ACT police are still searching for a third man who was allegedly involved in assaulting a 20-year-old until he was unconscious in Canberra’s north last month.
ACT Policing said the alleged victim had stopped in the suburb of Hawker to offer assistance to a man he thought appeared to be lost about midday on Saturday, July 23.
That man allegedly then assaulted the 20-year-old, along with another two men who had been hiding nearby.
Police said that the 20-year-old was threatened with an icepick before he lost consciousness and that his shoes and wallet were stolen.
Police said the man’s account details were then used by his alleged attackers to commit credit card fraud.
When the man regained consciousness he was taken to the Canberra Hospital.
Police investigating the incident executed two search warrants yesterday, and arrested two men, who the ABC understands to be Kobi Guarini, 33, and Kalani Joliffe-Cole, 25.
Officers said that during the searches, they located the items alleged to have been stolen, and a detection dog found firearm components including shells, a barrel, a stock and an item they believed to be a suppressor.
Police said both men appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday.
It is understood Mr Guarini was charged with aggravated robbery, possession of stolen property and two counts of obtaining property by deception.
Mr Joliffe-Cole is believed to have been charged with aggravated robbery.
Rare earths used in electric vehicle batteries have forced Ford to increase prices on its F-150 Lightning, months after the Mustang Mach-E was also hit with a higher RRP.
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Prices for the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning have gone up in the US, with the company blaming rising costs on commodities such as precious materials and rare earths that go into the battery packs.
Ford has reopened order books for the F-150 Lightning with entry-level price of the electric pick-up now starting from $US46,974 ($AU67,536) for the workhorse Pro variant – an increase of $US7000 ($AU10, 000), or more than 17 per cent more than its original RRP.
With the price rise comes increased range – from 370km to 386km based on the US EPA test cycle – and the addition of Pro Trailer Hitch Assist technology.
F-150 Lighting models with the extended-range battery still have a maximum claiming driving range of 482km.
Price increases across the F-150 Lightning line-up vary from $US6000 ($AU8600) to $US8500 ($AU12,200) depending on the model.
While Ford says current orders won’t be affected by the changes, key battery materials have increased dramatically in recent times – with lithium rocketing up by almost 400 per cent in the past year alone – forcing the carmaker to implement the price hike.
Ford’s other electric hero, the Mustang Mach-E, saw a price increase in the UK back in April of more than £6,000 ($AU10,500), with commodities and energy costs blamed.
Newcomer Rivian was forced to reverse a snap decision to increase prices on its R1T electric pick-up and R1S electric SUV back in March, with widespread criticism pressing the brand to honor pricing on outstanding orders.
Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than 15 years. Ben was previously an interstate truck driver and completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021. He is considered an expert in the area of classic car investment.
SpaceX could send its next-generation Super Heavy rocket on its first test flight as early as next month.
As part of the preparations for the most powerful rocket ever built, the company has this week been performing ground-based test fires of the booster at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
The Super Heavy’s first-ever test fire took place on Tuesday, though it only lasted a few seconds. A second one took place on Thursday and went on for around 20 seconds, kicking up a mass of dust in the process. You can watch it in the video below:
SpaceX Booster 7 Performs Static Fire Testing
Commentators on NASASpaceflight suggested that each test blasted only one of the rocket’s 33 Raptor engines as engineers seek to confirm the rocket’s readiness for its debut flight. We can soon expect to see further tests using more of the rocket’s engines at the same time, giving us a more realistic idea of the booster’s awesome power.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet that the procedure was designed to test “autogenous pressurization,” described as “the use of self-generated gaseous propellant to pressurize liquid propellant in rockets.”
SpaceX also test-fired its Starship spacecraft on Tuesday. You can watch footage of the event in the video below. The Starship will sit atop the Super Heavy when the rocket blasts into space on its first orbital test flight, which is expected to take place in September or soon after.
SpaceX fires up Starship 24 and Super Heavy Booster 7 for 1st time!
Collectively known as the Starship, SpaceX plans to deploy the reusable vehicle for missions to the moon, Mars, and possibly beyond. In an exciting mission planned with NASA, a special version of the Starship will put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, possibly as early as 2025.
Starship’s moon lander will carry the astronauts from the planned Lunar Gateway station to the moon’s surface. The astronauts will reach the Gateway aboard the Orion spacecraft, which will be carried into orbit by NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
While the timing of Starship’s lunar lander mission therefore depends to a large extent on how NASA fares with the first flights of its new SLS rocket as part of the early Artemis missions, SpaceX also needs to achieve success with the early orbital flight tests of the Super Heavy and Starship spacecraft in order for the highly anticipated crewed moon mission to have any chance of taking place in the middle of this decade.
There is much work still to be done by both SpaceX and NASA, and the various mission dates may well slip, but both are still moving steadily toward the beginning of a new era of deep space exploration.
“What’s your favorite restaurant in Sydney?” is a question that I’m asked more often than you hear “Cracked pepper?” in a Cronulla cafe. Gun to my head, it’s probably a tiny Vietnamese shop, New Star, up the road with a few wobbly tables and not-bad pho. The staff are lovely, the spring rolls are hot, and it’s pretty much the perfect way to begin or end a week.
Except a “not-bad pho place” isn’t what anyone wants to hear, so I’ll usually say Ester or Palace Chinese, but the truth is I haven’t had an outright favorite restaurant since Don Peppino’s closed its doors in 2019 I’m a bit excited, then, that it’s back.
Well, back in swaggering spirit at least. Fontana opened last month in a first-floor Redfern site. Former Don Peppino’s chefs Daniel Johnston and Harry Levy are at the helm, with co-owner Ivey Wawn commanding the floor. It’s the hottest Italian joint to open since Surry Hills’ Pellegrino 2000 started making ravioli with wonton wrappers in February.
Carpaccio frutti di mare is a slick dish radiating confidence. Photo: Rhett Wyman
Don Peppino’s was a semi-permanent pop-up at the Grand Pacific Blue Room in Paddington, operating while developers worked out the most profitable way to redevelop the joint, as developers do. It felt like being at a university house party, complete with Tupac Shakur posters in the bathroom, but with much better wine and a smart, steady menu of Italian classics seasoned with postmodern panache.
The here-for-a-cracking-time-not-a-long-time approach meant that the Peppino’s team probably spent the same amount dolling up the former nightclub as Merivale’s Justin Hemmes spends on vintage fruit bowls at Totti’s. Fontana offers a similar party vibe, but with a decorating budget that might be closer to the cost of one of Totti’s tiled ovens. The new joint is here to stay and it’s already buzzing with big groups of 30-somethings.
A banquette best described as “dentist waiting-room beige” runs beneath street-facing windows. Walls are mostly Colgate white, punctuated with a lone succulent at one end of the room and an abstract oil-and-pastel by Chanel Tobler at the other. The space looks significantly more vibrant in daylight than at dinner, so Saturday lunch is the ticket – but when is it not?
Slappy tubes of paccheri pasta are partnered with kangaroo tail ragu Photo: Rhett Wyman
Obviously, you’re going to order the mozzarella in carrozza ($6 each) to kick things off: outrageously crunchy, fried pillows of cheese and ‘nduja that come to the table demanding to be eaten with a negroni ($22) in the other hand . You’re probably going to want the artichoke alla guida ($14), too, that deep-fried dish of Rome’s Jewish community. It resembles a rust-coloured rose and you can have a terrific time plucking each golden artichoke leaf like a post-revolution French dandy: “She loves me, she loves me not – oh, to hell with it, who cares? This thing’s delicious Antoine, more lemon!”
The sleeper hit you might bypass, however, is the ricotta ($15). “I can get ricotta anywhere,” you might say. “Yawn. Next. Where are more of those mozzarella things?” But this is ricotta made fresh each morning and it never hits the fridge. A lone slab dressed with olive oil is spangled with salt crystals and served on a warm plate that allows the milky whey cheese to be enjoyed at its silkiest. Magic.
The coolest thing I ever saw at Don Peppino’s was Hugo Weaving in a three-piece suit; Fontana’s carpaccio frutti di mare ($27) might be cooler. Bonito, tuna and long-flavored raw prawns are splashed with a tomato and anchovy dressing fermented for a week to get it nice and punchy. It’s a slick dish radiating confidence; pudgy sardine meatballs ($18) seem like the awkward Swedish exchange student at school by comparison.
Artichoke alla giudia. Photo: Rhett Wyman
Slappy tubes of paccheri pasta are partnered with kangaroo tail ragu ($28) braised in red wine and stock with a little cocoa for five hours, and inspired by soul-warming Roman oxtail stew coda alla vaccinara. Wawn, who is a wonderful host, pours a juicy 2019 Carlo Noro Cesanese ($17/$93) to ride alongside it.
Of two substantial mains, oven-roasted lamb ($48) is relegated to the next-time list. I’m too much of a sucker for baccala alla Vicentina ($40), a creamy dried-cod specialty of north-eastern Italy. Johnston’s version is more gentle but still just as rich, featuring lightly brined and salted hapuka poached in milk and bay leaves. Do it.
Does Fontana achieve “favorite restaurant” status? It’s certainly on its way and, when spring kicks into gear, I suspect a table by the window is going to be in even higher demand. Moderate prices, exciting wine and sharply focused food – now that’s what people want to hear.
The low-down
vibrate roman holiday house party
go to dish Sea fruit carpaccio
drinks Boozy classic cocktails and left-field wines from Australia, the old Boot and beyond
A thrilling opening weekend saw the Premier League return with a bang. Liverpool and Manchester United were stunned, Spurs claimed a statement victory, while Erling Haaland made his mark for Manchester City.
Now attention turns to Matchday 2. Erik ten Hag faces a huge call over Cristiano Ronaldo as the Red Devils seek to get their season off and running, while Spurs visit Stamford Bridge in the first big-six blockbuster.
Here are the big storylines to watch out for this weekend.
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Ten Hag booed after United’s horror loss | 01:18
MANCHESTER UNITED SET FOR MORE PAIN?
Manchester United finished last season by losing their final six away games – a nightmare streak that ruined any hope of Champions League football. It was their worst run of road losses since March 1981 – but defeat at Brentford this weekend would make it their worst run since all the way back in 1936, when they lost ten on the trot away from Old Trafford.
But is it a serious prospect against a relative minnow in the Bees? Well, history hasn’t helped United much to start this season – their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last week was their first-ever loss at home to the Seagulls.
Christian Eriksen starred for the Bees last season, winning 7 of his 11 games on the park, but struggled in a false nine position for United against Brighton.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in the second half shifted Eriksen into the midfield, a move which benefited the team immensely.
Whether Erik ten Hag rushes Ronaldo into the starting line-up in search of a maiden Premier League win will be a crucial selection conundrum, especially since the Portuguese legend is still short of fitness.
But after conceding two goals in the first half in the opening week – and it could well have been three if VAR didn’t overrule a penalty early in the second half – ten Hag clearly has just as many problems in defense (especially on set pieces ).
With Brentford adding to their well-earned reputation for fighting out of tricky situations when they fought back for a 2-2 draw against Leicester, this one will likely be battled out until the final whistle sounds. It just might signal more woe for the Red Devils.
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SPURS OUT TO BREAK HORROR RUN
It’s the first big-six clash of the season, and it should be an absolute beauty as Chelsea host Tottenham.
But there’s a heavy weight of history standing in their way: Spurs have won just once in their last 37 matches at Stamford Bridge. No wonder the Blues are favorites for this one, despite their ‘rusty’ 1-0 win over Everton last week – as coach Thomas Tuchel described it.
Spurs, on the other hand, fought back from an early deficit to win 4-1 over Southampton – a result that means they have scored the most Premier League in the 2022 calendar year to date.
Antonio Conte has enjoyed a full pre-season and a big transfer window in Tottenham, and this match will be a true litmus test for just how far they’ve come – and whether they can actually challenge at the pointy end this season.
“I think it’ll be a good test to mark whether they are really in the contest for the title,” former Spurs back Pascal Chimbonda told Sky Sports News.”
Perhaps the biggest key to their improvement is their depth: none of their six signings started against Saints. Some, like Richarlison, could start this time out, while Ivan Perisic might also hope to replace Ryan Sessegnon.
PREDICTED XI: Hugo Lloris; Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ivan Perisic, Emerson; Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski; Harry Kane.
Fulham frustrate Reds as Spurs fly high | 02:59
For Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t been fully happy with his transfer window so far despite some big-name arrivals in Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, and Marc Cucurella.
Koulibaly and Sterling both started and should start again this time out, while Cucurella came off the bench and could depose Ben Chilwell from the starting role. Christian Pulisic’s impressive bench cameo could also see him introduced to the XI.
If they fail to score from open play again, it could just nudge the new owners to push even harder to complete the signings of targets Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona, or Wesley Fofana from Leicester City – having already missed out on Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.
The first heavyweight bout of the season is here, and it could have huge ramifications on the trajectories of two big-six members.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Edouard Mendy; Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly; Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Jorgino, Reece James, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz; Raheem Sterling.
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Premier League Monday morning wrap | 03:00
STAGGERING LAMPARD STAT IN BATTLE OF ENGLAND GREATS
Frank Lampard might be a Premier League and England great, but this weekend he meets another man of similar pedigree – his old England teammate Steven Gerrard.
The duo met 34 times during their playing careers, and Lampard had the upper hand with 16 wins compared to Gerrard’s 11. Both will be desperate for victory this weekend in their first-ever managerial meeting.
For Lampard, the biggest worry – among many – is his staggeringly poor defensive record away from home.
In 38 games in charge of Everton and previously Chelsea, his sides conceded 73 goals at an average of 1.92 per 90 minutes. That includes a Blues side that would win the Champions League six months after his departure from him.
There were concerns about Everton’s squad entering this season (having sold star striker Richarlison to balance the books), and those only worsened on opening day when defenders Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina both copped serious injuries.
Everton have since pulled a late signing swoop for Conor Coady and midfielder Amadou Onana (from Wolverhampton on Monday and Lille on Tuesday, in that order), while they added another solid defender in James Tarkowski from Burnley in pre-season.
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After Everton lost to Chelsea 1-0 and Gerrard’s Aston Villa lost to promoted Bournemouth 2-0, the pressure is on.
But where will the Toffee goals come from?
Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Andros Townsend are months away from returning, but Lampard welcomes back-up forward Salomon Rondon to the team after suspension.
And the club is reportedly chasing Southampton’s Che Adams to boost their stingy offence, having missed out on Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet who instead joined West Ham.
“We know there is a void in forward areas, we are short in numbers there,” Lampard said amid a difficult pre-season.
Arresting his poor defensive record on the road will be a key priority – but their lack of firepower up front could be just as worrying down the track.
It’s doing this for a reason. While this ambiguity remains official policy, the US, in particular, has had several startlingly clear moments of siding with Taiwanese sovereignty. Most spectacularly, this has involved repeated statements from President Joe Biden that the US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, and even called Taiwan “independent”.
White House officials were then forced to walk back those comments, becoming increasingly unconvincing. Particularly, once you add the fact that American marines have openly trained with Taiwan’s military, and that Donald Trump lifted restrictions on contacts between US and Taiwanese officials, emphasized commitments to Taiwan, and sent it advanced weapons systems.
Meanwhile, Australia’s posture towards China has been more aggressive – sometimes provoked, but sometimes not — as we saw when the Morrison government called publicly for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. And while the Albanese government clearly wasn’t enamored of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, it would never publicly criticize it.
All of which throws into sharp relief the Chinese ambassador’s pointed remark that “China and Australia should make independent judgments … free from the interference of a third party”. Translation: stop subcontracting out your position to the US. And don’t choose the US over China in the growing conflict between the two.
Here again, China is identifying a position Australia won’t declare, but which everyone knows to be true. Australian politicians might repeat the mantra that we don’t have to choose between China and the US, but should push come to shove, we already have.
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That gets sharp around Taiwan because of a question no Australian politician will want to answer until they have no choice: if China invades, and the US decides to send its military, will we join them? Our approach to the US alliance says we probably would.
But the real debate would be whether or not that would be in our national interest. And that would depend on what consequences we’re happy to wear. Are we happy for our economy to grind to a halt? Will we risk an invasion, assuming the US will defend us? Does it change things if Trump is elected in two years?
Circumstances are asking us the question of a century. My reading of China’s language is that it sees us really as US representatives in the Pacific. It would prefer this to change, and will apply pressure to that end, but otherwise is quite prepared to engage with us on those terms. Meanwhile, we’re acquiescing to that role. In doing this, we’re inevitably punting on the kind of unknowable future that foreign policy so often throws up. We’re basically assuming that American power will continue to hold sway, that Chinese power will remain in check, and that in the event of open conflict, we’ll be safest behind American shields.
This is becoming a hotly contested debate in foreign policy circles, between those who insist we stick even closer to the US, and those who think that, whether we like it or not, Chinese ascendance is inevitable and we should respond pragmatically to that fact – a bit like New Zealand is.
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But whatever debates are occurring in foreign policy think tanks and universities, there is no democratic debate on the horizon. Our increasingly pronounced US tilt is bipartisan, so the pros and cons of that position never get agitated publicly. Even to do so would seem vaguely seditious at this point.
I understand why. But the problem is that the Australian public has no idea what we’re meant to be walking into or what calculations are being made on our behalf. It may be that doubling down on the US alliance is the right path to take.
But even if that’s true, we are entering an era when that will come with costs. What are they? Or more precisely, what do our political leaders think they will be? What consequences are they signing up to accept? It is hard to think of a weightier political judgment being made in our lifetimes. And it’s extraordinary that if the public can be said to be making it at all, we’re doing so in the dark.
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Affluent Americans have flocked to Sun Belt states since the pandemic started, with Florida leading the pack by a wide margin, a new analysis reveals.
Looking at migration patterns between 2019 and 2020, the personal finance website SmartAsset ranked all 50 states plus the District of Columbia based on the net migration of households earning $200,000 or more.
Of the 10 states with the largest influx of high-earning households, nine are located in the Sun Belt, including the six-highest ranked states, starting with Florida. For this analysis, SmartAsset defines the Sun Belt as the general geographic region stretching across the Southeast and Southwest.
Here’s a look at the top 10 states, as well as the net number of high-earning households added to each state.
Florida: 20,263
Texas: 5,356
Arizona: 5,268
North Carolina: 4,713
South Carolina: 3,967
Tennessee: 2,743
Colorado: 2,624
Snowfall: 2,331
Idaho: 2,055
Utah: 1,503
Factors leading to the migration to the Sun Belt include lower taxes and warmer weather, as well as more people retiring during the pandemic.
Florida was by far the most popular destination, as the inflow of high earners was nearly four times that of Texas, the next highest-ranked state. Four of the top 10 states — Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada — don’t have taxes at the state level.
The gains made in the Sun Belt come at the expense of mostly Northeastern states. The biggest losers were California and New York, with nearly 20,000 high-earners leaving each state. That’s more than twice the amount of households as Illinois, the third-worst ranked state.
However, it’s worth noting that the states at the bottom of the ranking still have a higher-than-average percentage of households earning over $200,000. The 10 lowest-ranked states’ share of high earners averages 8.79%, compared to 6.82% for all tax filers nationally.
And while many of these states have a high cost of living, they also tend to have higher median incomes than Sun Belt states.
To calculate the ranking, SmartAsset examined households with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 or more, comparing the location reported in their 2019 tax return with the new location reported in their 2020 tax return. Each state was then ranked by the net inflow of high-earning households.
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“If NBN and industry continue to work constructively, Optus is confident we can provide Australian customers with the outcomes they deserve,” he said.
TPG was, however, more critical. While NBN Co has committed to dropping the excess capacity charges on slower entry-level plans – it had already said it would cut them on higher speed plans – by 2026, a TPG spokesman said the network should scrap these fees now if it is serious.
“We remain concerned NBN is focussed on providing cost savings for high-speed users, while pushing price increases across most of its low-speed services,” the spokesman said.
“With cost-of-living pressures continuing to hurt many Australians, it is essential NBN Co continues to support affordable internet access for low-speed users.”
Telstra said the revised proposal included “some positive steps in the right direction” but highlighted there needed to be more attention on service quality.
“We look forward to working constructively with NBN Co and the ACCC in forthcoming workshops to work that through,” a Telstra spokesman said.
“Our ambition through the process will continue to be ensuring the wholesale terms deliver better outcomes for our customers, sustainable industry economics and increased use of an important national asset.”
The details come via NBN Co’s revised pricing submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after the spectacular withdrawal of its previous controversial proposal because of the intervention of the new Labor government.
NBN will stay in public hands for the “foreseeable future”, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said last month, putting off a potential future privatization that was envisaged when the Rudd government set up the $50 billion infrastructure project.
Returns to be lower, but no hit to budget yet
NBN Co thinks the changes will have big financial consequences for it over the term of the new pricing construct yet believes, with privatization off the table, it will be able to weather the toll and still meet the core funding aims of a government-owned entity .
Ms Rowland said the move away from “unrealistic revenue expectations and reflected a view to privatization” had allowed NBN Co to “focus on delivering improvements to the network” and “keeping prices affordable”.
“[This process] provides the best pathway for delivering regulatory certainty, affordable prices and the continued investment required to improve the network,” she said.
This initial discussion paper, which will be subject to further regulatory and industry consultation later this month, includes new powers for the ACCC to reset the NBN’s revenue and pricing framework from 2032. It includes new caps on the building and infrastructure costs NBN can recover each year too.
The lower expected returns for NBN Co are not expected to have any toll on the federal budget’s bottom line or the $29.5 billion equity value on the government’s balance sheet in the forseeable future, government sources said.
NBN Co does not currently pay dividends and the carrying value of the asset listed in the budget is reviewed annually by the NBN board, the government and independent auditors.
“The government has committed to further investments in the NBN network under the ‘Fixing the NBN’ plan,” a Department of Finance spokesman said earlier.
“The commercial sustainability of NBN Co is central to our ability to improve the network and provide better services and pricing to Australian consumers.
“The value of NBN Co is established independently of government, in accordance with accounting standards.”
The company will have the right to increase its prices with inflation every year under the proposed plan, but if it forgoes an increase in one year it is unable to catch up with a higher increase in the next.
The proposed annual price increase in line with inflation is lower than a March 2022 proposal by the NBN of the inflation rate plus 3 percentage points.
Regarding wholesale price decreases, NBN Co says it is prepared to drop the capacity charges on all of its slower entry-level plans by 2026. It had already conceded to dropping them on the higher speed tiers.
The company is also willing to progressively reduce excess capacity fees that telcos pay when data use is above the monthly allowance they buy from NBN Co.
The future is vast and unknown. But humans have been blessed with many gifts, like drive-through Maccas and razor scooters – but perhaps the best gift bestowed upon us by The Almighty Unknowable Force, is the gift of pontification. That’s right kids, though we may not know the future, we can sure as Scyther speculate.
I often like to sit back and imagine what the future will hold, because I’m deeper than you, and more well-read. I sit back with my pipe and ponder a magical alternate reality where we don’t nuke ourselves into oblivion, or melt the planet, or drown from rising sea levels, or become slaves to The Robots.
In this wonderful future, I see myself playing The Last of Us Remastered (Version 14) in my Mars pod. The game is great, they really nailed this much-needed and super necessary remaster and I’m really looking forward to the next one – the only thing that bothers me is that the game pauses every 30 seconds and asks me to pay a microtransaction in order to continue playing, but that’s OK, it could be worse. At least the internet is ultra fast.
But hey, what do I know! Let’s get some real experts on the line.
What do I think of the future of gaming? The big question. Well, ultimately I think we’ll end up in a Ready Player One situation where we plug into VR sets and escape reality to be whatever you want to be in a virtual world. Maybe. It’s hard to speculate what it will be in the future but I think VR will be the big thing – but better than what we know of it now.
There will probably be weird accessories to make gaming in a VR world feel more real. Maybe smell-o-vision can finally be a real thing? That would be cool. It’s great to see companies innovate within the gaming space, like having haptic feedback in our controllers or RGB lights sync up to games to give a more immersive experience. So with how things have been going, immersion will be something that companies in the gaming industry will strive for more and more over the next 50 years.
When it comes to video games, every day is a new video game day.
Video games are always trying to do the next big thing, like letting you kiss the gun before and after shooting it to wish it a good job, or putting more legs on the playable character to make them scuttle like a crab. If I use my psychic abilities (which I have, it’s true) and look exactly 20 years in the future, here’s what’s in store for video games:
Mario is real now, but he has arthritis.
Minecraft is no longer just a game, but a world. You cannot play Minecraft on any platform, you have to take a 14-hour plane trip to Minecraft World (formerly known as ‘Adelaide’) in order to physically exist in the Minecraft world.
The newest Pokemon game has much, much sexier Pokemon. Unfathomably sexual.
Microsoft as a company is just one guy now, his name is Gargus Donk and he does every job at Microsoft.
Skyrim has been remastered for the PlayStation 6.
My hope in the next 10 years is for technology to be in a place where we can enjoy the fun of VR without the physical pain of the headset. I enjoy VR so much, but haven’t been able to experience it as much as I want to because the headset is so heavy.
Also, imagine if 50 years from now we’re able to have VR mods for ALL our favorite games, and develop them in a way where we can overcome the dissonance of our brains going WOAH my body isn’t actually doing that when we’ re head-bobbing around in first-person.
I’m not sure how possible that is without actually rewiring our brains with Matrix-level tech, but… CAN YOU IMAGINE?! My elderly butt is going to be having the best time living a full life, even if my physical body is at a stage where it’s hard to keep up.
matt hopkinsformer Tech & Gaming Editor at Pedestrian.TV
I think in the next 10 years or so graphics are going to become so lifelike that they’re almost uncomfortable. Like shooting someone in a game will look exactly like real life and I’m not sure how people will handle that? It’ll either be a frog in boiling water situation where we just slowly adjust to it, or there’ll be a huge shift away from shooters and violent games to other genres.
Longer term, I think more affordable VR and immersive accessories (haptic feedback suits and what not) will shift more people towards VR gaming.
I think that one thing about the future of gaming that would be a guarantee, is broken controllers, more rage quits and countless insults over voice chat. In terms of the content, amazing immersive open-world stories with many different possibilities, not just tree branch stories that are set as we have now (think Detroit Become Human) but one that is more like a forest of branches, with every gameplay producing different results, even with the same decision, just like real life. Also, in 50 years: half life 3.
The games industry currently finds itself at the center of many converging ideas and technologies that will shape the landscape in the decades to come. In ten years, one would hope that VR tech will have finally found a more comfortable space between practicality and affordability. Dedicated consoles will become a thing of the past, replaced by cloud gaming and subscription services. Live service games will continue to dominate the AAA space, while indie projects will only grow in scope and ambition as the democratization of dev tools expands.
There you have it folks, but before you scuttle off to your various dens and dwellings, why not bring the future to you? Go on, treat yourself to some seriously fast internet with GigaComm’s low ping (2-4ms average) and speeds up to 1000 Mbps – a proper game changer for gamers. Go on, you’re worth it baby!
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has made an awkward gaffe while posting a tweet announcing a state memorial service for Olivia Newton-John that missed her name.
The iconic Australian singer, who starred in the hit musical Grease, died aged 73 at her home in southern California on Monday, after a long battle with breast cancer.
Ms Newton-John’s death triggered an outpouring of heartfelt condolences from celebrities and fans all over the world and prompted Mr Andrews to offer her family a state memorial service for the star.
“I’m so pleased that Olivia Newton-John’s family have accepted our offer of a State Memorial Service,” Mr Andrews’ official account tweeted.
The spelling error, in which an extra “w” was added to “Newton”, was quickly pointed out by followers who accused the premier of making the service about himself instead of honoring Ms Newton-John.
“It’s Newton NOT Newtown. With the amount we pay for your PR team they could get the spelling right,” one person wrote.
“Her name was Olivia NEWTON John. You’re absolutely embarrassing,” another posted.
Several Twitter users claimed that the error was disrespectful because it allegedly showed a lack of attention to detail.
“At least have the respect to spell her name correctly,” one wrote.
Olivia Newton-John. With respect Premier, please be mindful of the correct spelling,” another advised.
And: “You can’t even get her name right. So much for respect.”
Earlier, Mr Andrews said he spoke to Ms Newton-John’s niece, former Neighbors star, Tottie Goldsmith to discuss plans.
“I can update that I’ve spoken with Tottie Goldsmith this morning and she, on behalf of the family, have accepted my offer of a state service,” he said.
“This will be much more of a concert than a funeral, I think it will be a celebration of such a rich and generous life.
“As I said the other day, Olivia Newton-John was a very special person and to take her cancer journey and to turn that into more research, better treatment, better care and this focus on wellness, is such an amazing legacy and that’s why I think we all feel the pain of her passing.”
Mr Andrews said the family was touched by the Australian public’s outpouring of grief following Ms Newton-John’s death.
“There will be further discussions, those discussions have started today, but there will be further discussions in my department and the family about what’s appropriate,” he said.
“I think giving Melburnians and Victorians and indeed people who travel from other parts of the country and maybe even the world to be here to celebrate such an important, rich and generous life — that was the right thing to do.”
“And I must say, it’s very clear to me the family were quite touched by the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life.”
The British-born actor and singer, who moved to Melbourne aged six, identified as Australian and became a devoted advocate for cancer research.
Her family will hold a private funeral for Ms Newton-John in the US – where she has lived for decades.
She is survived by husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
