We're excited to announce that our favorite FPS Strategy game @VoidBastards is coming to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on May 7th!
Can you lead the rag-tag Void Bastards out of the Sargasso Nebula? pic.twitter.com/tpeUeDlXoq

— Humble Bundle (@humble) April 16, 2020

Microsoft Translator adds Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalam and Kannada as new languages.

मराठी भाषेचे स्वागत आहे

ગુજરાતી ભાષાનું સ્વાગત છે

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਦਾ ਸਵਾਗਤ ਹੈ

മലയാള ഭാഷയെ സ്വാഗതം

ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ಸ್ವಾಗತ

Microsoft Translation team’s ongoing mission to break down language barriers continues with the addition of five languages of India: Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalam and Kannada. These five languages are widely used in different regions of India and around the world by a large Indian diaspora.

The Microsoft Translator team continuously improves translation quality based on technology advancements and usage signals. Neural machine translation technology has recently achieved impressive quality gains, characterized by highly fluent and accurate output. Using multilingual neural machine learning, the Translator team has leveraged data from languages belonging to the same family to build and refine these models and greatly enhance their quality. With this release, Microsoft Translator now translates ten languages of the Indian subcontinent covering 90% of commonly used languages in India.

These languages are available now on all Microsoft Translator apps, add-ins, Bing Translator, Microsoft Office and through the Azure Cognitive Services Translator API for businesses and developers. They will also be rolled out to the new Microsoft Edge browser and other Microsoft products in the coming days.

Details about these languages

Marathi (pronounced məˈrati) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 83 million people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The language has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indian languages, dating from around 600 AD, written in Devanagari script. The release of this languages happens to coincide closely with formation day of the state of Maharashtra, which is the 1^st of May. Find out more about Marathi here.

Gujarati (pronouncedˌɡuːdʒəˈrɑːti) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 55 million people in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the official language in the state, as well as in the neighboring territories of Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu. The Gujarati language uses the Abugida script. The release of Gujarati also happens to coincide closely with the formation day of the state of Gujarat as well, which is also the 1^st of May. Find out more about Gujarati here.

Punjabi (pronounced pʌnˈdʒɑːbi) is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 33 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and around the world. It is the predominant language in the Indian state of Punjab. Our machine translation is trained on content in the Gurmukhi script, which is the official script for the Punjabi language in India. We wish people of Punjab Happy and Safe Baisakhi and hope this release helps to reduce communication  barriers. Find out more about Punjabi here.

Malayalam (pronounced muh·lyaa·luhm) is a Dravidian language spoken by approximately 37 million people in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry.  Malayalam script is based on the Vatteluttu script . We wish the people of Kerala Happy and Safe Vishu and hope this release helps to reduce communication barriers. Find out more about Malayalam here.

Kannada (pronounced kanədə) is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the 44 million people in Indian state of Karnataka. The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script. Find out more about Kannada here.

What you can do with Microsoft Translator

Translate real-time conversations, menus and street signs, websites, documents and more using the Translator app for Windows, iOS, Android and the web.

Neural machine translation models for these newly supported languages are now available as part of the Microsoft Translator API, a member of the Azure Cognitive Services family. Use these services to build translation solutions to help globalize your business and improve customer interactions.

Create a more inclusive classroom for both students and parents with live captioning and cross-language understanding.

For more information on Microsoft Translator please visit: https://www.microsoft.com/translator/.

It’s time Minecraft players. The RTX beta for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition is now live. If you have an RTX video card, you can join the beta and let your RTX-powered Minecraft shine. If you’re not sure of what you’re missing, enjoy the trailer put out by NVIDIA.

We’ve already put a post out detailing what this beta has in store, which you can check out here: https://www.minecraftforum.net/news/60765-nvidia-announces-minecraft-with-rtx

This beta is open for all players who own Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition. If you do not own it but have owned Java Edition for several years, you have a few more days to cash in on the deal offered by Mojang (that deal expires on the 20th, don’t delay!)

Do note, that to enjoy this, you will need to have an RTX-series graphics card, as they support the necessary features for this to work. This means a 2000-series NVIDIA GPU. Sadly, if you do not have a RTX card, you can’t run the RTX features of the game.

If those images though aren’t interesting enough for you, why don’t you see a world tour? (This isn’t actually Earth, but hey, it looks amazing!)

To enable RTX features:

• Pause the game, go to “Advanced Video” settings, and toggle the “DirectX Ray Tracing” option
• You can quickly turn ray tracing on and off by pressing semicolon “;”

You will only be able to use RTX features on the 6 worlds published to the Minecraft Marketplace during the beta. These worlds are free though, so don’t fret about having to buy them.

When creating a world from one of the RTX template worlds:

• Under Game Settings, select “Unlock Template World Options”
• Choose the option to “Unlock All Settings”
• You can now set the default game mode to Creative Mode and Activate Cheats to enable console commands from chat
• From the “Cheats” options, for capturing screenshots it may be useful to disable Weather Cycle and Do Daylight Cycle and the in-game Render Clouds option from Advanced Video

To join the beta:

1. Install the Xbox Insider Hub app on your PC (it is available for free in the Windows Store).
2. Inside the app, click on the open box icon in the sidebar on the left.
3. On the Insider content screen, you will see a beta available for Minecraft for Windows 10. Click on the Minecraft for Windows 10 beta.
4. Click the “Join” button at the bottom of the screen.
5. On the following pop-up, you will see three radio buttons- one will be for Minecraft RTX Beta, one for Minecraft Beta, one for Unenroll. Choose Minecraft RTX Beta, then click Done.
6. If you have automatic updates turned on from the Windows Store, Minecraft will automatically update to the latest RTX beta build available.

NVIDIA has also prepared several guides that you may find useful if you want to play with the RTX builds.

If you’re not able to enjoy the RTX experience, you can still enjoy the Bedrock beta builds which have previews of what is coming to the game, which you can read more about here.

You can leave feedback, images, or other comments about this beta on our megathread located here: https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft/discussion/3015465-rtx-beta-megathread-discussion

You can view the full write-up by NVIDIA at https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/minecraft-with-rtx-beta-out-now-download-play 

Indie publisher QubicGames has a pretty busy schedule when it comes to Nintendo Switch this year, with five previously unannounced games all now in the works for a 2020 release.

The team has shared with us a new Indie Direct-style presentation video which you can check out for yourself above. It reveals all five games, and also touches upon the already-released Tharsis and Hyperparasite (which are both currently discounted on the Switch eShop).

We’d love to know which ones in particular take your fancy, so feel free to have your say on your favourites below. We also have you covered with written info on the new five Switch games a little further down, with descriptions taken from either Steam or each title’s respective website:

Explore, fight, talk and hack your way through a rich cyberpunk world in this 2D action-RPG!
Wanted dead by a mysterious and far-reaching organization, you will traverse the futuristic city of Harbor Prime and make unexpected allies on your quest to bring down the system! In this cyberpunk adventure inspired by Blade Runner and Neuromancer, you are free to choose your playstyle: will you be a silent assassin, a hacker, a diplomat or a straightforward gunfighter?

Door Kickers is an innovative realtime strategy game that puts you in charge of a SWAT team and lets you command them during a tactical intervention.

Analyze the situation, plan team routes, choose equipment and breach points and coordinate multiple troopers to reach the hostage room before the bad guys get to press that trigger.

It may sound daunting, and like real world CQB combat, it sure is. But most levels can be completed in minutes and on the fly improvisation works. Achieving the perfect planning, getting the mission done with no false steps, that’s a skill harder to master.

A dynamic sneak-and-slash RPG that mixes procedural generation with hand-made puzzles and a darkly humorous story. Featuring heavy-hitting deliberate combat, robust stealth mechanics, threatening enemies with unique movesets and a vast array of game-changing items to discover.

Fight like never before with Real Boxing 2, the continuation of the award-winning Real Boxing Enter the ring and experience epic duels. Create and personalize your own boxer – try different skins, dresses, tattoos, hairstyles and much more. Train in minigames to become a World Champion in Career mode seamlessly combining single-player gameplay and ranked multiplayer. Create your own style of play with hundreds of unique items, skills and punches, as well as developing character statistics. Are you ready for the next round?

Godfire: Rise of Prometheus is an action-adventure title unlike any other for mobile devices, that puts the players in the armor of Prometheus – a titan that defies the gods and embarks on an epic quest to save mankind. With jaw-dropping visuals and animations created in collaboration with Oscar-nominated animation studio Platige Image and powered by the Unreal Engine technology, the game lets you experience dynamic third-person combat against hordes of enemies, epic in scale story and boss battles.

We should point out that both Tharsis and Hyperparasite are currently part of the gamesvcovid initiative, where 20% of all revenue from April to June gets donated to medical and research services fighting against the current pandemic.

Aspyr has today revealed the release date for Star Wars Episode I: Racer on Nintendo Switch. The N64 classic will be playable on the go from 12th May.

As you’ll know if you played the original back in the day, the game has you taking control of a podracer speeding through various locations like flaming methane lakes, anti-gravity tunnels, and more. It’s based on the famous podracing sequence from The Phantom Menace which, let’s face it, is the coolest bit.

It’ll go on sale for $14.99 when it launches next month. Here’s a feature list:

– Twenty-five (25) playable racers including Anakin Skywalker, Sebulba, and Ratts Tyerell
– Race tracks spanning eight unique worlds including Tatooine, Baroonda, and Malastare
– Players can work with pit droids to upgrade podracers for higher top speeds and acceleration
– Discover short-cuts and secrets to master lap times
– Play single player campaigns or multiplayer via split-screen

In a press release, Aspyr’s vice president of publishing, Elizabeth Howard, has shared the following:

“Star Wars fans can soon go full throttle with Aspyr’s update to the classic, fan-favorite, Star Wars Episode l: Racer. The beloved game has been modernized for the most optimal gaming experience on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Star Wars fans should get ready to steer their racer to victory and leave their opponents in the dust.”

Happy to see it arriving so soon? Will you be reliving this N64 racer in all its modernised glory? Tell us below.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced today that the country’s ban on large public gatherings will be extended through August 31st, which seems to mean that Gamescom 2020 can no longer take place (at least physically) as planned in Cologne the last week of August.

This would be a significant blow for the event itself and the European game industry at large, as Gamescom has become (at least in terms of sheer attendees) one of the largest game industry events of the year.

However, Gamescom organizers have been operating under the threat of an unfolding coronavirus pandemic for some time, and made it clear in press releases earlier this year that Gamescom 2020 has expanded digital components and will “definitely take place online” regardless of whether the physical event is allowed.

Organizers also promised to refund attendee tickets and exhibitor payments if the event was prohibited by official order, which now seems to have happened.

As of this writing no official announcement has been made about the future of Gamescom 2020’s physical event, though Gamescom organizers did take to Twitter today to acknowledge that while today’s extension of Germany’s ban on large events through August does affect planning, “gamescom 2020 will definitely take place digitally” and they expect to announce more details shortly.

Nested List Comprehension—what does it even mean?

There are three equally interpretations of this term:

• Coming from a computer science background, I was assuming that “nested list comprehension” refers to the creation of a list of lists. In other words: How to create a nested list with list comprehension?
• But after a bit of research, I learned that there is a second interpretation of nested list comprehension: How to use a nested for loop in the list comprehension?
• A few months later, I realized that some people use “nested list comprehension” to mean the use of a list comprehension statement as expression within a list comprehension statement. In other words: How to use a list comprehension statement within a list comprehension statement? (Watch the video to learn about this third interpretation.)

How to Create a Nested List with List Comprehension?

It is possible to create a nested list with list comprehension in Python. What is a nested list? It’s a list of lists. Here is an example:

## Nested List Comprehension

lst = [[x for x in range(5)] for y in range(3)]

print(lst)

# [[0, 1, 2, 3, 4], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]]

As you can see, we create a list with three elements. Each list element is a list by itself.

Everything becomes clear when we go back to our magic formula of list comprehension: [ expression + context]. The expression part generates a new list consisting of 5 integers. The context part repeats this three times. Hence, each of the three nested lists has five elements.

If you are an advanced programmer, you may ask whether there is some aliasing going on here. Aliasing in this context means that the three list elements point to the same list [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]. This is not the case because each expression is evaluated separately, a new list is created for each of the three context executions. This is nicely demonstrated in this code snippet:

l[0].append(5)

print(l)

# [[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]]

# ... and not [[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]]

How to Use a Nested For Loop in the List Comprehension?

To be frank, this is super-simple stuff. Do you remember the formula of list comprehension (= ‘[‘ + expression + context + ‘]’)?

The context is an arbitrary complex restriction construct of for loops and if restrictions with the goal of specifying the data items on which the expression should be applied.

In the expression, you can use any variable you define within a for loop in the context. Let’s have a look at an example.

Suppose you want to use list comprehension to make this code more concise (for example, you want to find all possible pairs of users in your social network application):

# BEFORE

users = ["John", "Alice", "Ann", "Zach"]

pairs = []

for x in users: for y in users: if x != y: pairs.append((x,y))

print(pairs)

#[('John', 'Alice'), ('John', 'Ann'), ('John', 'Zach'), ('Alice', 'John'), ('Alice', 'Ann'), ('Alice', 'Zach'), ('Ann', 'John'), ('Ann', 'Alice'), ('Ann', 'Zach'), ('Zach', 'John'), ('Zach', 'Alice'), ('Zach', 'Ann')]

Now, this code is a mess! How can we fix it? Simply use nested list comprehension!

# AFTER

pairs = [(x,y) for x in users for y in users if x!=y]

print(pairs)

# [('John', 'Alice'), ('John', 'Ann'), ('John', 'Zach'), ('Alice', 'John'), ('Alice', 'Ann'), ('Alice', 'Zach'), ('Ann', 'John'), ('Ann', 'Alice'), ('Ann', 'Zach'), ('Zach', 'John'), ('Zach', 'Alice'), ('Zach', 'Ann')]

As you can see, we are doing exactly the same thing as with un-nested list comprehension. The only difference is to write the two for loops and the if statement in a single line within the list notation [].

How to Use a List Comprehension Statement Within a List Comprehension Statement?

Our goal is to solve the following problem: given a multiline string, create a list of lists—each consisting of all the words in a line that have more than three characters.

## Data

text = '''

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having

little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me

on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part

of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating

the circulation. - Moby Dick''' words = [[x for x in line.split() if len(x)>3] for line in text.split('\n')] print(words)

This is a nested list comprehension statement. This creates a new inner list as an element of the outer list. Each inner list contains all words with more than 4 characters. Each outer list contains an inner list for each line of text.

Where to Go From Here?

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