offers Video Preview Of L.A. Noire
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If you're jonesing for all the news you can get on L.A. Noire like I am then this little gem that IGN slapped up should give you a quick fix.

The Hard Part
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Not too much today fellow geekoids, and I'm actually taking a break from some hardware woes to post this batch, so please enjoy while I try to get Brink running again on my non-gaming ready PC. My game rig gets fixed tomorrow (I pray!) and I'll be building a new one this summer, so I'm watching these reviews very closely.

Graphics

Cases

Memory

Motherboards & CPUs

Other

Creative Assembly Is Working On... An Alien Game?!
- 4 Comments
Creative Assembly is best known for the Total War series, and for the most part have always focused on strategy titles. Needless to say reading a confirmation from Sega and CA over at CVG that the studio is working on an action based Alien game is a bit surprising. But alas, it is true, and Creative Assembly seems to be taking it very seriously:

    "This is very much a triple-A project," Sega West boss Mike Hayes added. "We want this to be a peer to the likes of Dead Space 2."
According to the article Creative Assembly is also looking to bring up its headcount from 160 people to 200 in a matter of months.

It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out, especially considering that Creative Assembly's last departure from strategy wasn't exactly well received. Hopefully Creative Assembly can pull it off.

Ubisoft Cancels Unknown Number Of Games, Hints At Major PC Title
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I saw this strange bit of news over at EuroGamer. Ubisoft revealed in its annual financial report that a number of game titles have been cancelled, without offering any specifics.

"Ubisoft has taken measures to adapt its structure to major changes in the industry by reorganising the roles and operations of its studios, which has resulted in the termination of certain projects"
The document wasn't all gloom and doom though. Eurogamer points out that Ubisoft's year-to-year sales are up to €1,039 million. Yes, that works out to over a billion, and in Euros. Additionally, a new "major" PC title was hinted at:

"In the coming days, we will officially announce an ambitious project on PC based on one of our top gamer franchises that will illustrate our capacity to take advantage of new business models,"
We'll keep an eye out for specifics on which titles were cancelled, and what's to come on the PC side.
S2 Games Celebrates 1 Year HoNiversary, Opens Doors To New Players
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It's surprising to think that Heroes of Newerth launched just one year ago. Since then over 420,000 unique active players have engaged the community, with an average of 30,000 and peaks of 50,000 players connected at any given time. As a thank you to existing players, and an incentive for new players to try the game, S2 Games is celebrating the one year anniversary in a number of ways.

First up, an update rolls out tonight at 9PM EST which features:

  • A redesigned item shop aimed at reducing the amount of time it will take to learn the intricacies of item purchases. The overhaul is also meant to add a layer of clarification for existing players. New elements include a a search panel, a revamped purchasing interface, item progression panel, and dual modes.
  • New fully interactive hero guides which can be customized, and ranked by the community. With this tool players can now set defaults for recommended items and builds, and the community can highlight which are deemed the most useful..
  • All new "simple" tooltips aimed at making Heroes of Newerth more accessible for new players, as well as "advanced" tooltips for increased clarity, consistency, and useability for current players.
  • Two new avatars - Winston Charmadon, and Thor Thunderbringer.
More importantly S2 Games is opening the door to new players for the next eleven days. Anyone can play Heroes of Newerth with a free account registration during the celebration period which runs until Sunday, May 22nd at 12AM EST. Players that do play and have an interest in upgrading to a permanent account can bypass the normal $30 registration fee by buying a specific coins package in the shop. It's a bit of a win-win really, coins plus an account.

Finally, anyone that plays Heroes of Newerth during the promotion will earn 100 Gold and Silver Goblin Coins after their first completed game.

If you haven't tried Heroes of Newerth yet, now's the time. I can recommend it for the gameplay alone just as much as I have League of Legends, and these changes serve to make the game much more accessible to new players.



New Alice Deals
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Alice: Madness Returns will be released in mid-June, and the publisher, EA has got some goodies to hand out to the pre-ordering crowd by way of the game's soundtrack as a separate digital download for Xbox 360, PS3 and even PC gamers this time around. Also announced is the Alice: Madness Returns – The Complete Collection, which will give the PC players a shot at the two-for-one deal console gamers were recently told about that would give them the original American McGee's Alice as a bonus. The new PC deal is available only through EA. For all the details on where and how to order these two options, check out the full Press Release at the Read More button.
Additionally, EA is thrilled to announce Alice: Madness Returns – The Complete Collection – a PC bundle that features a re-mastered version of the original American McGee’s Alice™. This PC version is exclusively available at EA Store.com and brings together both the original cult-classic prequel and the all new chapter in the Alice fiction together into a single package. Both are rendered in stunning high-definition and teeming with outrageous characters and unforgettable adventures. Alice: Madness Returns – the Complete Collection is available for £34.99 in the UK.


Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Demo Released
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Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy is expected to go gold for both the PC and Mac any time now, but in the meantime check out the newly released demo of the WWII real-time meets turn-based strategy game. The demo features three scenarios specially made for the demo, and includes a training battle. Multiplayer modes are enabled. You can check out a manual and a whole bunch of other information on the official site.
A Game of Thrones: Genesis Coming To PC This Summer
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So weird, since we were just talking about the television series Game of Thrones earlier this week. A Game of Thrones - Genesis is a new strategy game developed by Cyanide. Today they open the door to the game's official website. You'll find the contents of the newly released media kit below.

Taking place in the 1,000 years of history before the first book in the series begins, the game will have you choose to play as one of the eight major houses of Westeros. Visit the site now to explore an overview of the eight different houses vying for the Iron Throne. Learn the strengths of each family as you will have the opportunity to play and run each house during your conquests! The official site is your go-to resource, to keep up with the game's development and to learn more about this strategy game that immerses you in the heart of the battles that shaped the kingdom of Westeros.


Arma II: Operation Arrowhead Reports In
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Bohemia Interactive is doing a "Report In!" series in which their Executive Producers share some new images and videos, and get down with some developer Q&A.; First up in the series is Lukáš Milacek, who talks about modelling helicopters, managing projects, and reveals the intended scale of Take On Helicopters (TKOH). Click the read more button to read the Q&A; bit.


Rise of Immortals Closed Beta Key Giveaway
- 5 Comments
Petroglyph and Alienware are giving away a load of Closed Beta Keys for Rise of Immortals, Petroglyph's upcoming MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena). At the moment there are almost 10,000 keys available (err, minus one for me :o). Just register, grab a key, register again, download and go.

Looks a lot slicker than League of Legends.

The Morning Juberish
- 15 Comments
Okay, so riddle me this... Why do beggars hold up signs at highway exits? It just doesn't jive with me. I'm sure people aren't going to screech to a halt in the middle of a green light; and during a red light there is only one car that is relatively near to the person. How do you score coin that way?

Right. So this morning I was at a red light and the woman in the car beside me suddenly bowed her head and did the sign of the cross. WTF!! Did she know something I didn't? I was paranoid after that! I think praying while driving should be illegal. It's got to be about as bad as texting, especially when they have their eyes closed. I'm going to start up a new organization. Mothers Against Prayers (M.A.P.). Alright, so I'm not a mother, but "Random Individuals Against Prayers" wasn't working for me. BTW, my new organization is charitable. Send money. I'll be at a highway exit.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Portal 2 Authoring Tools
- 5 Comments
I can't remember who it was in IRC that mentioned this, so I can't give proper credit without going through my logs, but I heard, and then saw that the official Portal 2 site has the Portal 2 Authoring Tools available in beta for those wanting to make stuff for the game, from new maps to models and more! As per usual, here be the official blurbage:

Today we're opening up the beta of the Portal 2 Authoring Tools to everyone! It's available as a free download for all owners of the PC version of Portal 2 and can be found under the "Tools" tab in Steam.

The Portal 2 Authoring Tools include versions of the same tools we used to make Portal 2. They'll allow you to create your own singleplayer and co-op maps, new character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music.

Here's what's included:
- Updated version of Hammer, the Source level editor
- Updated Faceposer
- Example maps and instances to help build new maps
- Updated suite of command-line compiling utilities

If you want to get started on the beta, we suggest joining two mailing lists:
Portal 2 List
General Source List

This is beta software, so if you have any problems or issues, please send them to the p2mapper email list.

Get out there and show us what devious puzzles you've all been brainstorming!

Vayne Hits LoL
- 4 Comments
She's kool, she's hot and she's deadly, it's Vayne, The Night Hunter and she's the latest ass-kicker to hit the scene in the free, online action/strategy title, League of Legends. She'll break your heart, your back and probably call you Sally, so check her right out in her spotlight video and pics below.

Sporting a mean crossbow and stylish looks, Vayne is a formidable ranged assassin. She’s big on mobility and surprise, pinning down single targets and severely weakening them before they can retaliate. Her abilities include Tumble, which allows Vayne to somersault towards a summoner’s mouse cursor, and Condemn, which damages and knocks back enemy champions – stunning them if they’re thrown into a wall.


Gearbox Blowout
- 3 Comments
Where you gonna be June 11th? If you're in or around, or can bum a ride to Dallas (Yeah, the Texas one) you could party at the very first Gearbox Community Day, a big time party being held for and about the fans of the game by the people that make the games, like the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever. Here's the official word and for all the details on what's on the menu.
Today, we're proud to announce our first-ever Gearbox Community Day (http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/communityday).

Open to all and free to attend, Gearbox Community Day is a celebration of our awesome fans, our history as a studio, the launch of Duke Nukem Forever, and of what lies ahead for Gearbox.

Taking place at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas, TX on June 11, Gearbox Community Day offers attendees...

- The chance to play Duke Nukem Forever alongside the Gearbox crew and hone their multiplayer skills before the game is released in North America.

- Panels and presentations from the people behind some of Gearbox's biggest games, including Duke Nukem Forever, Borderlands, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Brothers in Arms, and more!

- The first public unveiling of never-before-seen materials by Gearbox.

For registration and more information, including discounted hotel rates, please visit http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/communityday

Me SPaZ, You SPaZ?
- 10 Comments
Holy stuff on a stick Batman! Jube, being the lamer she is, sent me some news she that was apparently beneath her (not really, but WTH), but I thought it was a sweet treat for a Wednesday afternoon, and I'm talking about SPaZ. That of course stands for Space Pirates and Zombies, a new top-down space shooter that takes things to some real crazy levels of kool with large missions, a changing battlefield, RPG elements and more. This one is already loaded on my to-play list after Brink, and it's only in Beta form ATM. Do yourself a real favour if this kind of game tickles your gaming heart and check out the video and pics below as well as the full Press Release at the Read More. It looks and even sounds amazing for just having two guys working on it! Old skool with new rulez baby!


Star Raiders Returns From 1979, Still Wearing Bell-Bottoms
- 10 Comments
Atari announces the release of Star Raiders on PC and Xbox 360. Star Raiders was originally introduced in 1979, and Atari decided to resurrect the game as an episodic dealio. The game offers familiar battle elements including space warps and galactic tactical maps with all new features like radical battle transformations and customizable ships.

World of Tanks Gets An Update And A Video To Prove It
- 10 Comments
Wargaming.net has announced a huge update for World of Tanks, watch for it to roll in soon. World of Tanks is a free-to-play team-based massively multiplayer online action game... of the tanked variety.

Gatling Gears News & Media
- 5 Comments
Gatling Gears hit Xbox Live Arcade today, and is expected to arrive on PSN soon. No mention of when they plan to release the PC version, but one was definitely announced for a Spring release. Below you can check out some media Gatling Gears, a top-down shooter from the team that created Greed Corp.


Civilization V Explorer's Map Pack Walkthrough
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From the Civilization V Facebook page... Check out this walkthrough of the Explorers Map Pack for Civilization V. It contains 10 new maps, which provide a wide range of new challenges.

Fallout: New Vegas Honest Hearts DLC Trailer
- 1 Comment
Watch for the next Fallout: New Vegas DLC to be released on May 17th. In the meantime, have a look at the "Honest Hearts" trailer below.

Brink Update and Updated
- 2 Comments
Those that picked up Brink via Steam will get an automatic update applied today. The update improves Steam crash reporting for Brink and fixes saved games getting lost when you quit during the intro video. That's for the PC side, and the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3 versions have had recent updates as well. I've included an update (at the Read More) on the updates and more from Splash Damage's Paul Wedgwood that goes into more detail on all of the recent game updates and the statistics site that's due to open soon.

Brawl Busters Announced
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Here's a first look at Brawl Busters, an upcoming multiplayer third-person combat game, formerly known as Project Plan B.

Brawl Busters is a dynamic new action brawler that features competitive and co-operative battle modes all in a unique third person view. With its simple and intuitive controls, this easy to pick up and play game makes team strategy a must as player's battle against each other or team up against computer controlled enemies.

Players will find five unique character classes including the Slugger, the Firefighter, the Rocker, the Boxer and finally, the Blitzer. With its signature funky visual style, the game will offer seven exciting maps and will also feature a huge variety of customization options including body type, gender, weapons, costumes and accessories along with the ability to upgrade weapons and costumes with new abilities. Brawl Busters will feature an intense Training Mode, Challenge Missions, leader boards and persistent stat tracking.


The Hard Part
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Guild Wars 2 Video: City of Hawtness
- 14 Comments
ArenaNet reveals details today on the Guild Wars 2 city of Lion's Arch. This city within Tyria sounds like a major hub where all races can gather to trade, jump around like idiots, and emote frantically at each other. Extra, extra, read all about it! Looks pretty nice from the video below. I think you'll approve. Might even want to dry-hump it.

Section 8: Prejudice Fans Team Up To Unlock New Game Mode
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Ah yes, one of those touching stories that is bound to warm the cockles of your heart (even neverko's!). A new Assault Mode was unlocked in Section 8: Prejudice after both the Xbox 360 and PC communities combined forces to get over 10 million kills in just two weeks. Thanks to their mad geekery, the Assault mode is available to all for the low, low price of free.

Assault is a team-versus-team game mode where teams race to capture all Control Points in the fastest time. While in the attack round, players must work together to capture all control points. During the defense round, players defend their bases for as long as possible. It’s a fast-paced mode that encourages close cooperation with your team and unwavering focus on the goal of capturing or defending the base!

Also FYI: TimeGate and Microsoft will be holding a Game with Devs session on the Xbox 360 this Sunday, May 15, from 5 to 8pm Eastern Time. More details coming soon.

Rift Free Trial & Friend Perks
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Calling all MMO junkies! Right now you can enter Rift's world of Telara for FREE. All you have to do is send us a picture of you in your underwear! Or you could just go to the official RIFT site and click on the big blue button that says "Start Your Free Trial". The trial is good for 7 days.

Rift players can also bring a friend to the game with the "Ascend-a-Friend" perk plan. If you con a friend into signing up, then something I don't quite understand will happen. Read more.

World of Warcraft Patch 4.2 Preview: The Firelands
- 3 Comments
World of Warcraft Patch 4.2 is currently on the public test server, and mounds of notes can be had here. One thing that Blizzard has decided to focus on is The Firelands. Firelands is a huge outdoor raid of the highest difficulty, with 10-person and 25-person normal and Heroic modes.

For ages, the Elemental Plane served its purpose as a secure realm to imprison Azeroth's primordial spirits... until the Cataclysm ruptured its boundaries. Without warning, Ragnaros's armies surged toward Mount Hyjal, intent on burning the World Tree of Nordrassil to the ground. In the ensuing conflict, many brave heroes gave their lives to protect Hyjal from destruction. By their noble sacrifices, the impossible was achieved: the Guardians of Hyjal pushed Ragnaros's minions back into the Firelands.

It's so beautiful I could cry.


Civilization V Will Put Players In The Hotseat
- 4 Comments
2K Greg reveals that Civilization V will be getting a much-requested addition called "Hotseat" in the next big patch, which is scheduled for release in June or early July. Hotseat is a method of playing multiplayer where multiple players take turns on the same computer. When one player’s turn is over, they get up and let the other player sit down to play their turn. Watch for more patch tidbits coming soon.
Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Developer Diary Video #4
- 5 Comments
The fourth developer diary for Operation Flashpoint: Red River goes over some of the features of the game. From a new command radial which allows complex commands to be issued in just two button presses to a range of new tutorials and improved way-pointing, the team discuss the ways in which players are eased into the experience.

Crusader Kings II Developer Diary - Relations
- 1 Comment
Paradox Interactive has released the first developer diary for the upcoming RPG-strategy called Crusader Kings II. The topic of the diary is relations, both good and bad, and how they will affect you in the game.

Here's the L.A. Noire Launch Trailer, Less Than A Week To Go
- 14 Comments
Rockstar just literally released the launch trailer for L.A. Noire on their blog which is a bit slow at the moment. Luckily there's an option to embed it locally, so enjoy!

Fatshark's Hamilton’s Great Adventure Delayed
- 0 Comments
Fatshark has announced that its upcoming adventure game, Hamilton’s Great Adventure, has moved from an April release to May 31, 2011. As the press release states, this is probably not a big shocker since April has come and gone already! The team wanted a few more weeks to polish things up. Also, May is two letters shorter than April, therefore quicker to type, saving people precious seconds every decade.

“I am delighted that my game will arrive in May, since that’s the same month as the National day of Norway and I have a Facebook friend that is Norwegian” says Ernest Hamilton, Main Character. “Another thing that makes me happy is that the players will lend me a helping hand on my adventures when the game is out – it’s hard doing everything yourself even though Sasha is a great sidekick. Make me look good gamers!”


Iron Front – Liberation 1944 Tactical WWII Shooter Coming Fall
- 11 Comments
Deep Silver and X1 Software have announced the development of a tactical WWII shooter called Iron Front – Liberation 1944. The game will include a challenging multiplayer mode, mission editor and a German offline campaign. Iron Front - Liberation 1944 will release this Fall, taking players to Southern Poland during the Soviet offensive. Iron Front utilizes the Real Virtuality game engine, shared by Arma 2.

The player takes on the role of a Russian or German infantryman, using teamwork, tactical skill and authentic war machines to battle for victory. The German campaign focuses on slowing the advance of the Soviet troops, while the Soviet campaign is all about breaking through the enemy's resistance. However, the player does not have to do all this on foot: Using their computers, tacticians will control tanks, including the famous German battle tank Panzerkampfwagen VI or "Königstiger" and the Russian Stalin tank JS2, or fighter planes such as the Focke Wulf 190 and dive bombers like the Stuka or the Petlyakov PE-2.

Online is where the battle really heats up in "Iron Front – Liberation 1944": Players can either complete missions cooperatively or compete with each other in special multiplayer modes such as "Capture the Flag" or "Attack and Defense". "Iron Front – Liberation 1944" also includes an extensive mission editor, enabling players to intuitively create their own missions and share them with their friends online, thus guaranteeing that there will never be a shortage of new missions.


Fortix 2, Indie Game Challenge Finalist, Released On Steam
- 2 Comments
Fortix 2, a a reverse turret defense game, has launched on Steam with a 10% discount right off the bat. You can pick up Fortix 2 for $8.99.

Key Features:

  • Entertaining and Addictive Game Play
  • 30 levels to master
  • 3 unique lands to explore
  • Upcoming DLCs and monthly updates
  • Indie Game Challenge finalist

Update: Thanks acare84 for pointing out that there is a Fortrix 2 demo on the official site.

Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand Information
- 13 Comments
Two lonely little images based on Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand. The Battlefield Blog has a bunch of information on the pre-order expansion, which contains four of the best Battlefield maps ever created by DICE (or so they say!). If you pre-order Battlefield 3 you will receive Back to Karkand at no extra charge.


It Sounds Like PC Gamer Wasn't Impressed With Duke's Multiplayer
- 31 Comments
I spotted a new Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer preview over at PC Gamer, and it doesn't exactly cast DNF's online play in the greatest light. Here's a little snip on the weapons:

Players spawn with a lame pistol, but every other gun in the game is so powerful as to make tactics pointless. Take the shrink ray: it requires you to wander over to your miniature prey to stomp on them, but it’s basically a one-hit kill. Determined mini-Dukes occasionally prolong their re-spawn by retreating into the cracks of the walls like miniature mice-men, but it almost never pays off. You shrink – you die.
Then later on the author wraps up the whole experience with this final thought:

But like the rest of my time with Duke’s stubbornly crass and occasionally archaic multiplayer, it’s short-term fun that eventually leaves you cold. Like rolling around in filth.
Bummer, I guess we can't always bet on Duke.
Crysis 2: Retaliation DLC Map Pack Coming Next Week
- 7 Comments
Four new Crysis 2 multiplayer maps are scheduled to release on all platforms on May 17th via the Crysis 2: Retaliation DLC pack. There is a risk that the PS3 release may get stalled out a bit depending on the Playstation Network situation. Rumors currently suggest that the pack will cost about $10, but there's no official word from EA yet.

Microsoft's Acquisition Of Skype May Result In Xbox Skype Integration
- 3 Comments
CNN Tech recently shared several ideas on what Microsoft's acquisition of Skype could mean for other Microsoft related products and services. Can you guess what's at the top of the list? Yep, the Xbox 360.

Roughly 10 million Microsoft users already have cameras attached to their devices. That's the number of Xbox Kinect systems sold since the motion-sensing game system was released last year.

It seems like a no-brainer that Microsoft would integrate Skype's advanced chat technologies with that, as well as with its Xbox LIVE service.

You know, it could actually work. I remember my local phone company implying that we'd be making video calls instead of phone calls by Y2K. This might be a step closer in that direction.
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