Overwatch Halloween Terror event now live: HD images & Switch release

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 16, 2019 3:05 AM CDT

Its time to get spooky in Overwatch and whether you decide to do that on the PC, console or now Nintendo Switch is your choice - Halloween Terror 2019 is now here!

Overwatch Halloween Terror event now live: HD images & Switch release

Blizzard has now released Overwatch on the Nintendo Switch (but has cancelled the event in NYC) right in time for their Halloween Terror 2019 event that has also been made live on every platform. Players will be able to earn new cosmetic unlocks as well as some from the previous Halloween events. In addition to that, Blizzard has also introduced weekly challenges that will grant completing players with limited-time rewards.

For Nintendo Switch owners that are deciding to pick up Overwatch: Legendary Edition, upon purchase you will receive 15 bonus skins of some fan favorite heroes, three-month Nintendo Switch Online individual membership, all 31 heroes and 28 maps. If you are after a full list of what the Halloween Terror 2019 event will offer, it has been provided in the entirety of this article. The same goes for all of what will be included in the Overwatch: Legendary Edition for Nintendo Switch. Happy Halloween Overwatch players!

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NASA reschedules first all-female spacewalk after battery failure

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Oct 16, 2019 2:03 AM CDT

NASA has debuted a new press release that details that some changes are coming to the spacewalk schedule that is going to happen aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA reschedules first all-female spacewalk after battery failure

At 4:30pm today, NASA will be hosting a media conference that will be streamed on their website. Throughout this conference, Kenny Todd, manager of International Space Station Operations Integration, and Megan McArthur, deputy chief of NASA's Astronaut Office will be taking live questions about the recent changes that have been put in place regarding the spacewalk scheduling. For those out of the loop, NASA and the astronauts aboard the ISS are upgrading the space station's power system through replacing old batteries with new ones, more on that here.

The space station managers have decided to postpone three spacewalks that were previously planned to be executed this week and next week. Here's why, according to the press release "Space station managers have postponed three spacewalks previously scheduled for this and next week to install new batteries in order to first replace a faulty battery charge/discharge unit (BCDU)". The press release continues and says "The BCDU failed to activate following the Oct. 11 installation of new lithium-ion batteries on the space station's truss. The three spacewalks previously planned to continue the installation of additional lithium-ion batteries will be rescheduled."

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition to arrive on MacOS/Linux

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 16, 2019 1:01 AM CDT

A new press release has been issued out by Square Enix and publisher Feral Interactive regarding Shadow of the Tomb Raider making its way over to MacOS and Linux.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition to arrive on MacOS/Linux

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was originally crafted by Eidos-Montreal for Windows and consoles, but now the developer and published have decided to bring the title over to MacOS and Linux. For those that don't know, Shadow of the Tomb Raider follows the story of Lara Croft and her adventure to save the world from a Maya apocalypse.

This installment of the Tomb Raider series takes Lara to rural Mexican town of Cozumel and the dark heart of the Peruvian jungle. Here is where Lara will navigate the underwater cavern, traverse spectacular landscapes and of course, explore challenging tombs. Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition comes with all of the seven DLC's that include downloadable weapons, outfits and skills. Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition will release on MacOS and Linux on November 5th.

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Yeah, you can go FISHING in Fortnite's new Chapter 2

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 16, 2019 12:04 AM CDT

So, Epic Games deleted Fortnite and threw the entire game into a black hole and pretty much removed it from the internet -- to return with a bang in Chapter 2. Fortnite Chapter 2 has a bunch of things going on, but one of the more interesting things is that you can now go fishing in the game.

Yeah, you can go FISHING in Fortnite's new Chapter 2

If you and your friends want to go fishing in Fortnite, you'll first need to secure yourself a fishing rod. After that, you'll need to go to a nearby lake or beach (you know, somewhere with water) but there are better places than others. There will be a bunch of bubbles around that indicates where you might get a good catch, but what will you find once you throw your fishing line into the water?

Well, you'll get a bundle of materials, a random weapon, a Flopper, or a Slurpfish. Right now, Fortnite is throwing out a bunch of Epic-level weapons when you find a mystery weapon by fishing, while the Flopper and Slurpfish can both be used as healing items.

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Ryan Reynolds trolls Marvel over Deadpool 3 coming to the MCU

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Oct 15, 2019 11:36 PM CDT

Disney has been slowly acquiring what feels like every single company in the world, with the gigantic company owning both Marvel Studios and Fox -- and now Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds is doing what he does best: trolling.

Ryan Reynolds trolls Marvel over Deadpool 3 coming to the MCU

Reynolds posted a new photo up on his personal Instagram when he visited Marvel Studios, where he said he auditioned for the role of Anthony Stark, before he was escorted from the building. The news could be leading right into Deadpool entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if Deadpool does, it most likely won't be until we see Phase 5.

Deadpool wasn't included in any of Marvel Studios' recent teases of Phase 4, but if he was it's not like the studio (nor Disney) would allow that news to break before it was ready and all those contracts and NDAs were signed. Reynolds is as I said at the start of the article, doing what he does best... and that is being just like his alter-ego in Deadpool, and trolling the world.

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OpenAI shows one-handed robot solve a Rubik's cube

Anthony Garreffa | Artificial Intelligence | Oct 15, 2019 11:09 PM CDT

We all know our days are numbered, with our AI and robotic overlords planning to overthrow humanity at some point in the future... and it all seems like it'll begin with a Rubik's Cube.

OpenAI shows one-handed robot solve a Rubik's cube

AI research organization OpenAI have been hard at work building a general purpose, self-learning robot with its robotics division Dactyl unveiling its humanoid robotic hand in 2018 -- which is now being used to solve a Rubik's cube in less than 4 minutes flat. OpenAI is working on a number of different robotic parts with its in-house AI software, with this robotic arm just one of those.

Dactyl stumbles, but eventually solves the Rubik's cube -- with the team having a goal of seeing their AI-powered robotic appendages working on real-world tasks. Their robots packed with AI can learn real-world things, and won't need to be specifically programmed. This means that Dactyl is a self-learning robotic hand that looks at new tasks just like you and I would.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 15, 2019 10:46 PM CDT

It's virtually confirmed at this point, with NVIDIA set to launch its new GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card in the very near future with all signs pointing to well, really soon.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250

VideoCardz is back again with their sources saying that review samples are "already on their way" and they now have some confirmed detailed on the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card. We're looking at the TU116 GPU with 1408 CUDA cores and a base clock of 1530MHz and boost GPU clock of 1785MHz.

The 6GB of GDDR6 is all but confirmed right now, offering a decent upgrade to 14Gbps on a 192-bit memory bus compared to the GTX 1660 Ti and its same 6GB of GDDR6 but with slower 12Gbps memory.

Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250 (full post)

Here's everything up for grabs in Apex Legends Halloween event

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 10:28 PM CDT

Respawn and EA are about to enjoy their first Halloween-themed event for Apex Legends, with the new Fight or Fright event kicking off and running through to November 5.

Here's everything up for grabs in Apex Legends Halloween event

There will be a new limited-time mode, and a bunch of rare, epic, and legendary cosmetic items for you to unlock. You'll get your first Fight or Fright item as soon as you boot into Apex Legends, which is the Fight or Fright Music Pack that offers a change to the main theme of the game -- but the rest can be won through playing, or throwing down real money.

You'll need to do some of Apex Legends' new limited-time challenges in order to get some of the cosmetic loot goodness, where in the new Shadowfall mode you'll drop into a solo round of a darkened Kings Canyon. Once you're in there, and then die -- you'll respawn as a zombie or member of the 'Shadow Squad'.

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XFX Radeon RX 5500 THICC II leaked with single 8-pin power connector

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 15, 2019 10:00 PM CDT

AMD announced its Radeon RX 5500 series recently, but now it appears that XFX is the first with a custom Radeon RX 5500 graphics card in the form of the new THICC II.

XFX Radeon RX 5500 THICC II leaked with single 8-pin power connector

XFX's upcoming Radeon RX 5500 THICC II should roll out with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, drops the awesome-looking grill that the Radeon RX 5700 XT THICC II Ultra sported, and uses a full-black design. It still looks great, with a black shark fin design in place of the car grill-style of the RX 5700 XT THICC II Ultra.

Interestingly, XFX is providing 2 x DVI-D ports (AMD doesn't even include a single DVI port on its RX 5500 series reference design) as well as a single DP and single HDMI connector.

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World of Tanks enCore RT demo: ray traced shadows on ALL DX11 GPUs

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 9:33 PM CDT

Remember when I reported about World of Tanks and its impending ray tracing technology on all DX11-class GPUs? Well, the new World of Tanks enCore RT demo is here for gamers to try out. Wargaming has also got a new developer diary video covering it all:

World of Tanks enCore RT demo: ray traced shadows on ALL DX11 GPUs

Wargaming worked with Intel on this new update, with the enCore RT update made through Intel's own Embree library (which is part of OneAPI) and is compatible with every single DX11-capable graphics card on the market. The developer says that the performance of enCore RT will be as good or better than the ray tracing implementations we've seen so far on GeForce RTX hardware -- but it's only ray tracing SHADOWS here, so calm your farm, Wargaming.

In an email sent out to the press, Wargaming explains: "World of Tanks enCore RT is a demo app which allows to assess the effect that the RT tech has on the game, and also to check whether your system is capable of using it correctly. As we speak, every tanker can install the demo app on their PC and grade their system's RT tech capabilities".

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