The closure of the studio responsible for some of the best games of the 21st century leaves the world of RPGs feeling smaller without the hope of another instalment of the much-loved sci-fi series

Earlier this week, EA announced the closure of BioWare, a game studio with a 30-year history of compelling role-playing games, complex characters and bold, choice-driven narratives. Its forthcoming game in the Mass Effect sci-fi series has been cancelled, and more than 400 people are losing their jobs. As someone who has worked in the video games industry for 15 years and spent almost 20 as a BioWare fan, I am among millions of mourners today.

It’s not terribly hard to see why BioWare got the chop. Its parent company has been saddled with $20bn of debt thanks to a recent leveraged buyout involving Jared Kushner and the Saudi wealth fund. EA was looking for weight to cut loose, and despite its hardcore fanbase and reputation for genre-defining RPGs such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age, BioWare hadn’t put out a critical or commercial hit in over 10 years. Its forthcoming game, titled Mass Effect: Universe according to a leaked trailer, was announced back in 2020. Despite some flashy teases, it was still years away from release.

SergioQ79 - Osanpo Photographer - has added a photo to the pool:

A Takamatsu ci sono locali che cominciano prima della porta.

Cominciano nei fogli scritti a mano, nelle fotografie dei piatti, nei menu appesi uno accanto all’altro, nelle lanterne e nei noren. Tutto sembra avere una funzione precisa: invitarti a entrare.

Accanto all’ingresso, una scala stretta sembra portare a un altro locale. In queste strade non c’è sempre un solo posto da scoprire. A volte ce ne sono diversi, sovrapposti nello stesso edificio.

Fuori si sentono già gli odori della cucina. Il resto viene dopo.

Takamatsu, Kagawa.


高松には、扉の内側から始まるわけではない店がある。

手書きの紙。
料理の写真。
並べられたメニュー。
提灯とのれん。

そのすべてが、静かに客を中へ誘っている。

入口の横には、細い階段がある。
その先にも、別の店があるように見える。

こういう通りでは、ひとつの建物の中に、いくつもの店が重なっていることがある。立ち止まって見るだけで、その気配が伝わってくる。

外には、もう料理の匂いが漂っている。
入るのは、そのあとだ。

香川県、高松。


In Takamatsu, some places begin before the door.

They begin with handwritten notices, photographs of the dishes, menus placed one beside another, lanterns and noren curtains. Everything seems to serve one purpose: inviting you inside.

Beside the entrance, a narrow staircase appears to lead to another place. In these streets, there is not always just one restaurant to discover. Sometimes there are several, layered within the same building.

You can already smell the kitchen from outside. Everything else comes later.

SergioQ79 - Osanpo Photographer - posted a photo:

A Takamatsu ci sono locali che cominciano prima della porta.

Cominciano nei fogli scritti a mano, nelle fotografie dei piatti, nei menu appesi uno accanto all’altro, nelle lanterne e nei noren. Tutto sembra avere una funzione precisa: invitarti a entrare.

Accanto all’ingresso, una scala stretta sembra portare a un altro locale. In queste strade non c’è sempre un solo posto da scoprire. A volte ce ne sono diversi, sovrapposti nello stesso edificio.

Fuori si sentono già gli odori della cucina. Il resto viene dopo.

Takamatsu, Kagawa.


高松には、扉の内側から始まるわけではない店がある。

手書きの紙。
料理の写真。
並べられたメニュー。
提灯とのれん。

そのすべてが、静かに客を中へ誘っている。

入口の横には、細い階段がある。
その先にも、別の店があるように見える。

こういう通りでは、ひとつの建物の中に、いくつもの店が重なっていることがある。立ち止まって見るだけで、その気配が伝わってくる。

外には、もう料理の匂いが漂っている。
入るのは、そのあとだ。

香川県、高松。


In Takamatsu, some places begin before the door.

They begin with handwritten notices, photographs of the dishes, menus placed one beside another, lanterns and noren curtains. Everything seems to serve one purpose: inviting you inside.

Beside the entrance, a narrow staircase appears to lead to another place. In these streets, there is not always just one restaurant to discover. Sometimes there are several, layered within the same building.

You can already smell the kitchen from outside. Everything else comes later.

Het lek in programmeertaal PHP dat de wereld deze week deed opschrikken was al jarenlang bekend. Maar door AI is een geautomatiseerde hack in opdracht van kwaadwillenden een realistisch scenario geworden. Internet dateert van de jaren zeventig. „Het systeem ging ervan uit dat partijen op het netwerk te vertrouwen waren.”

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Vanwege de verwachtingen van stormachtig weer dit weekend zijn er meerdere evenementen afgelast. Ook passen rederijen hun veerdienstregelingen aan.

Zowel vrijdagmiddag als -avond als in de nacht naar zondag bestaat de kans dat er een storm trekt over Nederland. Eerst trekt storm Austen vrijdagmiddag vanuit het zuidwesten over het land. In de loop van zaterdag wordt storm Boelo verwacht. Hierdoor kunnen er zware windstoten voorkomen.

Door de weersvoorspelling gaat onder meer de Nacht van de Nacht Middelburg niet door. Op zaterdagavond zouden in de historische binnenstad meerdere straatartiesten optreden terwijl de straatverlichting uit is. Ook melden verschillende sportverenigingen hun trainingen op vrijdagavond af te gelasten.

Rederij Doeksen en Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten, veerdiensten naar Waddeneilanden, varen dit weekend en maandag minder vaak. Wagenborg past de dienstregeling tussen Holwert en Ameland aan. Doeksen vaart minder vaak en op andere tijden tussen Harlingen en de eilanden Terschelling en Vlieland.