Technologies

The Dead Space Remake May Be the Best Video Game Remake Ever

Commentary: The king of sci-fi horror is back.

Whether you played the original Dead Space or not, you’re gonna want to play the remake.

For the uninitiated, the original Dead Space was a sci-fi survival horror game set in the 26th century. Players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke, part of a small crew sent to the USG Ishimura, a giant mining ship, to do repairs. But in true horror fashion, the Ishimura has become something of a ghost ship. Only a few crew members have survived thanks to the Necromorphs, the zombie/alien monsters responsible for a bloody massacre on the ship.

What makes this Dead Space remake so special is how it remains true to the original classic but somehow manages to completely reinvent the experience at the exact same time.

Dead Space Remake does have an advantage over other, similar remakes such as Resident Evil 2 and 3. The original game came out in 2008 — its controls haven’t had enough time to date poorly. The same goes for the visuals. The original Dead Space looked fantastic back in 2008 and still looks good in 2022. Still, it’s hard to deny the forward strides made in this new remake. This is a fantastically made video game.

Visually, the remake is stunning. The lighting effects are some of the best found in any video game out there. Dark rooms feel unnerving and creepy in contrast with other areas basked in bright lights, creating a more welcoming environment, which made me lower my guard at just the right moments.

As beautiful as Dead Space looks, there are a few minor issues I came across. In rooms where there’s smoke or mists, Necromorphs are a little too hard to see. The same can be said for areas in total darkness where the only source of light is the one that is emitted when pointing a weapon.

The remake feels like the original — in a good way. Multiple times while playing I paused to look up YouTube clips of the 2008 original game and directly compare the two. I didn’t even notice the «new» content in the remake because, in my mind, that content was already there. It was seamlessly integrated. I assumed I’d just forgotten about it since it’s been over a decade since I played the original.

Dead Space is even more phenomenal when taking in the audio. Sound pours through the speakers with distant screams of pain echoing off the ship’s metal hallways.

This time round we have a voice actor for Isaac. In the original, Isaac was a silent protagonist who didn’t utter a word, just grunts and screams. Now he has a voice, but developer Motive Studio made the smart move by giving him limited dialogue. In the original, other characters delivered exposition with zero input from Isaac. This time around, his dialogue creates a more natural conversation between characters while conveying the same points as the original.

Dead Space made some other changes to the original as well, but like with Isaac’s voice acting, it doesn’t distract and seems as if it was always there. When exploring the Ishimura, there are times when Isaac will come across an area with zero gravity. He can move around effortlessly in all directions, which is a big difference from the original. Necromorphs will also show up in these areas, causing for some interesting zero-gravity combat where you blast them away while being upside down.

The boss monsters also changed in the remake, but again, I didn’t notice until I actually went back and watched the original.

Dead Space also expanded on the franchise storyline. Dead Space’s original plot unfolded quite slowly with the explanation of what was behind the Necromorphs coming much later in the game. This time around, there are earlier mentions of what’s really behind the horror taking over the ship.

Helping with this narrative expansion are new side missions. These quests require more exploration of the Ishimura while also adding more details to the plot. And like everything else found in the remake, these additions were harmonious.

If there’s one word to summarize the Dead Space remake, it’s seamless. Practically every decision made in this game was done to make players like myself feel like these new additions were already in the original. This is remarkably tricky to do, but Motive pulled it off, making Dead Space something fans of the original and newcomers will enjoy equally.

Dead Space comes out on Friday on PC for $60 and on Xbox Series and PS5 for $70.

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know