The trickle of trick-or-treat time goods has continued at popular retailers. Warner Bros. horror is making a big stamp at places like Hot Topic and Lowes. Spirit Halloween has debuted new exclusives as more of its locations open up. And kids are back in school, so those creepy Target aisles should be upon us soon.
“Every time I go to the vet they say ‘That will be $400,’ and I say okay I will bankrupt myself again for my perfect small cat”
PowerWash Simulator players can now take part in a research project that looks at the links between gaming and mental health. Developer FuturLab has teamed up with independent researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute for what it calls a “a one-of-a-kind anonymous research study centered around the wellbeing of PowerWash Simulator’s players.”
FuturLab says it’s working on in-game rewards for participants. If you’d like to take part, you’ll need a copy of the game on Steam. You’ll also need to download a separate build of PowerWash Simulator. From the Betas menu under Properties, select the “research-edition – Research Edition 2022” option.
As Eurogamer points out, this build will provide two types of anonymized data to the researchers. They’ll receive information on players’ progress, item purchases and other activities as part of a “base telemetry” dataset.
The second type of data is obtained through questions that the researchers will be able to ask players about their experience. These will seemingly only take players a couple of seconds to answer. Players will also be able to provide feedback to researchers through a “Tell us how you feel” button in the menu. FuturLab won’t have access to these responses.
We’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of PowerWash Simulator’s Research Edition on Steam.
In partnership with @oiioxford, we’ve made an optional branch to monitor players’ well-being and will add to broader gaming and mental health research.
🧪https://t.co/Vs6FAt7VOlpic.twitter.com/t0AofENc36
— FuturLab (@FuturLab) August 18, 2022
Your game progress won’t carry over between the regular game and the Research Edition (though taking part in the study will earn you cosmetic rewards in the main game). This is to help make sure study data is consistent and to avoid issues with save data. In addition, the Research Edition won’t have a multiplayer mode and it will only have English-language support. FuturLab added that the Research Edition will be available for at least three months.
PowerWash Simulator, at least from my experience, is a relaxing game. It’s just you, a power washer, perhaps a friend or two, maybe some soap and a whole lot of virtual gunk to blast away. It’s not hard to see why many folks might find it soothing.
A number of studies into the benefits of gaming on mental health and wellbeing have been conducted over the years with mixed results. One suggested that playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, both of which have sturdy social gaming features, may be good for you (the study was conducted in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic). However, a recently published study, which looked at the gameplay habits of nearly 40,000 people, found that gaming had no significant impact on wellbeing.
Are you considering a Lucid Air, but worried you might not outrun a Model S Plaid in a drag race? That might not be a problem if you have a large-enough bank account. Lucid has introduced a Sapphire badge devoted to “ultra-high-performance” EVs. The first model in the line, the Lucid Air Sapphire, promises to outperform Tesla’s Plaid cars in at least some conditions — and not just in a straight line.
The Air Sapphire centers around a tri-motor system (one front, two rear) producing over 1,200HP, topping even the no-longer-available Dream Edition. In tandem with better cooling, the new powerplant reportedly delivers a 0-60MPH sprint in under two seconds, 0-100MPH in less than four seconds and a quarter-mile time below nine seconds. You can expect a top speed above 200MPH. While that’s not guaranteed to demolish a customized Model S Plaid, this is also a factory-stock car that doesn’t need a preconditioning period (like Tesla’s Drag Strip Mode) to reach its full potential.
And yes, Lucid believes the Air Sapphire can handle turns and twists. You can expect a slightly wider body to accommodate new Aero Sapphire wheels with special Michelin tires. The motors’ torque vectoring, meanwhile, promises both better turn-in while upgrading stability in straightaways. You can also expect a stiffer suspension, stiffer bushings and custom tuning for everything from the antilock brake system through to power steering. Range and other details are forthcoming.
Most of the interior changes revolve around software. While there is a new visual theme and “highly bolstered” seating, the centerpiece is an updated interface with more performance-oriented features that include a dedicated Sapphire Mode.
None of these optimizations come cheap, however. Lucid will ask $249,000 for the limited-run Air Sapphire, with pre-orders in the US and Canada starting August 23rd at 9AM Eastern. That makes the $179,000 Grand Touring trim seem like a relative bargain, and even Porsche’s $187,400 Taycan Turbo S is more affordable. In this category, though, bragging rights often help justify any premiums.
This might also represent an important strategy switch for Lucid. The fledgling EV maker has had to drastically cut its production targets in light of supply chain problems, and now expects to make no more than 7,000 cars in 2022 instead of the originally planned 20,000. Sapphire will arrive too late to help this year, but it might offset future financial trouble by increasing Lucid’s profit from the cars it ships.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is coming back to theaters next month, and if it makes another $100 million, it would be only the sixth movie in cinema history to cross $2 billion worldwide. What could possibly get people to come back and see the Marvel mega-hit? How about 11 minutes of new footage?
A Deadline report has “Sex and the City” fans buzzing about Corbett joining HBO Max’s revival series — for the second time in two years.
You can stop your iPhone from overheating before it starts if you know how to care for your device. If it’s already hot, there are ways to cool it down, too.
Amazon Echo is more than just a music box and voice assistant. The device can act as an all-encompassing smart system for your home.
The House of Representatives approved changes to next year’s military budget requiring the Department of Defense to start disclosing any purchases of smartphone or web browsing data for which a warrant would ordinarily be required last month.
The time has come to look upon the full games list for the Sega Genesis Mini 2 and decide whether this whopping pile of retro console titles is worth the cash.
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