Technologies

Ghost of Yotei Starter Guide: 9 Tips to Know

Here’s a handful of useful advice to know before starting your revenge quest.

Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, is now out to play and brings a new protagonist, setting and adventure for you to slice and dice your way through. We over here love it, but before taking control of Atsu and avenging your fallen family, here are nine things to look out for in order to start off with an advantage.

Yotei’s relation to the first game, Ghost of Tsushima

Do you need to have played or know what happened in the first game, Ghost of Tsushima? No. Yotei takes place 400 years after the first game and in a different region of Japan. It doesn’t continue the story, so you’re safe jumping in here.

Ghost of Yotei’s cinematic modes

Just like in Tsushima, Yotei features its so-called Kurosawa mode. This turns the entire game to black and white, adds film grain, and increases the wind sound effects to mimic the many movies from famed Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa.

In addition, and new to Yotei, are two other cinematic modes. The first is called Miike mode, which will increase the amount of blood and mud sprayed around in combat. It will also bring the camera in closer while fighting. Be warned, though, the game points out that this will increase the combat difficulty.

The second new mode is called Watanabe mode, which will change the exploration and combat music to a more lo-fi beat. Perfect for any Samurai Champloo fan.

Throw your enemy’s weapons

New to Yotei is the ability to throw fallen weapons at enemies. Often, when you defeat someone, you can find their weapon upright, stuck in the ground with a soft glow. Pick up the weapon with R2 and throw it with Square in order to deal a considerable amount of damage. Not only can this help thin out a group of enemies, but it also looks extremely badass.

Visit your home

One of the very first things you’ll do after opening up the map is visit your childhood home. There are a few mini games and cutscenes to work through before you’re allowed to leave. After finishing the combat tutorial, explore around the area first. There are additional cutscenes from your past to view for some backstory, but don’t leave just yet — inside the house, you’ll even find some money and a map pointing to some hidden items.

Loot corpses

Many enemies will have some loot, money, or resources on them after being killed. Make sure to quickly check the bodies before continuing on your way.

Ghost of Yotei: Find the lost monk

A monk named Bessho is located off to the side on your way from your home to the Shadow Inn. He’s located next to an isolated tree with yellow leaves. Stop by here first and complete his short sidequest. You’ll be rewarded with money and a skill point, allowing you to unlock your first new skill.

Put points in the assassination skill tree

Finding shrines rewards you with a skill point, and if you completed Gessho’s quest, then you have one burning a hole in your pocket. With your new skill point, I recommend prioritizing the assassination tree. Each node on this path is very useful as it allows you to stealthily one-shot kill stronger enemies or several at once. Prioritizing the assassination tree will make taking on enemy camps much smoother since you’ll have less to fight if you’re ever spotted.

Speed up NPCs guiding you

Characters that are guiding you somewhere (such as Gessho toward the shrine) can be sped up. Even though they’re the ones leading the way, they match Atsu’s pace, so walking faster or running (L3) will speed up the sidequest and get you to your destination faster.

Go camping for bonuses

Camping offers several benefits, including the opportunity to cook or simply pass the time. Your first opportunity to camp can be found by returning to where you met Gessho and holding right on the directional pad. Doing so will enter you into a cutscene with a random traveler that will give you information on one of the enemies you’re hunting.

Also, be sure to play your shamisen instrument while resting to unlock a trophy.

There are nine tips to make the first couple of hours of Ghost of Yotei that much more enjoyable. Ghost of Yotei is out now for PS5.

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