No, this headline does not depict Mark Zuckerberg completely going insane in his quest for the metaverse.
It’s like Sword Art Online again
Instead, we are referring to Palmer Luckey, the original founder of Oculus VR, who sold his business to Facebook and has since focused mostly on national security technology.
Although he has recently had nothing to do with Zuckerberg’s stumbling metaverse goals, this does not stop him from continuing to do strange, and in this case, absolutely mad, things with VR.
According to Luckey, a gamer who dies in a video game will be killed by a special VR headgear he has created. in a literal sense. You’ll die from it.
Luckey discusses how he created a Sword Art Online-inspired “you die in the game, you die in real life” headset in his blog post about the headset.
In that series, players must either find a method to win or escape from a massive, realistic VR battle sim where dying in the game will actually kill them because they are wearing “NerveGear” technology. A VR headset fitted with charges that will explode and “destroy the user’s brain” if they cause a “appropriate game over” screen is Luckey’s take on this idea.
Luckey bemoans the fact that actual “NerveGear,” the Sword Art Online technology, is still only 50% developed:
We are halfway to creating a real NerveGear, which is wonderful news, he said. The bad news is that the perfect-VR half of the equation is still several years away, and I have only so far worked out the half that kills you.
On November 6, 2022—the day the first NerveGear set in SAO was activated—Luckey unveiled the lethal headset. Clearly not a coincidence.
We are halfway to creating a real NerveGear, which is wonderful news, he said. The bad news is that the perfect-VR half of the equation is still several years away, and I have only so far worked out the half that kills you.
On November 6, 2022—the day the first NerveGear set in SAO was activated—Luckey unveiled the lethal headset. Clearly not a coincidence.
The concept of videogames with physical consequences as severe as death are a sci-fi staple, but seen as beyond the pale in real life. Given the popularity of motorsports, extreme athletics, etc: Why?
It is particularly noteworthy that Luckey claims to have developed weaponized gaming technology of this nature given his transition from virtual reality to forming Anduril Industries, his business that produces AI-based security and surveillance systems for the American military.
Recently, they were awarded a $1 billion contract to direct the development of counter-unmanned technologies for the US Special Operations Command.
The concept that we are heading for some type of Sword Art dystopia where users are signing up to play games that have the potential to kill you does…not seem reasonable given that VR tech is still struggling to break past a niche to get people to play games that are really enjoyable.
It’s not like they were hawking VR headgear with murder potential listed as a perk; even Sword Art Online had to con its users into being trapped with NerveGear.
Palmer Luckey continues to be…something else. I’m excited for him to hold the first Bloodsport tournament on a private island or whatever other bizarre idea comes to him next.
Kevin Feige verified the information about Thanos resetting the cosmos in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via UNILAD). Yet we’re not grumbling about it. Official confirmation of Tom Holland’s participation in Spider-Man 4 has come from Kevin Feige, president of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With that in mind, fans and viewers of the MCU have been relieved about the news while also being eager for more of the iconic superhero!
Making Headlines
Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland’s final performance, was released in 2021 and was absolutely fantastic. Feige said, probably in reference to Spider-Man 4 and No Way Home, “We were all treating (No Way Home) as the end of a franchise. If we were fortunate enough to explore these characters once more, we believe you would see a completely different version. If we had anything to say about it, this would be huge news!
A Surprising Return
This is significant news since when Holland finished his first trilogy with the critically acclaimed and financially successful Spider-Man: No Way Home, the future of his Spider-Man tenure was in some doubt. A multiverse-spanning, multiple Spider-Man-starring epic, that movie was an incredible smash hit, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide (the first cinematic release to do so), and energizing fans with the reunion of both Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield in their respective forms as Peter Parker.
Spider-Man 4’s narrative or release date remain unknown at this time, but the tiny symbiote fragment still present in the MCU may have a significant impact. Naturally, Spider-Man won’t miss out on Avengers Secret Wars, Marvel’s upcoming major event, which is set to take place in 2026. Yet another huge announcement that we’re all waiting for and something that we can look forward to, hopefully we can get our money’s worth when a new movie comes out!
The next Frankenstein film that Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro is working on is now casting, and the cast is reported to include some of the most promising young actors. And now, Oscar Isaac, Andrew, Garfield, and Mia Goth are in conversations About Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein.
A Starting Headline
There is not much information available about the movie, and del Toro’s creative direction is kept under wraps. According to a source close to the project, del Toro is currently revising the script, and no actors have received official offers. Yet, according to insiders, all three have met with him and have agreed to star.
Fresh Off Another
Pinocchio, directed by Guillermo del Toro, was a huge success for Netflix. It received positive reviews from critics and won numerous prizes for Best Animated Feature, including one at the 95th Academy Awards this year. He also won Best Picture in 2018 for his The Shape of Water, a horror-inspired movie. Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro, will debut on Netflix.
Del Toro has been working on his Frankenstein idea for a while. He has always wanted to make a film based on the well-known Mary Shelley tale. It is unknown if his rendition would be a period piece or take place in the present. It’s unclear who would play Dr. Frankenstein or his creation; Goth is rumored to play the doctor’s love interest. Del Toro already seems to be assembling a cast that is as hot as any in town, even in its early stages. In addition to his Emmy-nominated work in the Marvel limited series Moon Knight and HBO’s Scenes from a Marriage, Isaac is still quite active.
Whoopi Goldberg recently got into some trouble after calling the Romani people an insensitive name during an episode of The View.
“Wokeness” is complicated
The actor-turned-talk show host claimed during a discussion about the late President Donald Trump that his fans believed he was ‘gypped’ in the 2020 election.
Unbeknownst to Goldberg, the phrase “gypped,” which meaning “to rip someone off,” is probably originated from the word “gypsy,” an insult used to designate the nomadic Romani people, according to Merriam-Webster.
Social media users reacted angrily to Goldberg’s usage of the phrase as a result.
"The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg used the term "gypped"–a slur for gypsies–while discussing former President Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/iJcmQuKFHm
Whoopi Goldberg’s apology is well-deserved, according to one user. “Gypsies are a real class of people with their own unique hardships, and they are most often stereotyped by ignorant pretentious entitled elitists individuals like Whoopi Goldberg, and it shows,” the user added.
“I don’t know how many more’slip ups’ by Whoopi need to be done before the ABC Network takes a position,” a second stated. “I’m not even sure why The View is still there given the nonsense they’ve said and done. I guess they condone it to let it to continue.”
Shortly after the show aired, The View’s official Twitter account published an apologetic video in response to people criticizing the presenter.
You know, when you get to a certain age, you start using words you remember saying or knowing from when you were a kid. That’s what I did today, and I shouldn’t have.
“I should have thought about it a little longer before I said it, but I didn’t, and I should have said ‘cheated,’ but I used another word. And I’m really, very sorry,” the 67-year-old actor continued.
She apologized, trying not to smile as she said.
She received harsh criticism for her apology as a result.
“Don’t trust her. She’s lying yet again. She meant precisely what she stated,” one user commented.
Some social media users also noted that they were unaware that the term “gypped,” or the incorrect spelling “jipped,” was insulting.
In 2013, University of Texas at Austin professor Ian Hancock, whose Romani parents were born in Britain, described how the phrase affects people of Romani heritage to NPR.
Many frequently claim to him that they were unaware that the word “gypped” had anything to do with gypsies or that it is insulting, especially when the word is spoken rather than read, he added.
“That’s okay. You didn’t know but now you do. So stop using it. That may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts,” is my reply to them.
So there you have it.
Baby boomers who are ranting on social media about how the ‘awake’ world has gone insane, take note: it is no longer appropriate to compare Romani people to liars, cheaters, and thieves.
When you’re more than willing to hurt their feelings, don’t whine about how “wokeness” has wounded your feelings.