[MC]Ronin[MC]

Premiere Date: September 2019 Series: World Rally Championship Developer: Kylotonn Publisher: Bigben Interactive Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows Modes: Single player game, Multiplayer game Though it’s been through some hard times over the past 19 years, KT Racing’s WRC series has been steadily improving since the French development team’s tenure with the license began in 2015, and WRC 8 represents its biggest leap in quality to date. Packed with outstanding stage design and bolstered by a number of welcome improvements – including a much richer and more nuanced career mode – WRC 8 is certainly the most in-depth rally sim to ever wear the official license. Finally, it’s positioned to compete with the big names in the genre. Whether played with a pad or a wheel, WRC 8 is a satisfying arm wrestle and certainly the best-feeling WRC game I’ve played – and that extends back to Evolution’s memorable stint with the license back in the PS2 era. On a pad, the FWD cars like aggressive taps of the stick for countersteering – anxious drags just induce fishtailing. They also need keen tugs of the trigger to brake hard and step the rear out. The AWD WRC cars and their otherworldly acceleration and grip require much more finesse; you can pivot them on the throttle but they demand smoother inputs all around. On a wheel, however, it really starts to sing; it’s slippy but responsive as the tyres relentlessly claw at any surface, and the force feedback is impressive and effective. Watch the KT Racing team discuss WRC 8's improved physics in the video below. There have been some drastic changes to the career mode in WRC 8 as well, and the result is far more engaging than the basic menu cycling from event to event that characterised WRC 7. WRC 8’s version has blossomed into something that feels more representative of a large-scale, globe-trotting motorsport, with non-championship events to opt into, training tasks to complete, and team members to contract. WRC 8’s [career mode] has blossomed into something that feels more representative of a large-scale, globe-trotting motorsport. “ Specific staff now need to be hired to fill six important roles, each of whom come with gameplay benefits attached to make those decisions feel meaningful. Skilled mechanics can accomplish more repairs within the limited window at the service park between stages; effective agents can wrangle invites to more exclusive one-off events; and canny meteorologists can forecast further into the future, giving you an idea about potential weather changes deeper into stages. Granted, it’s a little daft how quickly staff tend to tire considering they’re not the ones doing to the actual driving. For instance, while my co-driver and I spent several days slicing through Swedish tundra at speeds that would make even the sternest scrotum shrivel, my agent got so burnt out from sipping champagne and eating tiny triangle sandwiches in the hospitality tent that he needed a week off. It’s also more than a little incongruous that it’d be up to the driver to personally manage staff vacation time in the first place. That said, I think the crew management is still a good addition to WRC 8, injecting a welcome team atmosphere into what had previously been a pretty lonely experience. There’s also now a large skill and tech tree, shamelessly reminiscent of the R&D system that’s been part of the F1 games for several years now, and it adds a bunch of extra layers to WRC 8’s racing career. Whether you choose to apply upgrade points to improving your cash and XP awards or you opt to target strictly technical improvements is up to you. There’s a little bit of arbitrary game-y nonsense when it comes to managing bonus objectives (it’s illogical your reputation with your current manufacturer would take a hit simply for using a particular tyre compound during a rally if you’d also just won the rally) but overall it’s still a huge improvement from the entirely vanilla career experience of WRC 7. Watch the KT Racing team discuss WRC 8's stage design in the video below. A handsome looking racer, WRC 8’s lighting effects are particularly strong this year. Low sun pierces through the treelines and a spectrum of time-of-day conditions are on offer to really change up the aesthetics of stages run under different cloud and weather scenarios. Attention to detail has improved, too. Beading water, which was surprisingly sub-par in WRC 7, has been replaced with a much more modern and authentic rain effect in WRC 8. The suitably streaky effect that accompanies flicking the wipers on for the first time is nice, too (with dynamic weather, those of us who race in cabin view need to manually toggle the wipers any time it begins to rain, or if the windscreen has simply accumulated too much muck to see out of). The water-splash effects have had a boost as well, and they’re accompanied by a deafening blast as puddles pummel the undercarriage. Sound is pretty top notch this edition, to be honest, with a great mix of a barking and burbling exhausts, tons of a kick-up, and plenty of meaty collision noises. Subtle stuff like the muted noise of crowds cheering big jumps – audible even over the wail of the needle bouncing off the limiter – didn’t go unnoticed, either. The full 2019 season is replicated inside WRC 8 – the complete 14-country calendar and all the cars and teams from WRC Junior, WRC 2, and WRC. This means Poland has been flicked, but Turkey and Chile have been added and those stages are all-new. Not every stage in WRC 8 is fresh – there are repeated routes from the previous game, plus reversed stages – but they’re still amongst the best in the business. The key strength of the stages in WRC 8 isn’t just the sheer variety that 14 extremely different locations from across the globe affords, nor is it just the colossal length of the very longest of them (which, again, are the longest stages in the genre). It’s rather how effectively claustrophobic they are, and how amazing the sense of speed is on a ribbon of road flanked with so much danger at barely an arm’s length. WRC 7 established KT Racing as uncommonly astute rally stage craftspeople, and WRC 8 only strengthens that reputation. See some of WRC 8's newly-added retro rally cars in the video below. The car roster is largely just the modern metal from the current WRC and supporting classes. There are a few older classics included for the first time – which is true step in the right direction – but don’t expect an extensive selection of rally icons (I hope you like Lancias, because they’re mostly just old Lancias). Dirt still has the WRC series well beat when it comes to the garage. Verdict WRC 8 is a rock-solid rally racer that’s now looming very large in the rearview mirror of current off-road kingpin Dirt Rally 2.0. It’s still not quite as beautiful or broad as the latter but the additions made on top of WRC 7 – particularly the dynamic weather and the vastly improved career mode – are real gamechangers.

Premiere date: January 25, 2011 Developer: Visceral Games Series: Dead Space Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows Designers: Glenn Scofield, Brett Robbins, Mathias Warch Genres: Tearing Horror, Third Party Sagittarius Dead Space 2 is an amazing game. I'm going to write about its scary moments, cool kills, and how much I dig the main character's internal struggle, but Dead Space 2 is about more than this. When I beat it for the first time, I sat on the couch with my heart racing and dissected the journey I had just taken. Then, I started my second playthrough, and when that was done, I jumped into a new game for the third time. Dead Space 2 is just that good. It's been three years since the events of the first game, but protagonist Isaac Clarke still can't catch a break. At the beginning of Dead Space 2, he wakes on a space station known as the Sprawl and finds the place is overwhelmed by an outbreak of reanimated corpses called Necromorphs. From the very first moment of the game, Isaac's fighting for his life. This is where you come in. As Isaac, you'll pick up your plasma cutter, don an engineering suit and take the fight to the beasts out to kill you. The overarching goal is to find and destroy the religious idol (known as the Marker) causing all of this, but the story that makes Dead Space 2 great is the internal war Isaac's fighting. Unlike Uncharted's Nathan Drake who can kill a few hundred pirates and never seem worn down by it, Isaac is totally ruined by the events of the original Dead Space. He saw things no man should have to during his time on the spaceship USG Ishimura, but it's the fact that Isaac's girlfriend died on the vessel after he encouraged her to work there that really haunts him. Isaac's losing his mind in Dead Space 2. The guilt is tearing his very sanity apart. That's heavy stuff and it makes for a really engaging story. Isaac doesn't let anyone else in on the fact that he's coming unglued, so as a player I get to see who he really is and the facade he presents to the other characters. Isaac's internal conversations and hallucinations are among my favorite parts of this game. But I have lots of favorite parts to Dead Space 2. Right behind Isaac's struggle on my list of cool stuff is the combat. It's more satisfying than it was in the original. Isaac's fast and light on his feet. You can stomp crates in a jiff and melee attack bodies for loot, grabbing things with your telekinesis is responsive, and mixing all of this together with the different weapons in the game is a blast. Slowing down a Necromorph, blowing off its arm, and using the severed limb to impale the foe on a wall is a thing of beauty that doesn't get old. Dead Space 2 is pretty much the best haunted house attraction ever. Visceral stripped out the stuff that slowed down the original game (backtracking, getting disoriented, etc.) and ended up with a fast-paced game that's suspenseful and scary at the same time. You're funneled down these halls and corridors on your way from Point A to Point B, and ghouls pop out for you to blast. I know that "linear" is a bad word in the video game industry, but the package is so well done here that I can't knock Dead Space 2 for taking me on a very specific ride that's marked by awesome moments, environments that range from a cheery schoolhouse to pitch black rooms, and sound that's so well done I'd find myself trying to figure out if it was a monster making its move or my dog rummaging in the living room. Toss in some new disturbing enemies and surprises I won't ruin for you and you have a game that can feel like "the same old thing" at times but becomes much more than that as a whole. I've already said that I've played the game over and over, so it's important to point out that no ride needs to be the same. Dead Space packs returning weapons such as the saw blade-spitting Ripper as well as brand new items like the Detonator and its trip mines. Each of these weapons -- along with your suit, telekinesis and stasis module -- can be upgraded for maximum ass-kicking, and then the progress can be saved and carried over to your next playthrough. These options and rewards are what kept me wanting to come back. There are tons of new suits (with new bonuses) to unlock and I always wanted to see what my next pimped-out weapon could do. If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, learn more. My desire to jump back in really speaks to the shift in Isaac's perspective this time around. Some fans threw hissy fits when Visceral said that there'd be more action in Dead Space 2 , but it works and I love it. Isaac feels like a badass here, and he should. He's fought these monsters before and he's used these weapons before. The first game was a scared engineer tossed into hell. The second game is a guy who's lost everything to these monsters and really has nothing left to lose so hell yes he'll put his life on the line and shoot out an airlock if it means killing seven Necromorphs at once. Isaac is stronger here and I feel stronger playing as him. If you're truly devoted like myself, there's even a mode known as "Hardcore," and it's nothing less than sadistic. The enemies are at their toughest, the supplies are limited, there are no checkpoints, and if you die, you restart from your last save. Oh, and you can only save three times in the entire game. That's crazy talk, but damn, do I want to do it. As much fun as all that is, the "go here and do this" structure does hamper the overarching story. The part about Isaac wrestling his demons is awesome, but the narrative driving the search for the Marker is a bit flat in comparison. Different characters are just popping up to tell you to go there and do that. I wouldn't have a problem with this structure if it ended with Isaac learning something or maturing as a protagonist, but we never get that moment where he takes charge of his own fate. He's always being pushed somewhere by someone. Another stumble is multiplayer. I've played all of the game's five modes/maps, and none of them did anything for me. Players are broken into two teams: the humans have an objective and the Necromorphs are out to stop them at all costs. As a human, I'd run to an objective, hold out for as long as I could, and then get killed. As a Necromorph, I'd hope my minimal amount of damage dealt killed a weaken opponent or set the kill up for a friend. The pacing and vague objectives really didn't equate to fun. This isn't want I want out of a Dead Space experience. Verdict Dead Space 2 is more than just an action game and it's more than a survival horror game -- it's a game that tells a really personal story about a guy who has been seriously scarred by the events around him. That premise alone makes it interesting, but Visceral Games melds it with rewarding combat, shocking enemies, and huge set pieces before tossing it into a world that's truly creepy and scary. I didn't find multiplayer that interesting and would've liked to have seen Isaac stop being an errand boy, but none of that spoils what you're getting here. The shocking moments, the gruesome deaths, and the fun of playing through this experience again and again are what I took away from this one. Dead Space 2 is an excellent game, and it's well worth your time and money. Gaming Categories Games for computers and consoles PC Games Publishers Electronic Arts PEGI description Online, Violence PEGI rating 18+ Action Adventure Genre, Third Person 10GB free space required Dolby Digital audio Release year 2011 Release Month January Number of players 1 Online Multiplayer 2-8 Metacritic rating ‌89 Controller Mouse and keyboard Developer of Visceral Games PC platform Edition Standard Language: English

Mercedes sends Pandora car for Avatar Although the design is the accent, the real treasure lies in the new technology used to make the battery that drives this creation. The prototype presented at the Las Vegas Electronics Show is intended to "spark the imagination" of the future appearance of the car. Vision AVTR pays special attention to the connection between man, machine and nature, just like the symbiotic cohabitation of the Pandora Na'vi people. And if design is the first thing that catches your eye, then the real treasure in this car is its battery. The powerful 110 kWh battery is based on graphene organic cell chemistry, free of rare, toxic and expensive fossil metals. That means the battery is 100% recyclable, Daimler claims. It is also noted that this technology has a high energy density of 1200 Wh / liter, offering "exceptional fast charging capability". According to the press release, the battery can be fully charged in less than 15 minutes. The company claims to be able to offer a range of up to 700 km. Otherwise, the prototype is powered by four electric motors with a total power of 470 hp. In addition, the technology offers developers some flexibility in terms of installation space. This allows for a more free design of the interior of the car, which until now has been designed mainly according to the battery body. Everything in the Vision AVTR is different from what we traditionally expect to see in a single car. For example, the interior lacks any traditional controls. The "driver" only has to place his hand on the illuminated controller on the center console, which measures various biometric data, including the heart rate. The rest of the interior "floats" around the passengers. The seats are upholstered in vegan leather Dinamica, which is made from recycled materials from old clothes and plastic bottles. Much of the floor is decorated with rattan's innovative Karuun wood, a material that abounds in the warm and humid areas of the planet. The rear of the car features 33 multifunction valves that move in sync, mimicking the breathing and movements of Pandora's organisms.

The second hottest year in the history of the world Striking data from the European Union's Climate Monitoring Service The year 2019 marks the second hottest year in history and puts an end to the hottest decade to date, according to the European Union's Climate Monitoring Service. Figures released by the Climate Change Service show that last year's global temperatures were the second highest since 2016, during which temperatures were elevated by an exceptionally large meteorological event in El Nino. The average temperature in 2019 was just a few hundredths below the 2016 level. The five warmest years have been recorded in the last five years and the period 2010-2019 is the hottest decade since the beginning of the observation period. UN: If we do not change, there is devastation Worldwide temperatures in 2019 were 0.6 degrees Celsius warmer than average for 1981-2010. The Earth's temperature over the last five years has been 1.1C-1.2C hotter than pre-industrial times. These findings change everything we know about global warming Last year was the hottest in Europe. "2019 was another extremely warm year, in fact the second warmest in the world in our database, with many breaking records in many months," said Carlo Buontempo, C3S chief. He also said atmospheric carbon concentrations continue to rise in 2019.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan attended the ceremony Turkish Stream 'was inaugurated at a formal ceremony. The ceremony is held at the Halic Convention Center on the Istanbul Golden Horn. It actually puts into operation the gas pipeline. The opening took place in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Serbian President Alexander Vucic. The Speaker of the Turkish Parliament and former Speakers were also invited to the scene. Bulgaria receives Russian gas through Turkish Stream as of January 1, and Bulgaria transfers gas from the new gas pipeline to Greece and Macedonia through the new Strandzha-2 compressor station on January 5, notes the official Russian TASS agency. Negotiations between Bulgartransgaz and Gazprom for gas transit exports have been completed in the last days of 2019. Bulgaria will receive 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas annually from its new gas supply point, Strandzha-2. the agency. Now a pipeline is to be built for Serbia and then for Hungary and Italy. Prior to the inauguration, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said the project would be implemented in three sections. "The pipeline's productivity is 31 billion cubic meters. It starts in Western Siberia and reaches Turkey. It is now at full capacity," Miller said. According to him, this will provide natural gas for Turkish Stream. Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez also welcomed the opening of the Turkish Stream. As part of the ceremony, a direct contact was made with Gazprom's workforce at the Anapa station in Russia, as well as with Turkey's Kayakyo station. The Turkish Stream project links the Russian Federation directly with Turkey's gas transmission network. The length of the Turkish Stream offshore stretch is 930 km across the Black Sea, from Anapa in Russia to Kayakoy in Turkey. The maximum depth of the pipes is up to 2 200 m in the waters of the Black Sea. The offshore section of this project is the largest system laid at such a depth of 2,200 m. The capacity of the two pipes that will reach the land section is 31.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. From the Kayakyo Reception Terminal in Turkey, one of the two land-based underground pipes is connected to the existing gas transmission system of the Republic of Turkey at Luleburgaz. The other pipe goes through the territory of the Republic of Turkey to the border with the Republic of Bulgaria. The land stretch on the territory of Turkey from the Kayakoyi terminal to the border with Bulgaria is 142 km long. The pipeline route passes through the territories of 34 municipalities in the territory of 11 districts. At present, the project is being implemented on the territory of 4 regions of Bulgaria - Pleven, Lovech, Vratsa and Montana. Turkish Stream gas pipeline officially opened Prior to the start of the gas pipeline opening ceremony, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic. This was reported by the Government Information Service. The Bulgarian Prime Minister remarked before the Russian head of state Prime Minister Borisov stressed to Putin the work done on the stretches of gas transmission infrastructure from the Bulgarian-Turkish border to the Bulgarian-Serbian one. The Bulgarian Prime Minister told the Russian President that companies from Saudi Arabia, Italy and Turkey are working on the route of the gas transmission infrastructure under construction in our country. Zaharieva: We will buy consumer-friendly gas Prime Minister Borisov thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for inviting him to the opening ceremony of the Turkish Stream. Turkey is Bulgaria's immediate neighbor, our NATO ally and an important EU partner in addressing major challenges such as migration pressure on Europe, the fight against terrorism, energy supplies and energy security, infrastructure, agriculture, trade, the economy.

Developer: VectorStorm Publisher: VectorStorm Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, MacOS Delight your subscribers as you build the simulated MMORPG of your dreams. Take charge of a full-sized MMORPG world and fill it with monsters, towns, NPCs, and quest chains. Design the player classes for AI subscribers to use, and keep them entertained! Design the monsters, balance the combat, and keep your subscribers happy and playing (and paying!) so that you can cover your server and bandwidth costs, all while building new regions for your players to explore as they increase in levels and power! Build: Craft the terrain, lay out scenery to make your world beautiful, raise new land from the seafloor; the world is yours to craft! Design the appearance and the combat abilities of your game's player classes, monsters, and more. Buff and nerf classes at your whim! Lay out villages and towns, roads, questing areas, and even individual quests with quest chains to keep your subscribers busy! Manage your Community Catch cheaters and ban them (or don't; as long as they keep paying their subscription fees, do you really care what they do?) Issue warnings to misbehaving subscribers to keep them from bothering other players Assist subscribers who become stuck, or hire game masters to do it for you! Profit! Be a traditional boxed product with subscription fees, or go for a Free-to-Play strategy and instead set microtransactions on potions, weapons, or other goods and services! MINIMUM: OS: Microsoft Windows XP or later (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent Memory: 4 GB memory Graphics Card: Discrete graphics card, support for OpenGL 3.3 Storage space: 300 MB available space RECOMMENDED: OS: Microsoft Windows 7 or later (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core i5 or i7 or equivalent Memory: 8 GB memory Graphics Card: Discrete graphics card, support for OpenGL 3.3 Storage space: 300 MB available space

Sony surprised everyone by introducing a standalone electric car The name Vision-S Concept says a lot, but the car looks ready for production, and inside will appeal to all fans of high-tech gadgets. The car industry is not what it was. While writing and talking about Apple's car for years, Sony threw a real bomb at the CES in Las Vegas, not with a new Walkman, Vaio laptop, Bravia TV or PlayStation game console, but with a new electric car. However, there were hardly many people in the world who expected such a surprise. The model, in addition to being electric and autonomous, offers the best of the brand's traditional strengths in the interior, and from the outside it looks like a production car, a cross between Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air. But from now on we will say that it has not been done so far for mass production. We will have to wait to see if this car will become a reality, but at the moment it seems unlikely. The truth is that the model was created to demonstrate Sony's capabilities in automotive technology. The car was made in conjunction with Magna Steyr, and Nvidia, Continental, Bosch, ZF and Qualcomm assisted with the main systems. The model is equipped with 33 sensors for detecting people and objects. Sony didn't divulge much of the technological details, but said the Vision-S relies on two 200 kWh electric motors that allow the big 4-door sedan to accelerate from space to 100 km / h in 4.8 seconds, delivering maximum speed 240 km / h The design inside is extremely technological. Like the Chinese Byton, the entire width of the dashboard is occupied by a digital display, ending at both ends with curved door screens that project a picture of side cameras replacing traditional mirrors. The center console has also been replaced by a large display, and two more are mounted on the backs of the front seats to allow rear passengers to have fun while traveling. The car is equipped with 360 Reality Audio, ensuring exceptional sound quality from the speakers, including those built into the four seats.

A mysterious virus has invaded Asia, scientists do not know what it is Here's the thing The Chinese health authorities are unable to identify the mysterious virus that has hit hundreds of people in the country so far and put the whole of Asia under alarm. A total of 59 cases of mysterious pneumonia-like virus have been reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Seven of the patients are in critical conditions, local authorities have reported. All patients were quarantined and no deaths have been reported so far. According to the World Health Organization, the symptoms of pneumonia are high fever, difficulty breathing and visible abnormalities in lung structure. It first became known about the virus in December, initially thought to be the SARS virus that caused a pandemic across the continent at the beginning of the century. China pneumonia outbreak: It's not SARS, so what is it? Chinese health authorities are still investigating the cause of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has been infected and put Asia on alert, after ruling out the return of the dead Severe Acute ... The SARS virus spreads across 37 countries across the globe, affects more than 8,000 people and causes the death of a total of 774 people in November 2002, July 2003. The disease manifests with symptoms such as fever, cough, headache, dizziness and more. On Sunday, authorities in the city of Wuhan announced that they had ruled out the possibility that the mysterious disease was the SARS virus, the coronavirus of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, nor bird flu. If not SARS, then what? According to health authorities in Wuhan, the infection spreads sometime between December 12 and December 29, with some of the sick working in the city's seafood market. Local media reported that the market was closed as early as January 1. In addition to seafood, it also sells meat from birds, rabbits and snakes, which leads people to fear that the infection may be transmitted by animals. Professor David Hui Shu-chong, a respiratory expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says it may be a previously unknown pneumonia virus. The SARS virus, for example, is transmitted by civet, an animal that is considered a delicacy in some parts of China. Coronavirus of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome is transmitted from single humps. Local health authorities say so far there is no evidence that the unknown virus is being transmitted from person to person. There are no sick employees at health facilities. About 163 people were placed under strict medical control as they had contact with some of the patients. People are still worried about an emerging epidemic, especially as the approaching lunar new year falls on January 25th. During this period of the year, millions of Chinese travel home and abroad. Professor Leo Poon of Hong Kong University says that the severity of the situation depends on whether the virus can be transmitted from person to person. "If the virus is transmitted solely from animals to humans, then there is no cause for concern," he adds. Asia under alarm The situation in Wuhan has prompted authorities in many Asian countries to take preventative measures to prevent the outbreak of the virus. In Hong Kong, 21 people have sought medical help with complaints such as fever and respiratory problems after a stay in Wuhan. Everyone arriving from Wuhan is further checked out at the Hong Kong airport. The situation is similar in Singapore. Authorities in South Korea have warned anyone planning to travel to a Chinese city to avoid eating meat and visiting local open markets. The World Health Organization has announced that the information available so far is too scarce to discuss, whatever it is.

World Jewish Congress praises PM Borisov's efforts to fight anti-Semitism This is stated in a letter from Congress Vice President Maram Stern to Deputy Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev The World Jewish Congress expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Bulgarian government, represented by National Anti-Semitism Coordinator George Georgiev, for their efforts to combat hatred and promote tolerance in Bulgaria. This was stated in a letter from Congress Vice President Maram Stern to Georg Georgiev, MFA reported. "I would like to reiterate to you that we at the World Jewish Congress highly appreciate the support of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov for the Bulgarian Jewish community and his commitment to combat all manifestations of anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in Bulgaria," the letter said. by the Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, which brings together more than 100 Jewish communities. "I want to express our deep gratitude and respect for your personal accomplishments and commitment in the fight against hate and the promotion of tolerance. Since your appointment as National Coordinator for Anti-Semitism and Preserving Holocaust Memory, you have really worked tirelessly with the Bulgarian Jewish community and other organizations to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, "says Stern. In the letter, the World Jewish Congress emphasizes the solidarity of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, and the leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church towards their fellow Jews. The Vice President of the World Jewish Congress expresses his confidence that the organization will continue as close cooperation with Deputy Minister Georgiev, but also welcomes the exclusive interaction between the Bulgarian institutions and the official representative organization of the Jews in Bulgaria, Shalom, in the face of its President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Oscar. The letter also states that the SEC strongly condemns and distance itself from all attempts to undermine the efforts of the Bulgarian government and the Shalom organization in their joint fight against anti-Semitism and the language of hatred.

Premiere Date: November 18, 2012 Publisher: Nintendo Genre: Music video game Platform: Wii U Developers: FreeStyle Games, Nintendo Software Planning & Development Karaoke video games are easy to come by these days, regardless of what platform you have. But there are surprisingly few that are family-friendly without being based entirely on a children's property, and even fewer that try to nail the public performance aspect of karaoke rather than focusing on score alone. Sing Party tries to fill those gaps on the Wii U, and while it doesn't yet take proper advantage of the system's online capabilities, it's a solid experience that accomplishes what it sets out to do. The primary focus of the Wii U's gamepad is found in Party mode, which is the mode at the top of the game's menu. Here, the gamepad allows the lead singer to look at his or her audience while singing as opposed to the TV--something that brings video game karaoke just a little bit closer to the experience you might find in a karaoke bar. The singer's lyrics are displayed on the gamepad, while the audience gets their own occasional words or suggested actions, like swaying to the music, via the TV in case they want to participate in the song. This mode isn't scored, so there's less worry about embarrassing yourself with a poorly graded performance. It's tailor-made for those who are untalented (or intoxicated) but still want to perform. Sadly (and oddly), this is the only mode in which you see lyrics on the gamepad. If you want a more Rock Band-esque experience of earning stars and high scores for your singing skills, there is Sing mode. Words aren't displayed on the gamepad in this mode either, forcing you to look at the TV for lyrics, as well as a pitch meter. If audience members want, however, they can grab the gamepad to adjust sound levels or add songs to the playlist on the fly while the singer is doing his or her thing. They can also use the touch screen to make instrumental beats and play along with the song, which usually translates into "mash the touch screen to make noise that will throw the singer off, because that's what friends are for." A couple of Wii remotes can be synced as "instruments," but this, too, is just more unnecessary noise. There's not much in the way of interesting progression in Sing mode, though. All of the game's songs are unlocked from the start, meaning you are only shooting for high scores. There are no difficulty settings and no way to sort from easy songs to hard songs, so there's never much sense of getting better at the game. The game does present you with challenges as you play, letting you earn records and level up a meaningless rank for accomplishing tasks such as playing for 20 minutes or earning 15 stars. There are a few such challenges that at least tempt you into playing slightly differently (such as playing three songs with the letter D in the title), but for the most part, this entire system feels meaningless and is not compelling. The last mode, Team mode, seems intended for large groups who want to compete in more of a party game setting. After taking a picture of each team with the gamepad's camera, teams take turns singing their way through a selection of song-based minigames, such as Choir, which has the whole group singing into the gamepad's microphone for a collective score, or Relay, in which you are constantly passing the microphone from team member to team member. People who don't want to sing can participate by voting as a judge after each game, giving bonus points to the team they think did best. Like with many music games, your enjoyment of Sing Party is greatly influenced by how much affinity you have for its soundtrack. In this sense, Sing Party aims for variety over a focus on particular genres. Will you enjoy singing both Frank Sinatra and Nickelback equally? Probably not. It is unlikely that one person will like listening to, much less singing, every single one of the 50 songs on the disc, but it does mean that when playing with large groups, there is probably something for everybody. Players may know only the chorus of a particular song, but you can be sure that they'll nail that chorus when it comes up. Sing Party's package comes with only one microphone, but that's enough for most game modes (even Team mode, since you're usually passing the microphone and taking turns). But if you have your heart set on performing duets, don't worry too much. The game is refreshingly open to accepting other USB microphones. While the official stance is that any licensed Wii microphone will work, a PlayStation 2 microphone that came included with High School Musical: Sing It functions just fine, as does a Rock Band microphone intended for use with the Xbox 360. It's nothing particularly special, but Sing Party does deliver a solid singing experience with a slick interface and local multiplayer options that are easy to get into. You may not like every song in the package, but according to the box, more songs will be available to download later (as of launch, Sing Party does not have any sort of in-game store). As the name implies, the game is best in a group setting, because a lack of online features and compelling single-player progression hampers the experience alone. It doesn't make the case for Wii U doing things that are impossible otherwise, but it's a well-made karaoke game that is fun with friends.

Premiere Date: October 1, 2013 Series: Just Dance Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Awards: Choosing a Kids Favorite Video Game Award Developers: Ubisoft, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Romania, Ubisoft Barcelona If what you want from a dance game is instruction on how to become a better dancer, Just Dance is not the one for you. For that you probably want Dance Central’s detailed choreography breakdowns and practice moves. But as a party game, for me Just Dance wins out every time. It’s gloriously silly, colourful, riotous fun, and it has the magical power to make people want to dance before the usually mandatory two glasses of wine. Technically it’s never been the most accomplished dance game around, but it’s always been the most fun, and Just Dance 2014 continues its fine tradition of wonderfully outlandish costumes, easy-to-follow moves, and energetic personality whilst ramping up the production values and choice of modes. Track-list wise, Just Dance sticks closer to modern pop than any previous entry in the series – its 47-song list is dominated by the likes of One Direction, Katy Perry, Nicky Minaj and – finally – Lady Gaga, but there’s some ABBA, Village People, Bob Marley and, um, Daft Punk for variety. When Just Dance started off it couldn’t afford original songs, let alone original current songs, but now it’s bursting with them. There’s no way any of this stuff would make its way onto my iPod, as I’m tediously earnest in my musical taste, but it’s still fun to dance to. It is, as ever, the choreography that makes Just Dance 2014. There are no motion-captured 3D models here – instead there are videos of real dancers, captured in all their vivacity and energy, inviting you to mirror their moves. It plays a clever psychological trick: because you’re following the moves like you’re looking in a mirror, it makes you feel like you might actually look like the professional dancer, even though what you actually look like (gifted dancers excluded) is a drunk person flailing at your TV in your living room, gut peeking ever so slightly over your trousers when you stretch your arms towards the ceiling. The routines – accessible, silly, and endearingly creative – regularly made me laugh out loud. It’s the songs designed for two, three, or four that really shine. There’s a Ghostbusters routine where one of you is Slimer, a Ke$ha song that has one person riding around on the other’s back for a while, three-person choreography for Careless Whisper, an I Kissed a Girl routine that is sure to lead to some epic house-party awkwardness, and ludicrous alternate mash-up versions for several songs where the most outlandish moves and costumes dwell. Costumes include a giant panda suit, a hippo head with a little bowler hat perched on top, a Gundam robot vs. a cat-eared anime girl, Russian hats, bouncing wigs, gold chains, sheer dresses, awesome bodysuits, and smart waistcoats with skinny ties. In The Summertime features four dancers dressed as giant pieces of fruit. It’s a party foul that some of the best stuff, including most of the On Stage choreography designed for three or four people, is hidden behind an unlock barrier; the more you dance, the more versions of songs you unlock, including Battle mode mashups. The On Stage versions are a particular reward – they cast one dancer as the star and the others as backing dancers, and provide a stage for particularly ostentatious dancers to shine. They’re also brimming with sexual tension, an essential element of any classic party game from Truth or Dare to Twister. One evening of dancing with friends was enough to unlock most of what we wanted, but nothing bums out a party like “Sorry, we can’t play that one yet.” The Just Sweat workout mode hasn’t changed much since Just Dance 2, but the online features have gotten better and better. There’s a constantly rolling global dance-off called the World Dancefloor that you can join at anytime, dancing along with everyone else in the world to a pre-determined tracklist. It’s good for alleviating the decision paralysis that comes with a track list this big, along with the Recommended suggestions that pop up on the menu screens. Just Dance 2014 is out on Wii U, Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 right now, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming later. Those later version will bring six-person dances into the mix, but amongst the current-gen versions there is remarkable feature parity. The Wii version looks worse than the others, lacking the HD sheen that shows off the Just Dance series’ ever-increasing production values, but all the online features are intact – and by the looks of things, it’s the version with by far the biggest uptake, so if the World Dancefloor sounds like your bag then it might be the best one to go for regardless. The Wii is where Just Dance has always been most at home, even without a Kinect or Eye camera. In face it's better without a camera. Without something in your hands the relationship between what your body is doing and what Just Dance is telling you feels even more disconnected, and frankly I’m not sure Kinect really bothers to track your choreography much on the Xbox 360 version. With the Wii remote it only has to worry about one limb, and it can pretty much manage that. This is a problem that Just Dance has always had: the relationship between what you’re doing and how it scores you is pretty loose. It makes for enthusiasm and positioning, but it’s hardly precise. In all honesty, though, who on Earth cares? Just Dance is better at getting people and dancing than anything since alcohol, and my friends at least aren’t serious enough dancers to get twitchy about the scoring system. You could sit there on the couch and twitch the Wii remote if you wanted, but what would be the point? Verdict Just Dance 2014 exerts no pressure, and demands no skill. It just invites you to have fun with it, whoever you are and whatever music you like. It’s wildly silly, creative and colourful, relying on daft, characterful choreography and to evoke a party atmosphere that puts everyone at ease. There’s not a lot here that wasn’t in Just Dance 4, or even Just Dance 3, but the series’ talent for getting people up and dancing is still unmatched. Dancing is fun no matter what, but this game is a master facilitator of that fun, a catalyst for laughter.

Premiere Date: September 9, 2014 Engin: Ignite Developer: EA Canada Series: NHL Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Modes: Single player game, Multiplayer game Hockey is my favorite sport. I played year-round throughout my childhood, and I watch it religiously (go Islanders!). One of the reasons I love hockey so much is because it's fast, strategic, and dynamic on so many different levels. The good news is that NHL 15 understands this. It's fun to play on a moment-to-moment level, and it's accessible to anyone that can hold a controller; should you want to delve into its finer points, there are complex techniques like poke checking, throwing your body around, and winning battles in the corners. The bad news is that on a big-picture level, NHL 15 foregoes and forgets much of the minutia that hardcore hockey fans really care about. For as solidly as it plays, some of the series' most important hooks - some of which inspired me to cheer it on in past years - have completely disappeared. On the ice, NHL 15 shines. But everything around it feels a tad bit empty. EA's NHL series typically totes strong gameplay, and it's as impressive as ever in NHL 15. Better yet, it's highly customizable. Camera angles can be altered, pre-determined difficulty settings can be tinkered with, and you can even set how arcadey or simulation-like you want the overall experience to be. Hate icing? Shut it off. Going offside the bane of your existence? Eliminate it completely. You can even determine how often a fight happens, the likelihood of a player breaking his stick, or whether you want to deal with injuries. And of course, you can pick your control style. It's cool that you can make something as meaningless as an exhibition game with your friend all your own by editing so many different facets, even if many of these options aren't exactly new. Speaking of modes, NHL 15 is noticeably lighter than old-gen iterations on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (and, in fact, the old-gen version of NHL 15, which is a clone of last year's), and this is where the overall package begins to diminish. Online Team Play is gone, as is EA Sports Hockey League, which were two community lynchpins. You can still play single ranked or unranked games online -- everything goes very smoothly when connected, with reasonable load times and no noticeable lag -- and you can bring your Ultimate Team online, too. Hockey Ultimate Team is still enjoyable in its own right, with the ability to create unique squads with a hodgepodge of players from different teams, leagues, and skill levels. It might just be NHL 15's meatiest and most substantial option. As a single-player-centric gamer myself, I've always gravitated towards offline modes, which is where the lack of content really started to sink in. NHL 15 doesn't even have a Season Mode, which was originally introduced in the Super Nintendo and SEGA Genesis era. To play a season, I had to actually jump into Be A GM Mode... only to find that it’s been stripped of some of its own features, including basic online functionality. Be A GM Mode is actually awesome; I've enjoyed it in years past and it's always made me want a fully fleshed-out NHL game where you're a general manager. But it's really unfortunate that you have to extract Season Mode out of it instead of keeping them separate. I'm confused why I can't play a single season as a team of my choice without having to jump through hoops. It's 2014, not 1994. Be A Pro mode has also taken multiple hits. You can no longer be drafted by an organization and work your way up through the ranks from lesser, ancillary leagues and into the pros. Now, you're drafted by an organization and you immediately -- and mysteriously -- make the team. I created a pro that was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. As I played, I was as confused as to why I couldn't skip forward to my next shift automatically as I was confused by how I -- a young rookie on the periphery of the roster -- could just jump on the ice whenever I wanted. Be A Pro still has deep customization options, but it also felt hollow and half-baked. With all of that said, EA Sports has certainly created a pretty game, to the point where multiple people in the IGN office told me that from afar, they thought I was watching a real hockey game for a moment. Naturally, NHL 15 still suffers from some awkward animations and occasional glitchiness, but I was impressed by the relatively lifelike player faces and the flow of their sweaters. There are lots of little touches, from a center approaching the circle while looking behind him and chattering with his defensemen, to goal celebrations like jumping into the glass in the corner as teammates crowd around. Slow-mo replays of awesome goals are heightened by the realistic craziness of the crowd behind the glass. The crowd’s a bit more awkward at full speed, though. The camera often cuts to identical fans executing identical animations, and I've never seen so many ****-talking away-team fans in real life as I saw in NHL 15. I'm pretty sure a Senators fan wouldn't make it out of Toronto alive if he was taunting the home crowd like that. EA Sports has also nailed the sounds of hockey; the slash of a skate on fresh ice, the bounce of a puck into the boards, the collision of rubber on the crossbar. When I think about playing hockey, I think about the smell of the locker room, the sound of the Zamboni laying a fresh sheet down, and all of those aforementioned noises of the game. I'm so pleased that the telltale audio cues of hockey were captured so realistically, even if the crowd noise itself leaves something to be desired. I also mostly enjoyed NHL 15's integration with NBC's hockey telecast. First of all, I'm a huge, huge fan of Doc Emrick. I think he's the best in the business. So hearing him, alongside Eddie Olczyk and "Chicken Parm" Ray Ferraro is a real treat. Still, Doc’s delivery feels a bit stilted. There are none of his quintessential freak-out moments, and his famously vast vocabulary isn't utilized well. Olczyk throws in a few memorable lines, but Ferraro's lines seem rushed. They also collectively seem off the mark fairly often. Doc will announce that a perfect pass just occurred as I threw a puck into traffic in the slot, losing it to an aggressive defenseman. A goalie can be scrambling in the crease, making multiple acrobatic saves, as Doc notes that those saves were "easy." Ferraro in particular seems off-kilter; he made comments multiple times during Be A GM Mode games that made it seem like I was in the 50th game of the season, not the 3rd. Little things like this are minor, but they can be grating if you're looking for immersion and realism. Likewise, using real video imagery of Doc and Eddie against fake, in-game footage was jarring. It was cool to hear that music, see the same scoreboard graphics, and witness the intros to each city, with helicopter shots of the arenas, skylines, and other geography. But slow-mo recaps of goals and other memorable moments are ruined by sharp edits between scenes that have the action stop for split seconds at a time. The most awkward recaps of them all are for fights, when you see that gloves are dropped by both players in literally one or two frames. These scenes in particular look so weird and unrealistic. Verdict NHL 15 is a tough game to size up. I truly do believe that gameplay is king, and it's there that NHL 15 shines brightly. It plays extremely well, whether online or offline, proving why EA Sports' long-running series has been the king of the ice for over 20 years. But there needs to be a reason to keep playing, and it's there that NHL 15 falls short and feels somewhat vacant. The jump to new-gen hardware has left behind a host of missing features and options that we had last year, and that's simply not acceptable. A barebones Practice Mode, no Season Mode, gutted GM Mode and Be A Pro Mode, no Winter Classic, and missing online features are just as easy to count as what's still there, and that's troubling. NHL 15 is a blast to play, but it doesn’t have the staying power I expect.