🎮 Crash override

Comic book store survival, college athlete gaming, and more.

Mornin’. Everyone can’t stop talking about Apple Vision Pro, the awe-inducing augmented reality headset expected in early 2024. Apple calls it “spatial computing.” So far, most people call it pricey. (It’s $3,499.)

Whatever the case, it’ll be the perfect thing to use to watch Roy Kent tell off Jamie Tartt in full, immersive detail. For our money—and with apologies to Logan Roy—the best “F off” on television.

—Andrew Nusca; Eric Alt; Marques Edge

Buffed/Nerfed

What’s up and down in the world rn.

Buffed: Double ducks. Florentijn Hofman’s “Rubber Duck,” the artist’s iconic example of an everyday object at an unexpected scale, will return to Hong Kong after a decade. This time with an adorable friend.

Nerfed: Double-decker airplane seats. Airlines have yet to give up on the economy class design, dubbed Chaise Longue (all day long) and almost guaranteed to make things even weirder at 30,000 feet.

Buffed: Corporate meetings. Yes, really. Zoom has begun testing the use of artificial intelligence to send transcripts of virtual meetings to participants who missed them. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Nerfed: Pro soccer. Zlatan Ibrahimović, the colorful Swedish soccer superstar who played for teams across Europe and in Los Angeles, retires at age 41. How will we carry on without the player who refers to himself in the third person and once said, “I can't help but laugh at how perfect I am”?

Buffed: Freddie Mercury. Newly discovered draft lyrics from 1974 for the hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” indicate an original title of “Mongolian Rhapsody” and never-made-it cries of “matador” and “belladonna.” Glad you came to your senses, Freddie. —AN

Burning Question: Will comic book stores survive?

You asked, we answered.

Photo by Steven Miller

The comic shop is not a bookstore. It’s more like a meeting hall (a VSW? Veterans of Secret Wars?) mixed with a barbershop, where buying comics is what brings you in the door, but where friendly debate, good-natured roasting, and a unique camaraderie is what keeps you coming back week after week.

But like a lot of industries, real estate prices and online retail have made it harder and harder to keep the brick-and-mortar soul alive. 

Contributing writer Christine Champagne spoke to Mitch Cutler of St. Mark’s Comics in New York and Ariell Johnson of Amalgam Comics in Philadelphia to find out if there will be a glimmering red “S” of hope swooping down from the sky to save comic shops anytime soon.

Read more here.

Shameless plug

Illustration by Activision Blizzard King

Diablo IV is out, and we’re all really fired up about it. (Ahem.)

The latest installment of the popular action role playing franchise officially launched on Tuesday. It’s already the fastest-selling game in Blizzard’s history.

If you love to gaze at the gothic, adore a crawl through a dungeon, or get a serotonin boost from slaying demons, this game’s for you. Here’s a look at what you can expect.

It’s available to play on Microsoft Windows PCs (via Battle.net), Microsoft’s Xbox console (Series X|S and One), and Sony’s PlayStation (PS4 and PS5) console.

Get it here.

Extractor: This game aims to make student athletes money

Investigations of interest.

Photo courtesy of Hall of GOATS/Boardroom

College football players have been showcased in video games since the early 1990s, but unable to profit from it…until now. Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling in 2021, all college athletes are able to cash in on endorsements without punishment.

Contributing writer Bernie Wilson sat down with a former college football player who is teaming up with a former and current Heisman Trophy winner about a new venture in the video game and NFT space to provide them a share of their success.

Here’s what he had to say.

Wayback Wednesday

Courtesy of United Artists Pictures

OK, so let me share a little secret: I just love old media about technology.

I don’t just mean old movies that reflect the technology of their time. (Though Gordon Gekko’s famous walk along the beach with his 1987 master-of-the-universe mobile phone gets close.)

Nor do I mean newly made TV meant to reflect the past. (Much as I’ve enjoyed fleeting moments of 1990s tech in Yellowjackets.)

I mean full-on films about the future…or at least what it felt like at the time.

The 1995 movie Hackers is an example. A crime thriller made when the consumer Internet was just entering the mainstream, its obsession with networks and viruses and supercomputers reflected the novelty of the stuff back then. (Not unlike how we talk about AI today.)

Check out this clip for a fantastically crispy scene that will make you appreciate how good we’ve got it in the 21st century…so far, anyway. —AN

Wormhole

Click the following image and…well, we don’t want to ruin the surprise.

Illustration by Johnson Martin

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