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Second-generation Xbox One console reportedly in mass production
A new second-generation Xbox One model has been in mass production since February 2016, according to recently unearthed documents.
Microsoft is planning its own mid-cycle second-generation Xbox One refresh to counter Sony's new 4K-ready PlayStation Neo, leaked documents suggest. The Japanese documents were spotted on NeoGAF, and have since been translated to read:
New Project
Continue reading: Second-generation Xbox One console reportedly in mass production (full post)
Massive Galactic Civilizations III update makes Starbases better
Galactic Civilization III has just been updated to version 1.7, and this one is quite sizable in nature. The focus of which is to help make managing your no doubt plethora of Starbases much easier than it was then ever before.
Starbases, for all the obvious benefits, had some limitations. Namely, that you had to manage each one explicitly. But now you can very easily upgrade your floating space stations from your shipyards, too, which will deliver those upgrades as quickly as possible from the closest shipyard as well. Stardock has also added a more detailed look into the various systems of those bases, making it far more convenient to run your empire.
Among the other changes in v1.7 are a few improvements to the diplomacy system that was itself recently overhauled. Trade prices are now actually dependent on your diplomacy with the various species around you. They've closed a few loopholes, such as the stacking of treaties, that were exploited often. Now it's a bit more random and a bit more fun as well. There's plenty more than just that with the full change log that can be read right here.
Continue reading: Massive Galactic Civilizations III update makes Starbases better (full post)
Microsoft unveils new Iron Man-themed Xbox One console
Microsoft reveals a special edition Xbox One designed by Stark Industries.
I've long thought that most custom special edition consoles are pretty lackluster, but Microsoft has just unveiled an interesting Xbox One designed by none other than Tony Stark. Microsoft and Marvel teamed up to promote Captain America: Civil War, with the partnership culminating in this special Stark Industries-themed Xbox One. The console looks pretty interesting, especially with its mock arc reactor, but I'm worried about ventilation as the system's top is pretty much covered up.
This Xbox One is part of a giveaway, so don't expect to see them in stores. You can enter the win the console by retweeting this Tweet from Xbox France, or liking the Xbox France Facebook page. We'll also likely see a Captain America-themed console as well.
Continue reading: Microsoft unveils new Iron Man-themed Xbox One console (full post)
Samsung teases an all-in-one 'Holodeck' experience for the future
Samsung was one of the first companies to see the future with VR, collaborating with Oculus from nearly the beginning, while building their own Gear VR headset in collaboration with the Rift maker.
At its own Samsung Developers Conference (SDC) the company has teased the future of its plans with its research into VR, and that it thinks a future Gear VR would be an all-in-one headset, without the need of a smartphone, that could reportedly offer a 'Holodeck' experience. Yes, a Holodeck experience - bring it on.
Injong Rhee, Samsung's Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Software and Services - which is a mouthful of a job title, said it was his personal duty to reveal Samsung's future plans. Rhee teased that Samsung is researching untethered HMD technology, which is an 'all-in-one' device that has a built-in smartphone by the looks of things. Motion tracking and touch sensors are also a big part of Samsung's R&D, which comes as no surprise considering how much better the VR experience is with better, VR-ready controllers.
Continue reading: Samsung teases an all-in-one 'Holodeck' experience for the future (full post)
AMD positions itself in the mainstream market, wants to own VR
AMD is positioning itself for a huge battle with NVIDIA this year, in more ways than one. First we have their next-gen Polaris architecture, the new GPU division being spun into Radeon Technologies Group, and an all-in approach when it comes to VR.
The first step for now is the release of Polaris-based video cards, with the expected Radeon 400 series to be unveiled next month and even more so at Computex in the first week of June. We should expect new cards that will beat the Radeon R9 380 and R9 390X, and thanks to the 14nm FinFET process, lower power consumption but much faster cards performance per watt wise.
During an interview with Ars Technica, AMD's main man Roy Taylor said: "I don't think NVIDIA is going to do anything to increase the TAM, because according to everything we've seen around Pascal, it's a high-end part. I don't know what the price is gonna be, but let's say it's as low as £500/$600 and as high as £800/$1000. That price range is not going to expand the TAM for VR. We're going on the record right now to say Polaris will expand the TAM. Full stop".
Continue reading: AMD positions itself in the mainstream market, wants to own VR (full post)
Robert Downey Jr. could be open to 'Iron Man 4' after all
Ever since the release of 'Iron Man 3' in 2013, Robert Downey Jr. has been pretty cold on the potential of headlining a fourth solo 'Iron Man' film, even telling publications last month that "I don't think that's in the cards". But it looks as though the stance might be moving.
Speaking to ABC News on the eve of the release of 'Captain America: Civil War' which sees him return as Iron Man for the sixth time, Robert Downer Jr. says "I feel like I could do one more", which is a big change from 2014's "There isn't one in the pipe. No, there's no plan for a fourth Iron Man".
Last week it was revealed that Downey Jr. has signed up to reprise his role in the upcoming 'Spider-Man: Homecoming, which hits cinemas worldwide next July.
Continue reading: Robert Downey Jr. could be open to 'Iron Man 4' after all (full post)
Uber, Google and more join to lobby government on self-driving cars
Some of the biggest automotive companies in the world have joined forces for the issues surrounding self-driving cars, with Ford, Google, Uber, Lyft, and Volvo joining together to form the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets.
What's that? The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets is a lobbying group that will fight with the federal government about autonomous driving. With the government not really having a handle on self-driving cars just yet, the coalition is being led by David Strickland. Strickland is the former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Strickland will act as the group's counsel and spokesperson, so in a way, he'll be lobbying his former agency. His previous employer has been tasked by the Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to work out the rules for self-driving cars, by early this summer.
Continue reading: Uber, Google and more join to lobby government on self-driving cars (full post)
Nintendo actually might be stopping Wii U production in 2018
Nintendo had originally announced that they were going to release the NX console alongside the Wii U and that they didn't necessarily have any intention of replacing their older console.
That original statement might have been a slight bit premature, even if it might seem somewhat natural to discontinue the last-generation if the new one has both backwards compatibility and is about the same price as the outgoing console. The Wii U will live on for some time, though the president of Nintendo, Tatsumi Kimishima, said that they could cease manufacturing the Wii U by March 2018.
The old system still has some life left in it despite it being of the "older" variety. The third-party game selection might not be the best, but the first party games could still be enough to draw in new customers until then, likely at a reduced price point after the NX officially releases. They have even forecasted that they'll be shipping 800K Wii U's this year, even though they shipped 3.26 million last year. It's possible that number might actually be higher in reality, even.
Continue reading: Nintendo actually might be stopping Wii U production in 2018 (full post)
Nioh, a PS4 Exclusive, lets you select better graphics, or framerate
Console games typically don't give you terribly many options when it comes to customizing your graphical experience. In fact, you really don't get any at all. A new PlayStation 4 exclusive action game coming out soon actually completely changes that with an option to select Action or Movie modes in the settings.
The setting was noticed just today by ZhugeEX, who went through the demo available on the PSN and noted that the setting increases the fidelity when set to Movie mode and decreases the graphical goodies in favor of a higher and more smooth framerate in the Action mode. Action mode looks slightly worse, yet seems to run quite a bit faster. A tradeoff, sure, but one that might be appreciated depending on what you re looking for.
It's precisely that choice that consoles have previously lacked completely. Console games probably shouldn't quite have the full gamut of settings available that their PC counterparts do, but being able to choose between two pre-defined modes that set resolution, among other things, to certain presets could help to increase the life of the PS4, even if it lives on beside the PS4.5 (Neo). The demo for Nioh is available on the PSN right now, though only until May 5th. The demo is an alpha build, so it isn't necessarily representative of what we might actually see when it's finished and this option might even be fleeting.
Continue reading: Nioh, a PS4 Exclusive, lets you select better graphics, or framerate (full post)
Ikea solar panels will be in all stores by the end of the year
Yesterday it was reported Ikea had begun selling solar panels in its UK stores and online, with plans to offer them in all UK stores by the end of summer. With that, we had to wonder: would they later be available in all Ikea stores, and if so, when?
Well, we now have confirmation Ikea does indeed plan to expand the offering to all of its stores, and it won't take too long for it to do so.
"IKEA 'Solar Shops' will launch in three major stores across the UK, with a plan to sell solar panels in all stores by the end of [the year], following an initial UK pilot," a company spokesperson said to us. "The "Solar Shops" will launch on April 25 2016 in Glasgow, Birmingham, and Lakeside (Thurrock) and online followed by the Manchester and Southampton stores in May, then all other stores by the end of the 2016. This excludes order and collection points."
Continue reading: Ikea solar panels will be in all stores by the end of the year (full post)
Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing coming to mobile in autumn
After Nintendo stated it would release five titles for mobile by the end of the year, today we have confirmation both the beloved Fire Emblem tactical RPG series and the popular Animal Crossing simulation series are coming to the platform this autumn.
Fire Emblem will be adapted to be more accessible than the more in-depth series titles to date, while Animal Crossing will feature connectivity with the series games on other platforms. Both games will have "more prominent game elements" than the recently released Miitomo app.
Nintendo says "the game content [for both titles] will tie closely into [our] dedicated games business", which is awfully vague, but we'll speculate it could mean cross-platform microtransactions, points, achievements, save data, and so on, and possibly discounts on console and handheld titles, among other possibilities.
Continue reading: Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing coming to mobile in autumn (full post)
Dark Souls 3 Unsqueezed mod fixes resolution, HUD scaling issues
If you're not like most people and don't or don't like to run 1920x1080 resolution in fullscreen mode, you've probably run into some trouble with Dark Souls 3 on PC. Fortunately, modder Kaldaien has created 'Souls Unsqueezed', a mod that cures this trouble.
Unsqueezed is in the very early stages -- it's currently numbered version 0.1.0 -- but already offers some very welcome features and fixes in Borderless Window Mode, better performance in windowed mode, and much improved HUD scaling for those with high-DPI and/or multi-monitor setups.
In the future, it will unlock the resolution of many effects which are currently stuck at 720p.
Continue reading: Dark Souls 3 Unsqueezed mod fixes resolution, HUD scaling issues (full post)
Interview with the Devs; Uncovering the mysteries of Arcadian Atlas
We took the time to talk with the creators of an upcoming resurgence into the tactical turn-based RPG realm. This is a genre that hasn't exactly seen the most attention as of late, which seems to be due to not fully understanding realizing the potency of it. Regardless of why there haven't been many games in this realm, this one wants to blend the classic with the modern and bring back the wondrous joy that you may or may not have been privy to when the genre was created so many years ago.
Taylor Bair, the co-founder of Twin Otter Studio with his sister, Rebecca, was able to answer a few questions about their upcoming project, Arcadian Atlas, which is now on Kickstarter to help fund the development of their game. Tactical RPG's of this nature, with a high-fantasy setting, aren't nearly as common as you'd think, so these two are very excited to bring this back to the world in the unique way that they plan bring it back.
We grew up with classic games from the SNES like Suikoden, Chrono Trigger, and Breath of Fire, so we wanted to create something that evoked those, but had a charm all its own as well.
Continue reading: Interview with the Devs; Uncovering the mysteries of Arcadian Atlas (full post)
Lightweight Facebook wrapper app Swipe gets design overhaul, more
Arguably the best Android Facebook wrapper app Swipe for Facebook gets even better today thanks to some major design changes as well as new features.
Changes in the new 3.0 release include major stability and performance improvements (the developer is awfully excited when describing just how fast this version really is), automatic day/night theming (so the theme will change from light to dark the longer the day goes on if you want it to), Material design (pro users only), new menus, copyable text, fingerprint authentication, and more.
The appeal of Swipe is it lets you use Facebook on your phone without the crushing demand the official app places on your hardware, thereby slowing the OS down and draining the battery quickly. The developer achieves this by 'wrapping' the lightweight Facebook website into a convenient app. If you'd like to give it a try, hit the source link.
Continue reading: Lightweight Facebook wrapper app Swipe gets design overhaul, more (full post)
Apple could be going in a completely different direction than thought
There was a sort of revolution that was started by Apple with the introduction of their iPhone, or shortly after it at least. OS X took a different turn and started to merge many different features that were found on their mobile OS, and began to transform, blending together the two and making them work very well together. Microsoft, Google and even Canonical, the developers of Ubuntu, took note and also began experimenting with integrating the mobile experience into the daily life. Mobile has become increasingly important, and very much a large part of the lives of many. So it's only natural, after all.
But even though they started merging their two OSs together, Apple still has four separate operating systems that, while very similar and that can all developed for using the same language (Swift and Objective C), they're still quite different and not at all the integration that we thought was going to happen.
Microsoft is actually committing to that vision that was seemingly started by Apple, and are very vocal about bringing together their disparate platforms. Windows 10, the Xbox One and now their phone all share the same underlying platform. That was the direction that we all thought Apple was going to continue into, until that progress didn't quite continue on like we thought. Even Ubuntu is the same across the many different platforms, with a sort of continuity mode that turns their phones into full-fledged computing system.
Continue reading: Apple could be going in a completely different direction than thought (full post)
Windows 10 hand-off feature shown in leaked screenshot of Redstone
Hand-off of tasks from mobile to desktop has become a bit of a blessing. It's easy to begin work, or even browsing Facebook, on your phone and simply start up where you left off on your larger and more powerful devices. For those that use various Apple devices, it's a natural element of those operating systems. And one that's sorely missed from Windows. Windows 10 might be getting similar functionality in the Redstone update coming this summer.
A user on Reddit seems to have stumble across what appears to be just that in the latest preview build of Redstone. A toggle was found nestled in the settings pane that would allow you to continue work on whatever device is running Windows 10, with Bluetooth, aside from using a cloud based solution like some applications and OS X do.
Though it's obviously limited to other Windows 10 devices, and could theoretically include the Xbox One, it's still a step in the right direction. You never really know or understand just how useful a future that is until you've migrated to an OS that doesn't fully support it. Just being able to select the mobile tabs in Chrome that I was perusing is quite nice, but this new take, with Bluetooth mind you, will be a much needed advancement for Microsoft.
Continue reading: Windows 10 hand-off feature shown in leaked screenshot of Redstone (full post)
The Division on PC can't be fixed without a 'complete code rewrite'
Glenn Fiedler, a seasoned online FPS dev who has worked with Respawn, Sony and Pandemic, took a closer look at the nature of The Division's hacks and exploits to see if they could be fixed. According to Fiedler, Ubisoft will likely have to completely rewrite its netcode to fix the game.
"Most of the smaller glitches can be fixed. But then I saw this video. This is super bad news," Fiedler wrote. "Because here we have a client-side cheat program that is poking memory locations and giving players infinite health, infinite ammo, and teleporting players around the level. This indicates that The Division is most likely using a trusted client network model."
"I sincerely hope this is not the case, because if it is true, my opinion of can this be fixed is basically no. Not on PC. Not without a complete rewrite. Possibly on consoles provided they fix all lag switch timing exploits and disable players moving and shooting while lag switch usage is detected (trusted client on console exclusive games is actually more common than you would think...), but not on PC unless they completely rewrite most of their netcode and game code around a server-authoritative network model."
Continue reading: The Division on PC can't be fixed without a 'complete code rewrite' (full post)
Armored Warfare Panzer Showdown winners crowned after bloody battles
Armored Warfare recently held a competition where you had the chance to sign-up with one of three different mercenary factions represented in the game to attempt to conquer the others on a bloody modern battlefield. The ultimate prize was a weeks worth of premium play time for the entire team. That competition has come to a close with the Remnant as the clear victor.
Everyone is a winner in this case with the other two factions also earning three days of premium time, though the free-to-play game doesn't require that to be enjoyed at all. The surprising statistic from the competition is that it wasn't always strictly decided by PvP battles, as one might expect. Winning PvE missions also counted as wins, it seems, and the overwhelming victories came from the PvE side of things. Also, of the 27,428 members of the Remnant, they dished out a combined 6.7 million points in damage from ramming alone.
The game is quickly coming into prominence and catching the eye of those that are even playing World of Tanks due to the more modern vehicles, better mechanics and better matchmaking system available. Built on the CryEngine, it runs smooth, looks great and thus far is actually quite the surprise. Having never heard of it, I took a few moments to explore and it was both accessible and enjoyable beyond what I'd first initially thought. More on that coming soon. Check out their infographic after the break.
Continue reading: Armored Warfare Panzer Showdown winners crowned after bloody battles (full post)
Oculus founder defends himself on Reddit after getting torn to pieces
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey hasn't been shy on Reddit - well, ever - with the flip flop wearing VR startup founder taking to Twitter and Reddit to defend himself from the pitchfork-toting internet public.
Luckey took to Twitter recently, writing: "I prefer production that can keep up with demand, but much prefer shortages to the opposite problem! No burying Rifts in desert landfills". He followed up with: "Which is a very real concern for any hardware company, especially one trying to predict volumes on a totally new market".
Reddit was the next port to call for Luckey, where he had a huge post with a swift quote here of: "Does shit change sometimes? Of course it does. Does that mean I am going to stop speaking my mind because people throw out of context words in my face years later? No, not really. The same people who complain about "lack of transparency" and "sterile, corporate communication" are so very often the same people who berate and hate companies and individuals for anything they ever say that changes at some point".
Continue reading: Oculus founder defends himself on Reddit after getting torn to pieces (full post)
New Call of Duty called 'Infinite Warfare', release date leaked
Infinity Ward's new Call of Duty game is called "Infinite Warfare", and will release on November 4, 2016 according to a leaked promo.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was first spotted as a slip-up on Sony's PlayStation Store, and now a new leaked pre-order token has revealed the game's first image and release date of November 4--which coincides with the franchise's annual releases. The leak is marked as "confirmed" on the Call of Duty Reddit, so it could be accurate, and it certainly aligns neatly with the PS Store listing.
The promo shows the "Legacy Edition" version of the game, which presumably comes with a remastered port of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The next CoD game was previously rumored as Ghosts 2, and was believed to take place in the distant future with heavy emphasis on technology. Other reports said Infinite Warfare would feature space combat, and based on the helmet in the NPC's hand on the front cover, I'd say this is right on the money.
Continue reading: New Call of Duty called 'Infinite Warfare', release date leaked (full post)







