Elon Musk congratulates Tesla team for making its 1,000,000th car

Jak Connor | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Mar 9, 2020 10:30 PM CDT

Since the fruition of the company, Tesla has been hard at work manufacturing and pioneering electric vehicles, but now is a time for celebration.

Elon Musk congratulates Tesla team for making its 1,000,000th car

According to a recent Twitter post by Tesla CEO and Founder, Elon Musk, Tesla has officially manufactured its 1,000,000 car. This is quite an achievement for the electric vehicle manufacturer and should not go understated, considering the company's market cap value recently hit an all-time high. It should also be mentioned that throughout 2019, Tesla sold 367,000 cars, yet still managed to exceed German car manufacturer Volkswagen's market cap despite Volkswagen selling 11 million cars.

Tesla is on a roll, and there's no doubt that 2020 will be another big year for the company as well. The company has a lot of public support behind it, as it's pioneering the new age of electric vehicles. Other vehicle manufacturers are following in Tesla's footsteps and are attempting to create competitor vehicles, which is great for the consumer. So I can imagine that the electric vehicle market for 2020 and beyond is only just getting started, as more and more companies get on board with alternative electric vehicles.

Continue reading: Elon Musk congratulates Tesla team for making its 1,000,000th car (full post)

Phone sex operator plays Fortnite as sponsored post on gaming website

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 9:25 PM CDT

I think this is one of the strangest things I've ever seen in gaming "marketing", and I've had to put marketing in inverted commas because I can't believe what I'm seeing.

Phone sex operator plays Fortnite as sponsored post on gaming website

Gaming site Destructoid posted a sponsored article titled 'Sponsored - Phone sex operator plays Fortnite' in which -- yes -- a phone sex operator plays Fortnite with her breasts teased on camera. Twitch streamer 'nanerboots' makes all sorts of suggestive comments throughout the video, outright trying to sell some Fortnite gamers (of which she doesn't know their age, mind you) a Fleshlight.

Oh, you don't know what a Fleshlight is? Well, I don't really want to get into that here, so you'll need to go and Google that.

Continue reading: Phone sex operator plays Fortnite as sponsored post on gaming website (full post)

CoD Warzone BR lets you respawn early by winning a 1v1 deathmatch duel

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 2:18 PM CDT

Call of Duty's new free-to-play Warzone battle royale will let you respawn early if you die, but you'll have to earn it.

CoD Warzone BR lets you respawn early by winning a 1v1 deathmatch duel

Today Activision confirmed Warzone, the new F2P 150-player Call of Duty battle royale, is real. The most interesting feature is the new Prisoner of Warzone mechanic, which gives you a chance to respawn early, but only if you win a 1v1 deathmatch against another player.

When you die in Warzone, you're thrown into the Gulag prison. This the purgatory where you go after you die, kind of like a time-out zone where you're temporarily out of the game. You basically wait around until one of two options for revival presents itself: Your teammates revive you, or you can fight your way out by killing another play in a 1v1 duel to the death.

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Call of Duty Warzone: F2P battle royale, 150 players, 80GB download

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 1:02 PM CDT

Today Activision confirmed Call of Duty's Warzone battle royale is real, and it's launching tomorrow, March 10 as a free-to-play download on all platforms.

Call of Duty Warzone: F2P battle royale, 150 players, 80GB download

Warzone is the biggest thing Activision has ever done. It's a battle royale mode with up to 150 players that'll be monetized with cosmetics, complete with cross-play between consoles and PC. Warzone's biggest potential is its cross-SKU support too, which lets free-to-play users play directly with premium Modern Warfare players. Warzone goes live March 10, 2020 at 8AM PST for Modern Warfare owners, and 12PM PST for everyone else.

Warzone has two versions: a separate download and a mode baked right into Modern Warfare itself. Unlike Black Ops 4's Blackout, you won't need to buy Modern Warfare to play Warzone. Warzone's free-to-play standalone version will be on PS4, Xbox One, and Battle.net as a huge 80-100GB download. Warzone is also accessible natively inside of Modern Warfare after a 18-22GB download.

Continue reading: Call of Duty Warzone: F2P battle royale, 150 players, 80GB download (full post)

Final Fantasy 7 Remake gameplay impressions: Chaotic action-RPG hybrid

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 12:05 PM CDT

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is an interesting blend of Devil May Cry hack-and-slash chaos with the fine-tuned strategy of an RPG.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake gameplay impressions: Chaotic action-RPG hybrid

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is kind of a weird game that breaks normal gaming sensibilities. One one hand, it's a pure action game with thrilling combat; As Cloud, you want to slice-and-dice enemies and just spam combos the whole time. But you can't. The game requires finesse and strategy, and for you to pay attention to your surroundings. The battles are dynamic like Dark Souls, so you have to block, dodge-roll, and use items in tactical ways.

That's where the RPG aspects come in. You can slow down time and buy yourself a few seconds to regroup and plan the next salvo. It's a quick-pause that lets you gain your wits when things go awry. But at the same time there's that impending pressure of having to move forward, too. You can't just spend all your time in the menus--you have to adapt on-the-fly to the situations as they unfold.

Continue reading: Final Fantasy 7 Remake gameplay impressions: Chaotic action-RPG hybrid (full post)

Mortal Kombat 11's Spawn voiced by Keith David

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 8:16 AM CDT

Spawn's bloody gameplay might be the best Mortal Kombat 11 guest reveal ever.

Mortal Kombat 11's Spawn voiced by Keith David

Todd McFarlane's tortured comic book hellion Spawn just unleashed damnation and chaos on MK11's roster. Spawn's debut gameplay showcased some impressive moves and fitting combos, complete with spiked chains, assault rifles, and roaring flames. There's even a crazy over-to-top sequence where spawn makes enemies into Swiss cheese with dozens of chain guns that fire out of his cloak.

The hellspawn's fatality is the best part. It skins his victim alive and utterly eviscerates them with his signature cape and green-glowing magic. The end result is one of the coolest sequences Netherealm has ever put together.

Continue reading: Mortal Kombat 11's Spawn voiced by Keith David (full post)

PS3 Emulator 'RPCS3' gets PlayStation 3D support, now runs 3D games

Jak Connor | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 1:43 AM CDT

Emulators are fantastic, and PC gamers especially love it when emulators get some additional support. Now, the best PlayStation 3 emulator has been given a bit of love.

PS3 Emulator 'RPCS3' gets PlayStation 3D support, now runs 3D games

According to a new announcement on the RPCS3 Twitter page, RPCS3, which is an open-source PlayStation 3 emulator for Windows, Linux and BSD have now got support for PlayStation 3D. If you don't know what PlayStation 3D is, it's basically support for gamers to play games in 3D mode with their 3D glasses if they so choose to. The games that currently are supported for this 3D mode are DOOM 3 BFG Edition, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Super Stardust HD.

It should be noted that at the moment, RPCS3 only supports Anaglyph 3D, but there are plans in place to implement stereo 3D in the future. Another thing to note is that RPCS3 doesn't have any virtual reality support, but according to the developers behind the emulator "In theory, it should be possible to render both layers on different frames for VR, but RPCS3 has no support for 2 GSFrames nor anything similar right now."

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The official PC requirements are released for DOOM Eternal

Jak Connor | Gaming | Mar 9, 2020 1:13 AM CDT

The official PC requirements have been revealed for DOOM Eternal, let's see what its going to take to run the latest installment into the DOOM franchise.

The official PC requirements are released for DOOM Eternal

The launch for DOOM Eternal is closing in fast, and with fans around the world gearing up for the release its important to know what you will need to be able to run the game. The developer behind the title, id Software has released the full spread of PC specifications for DOOM Eternal, revealing what players will need a minimum and what is recommended for the best experience.

DOOM Eternal is powered by the id Tech 7 engine and will a new level of smoothness to monster slaying like you've never seen before. DOOM Eternal will run at 60FPS on all consoles, and for PC players to achieve 60FPS at 1080p low settings they will need a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB), GTX 1060 (6GB), GTX 1650 (4GB) or a AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB)/RX 470 (4GB). To bump that gaming up a graphical notch to 1440p at high quality settings, PC gamers will need a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB), RTX 2060 (8GB) or AMD Radeon RX Vega56 (8GB).

Continue reading: The official PC requirements are released for DOOM Eternal (full post)

Resident Evil Resistance may be monetized via cosmetic lootboxes

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 8, 2020 6:45 PM CDT

Resident Evil Resistance, the free 4v1 live service add-on to Resident Evil 3 remake, may be appropriately monetized via cosmetic microtransactions.

Resident Evil Resistance may be monetized via cosmetic lootboxes

A new gameplay video for Resident Evil Resistance shows an Umbrella Corp. lootcrate, hinting at possible microtransaction purchases (see below at 4:04). The video, which is in Chinese, reveals Resistance has a progression scheme like any other live game. Resistance will dole out in-game currency called RP for beating certain daily, weekly, or monthly objectives and winning matches, which can then be spent on extras like lootcrates.

These "decorative boxes" only contain cosmetics, which makes sense given the huge kerfluffle around lootboxes. Umbrella crate rewards include weapon skins, collectible models, emotes, special voices, and customized appearances.

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Xbox Series X: next-gen sound via dedicated chip and ray-traced audio

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Mar 8, 2020 6:15 PM CDT

Even the Xbox Series X's audio will be next-gen, complete with a special dedicated audio chip that empowers sound designers like never before.

Xbox Series X: next-gen sound via dedicated chip and ray-traced audio

We've known for a while the Xbox Series X would have 3D audio acceleration via a dedicated chip, but we didn't know the potential of the tech, and more importantly, what it means for developers. The Xbox SX's new hardware-accelerated audio chip means sound designers no longer have to tie up CPU resources for in-game sound effects and music. In tandem with ray traced audio, which uses bi-drectional sound paths to shift sound profiles in real-time, audio experiences will be incredibly immersive and realistic on the next-gen Xbox.

Ninja Theory in particular is enthusiastic about the chip. This is fitting given the Senua franchise's incredible sound effects and score. "It's extremely exciting. We're going to have a dedicated chip to work with audio, which means we finally won't have to fight with programmers and artists for memory and CPU power," senior sound designer Daniele Galante told Video Game Chronicle.

Continue reading: Xbox Series X: next-gen sound via dedicated chip and ray-traced audio (full post)