Our consoles are now packed with enormous, richly detailed 3D worlds to explore-and they just keep getting more expansive. By one calculation, GTA 5 is over six times larger than GTA 3; another estimate puts Elden Ring's map at a massive 79 playable square kilometers. That got us wondering, which game is the biggest?
Turns out, there's no clear answer. Publishers generally won't talk specifics, perhaps out of fear their in-game worlds will seem small in comparison to others. Of course, it isn't the size that matters, it's what you do with it that counts-diminutive maps often offer a more realistic and compelling experience. But that hasn't stopped fans from speculating, so we trawled the gamers here for the most credible calculations and authoritative claims to create this visualization of virtual real estate.
I USED TO WORRY about using too much electricity.
If a family member forgot to turn off the AC, I'd snap at them: "What, you want the planet to cook extra fast?" If I found lights left on overnight, I'd fume.
I was insufferable. In my defense, I'd been worrying about climate change ever since Jim Hansen's 1988 landmark congressional testimony. With every blast of AC, I knew more carbon was being pumped into the atmosphere. So I turned into an energy miser. I'd go around the house turning off lights; if no one else was home, I'd leave the AC off, even on blazing days.
Then something fundamentally shifted my psychology around electricity: I installed solar panels on my house.
I quickly found myself awash in energy. The installers had predicted the panels would produce 100 percent of what my Brooklyn, New York, a household needed. They underestimated: I generate a lot of net surpluses. In a 24-hour period, my panels produce as much as 50 percent more juice than I need. I'm saving about $2,000 a year, so I'll amortize the cost of the array in seven years; then the electricity is damn near free.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von WIRED.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von WIRED.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
DeLorean vs DeLorean
Decades after her dad's iconic sports car time-traveled into movie history, Kat DeLorean wants to build a modern remake. There's just one problem: Someone else owns the trademark on her name.
THE BEHIND THE SCENES TECHNO-WIZARDRY OF ARATI PRABHAKAR
She has the ear of the US president and a massive mission: help manage AI, revive the semiconductor industry, and pull off a cancer moonshot.
11,196 YEARS IN PRISON
Faruk Özer made crypto seem like the sation to decades of economic dysimction. Then he became Turkey's most wanted-and hated-man.
THE FORENSIC EMPIRE OF ELIOT HIGGINS
As fakes and deceptions proliferate at record speeds, one guy has maintained a miraculous nose for the truth-the founder of Bellingcat, the world's biggest citizen-run intelligence agency.
THE COMMUNIST & THE CELEBRITY
CHINA MIÉVILLE WRITES A NOVEL WITH THE INTERNET'S BOYFRIEND.
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WIRED's visit to the intersection of luxury and technology.
SCREEN SAVER
There are still nice things on the internet.
FIXER UPPER
Maybe you think they're majestic. Maybe you think they're an eyesore. No matter how you feel about wind turbines, there'll be a lot more of them in coming years.
DO THE MATH
Learn you a Haskell-the spooky, esoteric cult classic of programming languages
PRETTY IN PINK
Why did scientists put tangerine DNA in a pineapple-and can this Frankenfruit help change public opinion toward bioengineered foods?