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Apple has a big donation headed toward healthcare workers in EU and US
Apple is on the move to save struggling healthcare workers who are lacking essential medical supplies. A significant donation from the tech giant is inbound.
According to a Twitter post from CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, Apple has currently been working hard at trying to source medical supplies for healthcare professionals that are at war with coronavirus COVID-19. Cook says that due to the medical supply shortages, Apple will be donating a "millions" of facemasks to health professionals across the United States and Europe.
Cook then goes on to thank all medical professionals that are currently on the front line battling the virus, calling all of them "heroes". Cook didn't state how many facemasks would be going to the United States and Europe, but according to what Vice President Mike Pence said in a briefing, the United States will receive 2 million N95 masks. I'd assume Europe will be receiving a similar amount.
Continue reading: Apple has a big donation headed toward healthcare workers in EU and US (full post)
Poland makes country-wide Minecraft servers for kids that are at home
Now that there are millions of kids at home with forced stay-at-home orders by some governments over coronavirus COVID-19, the Polish government is doing something really interesting, and really awesome.
The Polish government has created a public Minecraft server, and is encouraging kids across the country to jump into their server. Poland has shut down schools, museums, cinemas, and other places as of March 11 -- but with millions of bored kids at home, the country is wanting to keep them occupied, and educated.
They've since launched Grarantanna, a new learning hub inside of Minecraft that isn't just for young kids -- but also high schoolers, and college kids that want to jump in and collaborate. Each player has their own 60x60 plot to do whatever they want with, and better yet the best creations in Grarantanna will be showcased, and a reward given on March 30.
Continue reading: Poland makes country-wide Minecraft servers for kids that are at home (full post)
DOOM Slayer uses an Alienware-like desktop gaming PC in DOOM Eternal
DOOM Eternal has been for the last few days now, but I had an early key from my friends at Bethesda that allowed me to get many hours of slaying demons in glorious 4K -- and 8K, with some 8K benchmarks coming in the next 24 hours.
On my mission of slaying as many demons as I could, you get a little downtime in the Fortress of Doom -- where the DOOM Slayer himself is a PC gamer. I spotted an Alienware-like gaming PC in the Fortress of Doom and decided to take some screenshots of the system itself, and compare it to the Alienware Area 51 desktop gaming PC.
That's not the only PC that the DOOM Slayer has operational in his Fortress of Doom, with an older PC that would be capable of playing the original Doom, if anything.
Continue reading: DOOM Slayer uses an Alienware-like desktop gaming PC in DOOM Eternal (full post)
Half-Life: Alyx unlock time zone details: what you need to know
Half-Life: Alyx pre-loads have started on Steam, and if you haven't read it already -- I have an extensive Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide that goes over the PC hardware and VR headsets that I recommend using to play what should be the best VR game of all time.
But when exactly does Half-Life: Alyx unlock in your particular time zone? Let's find that out. We know that the game will unlock for US gamers on Monday, March 23 at precisely 10AM PDT / 1PM EDT, which equates to:
We know that Half-Life: Alyx is a 48GB download, while the game requires 67.3GB of storage space. If we compare that to Half-Life 2 which used up just 6.4GB of storage, Half-Life: Alyx is a gigantic upgrade of over 10x in storage space required.
Continue reading: Half-Life: Alyx unlock time zone details: what you need to know (full post)
Here's a list of the best Apocalyptic/End of the World movies
I'm a huge fan of disaster and end of the world movies, so while the world is on quarantine and country-by-country receiving stay-at-home orders I thought I would compile a list of apocalyptic / end of the world movies.
There are countless movies in these categories, so I've compiled a list of the ones that I've watched over the years but there are so, so many more. I thought I would turn this into a list that will be growing as people comment on this story, so throw in your suggestions in the comments below or on our Facebook page or better yet, my personal Twitter account -- as I'd love to chat about these movies, too!
Contagion and Outbreak are probably the two 'big' ones from this list, but there are plenty of other shows virtually made for these times. Preppers and Doomsdayers will love these movies, but I've also included disaster movies like Armageddon, Independence Day, and Deep Impact to the list.
Continue reading: Here's a list of the best Apocalyptic/End of the World movies (full post)
GOG offers 27 free games in its new Stay at Home game bundle
If you're stuck at home here's a list of disaster / end of the world movies you should watch, and if you have a VR headset then you really need to grab Half-Life: Alyx which unlocks on March 23 -- but GOG is stepping up with a new Stay at Home game bundle, too.
GOG has announced its new Stay at Home game bundle that includes a huge 27 free games, with GOG.com explaining: "Even if the sun is shining and the flowers have already started to bloom where you live, health and safety are on everybody's mind right now. Closing the shades and playing video games can be one of the good ways to relax and pass the time when you stay at home. We're here to help you choose your next great adventure with this selection of free games from our catalogue and a massive Spring Sale running until March 30th".
Not only does GOG have 27 games for free with its Stay at Home game bungle, but they also have their huge Spring sale on right now which has some great games on the cheap. These games include XCOM 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Dragon Age: Origins, Stardew Valley, and more.
Continue reading: GOG offers 27 free games in its new Stay at Home game bundle (full post)
F1 cancelled, drivers will instead play on the PC and stream online
We all know the effects that coronavirus COVID-19 is having on virtually everything on Earth right now, with the F1 season being cancelled over the outbreak.
But never fear -- as the organizers of Formula 1 have announced the new F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix series, which will see a "number of current F1 drivers" playing Codemasters official F1 2019 game. The drivers will play it on the PC, and have the games streamed across the world on the internet.
It all starts this weekend with the Virtual Bahrain Grand Prix on March 22, with the organizers explaining that every "subsequent race weekend will see the postponed real-world Formula 1 race replaced with a Virtual Grand Prix, with the initiative currently scheduled to run until May".
Continue reading: F1 cancelled, drivers will instead play on the PC and stream online (full post)
Half-Life: Alyx pre-load begins, requires 67GB of storage
We are just hours away from Half-Life: Alyx releasing, with Valve unleashing the first new game in the Half-Life universe in 13 years on March 23 -- in VR only.
Valve has now opened up the pre-loading floodgates on the game, with Half-Life: Alyx pre-loading right now on Steam with a download that weighs in at 48GB. The game itself once it is unpacked and installed onto your PC is 67.3GB, which is bloody huge in comparison to the 6.4GB that Half-Life 2 required.
I've written an extensive Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide article that covers what PC hardware I recommend, as well as the required VR headsets to run the game since Half-Life: Alyx is a VR-only game.
Continue reading: Half-Life: Alyx pre-load begins, requires 67GB of storage (full post)
Valve boss Gabe Newell was a World of Warcraft gold farmer for a while
Half-Life: Alyx is about to drop and now we're hearing more and more from Valve boss Gabe Newell, who was recently interviewed by EDGE magazine. I've also got a handy Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide: PC Hardware & VR Headset Recommendations article you can check out.
Newell said in the interview that he became a gold farmer in World of Warcraft -- a move not born our of necessity as he is a billionaire, but he did it for research. Newell's exploration into becoming a gold farmer in World of Warcraft let to the creation of the Steam Workshop, and the success in hats being sold for (a lot of) real money in Team Fortress 2.
Newell explained: "We were always used to thinking about games as entertainment experiences, but then we started thinking of them as productivity platforms. As a sort of proof-of-concept, I decided to be a World of Warcraft gold farmer for a while. I was making $20 an hour farming gold. I was making what was a spectacular wage for most people in most parts of the world".
Continue reading: Valve boss Gabe Newell was a World of Warcraft gold farmer for a while (full post)
Steam rockets to 22 million players thanks to coronavirus quarantines
Steam just hit over 22.6 million concurrent active users on the platform, representing a huge 2.6 million users spike in a week's time.
Gaming is a go-to escape from the rampant coronavirus threat that rages outside our doors, and millions of people are logging onto Steam to distract themselves with PC games. Steam's playerbase just hit an all-time record high of 22,678, 529 users, up 15% from last week's 19.72 million.
Bear in mind only a portion of these users were actually playing games at the time. Only about 33% or so of online Steam users were playing games at the time. The rest could've been idle, buying games, or browsing the marketplace.
Continue reading: Steam rockets to 22 million players thanks to coronavirus quarantines (full post)
Game devs: Xbox Series X isn't significantly more powerful than PS5
The Xbox Series X's 1.7TFLOP and 16 CU lead over the PlayStation 5 isn't all that substantial--at least that's what game developers tell Kotaku's Jason Schreier.
While gamers are scrutinizing Sony's next-gen console power, unnamed developers are praising the PlayStation 5 behind the scenes. Sony delivered a rather droll yet fascinating talk about the PS5, detailing GPU, CPU, RAM, and most importantly, SSD specs and made some big promises. But there's a sizable power discrepancy between the Xbox Series X and PS5. Microsoft's new Xbox is roughly 17% more powerful than the PS5 in terms of raw GPU TFLOP performance, and has 52 compute units versus the PS5's 36 CUs. That power differential may not be as meaningful to developers as you think.
In a recent Splitscreen podcast, industry journalist Jason Schreier, who has a close ear to game developers, said numerous devs are very excited about the PS5. The console isn't vastly inferior to the Xbox Series X, and the PlayStation 5 will hold its own in ways that haven't been outlined yet. Sony simply needs to have developers talk about the console and show us what the PS5 can really do.
Continue reading: Game devs: Xbox Series X isn't significantly more powerful than PS5 (full post)
Sony's PS5 talk wasn't enough--for next-gen, seeing is believing
Sony's recent PlayStation 5 tech talk was made for developers, not consumers. It's not enough to win over everyday gamers. Sony needs to show us how powerful the PS5 is, not just tell us.
If you've been reading our recent PlayStation 5 coverage then you know I loved Mark Cerny's recent presentation. I learned so much about SSD tech, about game design, and about the console's new heavily-customized architecture and hardware. But there's one thing that's been nagging me this whole time: It's all theoretical. The raw speeds, the promised performance values, even the praise from Naughty Dog developers--it's all based on concepts we haven't actually seen in action. Will the PS5 change console gaming forever? Of course. But it's one thing to think it, and another thing to see it.
Besides a very brief demo of Spider-Man loading in 0.8 seconds, we haven't actually seen Sony prove the PlayStation 5's industry-altering power. Sony seemed unprepared to capture consumers at this event, and rightly so because it wasn't meant for consumers. Not really. But it did sent unclear messages to gamers.
Continue reading: Sony's PS5 talk wasn't enough--for next-gen, seeing is believing (full post)
Doom Eternal first impressions: Ultrafun ultraviolence
Doom Eternal is explosively chaotic, hellishly fun, and insanely optimized on PC. It's one of the best first-person shooters I've ever played and my early first impressions glow as bright as the fires of hell itself.
Man oh man is Doom Eternal wicked. id has created something that's one part FPS, one part platformer, and one part RPG, all wrapped up in an intriguing--if not absurdly over-the-top--mythology. This is the purest manifestation of the Doom Slayer I've ever seen. At every turn you feel like a powerful force of nature that just rips and tears through hordes of demons, and even when it gets overwhelming, things are still immensely fun.
Every firefight is electric, every battle is supercharged with adrenaline, and there's this constant flow of brutality that runs like an undercurrent through everything you do. Every dash, every double jump, every glory kill represents a whirling dance of death. This game is mostly built around a unique sequence that sees you constantly managing resources as you slaughter demons, creating a kind of urgency to not only slay but to do so strategically and quickly.
Continue reading: Doom Eternal first impressions: Ultrafun ultraviolence (full post)
Dreams now removing Mario and other creations with copyrighted IP
Dreams lets you make anything, even blatant recreations of copyright-protected IPs, characters, and games. That's about to change big time.
Dreams is the latest PS4 exclusive from Media Molecule, and it's basically a modder's dream game. Creators come together to make games with an extensive in-game toolset. It's like RPG Maker, only here you can make anything. And everyone basically uses it make new Mario games, Final Fantasy turn-based games, and even Sonic games--all with assets and sounds that mimic the actual games. We've seen some incredible creations in Dreams, from a Fallout 4 demo to an action-based Final Fantasy 7 with old-school graphics, and a lot of Mario games.
Predictably enough, publishers aren't happy about this. Dreams is hosting unsanctioned recreations of their characters, games, and copyrighted content. Nintendo, who's fiercely protective over its IPs, has gotten involved and wants Mario off the platform. Sony is obviously complying lest they face the wrath of Nintendo's extremely effective litigation team. Dreams creations are now being moderated and removed from the platform to appease rights-holders like Nintendo.
Continue reading: Dreams now removing Mario and other creations with copyrighted IP (full post)
Call of Duty Warzone playerbase doubles to 30 million in one week
Thanks to the coronavirus self-quarantine and addicting FPS chaos, Warzone continues accelerating far quicker than Fortnite and Apex Legends.
Call of Duty: Warzone just passed 30 million total registered players on all platforms, making it the fastest-growing battle royale in the industry. Warzone's playerbase grew by 15 million in a single week, putting it at 30 million users total--a number achieved after being on the market for only 10 days.
Activision's latest free-to-play battle royale sensation is growing much faster than Apex Legends and Fortnite. It took Respawn's BR a full week to hit 25 million users, and Fortnite nearly 3 months to hit 30 million players. One of the biggest draws to Warzone is that it's F2P, complete with cross-platform play and cross-SKU support. Modern Warfare owners can play directly with basic free-to-play users. It's a master stroke of engagement and it should benefit the publisher quite a bit.
Continue reading: Call of Duty Warzone playerbase doubles to 30 million in one week (full post)
Only PlayStation 5 next-gen exclusives will tap SSD's full potential
The PlayStation 5's internal SSD can fundamentally change how games are played, and more importantly, how they're made. But this won't happen as long as devs are still focusing on current-gen hardware.
Current-gen consoles are going to hold next-gen systems back, at least for a while. The PS5 and Xbox Series X aren't resetting the console generation. The new systems will live alongside the PS4 and Xbox One family for multiple years before next-gen takes over. This is integral for ensuring a smooth shift between gens and carrying current-gen games forward.
During this period, developers and publishers will release games on both generations. Microsoft has said Xbox SX won't have exclusives for years, whereas Sony is expected to launch first-party PS5 exclusives right out of the gate. Still, though, Sony will keep making PS4 games until 2022.
Continue reading: Only PlayStation 5 next-gen exclusives will tap SSD's full potential (full post)
PlayStation 5 may play thousands of PS4 games at launch
As we predicted, Sony is making plans to aggressively accelerate PS4 backwards compatibility support on the PS5. Hundreds of games have already been tested, and thousands more are expected to be tested. All of them could be playable on the PS5 at launch.
Sony today confirmed that it expects almost all of the PS4's expansive 4,000 games library to be playable on its next-gen PlayStation 5. But when? Possibly at launch or shortly after.
"A quick update on backward compatibility - With all of the amazing games in PS4's catalog, we've devoted significant efforts to enable our fans to play their favorites on PS5. We believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.
Continue reading: PlayStation 5 may play thousands of PS4 games at launch (full post)
Modern Warfare 2 Remastered on the way, but may be campaign-only
Modern Warfare 2 remastered has been rated on a South Korean games ratings board, confirming the game is coming soon.
The rumors are true: Modern Warfare 2 is getting remastered for current-gen consoles and PC, but apparently multiplayer isn't included. The ratings listing explicitly refers to the game as "Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered," so it probably only includes the singleplayer campaign. The listing was classified in February, and updated yesterday with ratings approval, which means it might be out sooner than we think.
A campaign-only re-release makes sense. Activision doesn't want to take players away from Warzone, Call of Duty mobile, and the new online multiplayer included with Black Ops 5--all of which should make considerable live service earnings. Modern Warfare 2 remastered could also come alongside Black Ops 5's pricier deluxe editions to sweeten the pot some, or even as a pre-order incentive.
Continue reading: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered on the way, but may be campaign-only (full post)
DOOM Eternal accidentally released without DRM, Bethesda patches it in
DOOM Eternal has just released, and since the game has been made available and people on PC have been able to see the titles file contents, something has raised some eyebrows.
When a new title releases, game crackers rush to see if they can break the game's files and acquire the title completely free. Crackers then proceed to upload that file to private servers to let the public also download the title for free. Instructions for cracking the game are usually provided in this download as well. Now, Bethesda has just released DOOM Eternal, and the Steam version of the game uses Denuvo anti-tamper tech to stop crackers.
On the other hand, on Bethesda's own 'Bethesda Store' version, there is a non-Denuvo executable file. This opens the door for crackers to play around with the executable file to see if they can open the game and run it. If you are yet to purchase DOOM Eternal and would like to see if your PC is able to run, check out the official PC requirements for the title here. A link to the Steam Store listing can be found here. DOOM Eternal is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC right now.
Continue reading: DOOM Eternal accidentally released without DRM, Bethesda patches it in (full post)
NASCAR races are being replaced by virtual eSports racing with pros
Now that most sport is canceled, or at least can't have fans at the place of which the sport is conducted, sport's operators are looking for different ways to keep fans engaged.
FOX Sports, and NASCAR, and iRacing have announced a new way to keep the racing going with the first-ever eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that is scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 22, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app. This new series will replace traditional racing with "simulation-style" eSports competitions that will involve top competitors such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and more.
Before you raise your concerns about whether or not this will just be another opportunity for the coronavirus to continue to spread, FOX has said that they are "following CDC guidelines" to make sure the race is safe. The races will go for 90 minutes each, and will be commentated by Jeff Gordon. It will be interesting to see whether or not this decision to hold virtual NASCAR races will continue after the coronavirus has been contained and things go back to normal. I'd imagine the idea would be quite popular, or perhaps not? Who knows.
Continue reading: NASCAR races are being replaced by virtual eSports racing with pros (full post)






















