Microsoft’s Muse struggles to create a cohesive gameplay experience, original artwork by Serpieri highlights Heritage Auctions’ International Comic Art lot, and Wager may soon publish his last story in the Judge Dredd universe. Read more in Post Rendered’s new roundup for April 2025.
Microsoft’s Muse creates a Quake 2–like experience
In August of last year we re-posted EuroGamer’s report on Google’s efforts to recreate id Software’s 1993 game, Doom, via Deepmind. Earlier this month, EuroGamer reported that Microsoft had used their Muse AI tool to create “gameplay sequences inspired by the classic game Quake 2.”
Muse assists in the creation of “gameplay ideation,” triggering “the next AI-generated moment in the game.” Unlike Google’s earlier experiment with Doom, however, it appears that Microsoft’s Muse is less adept at remembering details like item and level layouts, meaning the experience is less of a structured game and more of a procedural dream sequence.
Wagner’s final Dredd story could be on the horizon
Bleeding Cool reported that during a Tripwire Magazine interview, Dredd alumni John Wagner suggested that his final story for the character could be coming soon.
Titled Death of A Judge, few details were given by Wagner or his collaborator, Mike Perkins, other than it is being planned as a six-part story. No release date was given, but a teaser image can be viewed here.
Video game preservation efforts in Japan
Last month we re-posted Time Extension’s report on Falcom’s preservation of Makoto Shinkai’s work from his tenure at the company. This month, Time Extension reported on Capcom, SEGA, Taito, and Square’s individual preservation efforts.
Capcom Digital Content Archive Team Producer Yasuyuki Makino cited the company’s Illustrations Archive System, built to preserve promotional art and materials, while Taito spoke about digitizing arcade boards, ROMs, and promotional and design documents. SEGA had been criticized for being less ambitious than some of its contemporaries, though its internal archiving efforts since 2023 have begun to gather momentum with the republishing of old games in current titles, like the Yakuza series.
Serpieri original art sells in Heritage Auctions’ International Comic Art auction
Heritage Auctions’ International Comic Art Auction took place on April 26th and 27th. The auction featured over 650 items, with original art and comic pages from Herge, Jean Giraud (Moebius), Richard Corben, and Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, alongside many other creators from Europe, The United Kingdom, Japan, and the Americas. The lot can be viewed here.
Post Rendered Recommends: 19th Annual Japan International Manga Awards
Down The Tubes reported that the 19th Annual International Manga Award is now accepting submissions.
The award “honours Manga artists who contribute to the development of Manga culture in the world.” Eligible entries must be at least 16-pages in length, can be published or unpublished, and must be received by June 30th, 2025. For more details on submission guidelines, visit the Japan International Manga Award website. You can view samples of last year’s winners here.