Latest News - Page 1182

Microsoft has temporarily suspended sales to Russia following the devastating attacks on Ukraine.

Microsoft today announced a sales ban of its products, goods, and services in Russia. Consumers in Russia will no longer be able to buy or access Microsoft services, including Xbox hardware and games.

"We are announcing today that we will suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia," Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith said.

Sony has consolidated its anime offerings into Crunchyroll to provide "all your anime in one platform."

Funimation content has arrived on streaming service Crunchyroll to provide a monstrous 40,000 episodes+ of anime. Crunchyroll will also be the exclusive service for new anime broadcasts. Funimation subscribers are encouraged to cancel and move over to Crunchyroll instead, however watch history and queue features haven't been translated over to the new service.

"Crunchyroll subscribers can now enjoy the world's largest anime library of more than 40,000 episodes and over 16,000 hours of content in addition to the upcoming Spring anime season, which will be the biggest on record!" reads a press release.

Dungeon Siege is back...but many fans would prefer it stay dead.

After ten long years, Square Enix has finally resurrected Dungeon Siege. Well...sort of. Dungeon Siege will be joining metaverse platform The Sandbox complete with NFT real estate and characters.

Here's how it works: The Sandbox is basically a world complete with landmasses and countries. These regions are called LAND and can be purchased as digital NFTs--gamers can buy in-game land. Some countries are owned by, say, Atari, and others are reserved for franchises like The Walking Dead. Square Enix will have its own LAND patch where it will host Dungeon Siege-themed content, including skins, characters, and cosmetics.

Rockstar Games details the new performance modes and features coming to GTA V's next-gen version.

It looks like Rockstar is pushing the PS5 and Xbox Series X to their limits. GTA V Expanded & Enhanced will have a surprising 4K 60FPS raytracing mode on both Navi 2 GPU-powered consoles, which is no small feat. The resolution will indeed by upscaled and not native 4K, but it's still not something that most open-world games support.

GTA V E&E will have three graphics/performance modes:

Gran Turismo 7's microtransactions are up to 1233% more expensive than GT Sport.

Conveniently after reviews went live, Sony has switched on Gran Turismo 7's in-game purchases...and the prices are eye-opening. GT7 allows gamers to buy cars, parts, and accessories with premium currency. It's an online live game, after all, so monetization is a given. Currency prices look like this:

According to findings from Video Game Chronicle, some cars that used to cost £ 5 in GT Sport now cost an incredible £ 40 in GT7. That's a 700% increase (or 7x) over GT Sport for the same cars.

The move comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear forces on heightened alert.

The Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) have three-stage rocket motors fueled by solid propellants. They have a range of over 6,000 miles (9,660 kilometers) and cruising speeds of 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kilometers per hour, or Mach 23), making them capable of delivering a nuclear payload to almost any major city in the world within thirty minutes. They were developed in the 1960s as a strategic deterrent weapon.

Putting the upcoming scheduled test launch of the Minuteman III ICBM on hold is an attempt by the U.S. to "demonstrate that we have no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued." Putin's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, remarked that a third World War would be a nuclear conflict, contributing to heightened tensions between Russia, the U.S., and European nations.

Aether Diamonds is a startup founded in 2018 by Ryan Shearman, Daniel Wojno, and Robert Hagemann to produce the diamonds.

Aether Diamonds has become the first manufacturer to create diamonds using atmospheric carbon sustainably. Aether claims each carat sold equates to 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide extracted from the atmosphere. Aether's carbon capture methods involve direct air capture and long-term carbon sequestration. This kind of manufacturing would help fight climate change while allowing the diamond industry to distance itself from conflict diamonds.

In 2021, Aether Diamonds produced hundreds of carats of diamonds and began shipping them to customers mid-way through the way. In 2022, Aether plans to make thousands of carats worth. The company has received B Corp Certification, having demonstrated high social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Of over 100,000 applicant companies in the last decade, about 4,000 have received the certification.

The Infinity Train is being designed by the Australian mining company Fortescue.

The zero-emissions electric train will serve to reduce the company's carbon footprint, powering its massive batteries by rolling down hills instead of relying on external charging systems that would likely derive power from less-sustainable sources. The announcement of its development comes following Fortescue's acquisition of UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE).

The development comes following space partnerships with multiple other nations being severed.

Dmitry Rogozin, the Director-General of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, announced that Roscosmos would no longer be selling rocket engines to companies in the United States. According to Rogozin, 122 RD-180 engines have been delivered to the U.S. from Russia since the 1990s, of which 98 have been used for Atlas launch vehicles.

Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research announced last week that all science and research cooperation with Russia would be stopped immediately.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) similarly announced that its partnerships with Russia would be paused. One such cooperation between the two countries involves the German eROSITA black hole telescope aboard the Russian Spektr-RG satellite. The space telescope is making the largest-ever map of black holes in the universe and has been placed in safe mode to protest Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Melinda French Gates has recently opened up about her divorce from Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates, revealing some reasons why the divorce was necessary.

Melinda Gates sat down for an interview with CBS where she described her divorce with Bill Gates as an accumulation of "many things", and one of those was Bill Gates' meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Melinda Gates said during the interview, "It was many things, but I did not like that he'd had meeting with Jeffrey Epstein". French Gates goes on to explain that had only met with Epstein once and that she regretted it, describing Epstein as "abhorrent".

"I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. So my heart breaks for these young women," said French Gates. While French Gates has given new details about the lead-up to the divorce, the exact relationship between Bill Gates remains quite unclear, with many of the details of their dealings yet to be disclosed. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

The Nintendo Switch has enjoyed five years of success, and here are the numbers to prove it.

The Switch is the ultimate union of handhelds and consoles, and as such, the system has generated tremendous profits for Nintendo. As the system turns five years old today we're taking a look back at some of the most important milestones the platform has achieved in half a decade.

In the last five years, the Switch has helped Nintendo generate nearly $60 billion in revenues. From March 2017 to December 2021, Nintendo made $59.8 billion in revenues. While those numbers do include 3DS hardware and software sales, the majority of those earnings were from the Switch itself.

Russian military is currently battling Ukrainians around Europe's largest nuclear power plant located in the city of Enerhodar.

Reports from numerous sources indicate that Russian forces are currently fighting for control over the city, as the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant provides Ukraine with about one-third of its energy. ABC reports that Dmitri Orlov, the Mayor of Enerhodar, has taken to social media within the last couple of hours to announce that Russian troops have approached the power plant, and "as a result of continuous enemy shelling of building and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is on fire!"

Additionally, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has warned that the situation was "critical", and urged military forces around the power plant to be cautious of the site. Above is a livestream of the nuclear power plant where you can see smoke billowing from buildings around the site. Scrubbing through the livestream I was able to find a close-up of a building that was on fire.

Russian forces are continuing their advance into Ukraine, and now reports indicate that military forces are currently battling around Europe's largest nuclear reactor.

A Russian military convoy was spotted heading towards the city of Enerhodar, located on the Dnieper River in Ukraine's south, and now reports indicate that a battle has broken out for control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the biggest nuclear plant in Europe.

Read more: Russia bombs Europe's largest nuclear power plant, fire breaks out

Games titan The Pokemon Company is donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Ukrainian relief efforts, joining other games-makers and publishers providing relief.

The Pokemon Company has publicly lamented the "heartbreaking" Russian invasion in Eastern Europe. The war sees nearly 1 million Ukranians fleeing the war-torn country as refugees, including children.

The Pocket Monster creator has responded with a $200,000 donation to the GlobalGiving foundation to provide humanitarian relief for Ukrainian families and children.

Babylon's Fall may be a flop for Square Enix, a publisher that needs more hit AAA titles.

Based on extremely lower player counts, Babylon's Fall could be the next Square Enix game to deliver "disappointing results." Babylon's Fall, the online-only hack-and-slash RPG developed by PlatinumGames, had less than 1,000 concurrent players on Steam on its launch day. Right now the game has roughly 4,000 Twitch viewers which indicates low curiosity for the game.

There's a few general reasons for this:

CD Projekt RED has cut off Russia and Belarus from its entertainment products.

Polish game developer CD Projekt RED will no longer sell its games, media, and other content to Russia and Belarus following the ongoing war against Ukraine. The sales ban includes games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and the countries are also restricted from the GOG.com game sales marketplace.

The decision will have a surprising impact on CD Projekt's sales revenues. The company warned investors that Russia and Belarus combined made roughly 9.1% of its total-year 2021 revenues. CDPR has yet to announce its Q4 earnings but based on a quick conversion, these regions may have made $12.8 million in sales--that effectively means CD Projekt will potentially lose millions of revenues a year from the ban.

Doomlord John Romero created its first Doom II level since 1994 to support Ukrainian relief.

John Romero, co-founder of id Software and co-creator of the legendary Doom franchise, is raising money for Ukrainian relief efforts in the best way: With a new custom Doom II level.

The level is called One Humanity, it costs 5 euros, and is available on Romero's official website. The FPS guru tells gamers that 100% of all revenues go directly to the Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to help with the brutal Russian invasion on Ukraine.

Intellivision has enacted a new quiet period as it negotiates with new investors and potential business partners.

Gamers and investors will have to wait for updates on Intellivision's business. Company CEO Phil Adam confirms Intellivision has gone quiet so it can reach an agreement with its new investors, who are presumably interested in the Amiico console platform.

This is a common business practice made by companies who need time compiling data or negotiating contracts. Intellivision has used third-party funding to raise over $39 million on paper (but the real value is lower because not all of those funds were collected) to produce and ship its family-friendly Amiico system. The latest campaign on Start Engine has raised less than $50,000 so far.

The remarkable artificial arm, known as the Atom Touch, was made by Atom Limbs.

Atom Limbs is making what they call "the first artificial human arm" in the form of the Atom Touch. It will have near-full human range of motion, restore a basic sense of touch and be non-invasively mind-controlled, according to the Atom Limbs website. It is slated for 2023 availability, and you can sign up for updates or apply for the Atom Preview Program on the website.

Tyler Hayes, the CEO of Atom Limbs, explained to Interesting Engineering that the inspiration for the device came from learning about how the healthcare system has failed people with limb loss. Only one in five people choose to wear prosthetics due to the poor quality and usability of the available options. Atom Limbs was thus born to "revolutionize the $800B+ physical disability industry" and make high-quality prosthetics for the more than 65-million limb-different individuals.