TRIGGERED: Facebook testing the REMOVAL of Likes from the platform

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | Sep 2, 2019 11:09 PM CDT

Facebook is considering the removal of the Like counter from the News Feed, in something TechCrunch reports is to "protect users' from envy and dissuade them from self-censorship". Mmmhmm.

TRIGGERED: Facebook testing the REMOVAL of Likes from the platform

Jane Manchun Wong, a "reverse engineering master", noticed Facebook is prototyping the hidden Like counts within the Facebook app for Android. TechCrunch reached out to Facebook for clarification, with the site reporting that Facebook confirmed it is "considering testing removal of Like counts. However it's not live for users yet".

Instagram recently did this, and being Facebook-owned it makes sense that Facebook would follow suit. Instagram started the testing of hiding its Like counter in Canada, but spread quickly to Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, and Japan. I'm in Australia and can confirm the Like counter is hidden.

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Gears 5 has one map that its 50x bigger than any Gears of War map

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 9:44 PM CDT

Gears 5 will be the biggest Gears of War game yet, with studio boss Rod Fergusson teasing Gears 5 rocks a map 50x bigger than any map in any previous Gears game.

Gears 5 has one map that its 50x bigger than any Gears of War map

The news comes direct from a PAX panel over the weekend, with Fergusson talking about Gears 5 and what to expect. One of them is Jack, a new companion bot that will float around helping you out by cloaking players for example, a totally new gameplay element unseen in Gears of War.

The 50x bigger map comes in handy when it's the biggest Gears of War game yet, given that it's now an open-world game with RPG elements this isn't the Gears game your Daddy knew.

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2 x AMD EPYC 7742 for $13,900 annihilate $52,000 worth of Intel Xeons

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Sep 2, 2019 9:11 PM CDT

AMD's kick ass new EPYC Rome CPUs are here and boy are they throwing Intel around like a rag doll, with ServeTheHome setting a new world record on a dual-CPU rig using two AMD EPYC 7742 processors.

2 x AMD EPYC 7742 for $13,900 annihilate $52,000 worth of Intel Xeons

STH compared the dual AMD EPYC 7742 chips against four Intel Xeon Platinum 8180M processors, which battles out the 64C/128T processor from AMD against Intel's best 28C/56T offering with some very, very surprising results. The AMD system is not only much cheaper, but it is also faster.

This means that STH ran benchmarks with 128C/256T of power from AMD and its EPYC 7742 processors, while the quad-CPU rig from Intel packed just 112C/224T in comparison, but cost over 3x as much.

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Gears 5 'player initiated combat' was inspired by BioShock Infinite

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 8:42 PM CDT

Gears 5 is right around the corner iwth its release pegged for next week, and it is the largest game in the franchise with its push into being an open-world game and packing RPG elements for the first time.

Gears 5 'player initiated combat' was inspired by BioShock Infinite

In a recent interview with Rod Fergusson, the studio boss of Gears 5 developer The Coalition, it was unveiled that the game took inspiration from BioShock Infinite. Fergusson had his hands in all of the Gears of War games, but did leave Epic Games in 2012 to join the ranks of Irrational Games -- the company that made BioShock Infinite.

Fergusson explained: "We were saying we want to challenge expectations of player choice. What are ways that we can give the player more choice? And so one way is player-initiated combat. I learned that lesson from BioShock Infinite".

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Homeworld 3 announced, original developers and artists involved

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 8:21 PM CDT

In a huge surprise at PAX West on the weekend, Gearbox Publishing and Black Bird Interactive (BBI) announced Homeworld 3. Homeworld 3 is being crowdfunded through Fig, with the announcement trailer below:

Homeworld 3 announced, original developers and artists involved

Homeworld 3 will return to its roots, not only in terms of gameplay and its world -- but BBI consists of the original Homeworld developers and artists, as well as a "dream team" of games industry veterans who worked on the Homeworld Remastered Collection at Gearbox Publishing.

Gearbox teases that Homeworld 3 will be a "gripping continuation of the story, fully 3D combat, and the classic RTS elements you expect".

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Deepfake VOICE used to trick manager into $243,000 transfer

If you thought deepfake foolery only happened in video form, then you would be wrong -- some fraudsters have slammed a manager for $243,000 in something called vishing (voice phishing).

Deepfake VOICE used to trick manager into $243,000 transfer

This method involves using fake voice technology, with the Wall Street Journal reporting a case of voice fraud in which the company was caught with its pants down over $243,000.

Criminals used commercially available voice-generating AI software that tricked the CEO of a UK-based energy firm into thinking "he was speaking on the phone with his boss". The CEO heard the voice, thinking it was his boss and not thinking anything suspicious -- requesting him to transfer $243,000 urgently for an order with a Hungarian supplier.

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ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q pre-orders go live: $1100 for 43-inch 4K 120Hz

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Sep 2, 2019 6:27 PM CDT

ASUS has one of the best gaming monitors right around the corner with its huge 43-inch 4K 120Hz FreeSync beast, the upcoming ROG Strix XG438Q.

ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q pre-orders go live: $1100 for 43-inch 4K 120Hz

The new ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q is one of the first larger 4K 120/144Hz monitors coming, wtih ASUS opting for FreeSync over G-Sync. Of course, NVIDIA GeForce graphics card owners will be able to jump into the ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q as well.

ASUS is using a VA panel with a 4ms response time, DisplayHDR 600, an anti-glare coating, and 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

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No ETA for Epic Store shopping cart, wishlists, or achievements

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 3:32 PM CDT

Epic is longer setting tentative timelines for new features on its storefront, meaning gamers still don't know when basic additions like a shopping cart, wishlists, and mod support.

No ETA for Epic Store shopping cart, wishlists, or achievements

The Epic Store has made some moderate progress by adding in cloud saves to select games, but the marketplace is still missing a lot and has a long way to go. Now Epic is no longer setting delivery dates for requested EGS features. The company says its Trello board roadmap wasn't meant to be a deadline or hard ETA, but instead a general guideline to give gamers an idea of what's in the pipeline. It's worth mentioning that EGS achievements, wishlists, and mod support didn't have official delivery targets, but Epic did say the features could take 3-4 months. Back in March, Epic said a shopping cart was more than 6 months away (it should be here by now).

"The Trello roadmap is not fulfilling the goal we set when it was introduced. The goal with the Trello roadmap is to provide visibility into the development cycle for the store's more player-centric feature set," Epic said.

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Next-gen Metal Gear game might happen on PS5, Project Scarlett

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 1:52 PM CDT

Konami's biggest franchises like Metal Gear could come back with a bang when next-gen console drop in 2020.

Next-gen Metal Gear game might happen on PS5, Project Scarlett

Konami's IP slate has dwindled considerably over the years. The publisher, a once-mighty games-maker commanding multiple respectable franchises like Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, changed quite a bit over the years. After it fired its star Hideo Kojima, Konami became interested in recurring earnings rather than big AAA hits, depending strongly on PES, mobile gaming, Yu-Gi-Oh, and live service content.

That could change with next-gen consoles. We could see Metal Gear Solid return with a triumphant sequel on the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Konami Europe president Masami Saso said development other key franchises is underway.

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Control is slowly getting better on consoles, might improve from 10FPS

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Sep 2, 2019 7:31 AM CDT

The performance of Control on consoles is definitely an issue right now, and developer Remedy Entertainment is aware of this.

Control is slowly getting better on consoles, might improve from 10FPS

The original Xbox One and PS4 consoles are dropping into the 10FPS territory, which is just not good at all. Remedy is optimizing the console versions of Control, with a new blog post stating: "Right now, the team are looking at possible ways of improving console optimization in Control, but as you can hopefully understand, these things do take time and don't happen at the press of a button (as much as we wish they did)".

It continues: "We are also examining specific issues that some players have been experiencing and looking for fixes on those. When we have more info, we will be sure to let you know across our community channels".

Continue reading: Control is slowly getting better on consoles, might improve from 10FPS (full post)