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Nintendo has touted its third-party support for its new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid system, but they said the same thing about the Wii U, and devs eventually pulled out due to dismal console sales and underwhelming specs and power. Here we do a quick comparison of the third-party confirmations and take a look at the rumored Switch specs to gauge our games library expectations from the new platform.

Forty-seven of the games industry's top third-party publishers and developers have already pledged support to Nintendo's new Switch platform, and Nintendo says that's only a sampling. During the Wii U's pre-release third-party confirmations, however, only 21 or so publishers and devs pledged support for the lackluster system--and that number eventually petered out dramatically over time. Could the same thing happen to the Switch?

The main reason developers stopped making games for the Wii U was the system's complexity and lower-end performance. It was a nightmare for devs, requiring a lot of extra work to scale their games on an underwhelming specced system. With the Switch, however, Nintendo enlisted leading graphics card-maker NVIDIA.

A new highly ambitious GTA V mod will add Liberty City into the game, rendering in Rockstar's high-end engine.

The mod is being developed by the OpenIV Team, who has been working on the project since GTA V released. "Today we are proud to announce the project we worked on since initial GTA V release. Liberty City is finally coming into GTA V in all its glory," reads the the announcement on OpenIV Team's blog.

Liberty City won't actually replace Los Santos--the two areas will co-exist and essentially merge two massive GTA games together. Due to legal concerns, the mod will essentially transfer Liberty City from a player's owned copy of Grand Theft Auto IV into their copy of GTA V. So the mod itself is a converter of sorts that takes the older GTA IV files and transforms them into high-def assets, textures, etc usable on the GTA V engine.

Everyday people don't really understand how computer hacking works--even those that watch Mr. Robot probably aren't familiar with the process. So if you're a member of the mainstream media, how do you demonstrate this complicated virtual crime? Easy--just use some footage from Fallout 3.

CNN recently posted up a report on Obama's response to the apparent Russian hacking fiasco that uses a still from Fallout 3's computer hacking mini-game. In fact, I was able to track down the actual screenshot, which was taken from a Kotaku article from 2012.

You can see the brief glimpse of a Vault-Tec terminal at about 1:02 in CNN's video report that matches the Fallout 3 screenshot used by Kotaku in their old terminal hacking article. Check a side-by-side below.

Dishonored 2 was a mess when it launched a few months ago, with PC gamers upset at the state of the game - and Arkane Studios trying to fix as much as it could, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Arkane Studios is currently hard at work on the reboot of Prey, which is powered by CryEngine - with the studio to not make the same mistake twice. During an interview with Game Informer, Arkane's Creative Director Raphael Colantonio and Lead Designer Ricardo Bare explained: "We've had a rough launch on the PC with Dishonored 2. In development, you never really know what you're going to see, especially on the PC with so many configurations. Unfortunately it is what it is, it shipped but now it runs really well after some patches. Of course, we are paying attention to make sure that this time the PC version is really flawless when we ship".

They continued: "A bit more Q&A time, also it's a different engine so the constraints are different. In the case of Dishonored 2 we created a new engine really, even though it's based on idTech most of it has been redone. In the case of Prey we're using CryEngine and it's an engine that's already shipped stuff before, so it's not the same configuration. We are, nevertheless, aware of the problem; we were already but it got us by surprise, this time we'll be paying more attention for sure".

We've already reported that Nintendo's new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid system would leverage modern engines and APIs like Vulkan and Open GL 4.5, DICE's Frosbite 3, Unreal Engine 4, and now it looks like we can expect to see quite a few UE4 games cross over to the Switch.

According to NeoGAF, Epic Games Japan manager Takayuki Kawasaki says a lot of Nintendo Switch's games will use UE4, including "releases of already announced major titles and new games." Takayuki also confirmed that Dragon Quest XI would use Unreal Engine 4 on the Switch, alongside other upcoming titles including Square Enix's hotly anticipated Final Fantasy VII: Remake, Kingdom Hearts III, Tekken 7, and the yesteryear Street Fighter V.

For comparison's sake, here's a list of games that use Unreal Engine 4.

AMD has released its teaser for their upcoming Vega GPU architecture, something that I saw a few weeks ago during their Tech Summit 2016 event - check it out below.

The new 'After the Uprising" video does an extremely good job of continuing the efforts that AMD put into the Radeon Rebellion marketing triumph from last year, but I take a personal spin on it - I consider the drums stream processor cores, and there's a lot of them in the video.

AMD has also launched a new website for all things Vega, which you can find right here at ve.ga - yeah, another nice touch. There's a countdown on the website right now for 3 days and a few hours from now - which is at the start of CES 2017, so expect some big announcements during that time - and keep clicking back here at TT HQ, my article will be waiting for you.

Microsoft has kicked off the first day of 2017 by asking Xbox fans if they're "ready for the beast," aka their upcoming enthusiast-grade 4K-ready Project Scorpio console.

Project Scorpio has been described in a whole manner of colorful ways, with devs calling it a "monster" and Microsoft affirming it'll deliver "the best resolution, best frame rates, no compromises," but now the company has tossed around another term by calling the next-gen Xbox a "beast."

Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg Tweeted an interesting post that tells us two things: the company is extremely confident in Project Scorpio, and it will meet its Holiday 2017 release. Greenberg has recently been quite vocal about the console, saying that it will "usher in a new era of 4K gaming"

Sledgehammer Games, who will likely develop next-year's Call of Duty game, has further teased evidence that CoD 2017 will be set in the past--and it's likely the Vietnam War.

Call of Duty games are typically rotated across three major Activison studios: Infinity Ward, Treyarch and Sledgehammer games. With Infinity Ward having developed Call of Duty: Infinite Warafre, Sledgehammer games is expected to make the next shooter in the series, and we have even more evidence that it'll be based on the studio's scrapped Vietnam War-based Fog of War game.

Sledgehammer dev Michael Condrey recently shared an image of an older M1911A Colt .45 pistol on Twitter, saying "can you un-see our runner up?" The "runner up" here could be referring to the next "runner up" chapter of Call of Duty, with the M1911A hinting at a variety of different settings.

Renowned DIYer and professional tecchie Ben Heck recently torn down Sony's new 4K-ready PlayStation 4 Pro console and compared the system's Polaris GPU and Jaguar CPU die refresh with the PS4 Slim's apparent 16nm refresh.

According to Heck's teardown, the PS4 Pro's board has twice as many power regulators than the PS4 Slim, and features a larger copper heat sink to help mitigate heat generated by the console itself. As we reported a bit ago, the PlayStation 4 Pro runs pretty hot, especially when it's gaming in upscaled or native 4K.

"The heat sink of the new system is about 30% bigger than the old one. It's longer and a little bit thicker. There's three heat pipes coming out of a copper core and those heat pipes are going directly to the top of the fins of the heat sink. There's quite a bit more heat dissipation going on with this unit."

The mannequin challenge has been spreading through social media for the last couple of months, and so far we have seen many recordings of the challenge.

The latest footage, published by astronaut Thomas Pesquet, shows one of the best challenges we have seen so far, and also the only one that hasn't been recorded on Earth.

The video shows astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station 'frozen' in everyday poses. The only female astronaut aboard the ISS appears as if she is taking photos of her colleagues.

With the CES around the corner, a lot of info is leaking about devices that will have their premiere in Las Vegas.

The latest leak comes from ZTE, a Chinese company that will unveil their Blade V8 smartphone.

The Blade V8 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 435 and comes with 3GB of memory and 32GB of internal storage. The device will have a dual camera (13MP + 2MP) and comes with a 5.2-inch full-HD screen.

Capcom alum Hideaki Itsuno has a very particular new year's resolution: to announce a new game in 2017. What could it be?

In a recent Tweet, Capcom's Hideaki Itsuno teased that he will reveal a new title next year. Considering Itsuno is responsible for a sizable chunk of Capcom games, there's lots of possibilities, but we have a pretty good reason to think it'll be Devil May Cry 5.

Although Itsuno's influence is found on various Capcom franchises like Capcom vs SNK and even JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, he's best known for his work on the Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma series. Itsuno directed four Devil May Cry games: Devil May Cry 2, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Devil May Cry 4 and the prequel DmC.

Although Nintendo has confirmed many times that its new Switch handheld hybrid system would launch in March 2017, some gamers still think it'll be delayed. But now retailers are starting to put out official Switch banners, indicating Nintendo has the launch set in stone.

Australian retailer JB Hi-Fi has put up what appears to be the very first Nintendo Switch advertisement banner, clearly listing the March 2017 launch date. While we still don't know how much the Switch will cost--and we won't find that out until Nintendo's special January event--we've had reports that the Switch will come in a $249 basic bundle and a $299 deluxe bundle, with the more expensive SKU offering pack-in games like Splatoon.

If you're new to the Nintendo Switch, here's a quick rundown: the Switch itself is comprised of a 6.2-inch tablet-like device with a 720p display called the "Switch Console" and a dock called the "Switch Dock." The tablet can "switch" at any time across two different form factors: mobile and console play. The tablet is fringed by two detachable JoyPad controllers that can slide off and be used as two separate controllers on-the-go, or fastened to a JoyCon grip for a more traditional controller experience.

Zotac is set to unveil a new wave of hardware at CES 2017, complete with its high-end ZBOX mini PC powered by Intel's newest seventh generation processors.

The ZBOX CI549 mini PC will merge ultra portability with impressive performance thanks to its onboard new Kaby Lake CPU from Intel. The processor will be passively cooled, and the ZBOX will feature multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports for blistering fast USB 3.1 10Gbps transfers, fast-charging and DisplayPort over Type-C capabilities for improved video performance.

"We believe the future of computing should be flexible," says Tony Wong, CEO, ZOTAC International. "Our next generation of computing products enables users to get the best of mobile and stationary experience."

Das Keyboard's new cloud-connected 5Q keyboard will be showcased at CES 2017, allowing attendees a chance to try it out at the event.

The Das Keyboard 5Q was originally funded thanks to a wildly successful Kickstarter, which exceeded its goal by some 500%. The 5Q is connected to the internet via QCloud, and relays information via color-coded signals on its RGB backlit keys instead of an LED screen. For example, you can assign a custom profile that makes a specific key turn red whenever you get an email, or as a reminder for a project deadline.

All of the 5Q's keys can be custom programmed with RGB lighting schemes to allow users to create their own unique visual queues.

GIGABYTE is going on the offensive with its Gaming GT PC, a new SFF gaming PC that rocks some ridiculously delicious specifications - normally found in a high-end desktop gaming PC.

We're looking at Intel's Core i7-6700K processor, a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming graphics card, 32GB of DDR RAM, a 240GB PCIe-based SSD, 1TB mechanical HDD (2.5-inch 7200RPM), plenty of connectivity (Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Type-C, 5 x USB 3.0, and 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A).

All of this fits into a chassis that is barely bigger than the PS3 console, with an automated exhaust system that AnandTech reports "opens up exhaust flippers at the top of the computer when it needs to cool down the components". The site continues: "The chassis can accommodate any double wide graphics card with a maximum size of 280 mm in length and 41 mm in depth, but nothing too custom with regards heat pipes and backplates because the space is constrained".

Foxconn has been pushing into automating its manufacturing process in three of its Chinese manufacturing plants, with plans to "fully automate entire factories eventually" - according to Foxconn's Automation Technology Development Committee General Manager Dai Jia-peng, reports DigiTimes.

Dai said that in the first phase, Foxconn "aims to set up individual automated work stations for work that workers are unwilling to do or is dangerous". There will be entire production lines that will be automated, so that less robots are required for the second phase. In the third phase, Dai teased that "entire factories will be automated with only a minimal number of workers assigned for production, logistics, testing and inspection processes".

Foxconn has already deployed over 40,000 of their Foxbots, an industrial robot that was designed and made in-house by Foxconn. The company is capable of making around 10,000 of these Foxbots per year, as well as industrial robots - Foxconn is also working on medical-orientated robots. Dai added that robotics technology continues to improve, so industrial robots might not be able to completely replace human workers just yet - as human workers can easily switch from task to task, but robots can't do that... yet.

Ever wondered what happens when Mario eats a bad mushroom? No, not a rotten mushroom; the kind that make you see things. I mean Mario is always gobbling up mushrooms to grow bigger, and one of two of them are bound to be the wrong kind, right? Now we know, and the results are pretty horrifying.

This delirious fever dream hallucination-gone-wrong was created by YouTuber CosmoCourtney, who used a Super Mario 3D World hack to make a gangly monster out of everyone's favorite plumber.

I wonder if Miyamoto has seen this yet, and what he thinks about these kinds of hacks. One thing's for sure: every time a mushroom pops up in a Super Mario game, I'll be hesitant to pick it up lest Mario turns into this freakish terror.

A bunch of fake renders on Microsoft's upcoming Surface Phone have appeared online, with a striking design that I think could be popular - especially in a sea of lookalike smartphones that we've become way too accustomed to.

The renders of the Surface Phone tease a very sharp cornered style, with the rear-camera reportedly hitting 20-megapixels and branded by Carl Zeiss. I'm really digging this look, and I think Microsoft won't play it this left field unfortunately - we'll see something like Google did with Pixel, and make a smartphone that looks ridiculously identical to the iPhone.

But those straight edges on this Surface Phone are rocking my world right now, what about you?

It looks like Samsung is preparing two new Windows 10-based tablets for CES 2017 next week, with the Galaxy TabPro S successor - thanks to SamMobile reporting on a purported model number SM-W720 tablet.

Samsung's new Galaxy TabPro S successor is a high-end Windows 10 tablet rocking an Intel Core M processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. The company will include a 5200mAh battery with fast-charging port, USB Type-C, and more - all found inside of a 12-inch 2160x1440 Super AMOLED display and 5-megapixel cameras on the front and back.

The other tablet Samsung is expected to unveil is the purported SM-W620, which should be a smaller version - possibly an 8- or 10-inch variant, with possibly watered down specifications.