AOC has launched its new G4309VX/D gaming monitor, boasting a native 4K resolution and super-slick 144Hz refresh rate all running over its included HDMI 2.1 connectivity.

The new AOC G4309VX/D has debuted in China with a VA panel offering up to 4000:1 contrast ratio, 720 nits of brightness in SDR mode, and 1100 nits of brightness in HDR thanks to it having VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification. AOC has quantum dot coating and 100% sRGB, with 95% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage.

But this is all for gamers... so we have the native 4K res, 144Hz refresh rate, and HDMI 2.1 connectivity. This means the AOC G4309VX/D gaming monitor will work on your PC as long as you've got a new AMD RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6000 series GPU or NVIDIA Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series GPU -- or alternatively, a next-gen Sony PlayStation 5 or Microsoft Xbox Series X/S console.

STALKER was very similar to Crysis back in the Golden Age of PC gaming, where the same "can it run Crysis" jokes could be used for "can it run STALKER" -- but now we have STALKER 2.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl looks to require a hefty amount of SSD storage space, with 180GB required on the Microsoft next-gen Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. We already know that the PC version of STALKER 2 will require 150GB of storage, with developer GSC Game World detailing the PC system requirements on Steam.

We should expect some changes of the requirements (not just PC hardware required) but also storage space as we lead into the launch of STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl on April 28, 2022, for the PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles.

A gamer in Soest, Germany could've been burned alive due to lack of awareness while he was playing PlayStation.

According to reports from German newspaper Soester Anzeiger, a man in Soest, West Germany could've died from smoke inhalation and possibly burned down an entire apartment building because he was paying too much attention to a gaming session.

Reports say the German gamer was surprised when the fire department showed up in his smoke-filled apartment on reports of a possible fire. The man had been so engrossed in his PlayStation gaming session that he didn't notice the beeping smoke alarms, nor did he see the thick plumes of smoke that had filled the apartment from a burning pan of spaghetti sauce.

Halo Infinite's full worldwide unlock timings have been announced by 343 Industries--here's when you can play the campaign.

Halo Infinite's campaign is just two days away from release, but fans will have to wait until the actual day of December 8 to play it. 343i has confirmed Halo Infinite will not have a midnight launch the night before official release similar to other Bungie-era Halo games. The good news is the campaign is releasing simultaneously across the globe at the same time.

Check below for exact times per specific region:

• Seattle - 10AM PST
• New York - 1PM EST
• Mexico City - 12PM CST
• Sao Paulo - 3PM BRT
• London - 8PM GMT
• Berlin - 7PM CET
• Moscow - 9PM MSK
• Riyadh - 9PM AST
• New Delhi - 11:30 PM IST
• Tokyo - December 9, 3AM JST
• Hong Kong - December 9, 2AM HKT
• Sydney - December 9, 5AM AEDT
• Auckland - December 9, 7AM NZDT

The armor lockers in Halo Infinite's campaign reportedly do not feature actual armor pieces that can be used in PVP customization.

Gamers can find Spartan armor caches strewn across Halo Infinite's campaign map that apparently don't have armor in them. These lockers are part of Infinite's myriad of unlocks and collectibles which include equipment upgrades and Easter Eggs.

That's according to Forbes' Paul Tassi, who discovered the armor lockers only doled out cosmetics and not actual armor pieces that can be equipped and used in multiplayer. Reports also say the campaign does not have an unlockable armor core to be used in multiplayer.

Final Fantasy XIV's new Endwalker expansion is out now in early access, but gamers are having lots of trouble actually playing. Square Enix has offered up free game time as an apology.

Right now Final Fantasy XIV's game servers simply can't keep up with demand. Everyone wants to play the new Endwalker expansion and the online networks are just filling up too fast, leading to long login waiting queues and maxed-out worlds. The developers are now giving out 7 days of free game time as an apology to all subscribed users, and more time could be offered if the issues continue, the team says.

"Considering that we are asking players to wait in queues for extremely long periods of time and the ongoing situation making it difficult to play normally, we have decided that during the official release of Endwalker on December 7, we will be granting 7 days of free game time to all players who own the full version of the game and have an active subscription."

Warzone testers plan to strike until Activision reverses its decision to fire multiple QA testers.

Last week, Activision fired around a dozen quality assurance testers, roughly 1/3 of its QA team, at one of its studios Raven Software. These workers were under contract--meaning they are not employees, do not get benefits or healthcare, and can be cut at any time--and their emotional stories of termination were told on Twitter by onlookers and the workers themselves, who had moved to Madison, Wisconsin and are now out of a job.

Now the remaining QA testers are planning a collective strike in protest, and demand that Activision hires their co-workers back on the team. Activision tells Bloomberg that they have fired 20 contract employees but intend to make 500 of their contract team into full-time employees.

What is real? That's the question you'll be asking after watching this amazing Unreal Engine 5 tech demo.

Epic's new Unreal Engine 5 is so powerful that it may defy the limits of reality--you know, what Neo does at his day job. Is it the spoon that's bending? Or is it us? Epic Games is taking advantage of the new Matrix Resurrections film release to showcase the true might of Unreal Engine 5 with an interactive tech demo featuring Neo and other characters from the Matrix series.

The free demo is called Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience and it's available for pre-download on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles.

NASA has set a goal of getting a sustainable colony of humans on Mars by 2030, and in the years leading up to 2030 the space agency is collecting any relevant information that will assist them in the pursuit.

A big part of the data collection aspect of the mission is NASA's Mars rovers, Perseverance and Curiosity. Perseverance landed on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021 and has since been inspecting the Jezero Crater for any signs of ancient microbial life. Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012 and has been studying the geology of Mars for quite some time. Recently, Curiosity snapped an incredible view of the Martian landscape, check it out here.

Since the pursuit of Mars has begun there have been several notable discoveries, and some of them have happened in 2021. Below you will find five recent incredible discoveries about Mars that will assist the human civilization in creating a sustainable presence on Mars.

Nissan has recently unveiled its new lunar exploration vehicle that it has been working on with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The new prototype vehicle was unveiled last Thursday at the JAXA headquarters in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, and it features a sharp four-wheel design that has been equipped with motor control and e-4ORCE four-wheel-drive control technology. Since the surface of the Moon is covered in very fine sand, it can be quite difficult for vehicles attempting to drive on the surface to gain traction with the ground underneath them.

In the above video posted to the Nissan YouTube channel, Nissan demonstrates the difference between having its e-4ORCE technology-enabled versus having it disabled. From the video, we can see that the e-4ORCE technology can be a deciding factor when attempting to take a rover through difficult terrain, as it's designed to be a form of all-wheel precision driving that reacts to specific conditions. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.