PlayStation 5 GPU emulates PS4, PS4 Pro with special modes

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Dec 30, 2019 4:10 PM CST

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 will ensure seamless and full native backward compatibility with PS4 games thanks to downscaling profiles built right into the Navi GPU.

PlayStation 5 GPU emulates PS4, PS4 Pro with special modes

According to massive new leaks verified by Eurogamer, the PS5 will indeed carry forward the full PlayStation 4 generation of games with complete games backward compatibility. This is made possible by two special modes built right into the silicon that downscale the PS5's GPU to current-gen performance targets, complete with lowered clock frequencies, RAM speeds, and Render Output units.

In essence, the PlayStation 5 was built from the ground up with backward compatibility in mind, similar to an iterative console. I've said right from the beginning that the new consoles will blur then line between next-gen and iterative cycles with both hardware and software.

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CD Projekt RED are masters of marketing

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Dec 30, 2019 2:44 PM CST

CD Projekt RED proves it understands how to successfully re-market a game many times over, using powerful strategies like The Netflix Effect to re-sell and re-invigorate its main franchise.

CD Projekt RED are masters of marketing

A lot of CD Projekt Group's business doesn't revolve around making games, but advertising, marketing, and distributing them. Merchandising is a huge focus of CD Projekt's business strategy. Once CD Projekt RED ships a game, the other branches take over and find new ways to make those games last for years. Case in point: The Witcher 3, which released in 2015, is still more relevant than ever today.

CD Projekt's marketing masterstroke is the Witcher Netflix series, a carefully-designed transmedia sales point that's proven to be extremely potent. The Netflix Effect sparks sales of all kinds of mediums--when a Netflix book adaptation pops up, people rush out to buy the books. The Witcher is benefiting from the Netflix Effect in two ways. We're seeing Witcher book sales jump up, and CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 3 is currently at its highest playercount since 2015.

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China held a secret trial for the scientists who edited baby embryo's

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Dec 30, 2019 6:17 AM CST

Just last year, it was revealed that a Stanford-trained scientist had created the world's first gene-altered human baby. That scientists and a few of his colleagues have now been sentenced in a secret Chinese court.

China held a secret trial for the scientists who edited baby embryo's

He Jiankui and his two colleagues are facing prison time of three years for being found guilty of "illegal medical practice". Jiankui is also required to pay a huge 3 million yuan fine, which is equivalent to $429,000 USD). Think that's where the pain for Jiankui stops? Nope. He is also banned from reproductive medical work for life.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency says that back in 2016 the scientists and his co-workers (Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou) assisted in enabling the reproduction of "multiple couples of HIV-infected persons." The team edited the embryos of two of the babies that were implanted into women, removing the CCR5 gene in hopes of making the offspring resistant to HIV. The women eventually gave birth to three gene-edited babies.

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Here's a video of how fast each planet spins in one slick giant globe

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Dec 30, 2019 5:45 AM CST

If you didn't know, every planet in the solar system spins at a different speed. This is due to each of the planet's size and mass. So how fast are other planets spinning in comparison to Earth?

Here's a video of how fast each planet spins in one slick giant globe

James O'Donoghue, a planetary scientist at the Japanese space agency (JAXA) and a former scientist over at NASA, has comprised a short animated video that gives us a clear visualization of each of the planets rotation speed. The video shows one globe, but each of the sections of the globe is the different planets in the solar system. Each is rotating at their respective speeds.

Earth rotates at 460 meters per second or roughly 1,000 miles per hour. This is how we established that there are 24 hours in one day. The above video shows how each of the other planet's full rotations compares to Earth's relative to our star. O'Donoghue said on Twitter, "I had the idea to make this back in December last year but I didn't think people would be interested in it." Since then, the video has had over 215,000 views.

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Get a full night sleep in Kirby's mouth with this really weird pillow

Jak Connor | Gaming | Dec 30, 2019 5:10 AM CST

If Kirby is your favorite video game character, or if you have wondered what it would be like to rest your head in his mouth and have a nap, then you need this pillow.

Get a full night sleep in Kirby's mouth with this really weird pillow

On the Bandai website, the listing for a Kirby nap pillow demonstrates that buyers will be able to slide their heads into Kirby's mouth hole to have a rest either for a couple hours or the entire night if they like. Kirby's mouth hole measures in at 23 cm x 21 cm, which exceeds the head size of even the largest of people.

The Bandai website lists the Kirby nap pillow for 9,500 yen, which works out to be about $87USD. If that is too much for the official pillow, you can check out Amazon where some other sellers are selling the same designed pillow for much cheaper. Keep in mind though, these sellers might not be selling the officially licensed Nintendo version, so the mouth dimensions could be slightly off.

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NASA scientists gasp as Mars rover finds puzzling Oxygen discovery

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Dec 30, 2019 4:28 AM CST

NASA's Curiosity rover is hard on work uncovering mysteries and creating new ones on the distant red planet, and now it's at the center of another one.

NASA scientists gasp as Mars rover finds puzzling Oxygen discovery

Curiosity has given planetary scientists another brain teaser to wrap their heads around as the SUV-sized laboratory has found "significant seasonal and year-to-year variability" in Mar's oxygen levels. The SAM instrument aboard Curiosity measures what molecules makeup Mars' atmosphere. Scientists know that as the planet goes through its seasonal changes - CO2 freezes in winter, reducing air pressure. During summer and spring, things thaw out, and the CO2 raises air pressure.

Oxygen, on the other hand, accounts for only 0.16% of the Mars atmosphere but didn't follow the expected rises and falls. Melissa Trainer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and first author on the new study, said "The fact that the oxygen behavior isn't perfectly repeatable every season makes us think that it's not an issue that has to do with atmospheric dynamics. It has to be some chemical source and sink that we can't yet account for."

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Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V voted the 'Best Game Of The Decade'

Jak Connor | Gaming | Dec 30, 2019 4:03 AM CST

We are at the turn of the decade, and gamers are no doubt wondering what game release will be crowned "Best Game Of The Decade" and why.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V voted the 'Best Game Of The Decade'

Well, according to one poll done by the LADbible Twitter account that was run for over a week, and accumulated over 9,000 individual votes, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V has been deemed "Best Game Of The Decade". Grand Theft Auto V released back in 2013, and was no doubt a massive leap in what game development can offer players in regards to massive open-world environments.

Grand Theft Auto V was competing against the Call of Duty (franchise), FIFA (franchise), and Red Dead Redemption. The poll doesn't include some other prime candidates such as The Last of Us, Nintendo titles, God of War, and The Witcher 3. I think there should be a larger poll done with more titles listed and more votes, this way we can get a better consensus of what game should truly wear the crown of "Best Game Of The Decade". (Grand Theft Auto V would no doubt be top 5).

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Platinum Games boss confirms Boyonetta 3 development is going great

Jak Connor | Gaming | Dec 30, 2019 3:14 AM CST

It's been quite some time since we have heard any updates regarding Platinum Games' coming Bayonetta 3. Luckily, the studio has broken radio silence, and now we have some news.

Platinum Games boss confirms Boyonetta 3 development is going great

The last we heard about Bayonetta 3 was way back at E3 when fans expected Platinum Games to show off some gameplay footage or at least announce some more news. Instead, Platinum Games didn't appear at E3 with Bayonetta 3 and head producer of the studio, Atsushi Inaba said this was the reason why - "Giving updates for everything at E3 isn't the smartest PR strategy to begin with. So just because we're not showing it here doesn't mean it's not going well."

We are now hearing an update from Platinum Games boss, Hideki Kamiya, on his personal Twitter account which says, " Development's going really well. There you go." We do know that Bayonetta 3 will feature some design changes that will be different from the previous installments in the franchise, and while we don't know what those changes are specifically, we know that Platinum Games is putting in their all for the sequel.

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Apple might have stolen their Apple Watch heartbeat monitor technology

Jak Connor | Business, Financial & Legal | Dec 30, 2019 2:07 AM CST

Many Apple users that love their iPhone also love their Apple Watch to go alongside it. One of the main features of the Apple Watch is its heartbeat monitoring, and that the Watch can measure a wearer's irregular heartbeat, an amazing feature for fitness users.

Apple might have stolen their Apple Watch heartbeat monitor technology

Unfortunately, Apple seemed to have stepped in a bit of trouble when it comes to the Apple Watch's heartbeat monitor, as a New York doctor has claimed the company has ripped off his patented invention. Dr. Joseph Wiesel is suing Apple over allegations that the Watch is using his patented invention that covered "pioneering steps" in atrial fibrillation.

According to Wiesel, his invention allowed for the monitoring of "irregular pulse rhythms from a succession of time intervals." Wiesel also said that he contacted Apple back in 2017 in regard to the patent, giving them sufficient information. He is now going forward with the lawsuit and is asking the court to make Apple pay him royalties and to block the company from adding his invention to their product without his permission.

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The Witcher TV show hype rises, Netflix secretly greenlights season 3

Jak Connor | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Dec 30, 2019 1:16 AM CST

The first season of The Witcher TV show has overall been a popular success, and with fans asking for more and more, rumors have already begun flying about season 3 being greenlit.

The Witcher TV show hype rises, Netflix secretly greenlights season 3

According to sources close to WGTC (WeGotThisCovered), Netflix has seen the hype surrounding the show and has secretly greenlit the series for season three. It wasn't too long ago that the show was already greenlit for season two, and it should be noted that Netflix did this before the show was even aired - this shows their confidence in what the show can do.

At the moment, Netflix hasn't officially announced that season three is in the pipeline just yet, so these are just rumors at this stage. If I was to give my opinion on whether or not these rumors could be true, I'd say that Netflix would certainly be heavily considering greenlighting season three and will most likely do it after seeing what season one did. Season two of The Witcher is set to begin production in February 2020, and the release is slated for early 202

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