Here's a list of companies taking the knee to Chinese censorship

Anthony Garreffa | Current Affairs | Oct 10, 2019 8:19 PM CDT

I'm sure by now you've heard about the massive issues going on in China, which have been going on for a very, very long time now - but we're at a point where it's hard to ignore, even for gamers.

Here's a list of companies taking the knee to Chinese censorship

Activision Blizzard is in the crosshairs of Chinese censorship, with the Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft creator bowing to Chinese pressure. Activision Blizzard recently suspended one of its pro Hearthstone players after the player support pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

But the list is growing, wtih Apple taking a knee to Chinese censorship and even the likes of American Airlines, Gap, Mercedes-Benz, Ray-Ban, Nike, TikTok, and many others pressured by the country and its strict stance on criticism. Mashable has compiled a big list of these companies that include (so far, as I'm sure there are more):

Continue reading: Here's a list of companies taking the knee to Chinese censorship (full post)

Elon Musk: NASA is free to share SpaceX IP with 'anyone it wants'

Elon Musk is probably the most passionate man on this planet when it comes to traversing the stars, with the SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder having some interesting words to say during a recent event at the SpaceX HQ.

Elon Musk: NASA is free to share SpaceX IP with 'anyone it wants'

Musk was joined by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at the SpaceX HQ in Hawthrone today, with Musk updating the world on the commercial crew launch program that SpaceX is collaborating with NASA on. During the chat, Musk talked about the state of the program, and what is coming next.

There was a Q&A session after the event, where Musk said that what the SpaceX team learned from the Crew Dragon parachute development program is open to the world -- making it available to anyone who wants it. Musk said that literally any of SpaceX's own IP is open to NASA and can feed it out as they want.

Continue reading: Elon Musk: NASA is free to share SpaceX IP with 'anyone it wants' (full post)

NASCAR wants hybrid cars in its races by as soon as 2022

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Oct 10, 2019 7:13 PM CDT

NASCAR is getting into the hybrid and electric vehicle movement (they can't ignore it anymore, I guess) with NASCAR senior VP of Racing Development John Probst announcing during an interview with TechCrunch that they're preparing for hybrid vehicles entering NASCAR races as soon as 2022.

NASCAR wants hybrid cars in its races by as soon as 2022

Probst says it will start with hybrid vehicles and eventually extend to electric vehicles, but it won't be an instant overnight switch being flicked. NASCAR says it will be waiting for "Next-Gen gas race car" guidelines that will arrive in 2021, after which we can expect the full push into the world of hybrid and EVs entering NASCAR races.

NASCAR says that hybrids and electric vehicles aren't a perfect match for its current tracks, so the organization will have to investigate the possibility of making shorter tracks for hybrids and EVs. In these modified, shorter tracks drivers can take advantage of regenerative braking on hybrids and EVs in order to battle other racers.

Continue reading: NASCAR wants hybrid cars in its races by as soon as 2022 (full post)

COD: Modern Warfare requires RTX 2080 SUPER for 4K 60FPS ray tracing

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 6:30 PM CDT

The release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is right around the corner and while it will require an insane 175GB of HDD space, the game has even loftier requirements if you want to turn on those gorgeous ray tracing effects.

COD: Modern Warfare requires RTX 2080 SUPER for 4K 60FPS ray tracing

NVIDIA has detailed the PC requirements to enable ray tracing in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p 60FPS (no ray tracing enabled) requiring a GeForce GTX 970 or GeForce GTX 1660, while ray tracing at 1080p 60FPS is going to need a GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER at a bare minimum.

If you want to bump things up to 120-144FPS on those high refresh rate gaming displays, NVIDIA recommends a GeForce GTX 1080 or newer GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER -- but if you want to step into the Big Boys Club and enabled 4K 60FPS with ray tracing enabled, NVIDIA recommends its new GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER graphics card.

Continue reading: COD: Modern Warfare requires RTX 2080 SUPER for 4K 60FPS ray tracing (full post)

Hitman devs' new IP to be published by Warner Bros.

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 10:31 AM CDT

IO Interactive finds a publisher and distributor for its new unannounced franchise.

Hitman devs' new IP to be published by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has teamed up with IO Interactive to publish a new console and PC game, the company today announced. The duo previously worked together to publish Hitman 2 on all platforms so this move is a no-brainer. No details were revealed on the new AAA game, but based on the studios involved and IO's past development structure, we're betting its a new IP and not another Hitman game.

The Hitman dev has actually been working on a new IP for a while now. It's new studio in Malmo, Sweden was opened specifically to help its Denmark branch develop the fresh IP.

Continue reading: Hitman devs' new IP to be published by Warner Bros. (full post)

Metro Redux has been listed for Nintendo Switch by a retailer for $55

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 9:11 AM CDT

A new listing has been spotted on a gaming retailer website that indicates that Metro Redux is coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Metro Redux has been listed for Nintendo Switch by a retailer for $55

For those that don't know, Metro Redux is a definitive edition collection of two Metro titles and was originally released back in 2014 for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The two Metro titles are Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, the collection also came with all the attached DLC content as well as some graphical improvements.

The website that has listed the title is GamingReplay, and according to their listing Metro Redux will be coming to the Nintendo Switch for 44.99 pounds, or $55. There has been no official announcement for Metro coming over to the handheld console, but the listing contains the box art for the title which suggests that it could certainly happen.

Continue reading: Metro Redux has been listed for Nintendo Switch by a retailer for $55 (full post)

Terry Bogard will come to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this November

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 8:09 AM CDT

A character from all the back from 1991 will be making his way to Nintendo's legendary representative fighter, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Terry Bogard will come to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this November

Originally launched for the Neo Geo System back in 1991, Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury will be making his way to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as a paid DLC fighter. Nintendo confirmed that Terry Bogard would be coming to Ultimate through their last Nintendo Direct presentation.

The official Nintendo Versus Twitter account has posted a tweet to remind fans his release is on-track for November. Once Terry Bogard is released, this will be the fourth DLC fighter to come to the Fighters Pass, meaning there is still one more character to follow to complete the set. Nintendo also teased that after the set is complete that they will continue to add an undisclosed amount of characters.

Continue reading: Terry Bogard will come to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this November (full post)

Google teases coming Dark Mode for System Settings, Google Maps & more

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 7:07 AM CDT

This week has been huge for mobile users who have been wanting to get dark mode on the rest of their most-used apps. Instagram has already made the jump and now Google has teased that some other big apps will be soon joining the dark side.

Google teases coming Dark Mode for System Settings, Google Maps & more

On the official Android Instagram account, Google posted a quick two-frame animated gif that shows off a slew of apps and system settings going from their original white color to dark. We see the likes of Google Maps which is prominently centered in the middle of the image, blackened out message notifications, Digital Wellbeing, Google Photos, Google Search and Drive.

It seems from this image that when Google decide to roll out Dark Mode for all of their apps that they aren't going to be doing it one app at a time, instead they will release the new mode for all apps at once. The gif also suggests that users will be able to enable and disable dark mode across all apps with a single press of a button, or perhaps even be able to choose what apps are using dark mode and which aren't.

Continue reading: Google teases coming Dark Mode for System Settings, Google Maps & more (full post)

Instagram for PC gets Direct Messaging, still can't even upload images

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 6:03 AM CDT

Instagram has been all over the news as of late, mostly due to the app being updated with a bunch of new features (dark mode) and some features even removed. Now the PC version is getting some love, not a lot of love, just a little bit.

Instagram for PC gets Direct Messaging, still can't even upload images

Obviously Instagram is predominately aimed towards mobile and its extremely popular app, meaning that the PC version falls behind in features and updates. Most Instagram users are on mobile, but there is still a small portion of users who enjoy browsing the website version. Today is PC users' lucky day as it has been discovered that Instagrams Direct messaging, or DM's for short, is working on PC.

Jane Manchun Wong, who also found out that Instagram is testing a new 'Group Story' feature, managed to get Instagram Direct for desktop to show up through digging around in the source code.

Continue reading: Instagram for PC gets Direct Messaging, still can't even upload images (full post)

EA desperate for Battlefield V players, 3 free weekends starts Oct 10

Jak Connor | Gaming | Oct 10, 2019 5:11 AM CDT

EA and DICE are looking to get some more Battlefield V (BF5) players by letting any PC gamer jump onto BFV completely free of charge for the next three weekends.

EA desperate for Battlefield V players, 3 free weekends starts Oct 10

Each of the free weekends will feature different multiplayer game modes for a variety of different gamers. Also, throughout the trial periods Squad Contest mode, War Stories and the untold and single-player stories inspired by real WW2 events are available. If you decide to participate in any of the free weekends, all progression throughout the trail periods will be carried over to your account if you decide to purchase the game.

EA has planned for players to try out the Rush game mode for the first week on the trial, second week will be legendary Conquest mode and finally the third week will be the Grand Operations mode. If you are interested in jumping into the action, you can pre-load the game through the Origin Store, a link to that can be found here.

Continue reading: EA desperate for Battlefield V players, 3 free weekends starts Oct 10 (full post)