Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1m

Time on Frog Island VBV??-KQ20R-PLJ3R Mortal KombatTime on Frog Island VBV??-KQ20R-PLJ3R Mortal Kombat

Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

Salvor Hardin @destinyguardian.blacksky.app · 4h

A beautiful Black woman wearing a burnt orange sweater with white text reading COLUMBUS WAS A MURDERER

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

eraldo.bsky.social @eraldo.bsky.social · 15h

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 12h

Conarium ???EH-YXKY9-5WYDI If you don't like the games I'm giving away, well…DO IT YOURSELF 😉

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

doctober @docseuss.bsky.social · 1d

GUESS WHO'S BACK

BACK AGAIN

DOC'S BACK

TELL A FRIEND

That's right. It's time for part 3 of the FPS series; this time, a lot of assorted thoughts on what makes for good enemy design. This one was fun as hell to write.

docseuss.medium.com/building-a-b...

building a better first person shooter part 3: enemy mine

So! First, we talked about a specific subgenre of first person shooter, loosely starting with Unreal and Half-Life and dying off around…

docseuss.medium.com

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 17h

I love that we live in a world where the obvious ideas we've all imagined for every IP are actual games now. But I am slightly worried that we'll soon get over saturated with the ideal game for every IP to where it's not as exciting anymore.

Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 20h

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game (working title) announced (Summer 2026 - from Gameplay Group International) www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmBG...

store.steampowered.com/app/2424420/...

-12 players at launch
-Single player campaign
-"Best in Class Net Code and Cross Play"

PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox/Switch 2

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 20h

It's been interesting to see veterans, who informally are treated like a special class with discounts and benefits they exclusively enjoy, get shafted by this administration. Saw vets having to hit up food banks too due to the gov shutdown. They idolize war but couldn't care less about the warrior.

Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 1d

“I spent three nights and three days in federal custody. During that time, I was never told what I was charged with, was not allowed to shower despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, had no phone call to my family, and no access to an attorney.” - George Retes, U.S. citizen and veteran.

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.

Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 23h

I get why yall are so envious of our food, I wouldn't know how to season this either.

A bottle of white powder on a shelf labeled "CRACKER MEAL"

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

ROLLERDROME ??9Y9-W649L-NHVDX Since I share the same name as my dad, this is a common nickname family and close friends use to address me.

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

If I have the energy after work I should photoshop Cardiac Age in the Elden Ring font.

Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

Trump, 79, has "cardiac age" of 65-year-old, doctor says reut.rs/4mZNZbu

Trump, 79, has "cardiac age" of 65-year-old, doctor says

Donald Trump was found to be in "exceptional health" in a medical evaluation, the U.S. president's doctor said in a memo released by the White House on Friday, with his "cardiac age" 14 years younger than in "chronological age."

reut.rs

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

I understand MTV hasn't aired music videos for a long time now so it's a bit silly to point it out but it's wild that like only 10% of this sale at GameStop is for games.

The same ad with all sections not showing actual video games scribbled over, leaving one small "10% off select video games" segment

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 1d

One of the wildest issues AI creates is that it makes people who shouldn't do things they don't understand, do those exact things believing they understand.

cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 2d

guy in a legal advice reddit wants to know how to get out of paying google the money he owes them after vibe coding one of his apps into running 40 times a second for several days straight, but says it's not his fault bc they should have stopped him by making it harder to use

r/LegalAdviceUK u/ShavedAp3 • 3d
Join
Google want to charge me 7 k for API access what can I do as they are denying appeals
Debt & Money
Hi there and thanks for reading.
I tried to keep this brief and just ended up rambling on trying to get as much in as possible so here is my edited hopefully a lot smaller problem.
Google are charging me 7k for a mistake that I told them about within a day, the bill went from about £45 to 16k in a day! when I asked for help I was told "dont worry well reset it as a one off, you'll need to put measures in place and ill guide you through those after you agree" So i did he then said "I will monitor it for a further 24 - 48 hours and then tell you how to put the measures in place. " Less than 24 hours later the bill was now 23k and I found out how to stop it myself. Then came the long back and forth to get it reset.
Fast forward 5 months they have finally given me a 20k credit but with VAT the total bill at the time of the credit was 27k
The 20k would have cleared the costs at the time of making them aware they claim its both our responsibilities to monitor costs I feel I did that by contacting them as soon as I saw the irregularity.
I asked them to reconsider they said no the appeal has said that is their final offer so 1 now owe 7k.
Is there anything I can do here from a legal standpoint. I don't have 7k I barely have £45.
Thanks for reading I am in England if it helps.

Intentional or not, OP used either 36k (16 + 20) or 43k (16 + 27) of API credit. Obviously what API it is matters, but with google maps, 16k would equate to ten million pulls. Or two hundred thousand Gemini 2.5 calls with 1000 token input and 5k token output.
Those aren't numbers that something running correctly should run up for any average person or company. So either google screwed up something (which is unlikely that it would only happen to one person in the entire network) or OP has some app or something which isn't running properly and is sending too much to the API.
Edit: It was OP's app, polling google maps nearly 40 times a second for days.

tom_watts • 3d
According to other posts he ended up polling Google maps direction API 2300 times per minute for a few days. Looks like a combination of OP not knowing coding and asking ChatGPT to do it for him, and potentially Google's backend doing something weird in interpreting the janky code.
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Ify Nwadiwe @ifycomedy.com · 1d

I think we really should stop using antifa and just fully say anti-fascist and get them saying they are against anti fascism. Using antifa is giving them some distance and I genuinely think some of their base don’t even know that’s what it stands for.

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

Everhood ILKF7-B??IE-9FHEG If games like The Last of Us and Marvel's Spider-Man are AAA games, then games like Robocop Rouge City, Greedfall, and Banishers Ghosts of New Eden are…what?

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

merritt @merrittk.com · 1d

s/o to everyone from working class backgrounds in the arts and entertainment who clawed their way to where they are without the benefit of family wealth, career experience, or connections

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

VGU.tv @vgutv.bsky.social · 1d

Can you believe it’s already been 10 years since Hamilton became a worldwide phenomenon?!

In honor of this fantastic anniversary, Graydon has written a big old opinion piece on what the musical means to him!

Check it out below!

vgu.tv?p=40458

An Ode to Hamilton: Ten Years in the Making

10 years after its debut, Graydon takes a look back at the legacy of Broadway's most cherished darling. Does it still hold up?

vgu.tv

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

And judging by the Insom Hack, it looks like that number is staying consistent for at least the next decade. The series really is just functionally dead at this point.

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 13d

For the 4th year, and 2nd on Bluesky, it's time once again for...

🎃THE TRICK OR TREAT GAME CODE GIVEAWAY!🎃

All October, I (and @vgutv.bsky.social!) will be giving away Steam game codes in the replies to this skeet. Some will be tricks, some will be treats!

Watch the video below to see how to win!

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Reposted by Emmett Watkins Jr

VGU.tv @vgutv.bsky.social · 2d

An Ode to Hamilton: Ten Years in the Making

10 years after its debut, Graydon takes a look back at the legacy of Broadway's most cherished darling. Does it still hold up?

vgu.tv

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

I wouldn't mind R&C ending for good as long as there are other modern 3D platformers to pick up the slack, but there are a million in the indie scene, and stuff like It Takes Two is really similar as well. Perhaps it can die, but I would still prefer more R&C over a Marvel game every 2-4 years.

NESbot @nesbot.bsky.social · 2d

Ratchet and Clank should be put out to pasture tbh. It's easily Sony's most tired franchise!
www.resetera.com/threads/13...

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

I've been sharing a lot of codes on here and the @vgutv.bsky.social account, but sometimes I will sprinkle in a big one just to keep y'all on your toes...

VGU.tv @vgutv.bsky.social · 1d

Persona 5 Royal 2GI0X-HLNR6-G8??? If QVC means Quality Value Convenience, then what abbreviation could stand for Quality Value Noodles?

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

crazy how there are a million games releasing every week and 95% of them are good

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 1d

I know I'm in that count but honestly, good.

Cosmic Marvel @dailycosmicmarvel.bsky.social · 1d

‘TRON: ARES’ has earned $14.3M in its opening day at the domestic box office.

For comparison, ‘MORBIUS’ opened to $17.3M.

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 2d

Book of Demons F8ABZ-4GLMQ-GP8?? Assassin's Creed

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Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 2d

Sword of the Sea (2025)

Emmett Watkins Jr @ejsponge61.com · 2d

My ★★★★★ review of Sword of the Sea on @infinitebacklog.net infinitebacklog.net/users/ejspon... 1/2

Sword of the Sea Review
The best One Of These™ of all time
Ejsponge61
Written by
Ejsponge61
on
11 October 2025
(Edited)
Beaten on PS5
in 3 hours
5 min read
Like everyone else, I played Journey and thought it was great. But unlike most, it didn't change my life, reconfigure my understanding of the medium, or even make me cry. For a few years there, I thought maybe I just didn't play it under ideal conditions and maybe replaying it later would make me connect with it on a deeper level. Well, I never got around to that and just came to the conclusion that it doesn't have to have such a profound effect on me, and that's fine.

I kinda forgot about my time with Journey until a year or two ago when I played Omno . This game has a very similar tone to Journey, with simple shapes and environments, no dialogue, and little resistance in it's gameplay. I loved Omno, mainly because it took the vibe and template of Journey and added puzzles and platforming that actually required a bare minimum or problem solving. It was beautiful, and delightfully short, but there was one gameplay aspect I felt it left on the table. You gain a new traversal ability in each stage, but the game doesn't often force you to master any of these abilities, or even use them in tandem with each other. The game is simple, and while that is a strength, it would have been cool to see it;s movement abilities emphasized more.

Sword of the Sea is exactly the kind of game I was hoping for in that scenario.

Sword of the Sea combines the ethereal yet welcoming vibe and artstyle of Journey and Abzu with satisfying traversal mechanics of something like Tony Hawk or Jet Set Radio. It's like peanut butter and chocolate, though this is a combo I'm sure isn't quite as intuitive to figure out because these two things initially seem diametrically opposed. The subgenre that Journey continued, and games like Ico really kicked off, are characterized by tedious movement not because these games are meant to feel bad to play, but because the movement is meant to feed into the tone of the game, just like music, visual art, and everything else. Sword of the Sea also has movement that feeds into the tone, they just managed to create a character that makes sense surfing on an ancient floating sword. It's obvious, but it feels like a revelation.

And that revelation feels incredible. I booted the game up on a whim, only expecting to dip my toes into it, only to beat the game in one 3 hour session. Gliding, grinding, flipping, and collecting items is just so impulsively satisfying. I'll admit it took a minute for it to click with me, but once it did, I ate it up. And the level design encourages you to treat each environment like a bit of a skate park, so to speak. As you progress the main narrative, you change to world and make the ground faster to float across, crate more bounce pads and other traversal boosts, and uncover even more collectables that you can trade in for new abilities. Exploring this world is so constantly fun to do, and the game keeps rewarding you with tangible gameplay rewards or just beautiful vistas and animations, so you keep exploring more and more. It's an incredible feedback loop.

Now the story and characters are intentionally minimal, as is tradition with this kind of game, but I did enjoy the sparse tale that was on display. There are some clever tricks of perspective and subtle changes in animation that make the same actions you do the whole game feel narratively impacted, and I really enjoyed those moments. There are also a handful of massive set piece levels that take the same gameplay and make it feel grander than normal. The best of these is the final sequence, which is a type of sequence I didn't quite expect to see in a game like this.

What I didn't expect is just how game-y this game is. Many of these artsy games take pride in being more of an experience than a game, and as a result few of them have high scores, obvious collectables, or any kind of design common to other genres. Well, Sword of the Sea doesn't seem to be ashamed to ask you to beat a high score in some score attach challenges. This game isn't afraid to throw up a tally of collectable little bits you've gotten every time you pick a few up. This game isn't afraid to just have a cool ass combat set piece, and it maintains it's gorgeous artstyle and vibe the entire time. The game feels more like a 3D platformer like Astro Bot more than a subtle mood piece like Ico, and I think that direction was the absolute correct way to go.

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