October 2023

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host as we look back at the best community creations from the week! For this edition of the Spotlight, Halloween and Extra Life's November 4th Game Day are the biggest talking points.

When it comes to Extra Life, we have a lot of NEW information for you to review. If there is one thing I would like to ask, it is for donations from those of you that enjoy the Spotlight feature on the site. I'm trying to raise $1,000 for the site's Extra Life Team and even if all of you can donate is a few dollars, every bit counts.

For those of you wondering about bug fixes and other updates to how the site is performing, tickets will be starting for major site fixes soon. For many, it seems that the previous workarounds for getting the proper cookies settings to stick for more than a day are not working.

Still consider adding a cookie exception (Settings --> Privacy & Security --> "Cookies and Site Data" header --> Manage Exceptions) if that bug crops up.

As per the most recent Townhall on the Giant Bomb Discord, there's going to be a new podcast supplemental to the Giant Bombcast in the coming weeks. Every Friday, you'll get a podcast titled "R" or "Revengeance." This podcast will be focused on one specific topic or will continue discussions from the main podcast that could not be completed due to NDAs or other obligations. This new production is not a replacement of the main Bombcast, and the average length will be 60 to 90 minutes. For example, if this new project was in effect this week, the podcast feed would appear as:

Eagle-eyed fans reckon they've spotted evidence that "some sort of" Dragon Quest announcement could be on the way.

Square Enix producer and director, Yosuke Saito, took to Twitter/X yesterday to say they'd had a "fun recording session" at work, teasing that they'd tell us more once the news had been finalised and approved by the appropriate channels.

So far, so what, right? Well, the tweet was accompanied by a photo of Saito's script, and whilst they'd obscured two blocks of text on the front page to hide the subject matter, a little of the text behind the front page was legible for those who can read Japanese… and it's a name hidden in plain sight that has made Dragon Quest fans very, very excited.

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Simultaneously in theaters and on digital, this gory, wild movie treats H.P. Lovecraft just like Stuart Gordon did

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Let’s talk about what we’re all wondering: Are we getting a Venom game?

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Documentarian Joe Berlinger reflects on one of his darkest moments: trying to make a smart Blair Witch sequel

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This weekend’s best deals will help you keep the gaming going for longer

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It is 1993 and the Wales family has just welcomed a new bundle of joy into the world: a rather fancy 486 DX2/66 desktop PC, sporting 4MB of video memory, 8MB of RAM, a whopping 260MB of storage, and - crucially for this story - like the far-flung future suddenly made manifest, a CD-ROM drive. I'm sure I must have presented a lot of compelling evidence beforehand about how we definitely needed to get a PC because just think how good it'll be for my schoolwork (and yes, Microsoft Encarta and, later, Microsoft 3D Movie Maker were very educational, thank you), but of course it was all about the games. Talky versions of LucasArts point-and-click adventures! Theme Park but with an extra bit of video so I could pretend I was on the rides! But mainly, a game I'd been dreaming about since seeing its lavishly spooky lobby plastered across the pages of Super Play magazine back when the Super NES CD-ROM was still going to be a thing: developer Trilobyte's seminal horror adventure, The 7th Guest.

The 7th Guest, for those of you who don't know (and that would be entirely understandable, given it came out over three decades ago now), was a genuine, honest-to-goodness killer app - the game that, along with Myst, helped kickstart the CD-ROM revolution, consigning the humble floppy disc to the scrap heap of history and ushering in a dazzling gaming future of unsynthesised sound and music, pre-rendered visuals, and, of course, lots and lots and lots of full-motion video. The 7th Guest turned heads by exploiting all that hitherto unthinkable tech to the fullest, crafting a wonderfully eerie, visually sumptuous haunted house mystery that was - and I say this as someone who views the game with nothing but fondness - a little bit shit.

Paradox Rift, the newest Pokemon Trading Card Game set, has a whole bunch of different kinds of cool. Do you like the look of the new Future and Ancient card frames? Or big Pokemon ex cards with strong attacks? Or hey, Pokemon #1000, Gholdengo, is in here too. But which are the best Paradox Rift cards? As always, it depends on your criteria.

The coolest Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift cards

First, let’s talk through the things The Pokemon Company probably wants to be the coolest. Is it the Ancient and Future cards? It could be for some, but with a limited card set and a background that makes the cards themselves a bit less legible, it won’t be for everyone.

Oh, or those Tera ex cards? Maybe. Since they’re stuck running their original energy types and often evolving from their old-type predecessors, they don’t offer quite the variety to gameplay that they could. (Also we’ve never been convinced that “shiny with a weird hat” was a particularly good look.)

Take-Two has patented new locomotive technology in order to ensure Grand Theft Auto 6 has "highly dynamic and realistic animations".

That's according to u/Tobbelobben30, who and noted that the name Tobias Kleanthous was "mentioned in the [GTA 6] leaks". After a little sleuthing, Tobbelobben discovered that Kleanthous worked at Rockstar between 2014 and late 2021, during which he specialised in AI/gameplay and animation.

Interestingly, Kleanthous is also the lead inventor and author of a patent called System and Method for Virtual Character Locomotion, which they describe on their LinkedIn profile as "regarding animated locomotion control based on some of the core technology" they "architected and implemented at Rockstar Games".

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UPDATE 01/11/23: Sony has officially revealed the Spec II update for Gran Turismo 7 is now available to download, which includes four-player split-screen multiplayer.

Available for free, the 1.40 update brings a handful of additions: the Lake Louise Snow Circuit, seven new cars (the below speculation was correct!), Quick Race with SOPHY AI integration, 50 new challenges and more, as well as the Couch Mode.

Check out a video of the update in the X (formerly Twitter) post below and more details on the PlayStation Blog.

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Dead Space 3 writer and co-producer Chuck Beaver says he would "redo Dead Space 3 almost completely" if given the chance.

That's according to an interview Beaver gave with the CaptainBribo podcast, in which he said that while he would "keep the lore beat it's predicated on", and "keep the lore you find out", he would "have Ellie there but in a different relationship [with Isaac] and redo the entire main story".

As transcribed by PCGN, Beaver talks with Bribo about how, if able to rewrite the third instalment of the terrifying sci-fi horror series, he would ensure the story focussed more tightly on protagonist Isaac Clarke, albeit retaining the co-op mechanic to illustrate how the two characters see the same things differently.

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Cities: Skylines 2 has eight free regional packs on the way, including China, East Europe, France, Germany, Japan, both the east and west coasts in the USA, plus the UK.

Between them, they bring over 2500 new assets to the city-building sim.

"Covering eight regions, with more than 2500 assets, we present the free Region Packs!" Paradox announced on Cities: Skylines' official YouTube channel.

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Valve says it "doesn't know enough about NFTs to weigh in" on debates about the controversial tech and says it "just tries to make the best decisions [it] can about the things our players care about".

In an interview with PC Gamer, the Counter-Strike 2 dev team – seemingly responding as a team and not as individual developers – said that whilst it had worked hard to ensure CS:GO players could transfer their skins and cosmetics into CS2, it "didn't know enough" about NFTs to contribute meaningfully to the web3 debate and claims that players could transfer their NFT cosmetics in the same way.

"From the start of development, we knew that CS2 would ultimately replace CS:GO, and we wanted to ensure that players could keep as many of their CS:GO skills and items as possible," the CS2 dev team said. "So, early into the process, we started the work to support all of the CS:GO weapons, stickers, agents, and music in CS2.

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Alan Wake 2 creator, Sam Lake, has revealed that he's always wanted to tell a "crazy, huge budget, dark gothic fantasy".

In an interview with GQ magazine, Lake admitted that whilst the development of cult horror game Alan Wake was difficult in the shadows of Max Payne – "the curse of the second album", as Lake describes it – there are still other worlds outside of Alan Wake, Max Payne, and Control he would like to entertain us with.

"Would I ever do anything else?" he asks. "Yeah. I'm still thinking that I will. There will be a time when I retire. It's just that… this has all been so engaging."

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Magic: The Gathering's head designer, Mark Rosewater, has responded to criticism from fans who think he's gone back on his word that MTG would be "one cohesive game" and refrain from introducing crossover promotions to the fan-favourite collectable card game.

The comments come after Wizards of the Coast recently revealed what new crossover expansions Magic: The Gathering fans can expect to see next year, including new sets based upon Final Fantasy, Fallout, and the Assassin's Creed series.

Back in 2018, Rosewater was asked if WotC would ever "consider licensing a different IP and creating different cards for it". In response, he said that the team thought it was "important that Magic is one cohesive game and not a hodge podge of different things".

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For many game enthusiasts, the Halloween holiday has taken on a new meaning in their adult years. Instead of going door-to-door to trick-or-treat, it's now the perfect time to snuggle up under a blanket to play their favorite horror-themed video games. From Resident Evil to Dead by Daylight, the gaming industry now has decades of creepy titles that keep players up at night. Here are our favorite horror games that we like to play during Halloween.

I wouldn't say it is every Halloween, but I'm far more likely to play a Fatal Frame game this time of year. Especially during daylight hours, when I'm trying to pass the time and want to do something vaguely spooky.

But when it comes to what I'll play later in the evening, odds are it's a mobile game. While I'm waiting for trick-or-treaters, I'll often fire up something fast like Fire Emblem Heroes or Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia to tie up some loose ends between doling out treats. -- Jenni

When was the last time you played a good 3D character platformer? For me, it was probably Psychonauts 2. But before that? Outside of Mario? I'm not sure I'd be able to tell you. For whatever reason, the 3D character platformer has become an increasingly rare breed, it would seem, which makes them even more heartening to see when they do occasionally poke their head above the parapet and leap onto our screens. Song Of Nunu: A League Of Legends Story is one of them, channelling the joyous, boundless enthusiasm of its late 90s and early 00s predecessors to create a simple, but straightforward adventure that you could just as easily enjoy alone as an adult, or with a child in tow. It did not, alas, quite make me cry as developers Tequila Works intended (that honour still belongs to Rime and Rime alone out of their back catalogue), but there's much to admire here while having your heartstrings lightly plucked at the same time. And you don't need to know a jot about League Of Legends to enjoy it.

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Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic evolution of the formula set by the first two games in the series. Insomniac's team has gifted us with another incredible Marvel sandbox to immerse ourselves in - Earth-1048, if you keep track of this stuff. As a whole this game is a wonderful sequel.

The narrative is everything I expected and more. It's emotional in its exploration of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales dealing with the trauma of losing family members, and it covers their journeys to reach a healthier space without surrendering to the darkness inside. The enemy bosses are spectacular, especially the Sandman encounter at the beginning of the game, which sand-blasts you in the face with the power of the PS5. In general, the game's boss fights reminded me of watching anime fight scenes: they're fun and inventive but they're all built around a core of powerful emotional context. Elsewhere, without spoiling too much, I thought Venom's comic book history was remixed for the better, his tendrils slowly corrupting or affecting every major character. There's forgiveness and redemption and a load of surprises. I can't express the sheer artistry of what Insomniac has delivered.

Hey Supporters, do you have any questions you want to ask us about what we do at Eurogamer? Perhaps you'd like to know how I keep my hair so curly or how I once got Play of the Game in Overwatch. Maybe you also have a serious question. Whatever it is, now's your time to ask.

We'll amass the questions in an imaginary mail bag and then, each month, rattle through as many as we can in the Inside Eurogamer podcast. That's the show where we talk about the work we do here and go behind the scenes a bit, so answering your questions there is a good fit.

I'm recording a new episode of Inside Eurogamer this week with Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan. He sits behind me in the office so I regularly see the kind of analysis work he does for DF, and it's a marvellous thing to behold. He's worked with Richard and team for several years now, so if there's anything you'd like to know, please ask.

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A design filed by Nintendo has been found and shared online that shows a dual-screen gaming device that can be split in two.

This filing was made in November of last year, but was made public earlier this month. As shared on World Intellectual Property Organisation (via ResetEra), images of this device show a handheld apparatus, not too dissimilar to that of a Nintendo 3DS. Unlike the 3DS, however, this device can be split in half to allow for wireless gaming between two players.

It appears to be a handheld machine only, with no hybrid capabilities. Additionally, the top screen can face out. This is even when the device is closed. I can only assume if this product was to ever be realised, Nintendo would advise we all get some kind of case to go with it to protect the screens

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Sega and Nier creator Yoko Taro's collaboration game, 404 Game Re:set -Error Game Reset- will shut down in January 2024, nine months after it launched.

Error Game Reset was first announced in February 2023, and the game released in April.

The shutdown of Error Game Reset was announced earlier today on the game's official website.

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I saw a stray tweet floating around last week - someone complaining that we've entered an era where most modern entertainment is now designed to be "smart" and "interesting" instead of "good." I wasn't sure what to make of this at first because personal taste is a wild and unpredictable creature that doesn't always obey logic. I also don't think "smart" and "interesting" and "good" are mutually exclusive concepts, or even especially helpful. It isn't possible to make a piece of art that withstands "the test of time" because it discounts the social and cultural context it was produced in - I am not going to run screaming out of a theatre because I think a real train is coming at me through the screen. But Alan Wake 2 is the perfect means to break down this smart and interesting vs. good sentiment, and in this way, it is perhaps the most important game of the year.

Itch.io has released a new game bundle to raise money in response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza and occupied Palestine.

All money raised through the Games for Gaza bundle will go to Medical Aid For Palestinians.

The bundle was launched on 26th October, but has already passed its $200k goal. In fact, its initial $10k goal was smashed in a matter of hours.

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Some people sing the praises of "visceral" games. Others extol the virtues of "immersive" games. Me, I'm increasingly drawn to "perverse" games. No, not like that. Well, not entirely like that. I mean "perverse" more straightforwardly as in deliberately awkward and unreceptive in their core design, almost self-defeating in a way that has you saying "WTF?" and hankering to know more.

Take The Great Below, a new horror... thingmabob from Cantabria-based Dobra Studios. It's about exploring a strange house full of dreadful paintings in the dark. It's a 3D game with keyboard move-look controls, but the twist is that you can only move around while looking at a 2D map, with your position marked as a pair of footprints.

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When Hi-Fi Rush shadow-dropped on January 25, it was a shockingly pleasant surprise. Beautiful, vibrant, playful, the rhythm action platformer quickly won players over. A day later, Hitman World of Assassination appeared, deploying clever roguelike mechanics to reinvent the best stealth game of 2021. A day after that, …

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Japanese Developer FromSoftware is holding a large-scale staff recruiting campaign for “several new projects” like games. In addition, the company will hold mid-career recruitment​ online information sessions between December 4-15, 2023. [Thanks, IGN Japan!]

The deadline to apply for the information session is November 30, 2023. The FromSoftware staff who participated in the development of new games like Armored Core VI and Elden Ring will be in charge of the information session, and will introduce the specific duties of each position. There is no additional information about what these new projects are.

The available positions that FromSoftware is recruiting for appear on the company's official Japanese website, and are as follows:

• Game Planner
• System Planner
• Game Programmer
• R&D
• Graphic System
• Server Engineer

UPDATE 4.46pm: Microsoft has shared the following statement with Eurogamer regarding "unauthorised" third-party accessories being used on Xbox consoles.

"Microsoft and other licensed Xbox hardware partners' accessories are designed and manufactured with quality standards for performance, security, and safety," it said.

"Unauthorised accessories can compromise the gaming experience on Xbox consoles (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.) Gamers may receive a pop-up warning that their accessory is unauthorised. Eventually, the unauthorised accessory will be blocked from use to preserve the console gaming experience."

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Square Enix has announced Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, the next game in the Disney-meets-Final-Fantasy series, for Android and iOS, and sign-ups for the closed beta are now open.

Square describes the game as a "GPS action RPG" featuring new characters and a new story within the Kingdom Hearts universe.

The developer hasn't revealed much else about the game, though from the trailer gameplay looks to be split between open-world exploration and battles against Heartless enemies.

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is one of the biggest games of 2023 and a few of us at Kotaku have been playing it quite a bit in recent weeks. After wrapping the main story, Kotaku writers Ethan Gach and Zack Zwiezen (along with a surprise cameo from Kotaku’s new Editor In Chief, Jen Glennon) came together to discuss…

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This story is part of our new Future of Gaming series, a three-site look at gaming’s most pioneering technologies, players, and makers.

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To commemorate Godzilla Minus One, the first Japanese film in the kaiju franchise since 2016 (out December 1 in the U.S.), the New York Japan Society screened a dusky archival print of the original 1954 movie Godzilla, which I had never seen before. Earlier this month, I came to the non-profit’s snug Midtown…

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Microsoft appears to be cracking down on third-party peripherals for its consoles. Players are reporting getting error messages when they try to use certain off-brand controllers on Xbox Series X/S, with the accompanying text telling them them that the devices are not authorized and will no longer usable come…

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Arma Bianca will release a new line of NieR Automata Ver1.1a merchandise that includes iPhone cases, AirPods cases, and a carabiner. Pre-orders are open from AMNIBUS until November 29, 2023. [Thanks, PR Times!]

Amnibus doesn’t appear to offer overseas shipping. The new NieR Automata merchandise is set to release in Japan on early February 2024. The full lineup of NieR Automata Ver1.1a merchandise, as well as its prices are as follows:

• Pod 042 and 153 AirPod Case – 1,650 yen (~$11)
• YoRHa AirPods Case – 1,650 yen (~$11)
• YoRHa Glass Carabiner – 1,650 yen (~$11)
• YoRHa Reinforced Glass iPhone Case – 3,850 yen (~$25)

HoYoVerse revealed the Honkai: Star Rail Special Program 1.5 stream details. The showcase will appear on YouTube on November 3, 2023 at 4:30am PT/7:30am ET/12:30pm CET.

The teaser image for the showcase on YouTube offers a few hints at what to expect. The 1.5 update will be called “The Crepuscule Zone.” It will feature Caelus, the male version of the Traveler avatar, and Guinaifen as possible hosts. The imagery for the update’s logo calls to mind Huohuo. She’s a five-star Abundance character already teased as a new playable person for the update.

Square Enix announced that it opened Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link closed beta test applications. However, only people in Australia and the United Kingdom can apply, and only about 3,000 players will be picked.

The announcement included details about when the closed beta test will happen, a trailer, and insight into what’s going on with it. People can apply to take part in the Android and Apple iOS tests until November 19, 2023. If someone is 18 and in Australia or the UK, they can apply via the official site. 

Those picked for the iOS test will take part between November 29, 2023 and December 8, 2023, and about 1,500 will be chosen for it. If someone is signing up for the Android one, that won’t happen until sometime in January 2024. Again, about 1,500 people will be picked.

Atlus released a Persona 5 Tactica trailer focused on Joker, leader of the Phantom Thieves. The trailer also showcased the different villains and allies that Joker will encounter in P5T.

Joker is a second-year student at Shujin Academy, and the leader of the Phantom Thieves. In Persona 5, Joker’s initial Persona is Arsene, but the power of the Wild Card allows him to summon a variety of different Personas in battle. However, in P5T Joker and his allies are able to equip different Sub-Personas.

Since Joker is a silent protagonist, the new trailer focuses on new allies Erina and Toshiro, as well as the enemies Joker and the Phantom Thieves will encounter in Marie Kingdom and Yoshiki Kingdom.

You can check out the new Persona 5 Tactica trailer focused on Joker here:

Apologies to the chief, but there’s a not-entirely-accurate bit in Katharine’s post announcing Starfield as October’s RPS Game Club game. I, of the RPS Treehouse, do truly love Starfield, and have only been quiet about it because admitting you enjoy The Grey Bethesda Game but couldn’t get into Baldur's Gate 3 or Elden Ring feels a bit like going to the Savoy Grill and only ordering chips. No one will ask you to leave, but they’ll probably start questioning your judgement.

But dammit, I like chips, and I like Starfield! I like its roving space captain fantasy, I like its utilitarian aesthetic, and I like how its click-clacking guns sound like extremely violent mechanical keyboards. Especially if I get to fire them at floating pirates, while I’m also floating, and said firing punts me upwards into a ceiling.

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I'm relieved. I worried about the new Avatar game when I read Chris' preview earlier in the year because there was footage of gunfights and talk of loot systems and crafting. And I thought to myself, 'That's not it - that's not the Avatar fantasy.' I like the films - there I've said it - because they take me away to a fantastical place where the tall blue Na'vi people live in giant trees and run around in loincloths and fly around on lizard dinosaur things. That's the fantasy - that's what I want. I want to feel like I'm in the films. It's with that in mind, then, I tell you "I'm relieved", because Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora absolutely gets that - and it manages to hit the fantasy in some quite spectacular ways.

Perhaps obviously, then, in the game I am a tall blue Na'vi. I'm jumped into the game about a quarter of the way through, so I miss all the story set-up, but there's a separate trailer that explains the background of who I am and who you will be. In short: we were apparently kidnapped by the RDA - the humans - and now we've run away back to our Na'vi family, and we're learning to reconnect with life there.

What's important is that the Na'vi treat me as one of their own and I live among them, which means I am free to come and go from their gigantic hometree bases as I please. They talk to me, they give me supplies as long as I donate things to the wider community too, and they give me tasks to fulfil. As far as humans go: I have nothing to do with them. They are still the number-one threat to the world but besides a couple of squads patrolling in the jungle, I don't see them. I work for the Na'vi.

Little Nightmares 3 might still be some way off - it's due to arrive in 2024 - but, in the spirit of this spookiest of seasons, Bandai Namco has shared 18 minutes of co-op gameplay.

Announced back in August, Little Nightmares 3 marks the first time a mainline entry in the series won't be handled by original developer Tarsier Studios. Instead, Supermassive Games - the team behind The Dark Pictures Anthology and Until Dawn - is at the helm, taking players on an adventure following two new protagonists.

Our spooky new pals are Low and Alone, both trapped in a world known as the Spiral - a "cluster of disturbing places" that includes the sandy Necropolis, home to a monolithic (and far from friendly) creature known as Monster Baby. An extensive look at the Necropolis and its perils can be found in the new gameplay trailer below.

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