Learn about how TweakTown tests and reviews hardware. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.
Stay Updated
Follow TweakTown for breaking tech news, reviews, and daily updates.
The Last Guardian critics opinion wrap up and analysis
With The Last Guardian preorder numbers surprising Sony, one must have asked the question: how good will the game be or is it just another over hyped piece of garbage? Well, numerous websites have release their reviews today since they are no longer under NDA. Metacritic should give us a nice overview on the scoring and their opinions of the title.
We got an average score of 83 on Metacritics, with 43 positives and 12 mixed. Here's what some of the critics have to say about the game:
PlayStation Lifestyle Score: 10 out of 10 by Anthony Severino.
Continue reading: The Last Guardian critics opinion wrap up and analysis (full post)
Nolan confirms HBO's 'Westworld' won't return until 2018
The season finale of 'Westworld' has ended in a hugely satisfying fashion - but one that leaves plenty of threads open for the next season. But you're going to have to be very patient to see what happens next.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, co-creator and showrunner Jonathan Nolan confirms that the show is "definitely not coming back until 2018", explaining that "we knew for ourselves that going forward, the production is enormously challenging and ambitious, and so is the writing. So we said very early on that we wouldn't be able to turn this around every year, and knowing full well that that's been a time-honored tradition in television." Basically it means that if you want to keep the same level of quality, you're gonna have to wait. And while that might be a little painful, the trade off will be worth it. In a separate interview, Nolan gave a hint as to where it will go next - "if the first season was defined by control, the second season is defined by chaos."
In the interim, you can re-watch the first epic season to pick up the subtle extra clues, and keep forming those intricate fan theories!
Continue reading: Nolan confirms HBO's 'Westworld' won't return until 2018 (full post)
Oculus Touch officially available as of today
The day has arrived - Oculus Touch controllers are available! From today, December 6th, you can order them online and at the time of writing this article, estimated shipping is between December 16th and 21st. The shipping date is the same for all 22 countries where Oculus delivers its VR controllers.
Pre-orders started on October 10th and those who pre-order them should expect their controllers between today, December 6th and December 15th. Some users have reported that their controllers already arrived.
The Oculus Touch controllers will make the Rift VR experience more immersive and closer to that of the HTC Vive. The price of the two VR headsets is also almost the same, with the difference of only one dollar. Oculus Rift is priced at $599 and the Oculus Touch $199, so the combined price of the Oculus experience comes to $798, while the HTC Vive's price is $799.
Continue reading: Oculus Touch officially available as of today (full post)
Apple hits record sales with their Apple Watch
In October, we reported that the worldwide smartwatch market experienced a round of growing pains in the third quarter of 2016, resulting in a "year-over-year decline in shipment volumes." The IDC reported that the smartwatch sales dropped in the Q3 by 51.6%, and Apple had the biggest drop - almost 72%, but they still maintained their position as the overall leader of the worldwide smartwatch market.
However, it seems that Apple has nothing to worry about because the sales of Apple Watch during the first week of holiday shopping season set a new record, and the current quarter is on the track to be the best ever for the Watch, Tim Cook told Reuters.
Cook didn't mention any numbers, but according to him, Apple Watch will be one of the most popular Christmas gadgets, which isn't surprising because if you are a fan of Apple, the Apple Watch is still one of the cheaper products from their lines of products.
Continue reading: Apple hits record sales with their Apple Watch (full post)
Uber is opening an advanced AI lab
Uber wants to speed up the process of creating self-driving cars, so they went out and acquired an artificial intelligence startup based in New York. It is not known how much Uber paid for this deal, but the will also gain 15 specialists who will form a new AI division within the company - Uber AI Labs.
Gary Marcus, Geometric Intelligence co-founder, told the BBC that "the team would have a wide brief - ranging from improving traffic predictions to working towards a future of flying cars."
The description on the Geometrics Intelligence website says the startup was "founded by a group of noted scientists and leading machine learning pioneers, the team at Geometric Intelligence is redefining the boundaries of machine learning through innovative, patent-pending techniques that learn more efficiently from less data."
Continue reading: Uber is opening an advanced AI lab (full post)
ESA extends ISS participation to 2024
The ESA concluded a two-day Council meeting at the ministerial level in Lucerne, Switzerland and ministers in charge of space matters from ESA's 22 member states plus Slovenia and Canada have allocated 10.3 billion euros (roughly around $11 billion) for space activities and programs based on the vision of a United Space in Europe in the era of Space 4.0.
The members also approved the commitment to extend European participation in the International Space Station program to 2024. Funding for the ESA's extension will amount to about 807 million euros ($861 million) on usage and 153 million euros ($163 million) for science projects involving the Space Station.
NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden expressed his excitement about the decision on NASA's official blog.
Continue reading: ESA extends ISS participation to 2024 (full post)
AMD Radeon GPU tech will power Intel's next-gen iGPUs
With the impending release of Intel's next-gen Kaby Lake family of processors, we're seeing disappointing numbers from the flagship Core i7-7700K - which is barely faster than the current-gen Core i7-6700K, but the new 7700K runs much hotter.
The bigger news that has just dropped is that Intel and AMD have reportedly signed a new contract that will see AMD Radeon GPU technology inside of Intel's next-gen CPUs. AMD would provide Radeon GPU technology for Intel's integrated graphics, after years of Intel trying to make it work - and it looks like they just can't get their GPU game up to scratch, so they're going to their main rival... AMD.
The news is coming from HardOCP boss Kyle Bennett, who wrote on the HardOCP forums: "The licensing deal between AMD and Intel is signed and done for putting AMD GPU tech into Intel's iGPU". Bennett continued, saying that "Intel in no way wants this to be public", but that's kind of hard on a public forum - and now, here with this post.
Continue reading: AMD Radeon GPU tech will power Intel's next-gen iGPUs (full post)
Titanfall 2 infographic reveal interesting information
I'm sure that everybody here have heard that Titanfall 2 is doing terribly. "Oh, the sales are nothing compared to the original!" or "Titanfall 2 is nothing compared to Battlefield 1". "The player count in this game is hideous! I can't even find a match!" Well, let's take a deeper look at an infographic that EA have made based on their data collected from the game between October 28th, 2016 and November 27th, 2016.
You can find the rest of the in the image up at the top but here's just a few interesting ones that caught my attention:
The three most played titans by the players are:
Continue reading: Titanfall 2 infographic reveal interesting information (full post)
Apple's new MacBook Pro has crappy battery life
Apple's new MacBook Pros hit the headlines with their cool new Touch Bar, but then there were claims that there was visual corruption over the AMD Radeon graphics cards - something that was debunked as 'fake news' if I can use that in a news story I will - it turned out to be third-party software, and not AMD hardware causing the visual artifacts.
Now there are MBP owners taking to Reddit to talk about the poor battery life on their new, expensive laptops. One of the posts reads: "The battery on mine (MBP 15″, 2.9, 1 TB, 460) seemed poor when I first got it, but after a week or so it seemed to get better. I assume it's because I was syncing Dropbox and installing all of my software. Now, I'm easily getting 8+ hours out of it when doing the "loungey" stuff like Messages, Safari, Mail, Calendar, and working on the odd spreadsheet in Excel".
Another post said: "I've had the 13′ w/ TB model for a little over a week and a half now. And I'm not liking the battery life at all so far. So initially using chrome w/ the rest of my apps I was getting about 4-5 hrs. So I switched to safari and noticed a slight bump, 5-6hrs. Which is not what was advertised. I used Safari, Mail, NetBeans/xcode and spotify. While in sleep mode, with all apps off, I lose about 6% every 8hrs which is also very bad...".
Continue reading: Apple's new MacBook Pro has crappy battery life (full post)
Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie will arrive in 2018
Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, uh - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with his portrayal as Batman being one of the best received - even after the job Christian Bale did in The Dark Knight Trilogy.
It wasn't long ago that we reported on Aquaman being penciled in for an October 2018 release, but now Den of Geek are reporting that the solo Batman movie will be released in summer 2018. Warner Bros. has previously teased that two DC movies would be released in 2018 - the first, on July 27 - the second, on October 5.
Warner Bros. has confirmed Aquaman for October 2018, so it looks like Batman could be the summer tentpole movie for DC and Warner Bros. in 2018.
Continue reading: Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie will arrive in 2018 (full post)
Battlefield 1's new update includes SLI fixes, and more
Battlefield 1 has been getting patched since its released, but DICE are now teasing the upcoming patch for BF1 that will fix various issues SLI owners are having with the game.
DIJCE producer Ali Hassoon took to Twitter to say that there are "some fixes coming with next patch, but there are other that need new drivers from the manufacturers", when asked about fixes for NVIDIA GeForce SLI owners. The new update will also have various other fixes, with someone asking about a fix for "quitting after games finish", and another glitch where "you can't shoot after getting revived". Hassoon tweeted: "we are aware, fixes incoming".
Another BF1 gamer asked about hindrances in the game, with Hassoon replying: "we are looking into lowering pre-round break limit as an option for admins". Another user asked "any change of admins having access to a full, scrollable chat log", to which Hassoon replied: "good idea, will look into it".
Continue reading: Battlefield 1's new update includes SLI fixes, and more (full post)
Nintendo Switch accessories begin to get detailed
Nintendo unveiled its next-gen Switch console and handheld hybrid back in October, but there are still mysteries surrounding the NVIDIA-powered gaming console. We didn't know which accessories Nintendo would be selling, but according to a listing with Australian game retailer EB Games, we do now.
EB Games has listed three unofficial Nintendo Switch accessories by a company called @play, which include a "Starter Pack", "Starter Pack Plus", and a charging cable. We've already reported that the Nintendo Switch will use a USB Type-C port for charging, and this listing confirms that finding.
As we reported that the Nintendo Switch only has 3 hours of battery life, quick-charging with USB Type-C would be a huge benefit for gamers. The only problem is, however, USB Type-C can potentially fry devices if the cords are improperly made.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch accessories begin to get detailed (full post)
'Transformers 5' gets first trailer, explosions ensue
While the last film in the Transformers franchise 'The Age of Extinction' might have bored cinemagoers across the world, it seems that the $1.1 billion box office haul has ensured that they'll keep pumping them out. Cue 'Transformers: The Last Knight'.
With Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and Peter Cullen reprising their roles alongside series newcomers fresh from their success in HBO's 'Westworld'; Anthony Hopkins and Santiago Cabrera, 'The Last Knight' picks up directly from its predecessor, with Cade Yeager on the run and Optimus Prime having fled Earth to meet his makers. Once again directed by Michael 'I thought I was out, but they pull me back in' Bay, the film should feature an unhealthy amount of explosions.
'Transformers: The Last Knight' is set to hit 2D, 3D and IMAX theatres from June 23, 2017.
Continue reading: 'Transformers 5' gets first trailer, explosions ensue (full post)
PS4 Pro dev kit auctioned with 800GB of encrypted data
Someone has secured themselves a rare console gem, grabbing an early PS4 Neo prototype dev kit console - which is now released commercially as Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro, from United Front, which recently shut its doors in October.
United Front held an auction over the weekend, selling server hardware, office equipment, lamps, TV sets - and yeah, a PS4 Pro development kit. Reddit user kaneda2004 secured the PS4 Neo dev kit, but he found that it had 800GB of data on the HDD, but it was encrypted behind an expired DevKit license.
The 800GB of data can't be accessed, as the files are encrypted after the license expires (as they need to be renewed every 90 days, for reasons just like this). The PS4 Neo dev kit owner has reached out to members of Assembler Games, who will grab the console and try to extract the files from the HDD to see what was hidden.
Continue reading: PS4 Pro dev kit auctioned with 800GB of encrypted data (full post)
'Streets of Rage', 'Altered Beast' films on the way
They were the games that defined a generation, and now it looks as if Sega's 90's classic like 'Streets of Rage', 'Shinobi' and 'Altered Beast' are about to be exploited for movies and TV shows.
According to Variety, Sega spin-off company Stories International has partnered with the production company behind movies and TV shows such as 'Fear the Walking Dead' and 'American Ultra' to produce game adaptations which could also include 'Golden Axe', 'Virtua Fighter' and 'Crazy Taxi', and is ."in the process of partnering with major studios, producers, and filmmakers to co-develop adaptations of these properties as English-language feature films and television series for worldwide release." Sega's biggest franchise 'Sonic The Hedgehog' is already being developed into a hybrid live-action/CG feature film over at Sony Pictures.
That's cool and all, but could we also have a new 'Streets of Rage' game, with music by Yuzo Koshiro?
Continue reading: 'Streets of Rage', 'Altered Beast' films on the way (full post)
Hollywood to rent movies, 2 weeks after they hit cinemas
Hollywood makes billions of dollars a year with just a handful of movies, but what would happen if massive releases were thrown onto the market two weeks after they debut at cinemas?
According to sources of Bloomberg, Hollywood studios are working on new plans that would see rentals of their new movies released two weeks after they hit cinemas. Bloomberg's sources said the rentals would be quite expensive, priced somewhere between $25 and $50 - but if you saw a new movie with a few friends or family members, it would exceed that price easily.
Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara said during an investor conference this week that he has plans for a new home movie plan, and that he and his studio are ready for premium rentals. Tsujihara said: "We're working with them to try and create a new window. But regardless of whether it happens or not - whether we are able to reach that agreement with them, we have to offer consumers more choices earlier".
Continue reading: Hollywood to rent movies, 2 weeks after they hit cinemas (full post)
Join the 'Suicide Squad' in our Blu-ray giveaway
To celebrate this week's release of 'Suicide Squad' on Blu-ray and DVD, we have 10 Blu-rays to give away thanks to our friends at Roadshow Home Entertainment.
From director David Ayer comes "Suicide Squad," starring Oscar nominee Will Smith, Oscar winner Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Oscar nominee Viola Davis. It feels good to be bad... Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?
To go into the running to win a prize, simply correctly answer the following question:
Continue reading: Join the 'Suicide Squad' in our Blu-ray giveaway (full post)
Netflix will double original show content in 2017
Netflix currently offers 30 original shows; in 2017, it will more than double its content to at least 1,000 hours according to chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
Next year marks the start of a different direction for the majority of the company's original content, too: over 20 of the upcoming shows will be unscripted, including global competition series Ultimate Beastmaster (produced by Sylvester Stallone). Scripted shows on the horizon include A Series Of Unfortunate Events (starring Neil Patrick Harris), Santa Clarita Diet (starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant), and Mind Hunter (a David Fincher series about the early days of FBI serial killer profiling).
Netflix will spend approximately $6 billion on content in 2017, an increase of $1 billion over this year. An estimated 50 percent of that will go toward original content.
Continue reading: Netflix will double original show content in 2017 (full post)
Nashville moves to dismiss Comcast anti-Fiber lawsuit
After approving Google Fiber in September, the city of Nashville, Tennessee saw resistance from AT&T and Comcast. Both sued the city over streamlined utility pole attachment rules which would see quicker and easier adoption of Fiber, a threat to both companies' own services.
Now, the city of Nashville has filed a motion to dismiss the Comcast suit (no word yet on the AT&T suit), saying its within its rights to regulate public rights of way and that its methodology does not introduce "substantial impairment" to utility pole operator NES or its contracts, and that even if it did, what it's doing serves a "significant and legitimate" purpose for its people.
As it stands, about 50 percent of the 88,000 poles Google needs to attach fiber to in the city require extra work, but only 33 of them have actually received the work. Rivals to Fiber have been accused for years now of exploiting this loophole to stall adoption, and it appears that's very much the case here.
Continue reading: Nashville moves to dismiss Comcast anti-Fiber lawsuit (full post)
Amazon Go: Grocery shopping with no cash, no lines
Today, you can order basically anything online, including groceries. But you are still going to end up grocery shopping at one point or the other, and the huge lines can be really annoying. Amazon has an alternative and has introduced Amazon Go, a shopping experience where instead of traditional checkouts, lines and cashiers, you enter, get your stuff and exit. No lines, no cashiers.
Amazon said they call this 'Just Walk Out Shopping' experience. First, you will have to download their Amazon Go app and use it when you enter the store. You take the products you want and walk out.
The checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. The technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track on your app. When you leave the store, Amazon will send you the receipt and charge your Amazon account.
Continue reading: Amazon Go: Grocery shopping with no cash, no lines (full post)






