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PlayStation 5 patent teased with V-shaped ventilation system

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 7:55 PM CDT

Sony hasn't fully unveiled its next-gen PlayStation 5 console just yet, but according to the latest news the company could use an interesting - and I think super kick ass V-shaped ventilation system. I'd want a futuristic PS5 with a V-shaped cooler if the PlayStation 5 is going to cost $1050 like rumors suggest.

PlayStation 5 patent teased with V-shaped ventilation system

The new patent was applied for in May, and was registered by Sony on August 13 as an electrical device. The patent shows a V-shaped ventilation system on something that looks like a console. We can see an optical disk drive at the bottom, with what looks to be 5 separate USB (3.0) ports and a power button above them.

If this patent turns out to the be the PS5, the V-shaped ventilation system would be a nod towards the PlayStation 5... 5 = V in roman numerals. The V-shaped ventilation system (V for ventilation) and the massively beefy hardware inside of the PS5 over previous-gen consoles will need to be cooled in a much better way.

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Disney whistleblower tells SEC company defrauded BILLIONS of dollars

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Aug 20, 2019 7:23 PM CDT

Disney could be in some big trouble with a Walt Disney Co. whistleblower has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company had overstated its revenues for years.

Disney whistleblower tells SEC company defrauded BILLIONS of dollars

Sandra Kuba used to work as a senior financial analyst for the revenue operations department of Disney, a position she held for 18 years. Kuba alleges that employees that work at Disney's parks-and-resorts business segment "systematically overstated revenue by billions of dollars by exploiting weaknesses in the company's accounting software".

What did Disney purportedly do? Well, MarketWatch has reviewed the whistleblower filings from Kuba where it is alleged that employees were boosting records in multiple ways including "recording fictitious revenue for complimentary golf rounds or for free guest promotions".

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WD launches new super-fast external gaming drives with up to 2GB/sec

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Aug 20, 2019 7:00 PM CDT

Western Digital has just launched five new external storage devices that are being aimed at gamers, with both PC and Xbox One options on offer as well as a super-fast external SSD that I need in my life.

WD launches new super-fast external gaming drives with up to 2GB/sec

The new WD_BLACK range of gaming drivers comes with up to 12TB of storage, which is enough to keep every single one of the games in the Xbox Games Pass safe and sound. Western Digital made these new drivers with gamers in mind, taking into consideration that most gamers have around 20 games installed that use around 1.7TB of space.

Jared Peck, Senior Product Manger at WD explains: "Some people say my console storage is full, so I'm not going to play. Those are pain points in the survey. People are tired of deleting old games to play new ones".

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Continue reading: WD launches new super-fast external gaming drives with up to 2GB/sec (full post)

Neo returns in Matrix 4, Keanu Reeves to star

Derek Strickland | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Aug 20, 2019 5:11 PM CDT

The Matrix 4 is happening, and both Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are returning as Neo and Trinity.

Neo returns in Matrix 4, Keanu Reeves to star

A new Matrix film is in development at Warner Bros. Pictures, Variety today reported, confirming previous reports of a new movie. Production will begin in 2020 and Lana Wachowski is set to help write and direct Matrix 4, and titular characters Neo and Trinity will be major parts of the story, reports say. We don't know if Laurence Fishburne will return as Morpheus.

"Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now. I'm very happy to have these characters back in my life and grateful for another chance to work with my brilliant friends," Lana Wachowski said.

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Gears 5 PC spec recommendations are pretty lax: GTX 970, Intel i5 CPU

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 2:20 PM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Want to play Gears of War 5 on PC? You can skate by with an older rig.

Gears 5 PC spec recommendations are pretty lax: GTX 970, Intel i5 CPU

Microsoft definitely wants its games to be played by as many people as possible, and that means flexibility. The Coalition has scaled Gears of War 5 across a myriad of PC hardware configurations, including older setups. Minimum specs sit at an Intel i3 Skylake/AMD FX-6000 series or equivalent, a GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon R9 280 with at least 2GB VRAM, and 8GB RAM. Expect 720p resolution or thereabouts at lowish settings. The game also clocks in at 80GB of hard drive space.

The recommended specs are likewise flexible. For performance around the 1080p 60FPS mark with marginal settings, Gears 5 needs an Intel Core i5 Skylake (assuming i5-6400 to i5-6600K are included), a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 570 with 4GB of VRAM, and 8GB of RAM. Again we don't know the perf The Coalition is targeting with this spec, but expect this to be 1080p optimized.

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Squall's moody teen angst gets remastered next month for $20

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 1:15 PM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Squall Leonhart's moody angst is coming back, this time with better graphics.

Squall's moody teen angst gets remastered next month for $20

Square Enix today announced its hotly anticipated Final Fantasy VIII Remaster is coming quite, quite soon, complete with infamous one-liners, the beloved Draw system that made battles last for 20 years at a time, and those delicious cafeteria hot dogs Mr. Dincht oh-so-loves. The FF8 Remaster is due out September 8, 2019 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and we're betting it'll be the most dashing remaster at the party.

All jokes aside, I'm ecstatic to see Square Enix give Final Fantasy VIII some love. All eyes are on the new Final Fantasy VII Remake (and for good reason, it looks damn good), but we can't just toss Selphie and her PAHH-TAYY!s under the rug. The Remaster isn't a fully-fledged remake, but instead features enhanced visuals, more streamlined FPS and performance, and some time-saving built-in cheats like a no-encounter mode, unlocking all GFs, abilities, and maxed out magic, and full ATB and HP gauges for easy battles.

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Continue reading: Squall's moody teen angst gets remastered next month for $20 (full post)

Watch Dogs Legion has MILLIONs of playable characters

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 12:16 PM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Ubisoft today confirmed the titanic scope of Watch Dog Legion's now-playable characters.

Watch Dogs Legion has MILLIONs of playable characters

Watch Dogs Legion could change gaming forever. You can literally play as every character you see, whether it be an old lady who's secretly a spy, or even a high-level enemy boss. The game's dystopian London is a playground where you can cherry-pick the city's best, brightest, and weirdest and fold them directly into your party. Thanks to Watch Dogs Legion, NPCs have changed from Non-Playable Characters to Now-Playable Characters. But just how many Now-Playable Characters will Legion offer? London is home to millions of people and they can all join your crew.

At Gamescom 2019, Ubisoft confirmed Watch Dogs Legion will have millions of playable characters that you can choose. "Luckily, our city is filled with millions of people and any single one of them can be your next recruit."

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New Avengers gameplay looks DAMN good, why wasn't it shown before?

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 11:06 AM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Square Enix finally released gameplay footage for its new Avengers game, and it looks pretty good. What were they waiting for?

New Avengers gameplay looks DAMN good, why wasn't it shown before?

There's been a lot of doubt about Crystal Dynamic's new Avengers game, primarily because we had a lot of promises without much footage to back it up. There's also the live service worries of 4-player online co-op and cosmetic microtransactions. But today at Gamescom the studio unveiled a lengthy 18-minute playthrough that shows each of the five Avengers in action. The result gives me more confidence about the project, which I initially doubted as a messy live-game/story-based hybrid.

The result exposes Marvel's Avengers as a highly cinematic game with a strong emphasis on action and combat. The experience is very movie-like and makes you feel like you're playing an extension of the films; there's QTEs, high-octane explosions as you fly through areas, titanic setpieces that provide dramatic backdrops for the chaos you help unleash. Everything looks and feels very linear and there's lots of perspective-shifting, at least in the A-Day prologue, but the combat itself looks pretty stellar.

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Microsoft add long list of new games to Xbox Games Pass

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 8:07 AM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Microsoft has just finished their Gamescom 2019 announcements and as expected they have added a new line of games to Xbox Games Pass.

Microsoft add long list of new games to Xbox Games Pass

Microsoft has detailed a new line of games that will be coming to the Xbox Games Pass over the course of August. The list of games that will soon arrive on the service is: Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Devil May Cry 5, Stellaris, Ape Out, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Bard's Tale IV: Directors Cut and Blair Witch.

The games will be added to the Game Pass' library from August 19, starting with Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Devil May Cry 5 and Stellaris. Then on August 22, Ape Out and Kingdom Come: Deliverance will be added and then finally followed by, Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut and Blair Witch on August 27th and August 30th. If you are after additional descriptions on any of the mentioned games, visit the official blog post on the Xbox website here.

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Scientists on brink of making & commercializing pollution free energy

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Aug 20, 2019 7:11 AM CDT

While wide-spread pollution free energy might sound like pipe dream when thinking about how many facets of the world economy uses fossil fuels, we might not actually be that far away from it.

Scientists on brink of making & commercializing pollution free energy

A Canadian group of engineers recently published a new paper detailing a method humans could extract hydrogen from oil sands and fields. This new method could enable a large-scale adoption that would ultimately cause a domino effect into energy market, making it extremely cheap to capture hydrogen instead of expensive. The researchers inject oxygen into the oil fields which then raises the temperature and liberates the hydrogen, filters are then used to separate the hydrogen from the other gases that are present.

The commercialization of this new method is already taking place and, Grant Strem, CEO of Proton Technologies has given a statement regarding the discovery "This technique can draw up huge quantities of hydrogen while leaving the carbon in the ground. When working at production level, we anticipate we will be able to use the existing infrastructure and distribution chains to produce H2 for between 10 and 50 cents per kilo. This means it potentially costs a fraction of gasoline for equivalent output".

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HBO announce intense VR 'Westworld Awakening' game, August 20 debut

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 6:07 AM CDT

HBO has announced a brand new Westworld virtual reality game for fans, and the best news out of the entire announcement is that its already playable.

HBO announce intense VR 'Westworld Awakening' game, August 20 debut

The new VR experience is called Westworld Awakening and is produced by Survios, Kilter Films and with the assistance of Westworld's showrunners. The game is planned to arrive on the Oculus Store, Viveport and Steam on August 20, but will only be available for VR users who have headsets linked to PCs.

Westworld Awakening is based in the second season of the TV show and will let players experience 5 chapters of madness. The main character is a host called Kate and players will be by her side as she becomes self-aware and attempts to dictate the outcomes of her own life. The game is expected to last around 4 - 6 hours and will cost $30. If you are interested in checking out Westworld Awakening on Steam, visit this link here.

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2 billion glass spheres lasered into this jacket reflects every color

Jak Connor | Wearable Computing & Fashion | Aug 20, 2019 5:09 AM CDT

Firstly, because why not right? Why wouldn't you want a jacket that reflects every color in the visible spectrum? I mean, if you want to stand out a party, here if your next purchase.

2 billion glass spheres lasered into this jacket reflects every color

Vollebak has used lasers to embed over 2 billion microscopic glass spheres onto the surface of their Vollebak black squid jacket. The design idea behind the jacket is to replicate the elements of a squid's biological survival necessities across three layers of fabric. Vollebak co-founder, Steve Tidball spoke out about the design, saying "The black squid jacket focuses on replicating the elements of squid skin that make it hyper-visible. With over two billion of them [glass spheres] embedded in resin on the jacket's surface, and over 40,000 in every single square centimeter, they're invisible to the naked eye."

He continues and says "When light hits the jacket, it travels through the curved surface of these black glass spheres and strikes the back of them, before being reflected back at the original light source and scattered away from it simultaneously, so that the fabric looks like it's emitting light." The jacket is currently priced at $995 and is available in only one color (I wonder why).

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Instagram puts a price on the head of nefarious user-data abusing apps

Jak Connor | Internet & Websites | Aug 20, 2019 4:08 AM CDT

Instagram has announced a new program called "Data Abuse Bounty" that will put a price on the head of third-party apps who are found to be abusing user data.

Instagram puts a price on the head of nefarious user-data abusing apps

Instagram and their parent company, Facebook has issued out a new program that will encourage researchers to track down third-party apps who are found to be abusing user data. An Instagram security engineer, Dan Gurfinkel wrote in a blog post, saying "Our goal is to help protect the information people share on Instagram and encourage security researchers to report potential abuse to us so we can quickly take action."

Instagram hasn't set a flat payment for researchers who discover nefarious third-party apps abusing data, instead they said that will pay researchers based on the impact the violent has caused against their company. The head of Instagram's engineering department, Nam Nguyen has said that "Expanding and building on the Facebook bug bounty program is a key development in our ongoing security efforts, and we are grateful to the wider security community for all they do to help keep our platforms safe."

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'Iron Harvest' reinvigorates the RTS genre, releases Sept 1st

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 3:03 AM CDT

A good real-time strategy game is extremely hard to come by in this day and age, luckily for fans who are missing sinking their teeth into a brand new RTS title, KING Art Games has your back on September 1st.

'Iron Harvest' reinvigorates the RTS genre, releases Sept 1st

KING Art Games are the developers behind the upcoming real-time strategy game 'Iron Harvest' which is set in an alternate reality of 1920+. I've been following the progress of Iron Harvest for quite some time now, as real-time strategy games are some of my favorite games of all time. From what I've seen, Iron Harvest looks like a more than promising RTS title and is definitely placed quite highly on my "Definitely Need To Play" list.

Taking a trip down memory lane, we have the original kickstarter campaign trailer and article which can be found here, if you are interested in a bit of history about how Iron Harvest came about. There is also the 'Tech & Controls' demo that can be found here if you are interested in seeing what the game can achieve movement and positioning wise. Finally, there is the above trailer which announces the games official release date which is scheduled for September 1st. There is also the official Steam page for anyone who wants to keep tabs on Iron Harvest, check it out here.

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New historical turn-based strategy game 'Humankind' re-writes history

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 2:08 AM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - A new announcement has come out from Gamescom 2019's Opening Night Live Show and this time its a brand new turn-based strategy game published by SEGA and developed by Amplitude Studios.

New historical turn-based strategy game 'Humankind' re-writes history

Right off the bat we can see the game which is titled 'Humankind' seems to be taking heavy inspiration from Sid Meier's Civilization franchise. The game will be released onto Steam and when checking out its listing we learn that the title will feature "one million civilizations" and that players will be able to "Create your own civilization by combining 60 historical cultures from the Bronze to the Modern Age. Each culture brings its special gameplay layer, leading to near-endless outcomes."

Players will also be able to engage in real historical events, scientific breakthroughs, discover natural wonders of the world and plan out your own design to your ever-growing city. At the moment we don't have a specific release date for Humankind, all we know is that we can expect its launch sometime during 2020. For more information about the title, or if you want to keep tabs on it, check out the official Steam page for it here.

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Kerbal Space Program 2 announced for 2020, will have multiplayer

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 1:29 AM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Kerbal Space Program is a super-popular game with countless gamers putting even more countless hours into the game, with publisher Private Division announcing its sequel, simply named Kerbal Space Program 2. Check out the cinematic announcement trailer:

Kerbal Space Program 2 announced for 2020, will have multiplayer

Interestingly, Kerbal Space Program 2 is NOT being developed by the developers of the original game -- Squad. Instead, Seattle-based Star Theory Games is making the game, with the team made up of "engineers and designers with aerospace specialization who have worked on a variety of titles including Monday Night Combat, Planetary Annihilation, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and more".

Kerbal Space Program 2 will include multiplayer, one of the key features that shows the game has heavily evolved from its predecessor.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition debuts on the Switch Oct 15

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 1:03 AM CDT

Gamescom 2019 - Nintendo Switch fans can now kick back and really enjoy whats coming to them, as CD Projekt RED has officially announced the release date of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition debuts on the Switch Oct 15

We have known about the Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for quite some time now, we know that the game will be shipping on a 32GB game cartridge and will be including both of the games larges DLC's - Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine. What we didn't know was when the game was going to release, and now thanks Gamescom 2019's opening night we do.

Above we have the official The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition Nintendo Switch release date trailer, which reveals that the game is expected to arrive on the handheld console on October 15th, 2019. The Witcher 3 will be running at 540p handheld and when docked it will be bumped up to 720p. If you are interested in pre-ordering the title check out my post here to see what is detailed in the package.

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Continue reading: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition debuts on the Switch Oct 15 (full post)

Dota 2 tournament The International: biggest prize pool ever with $33M

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 20, 2019 12:26 AM CDT

Valve has kicked off the Dota 2 The International tournament with an eye-popping $33 million prize pool up for grabs, with a first prize of $15 million. Second prize is still a hefty $4.3 million, while third will net $3 million.

Dota 2 tournament The International: biggest prize pool ever with $33M

There are 18 places with $33.5 million up for grabs in The International 2019, with 18th place still a large $83K. Valve had a huge $25 million prize pool for the 2018 competition, so we're already at $8 million over the prize pool from last year -- and up significantly from the $1.6 million from the first International tournament in 2011.

The way the prize pool works is that as fans continue to buy in-game items for Dota 2, a large 25% of these sales are injected into the prize pool for The International. The more gamers spend, the more that tournament players have in their prize pool - and these numbers aren't dying down.

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NVIDIA announces GeForce NOW for Android: PC gaming on your smartphone

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 19, 2019 11:48 PM CDT

NVIDIA's answer to Google Stadia is nearly here, with GeForce Now for Android announced and coming "later this year" to Android devices across the world.

NVIDIA announces GeForce NOW for Android: PC gaming on your smartphone

GeForce Now is currently in beta form for Windows, Mac, and NVIDIA Shield owners -- with the beta ending later this year. The beta ending should hopefully line up with GeForce Now for Android arriving, with NVIDIA rolling out RTX-powered servers in both California and Germany in preparation of GeForce Now for Android.

NVIDIA will continue adding in RTX servers throughout the US and Europe as hte big launch of GeForce Now spreads out, right in time to compete with Google and its own streaming product: Stadia.

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Respawn CEO apologizes to gamers for devs INSULTING Apex Legends fans

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 19, 2019 11:06 PM CDT

Things are really getting out of control at Respawn, with developers attacking fans and fans rebelling against the recent Iron Crown event. Respawn developers went as far as calling gamers "ass-hats" and "freeloaders", setting things on fire -- as you can imagine. Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has now responded, apologizing to gamers.

Respawn CEO apologizes to gamers for devs INSULTING Apex Legends fans

Zampella said in his tweet: "On Friday, we gave Apex fans an update on how we were changing the Iron Crown event. Some of the team then joined a discussion with our community on Reddit, and things got to a pretty bad place. Some of our folks crossed a line with their comments, and that's not how we want Respawn to be represented. I apologize to any of our fans that were offended".

He continues: "I will always stand behind the team here at Respawn and support them on speaking out against some of the toxic and nasty comments aimed at their families and loved ones. But we shouldn't contribute to it when we do comment, and add to the very thing we want to prevent. Last week we didn't do that, going forward we will be better. Having an open, healthy relationship with our community is incredibly important to all of us at Respawn".

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