Latest News - Page 1696

Modders love adding controversial aspects to the game just to see how far they can push the boundaries. Unfortunately, the games publishers don't really like that, and this is the case for the "Hot Coffee" mod.

Modders added the "Hot Coffee" mod to Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, which added a mini-game that allowed players to engage in animated sexual intercourse. These same modders decided to give Red Dead Redemption 2 the same treatment, enabling players to download and install the mod to have some "fun" in selected in-game locations.

Now, Take-Two Interactive, the publisher for Red Dead Redemption 2, is asking for the modders to take down the mod as it violates the games End User Licence Agreement and Code of Conduct. In response to this request, the modders said that the mod does not contain any nudity or nude models and only uses assets that are already present in the game's files. The full story can be read here.

A study has shined a new light on how traditional Western-style fast-food diets can lead to memory and brain deficiencies.

The new study was published in the Royal Society Open Science and has examined the effects of high-fat, high-sugar, and processed foods and how they affect cognitive ability. Researchers took 110 participants aged 20-33, who were generally healthy and split them into two groups. The first ate their normal healthy diets for a week, and the other was assigned a calorie-heavy Western-style diet filled with fast-foods.

At the start and end of the week, both groups were asked to rate how much they like sugary foods while eating breakfast. The participants were also asked to rate how much they wanted to continue eating them and were also given a memory test. Richard Stevenson, study co-author and psychology professor Macquarie University in Sydney, found that "After a week on a Western-style diet, palatable food such as snacks and chocolate becomes more desirable when you are full. This will make it harder to resist, leading you to eat more, which in turn generates more damage to the hippocampus and a vicious cycle of overeating."

Apple's new iPad Pro 2020 could feature a big improvement that would better align the new tablet against Samsung's Galaxy Note 10 range of smartphones -- as well as the recently-teased Galaxy Note 20 range of smartphones.

The big upgrade would come from the new Apple Pencil stylus for the new iPad Pro, where according to a patent discovered by AppleInsider, would pack haptic feedback, as well as the ability to detect how hard you're gripping the Pencil.

Not only that, but the upgraded Apple Pencil with its gripping detection would also usher in a new notification mode, where it would 'press' against your finger to 'poke' you. This is a cool touch, something I can definitely see being useful -- but seriously, how many people would need to have their Pencil 'poking' them to receive a notification. Weird flex Apple, but OK.

In a world that is now dominated by the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends, the grand daddy of battle royale in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds -- or PUBG, is still alive, and very much kicking.

The developers of PUBG have now announced cross party play functionality, which enables Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gamers to team up for a single party and play together. PC players are unfortunately left out of the loop for now, and can't play with their console friends in PUBG just yet.

PUBG's new cross party play feature is limited to the Public Test Server (PTS) right now, before the developer can iron out issues and insert it into the main game. PlayStation 4 gamers can find it in their "Purchased" section of their Library, while Xbox One gamers will discover it in their "My Games and Apps" menu, or the Microsoft Store.

Epic Games has just unleashed Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 2, introducing a slick new style into the game that feels so much like The Incredibles in its new trailer. Check it out:

The new season of Fortnite has a huge infusion of spies, where gamers will be able to choose a side: Ghost or Shadow, and then complete missions to "earn a battle pass variant" for each of the new characters. There are a bunch of new covert operatives for you to play in Fortnite, something that includes a human-cat hybrid called Meowscles, and a customizable Maya skin that can be morphed to look like any other player in the game.

If you finish the Challenge Table missions and other in-game requirements, Epic says that you'll get 1500 V-Bucks. Not only that, but Deadpool is featured in Fortnite's new chapter, with Epic adding that Deadpool is featured as the "secret" Battle Pass skin, and he will have his own unique set of challenges, too.

So, last night I'm chilling out watching the third season of The Handmaid's Tale (which is really great, I suggest you check it out) when my Samsung Galaxy Fold received a new notification to its Find My Mobile service. I crapped my pants quickly, as it simply said '1' but I ignored it.

But then I checked my Galaxy Note 10+ smartphone and it too said '1' and the same notification had popped up, so the poop in my pants got heavier. I waited 30-40 minutes and checked Twitter to discover that plenty of other people received the same notification, and then Samsung addressed it.

Samsung said that the notifications popped up on Galaxy smartphone users handsets after an internal test that went haywire, with the company taking to its official UK support account on Twitter to say the mistake "sent unintentionally during an internal test". Oops.

Samsung just finished launching its new Galaxy S20 range of smartphones, and while we've already been teased with the Galaxy Note 20 -- and again with a Galaxy Note 20 patent and its waterfall display teased, now we have some delicious new renders to share.

But now we have some renders of not just Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 20 -- but rather, the Galaxy Note 20, the Galaxy Note 20+, and the flagship Galaxy Note 20 Ultra smartphones. Considering that Samsung bakes in a gigantic 6.9-inch 120Hz display on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, I don't know how things could get any bigger at this point -- but that's what makes the Note series of phones awesome: gigantic displays.

WindowsUnited worked with YouTuber 'WazarKhanHD' on some gorgeous new concept renders, on how they think Samsung will design the new Galaxy Note 20 family of smartphones. At surface level, the new Galaxy Note 20 looks identical to the current Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ but when you turn it to the back you'll see they've used the rectangular-shaped camera array that Samsung baked into the Galaxy S20 family of smartphones.

Tesla shook the entire world when it unveiled its electric Cybertruck in late 2019, but since then we don't know how many orders Tesla Motors have received.

But now, according to the latest information from the Cybertruck Owners Club -- with information current to February 18, there are around 535,000 orders for Tesla's exciting new Cybertruck. This breaks down to 5873 orders per day, which is a pretty damn large amount of orders.

How does the Cybertruck Owners Club work out this information? Easy: it plays around with Tesla's own reservation numbering system which is easy to work out as members hare their Cybertruck reservation number. Cybertruck Owners Club explains: "Your order number is just a sequential number, starting at about 112744100 (the number that reservations began). So subtract that from your number for your (approximate) place in line".

AOC has just unveiled its new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor, rocking a huge 35-inch 21:9 panel with a native 3440 x 1440 resolution, super-smooth 200Hz refresh rate and NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultimate certification.

The new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor has the same display size, native resolution, refresh rate, and G-SYNC Ultimate goodness as the flagship ASUS ROG Swift PG35VQ which I reviewed, and loved. AOC's new AGON AG353UCG seems to be using the same panel, right down to the 1000 nits of brightness for HDR content, and 90% of the DCI-P3 color space.

AOC is using the same quantum dot technology as ASUS inside of its ROG Swift PG35VQ gaming monitor, so the differences here are going to be coming down to the price. At the time of writing, ASUS was selling its ROG Swift PG35VQ on Amazon for $2500 -- while the AOC Agon AG353UCG isn't available in the US right now but with a converted price we're looking at $2600.

HTC is on a roll today, unveiling their new prototype Vive Proton headset -- but also detailing 3 new versions of its Vive Cosmos VR family of headsets.

The new VR headsets that HTC unveiled at the Vive Cosmos Play, Vive Cosmos Elite, and Vive Cosmos VR -- each of these headsets will join the Vive Cosmos family. Each of the new Vive Cosmos headsets have the same make up as the original Cosmos, including the flip-up, head-mounted design, 1440 x 1700 resolution LCD displays with hardware IPD adjustment, and more.

Vive Cosmos Play - $500

HTC is working on a totally new headset, something the company has teased today as its Vive Proton -- a prototype headset that seems to combine virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality into a bug-eyed looking headset.

The new Vive Proton headset is built for the future of 5G smartphones, and is an all-in-one XR headset that packs the displays, cameras, and speakers inside of a glasses-like design. It looks like you'll be walking around like a big ant, with a bug-eyed style design but inside I'm sure it's using leading technology and features.

HTC wants to see its new prototype Vive Proton headset powered with high-end visuals and audio, where off-loading the CPU and GPU required for that is a big help -- this is where the 5G connectivity comes in. 5G gives huge speeds (both up and down) to handle the transmissions needed for high-end XR experiences. But... HTC won't be putting a crazy-fast 5G chip right next to a users head, either -- so what's the solution there?

The world of deepfake videos is getting scarily real, with one of my favorites being Avengers stars Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr being deepfaked into Back to the Future -- as well as Neo and Agent Smith from The Matrix being deepfaked into Office Space. But look what we have here:

Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have been deepfaked into the original Star Trek, into the pilot episode 'The Cage'. Musk plays Captain Christopher Pike, who was the captain of the USS Enterprise before the legendary James T. Kirk -- while Bezos is deepfaked onto a Talosian alien with a gigantic bald head, which he kinda suits.

In this episode of Star Trek, the Talosian aliens capture Pike and enslave him where he'll be used to breed humans and rebuild a destroyed society. In the episode, Pike attempts to escape which leads the Talosians to come to the conclusion that humans resisting to captivity won't make them a good species to rebuild a destroyed society.

The director of the Super Smash Bros. series has spoken out about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC content, as well as the next Super Smash Bros. game.

Masahiro Sakurai recently took to Japanese magazine Famitsu to discuss the coming six DLC fighters to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and to talk about the next Smash Bros. game after Ultimate. Sakurai says that all of the DLC fighters were chosen by Nintendo and that while working on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he can't direct any new game idea. Sakurai also mentions that he is ok with this, as he wants to work to make other people happy, and not himself.

Sakurai also touches on if there is a new Super Smash Bros. game in development already. Sakurai says that at the moment, Nintendo currently doesn't have any plans for a new entry in the Super Smash Bros. series and that he doesn't know what will happen with the franchise yet. It's highly unlikely that Ultimate will be the last entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, especially when you consider that Ultimate is the best-selling game out of the entire series, and out of every fighting game in US history.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has some concerns around it, and one of the most prominent names voicing those concerns if SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

If you didn't know, Musk founded a non-profit organization called OpenAI with Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman. The goal of the organization was to develop new and safe was to monitor and regulate AI development. Musk has since left the organization but is still voicing his concerns over the oversight on AI development.

Musk took to Twitter in response to a new MIT Technology Review profile of OpenAI. Here's what he said, "OpenAI should be more open imo (in my opinion). All orgs developing advanced AI should be regulated, including Tesla". Judging on Musk's responses, it can be assumed that Musk is now somewhat distant from the organization's operations. Back in 2019, OpenAI started a for-profit arm owned by the non-profit parent company, and also accepted a $1 billion investment from Microsoft.

If you are an avid competitive gamer, then you would understand the frustration of losing after pouring your heart and soul into your game. That frustration can easily be tipped over into anger once a fellow player says the dreaded words " it's just a game".

This might not be the case for gamers who play their games casually and are in the game for the pleasure of just playing it. For competitive gamers that want to better their craft and move forward towards getting better, they invest heavy emotion into the game. Investing emotion into the game has one of two pay off. The first being the satisfaction increase of winning, and the second being the frustration of losing. This is something that is not felt if you are just playing the game casually.

This same principle can be said for any sport that is played by a competitive player. Tyler "Ninja" Belvins highlights this principle in his latest Tweet, saying, "The phrase "it's just a game" is such a weak mindset. You are ok with what happened, losing, imperfection of a craft. When you stop getting angry after losing, you've lost twice. There's always something to learn, and always room for improvement, never settle."

Seventeen members of a German parliamentary group have nominated whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the full letter, which was published on the Courage Foundation's website, these seventeen members of the parliamentary group believe that Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning have shown extraordinary efforts towards deserving a Nobel Peace Prize.

The group believes that Assange's efforts to expose "the extent of harm and illegality behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars", Snowden's revealing of "illegal mass surveillance, in defence of the liberties", and Manning's disclosure of 750,000 "classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents" to WikiLeaks represents enormous sacrifice for these individuals. The group also believe that a Nobel Peace Prize would more than honor the actions of these individuals, and represent their own sacrifice of liberties.

Only moments ago, Hideo Kojima released a new video on his Twitter account. The consensus of the video is that something new is coming to Death Stranding this year.

At the moment, there's no confirmation to whether or not there will be any DLC content for Death Stranding, as Hideo Kojima and his studio haven't announced anything since the game's release. There have been some teasers, and what has been called 'cryptic messages', but no official announcement has been made. This means fans are under the assumption that the base game is all they are going to get, but what if that isn't the case?

Hideo Kojima just took to his personal Twitter account to release the above video. While the footage in the video has been seen before, there was an added addition - "2020". This could suggest one of two things. The first being the PC release of Death Stranding arriving sometime in 2020, or follow up DLC content that will be coming sometime in 2020. Kojima gave no context for what this video means, which leaves us fans waiting on the edge of our seats for even more.

Back in late January, Nintendo held their Nintendo Direct that was dedicated to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Throughout that Direct, they announced that six more DLC fighters would be coming to Smash Ultimate in the form of a second Fighters Pass - Vol. 2.

Now, Masahiro Sakurai, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director, has taken to Japanese magazine Famitsu to reveal that Fighters Pass Volume 2 will be the last DLC content for Smash Bros. Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players will receive six additional fighters to close out the DLC content for Ultimate. These fighters have already been chosen by Nintendo, which means no matter what the community says, no fighter changes can be made.

This isn't really that surprising considering Super Smash Bros. Ultimate post-content support has been going for much longer than expected. It's also a major secret who these six additional fighters will be, there's been talk about Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series making it to Ultimate's roster, but that talk was shot down by rumors about Disney Japan specifically blocking his addition. This doesn't mean Sora has zero chance of making it to the roster, but it does seem very unlikely at this stage. Personally, I'd love to see Sora.

Samsung just finished launching its new Galaxy S20 family of smartphones as well as the new foldable Galaxy Z Flip, but work is already under way on the new Galaxy Note 20 smartphone.

According to a new patent that Samsung was recently granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the new Galaxy Note 20 will rock what should be a truly gorgeous ultra-curved waterfall display.

Samsung's current flagship smartphones feature buttons that come through the metal side edge -- whereas the Galaxy Note 20 here in these patents would see the physical buttons coming out of the side glass edge. Nifty. We should expect to see more and more on the Galaxy Note 20 as the months pass, but this is an exciting tease.

Google released the first Developer Preview for Android 11 earlier than usual, but with that earlier release it means the company has additional time for tweaks inside of Android 11 before its big release in Q3 2020.

According to Google, we'll have a new pre-release version of Android 11 each and every month between now, and July. The initial preview release will be followed up by another couple of Developer Previews before the Beta releases in May and June, heading into the Final release in July -- but before that, Android 11 will be teased with the Pixel 5 smartphones at Google I/O 2020 in May.

The Developer Previews of Android 11 are not meant for regular phone users or even enthusiasts, and more so for developers so they can get their apps ready for Android 11 before it releases. Regular users will be able to use the Beta releases on their Pixel smartphones (except for the first-gen Pixel) when it drops in May 2020.