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February's free PlayStation Plus PS4 games revealed
UPDATE: Sony has just announced the full PlayStation Plus lineup for PS3, PS4 and PS Vita, which can be found below.
Original story is as follows.
Sony has yet to reveal next month's free PlayStation Plus games, but the cat's out of the bag thanks to a leaked advertisement on Sony's PlayStation Store.
Continue reading: February's free PlayStation Plus PS4 games revealed (full post)
This twin-stack CPU cooler weighs a gigantic 2.6lbs
Alpenfohn has announced its new Olymp dual fin-stack CPU cooler recently, showing users once again that extreme air cooling comes at a price.
In this case the price isn't to do with your wallet, it's the fact that this cooler weighs a massive 2.6lbs (1.2kg) out of the box, partly thanks to it packing two 140mm PWM fans that spin between 300-1,400 RPM. The six heat pipes on this device are made of nickel-plated copper and connect to a nickel-polished copper base to ensure cooling prowess.
The fans on offer push out noise between 8 and 26.8 dBA, allowing this product to offer a gigantic thermal capacity of 340W. Suitable for all recent AMD and Intel processors, this cooler is packed with some Alphenfohn Permafrost thermal paste and measures at a massive 165mm x 151mm x 150mm.
Continue reading: This twin-stack CPU cooler weighs a gigantic 2.6lbs (full post)
Cliff Bleszinski is very happy with Gears of War 4
Gears of War 4 is a very well anticipated game, being one of the titular franchises of the Xbox consoles. The Unreal Engine games have never failed to at least provide hours of violent entertainment, and a good to boot. And thankfully the creator of the series is very satisfied with the direction the games writing is going in.
Unfortunately Cliff isn't exactly kept too much in the loop once the franchise was sold to Microsoft in 2014, but it seems that those working on Gears 4 are at least appreciating his creative genius enough to inform him of the progress they're making. And that's great news.
The first three games have done very well, featuring a harrowing story combined with a very well done cover system that evolved appreciably throughout. Gears of War 4 is riding on a wave of expectation from fans who want it to live up to the rough anticipation in their minds. And who wouldn't at least expect it to blow our minds a little bit. Graphically it should be a nice upgrade, considering Gears of War Ultimate Edition looks, and plays, quite nicely on the Xbox One.
Continue reading: Cliff Bleszinski is very happy with Gears of War 4 (full post)
Das Keyboard invents new mechanical switch, announces mouse and board
As announced in a recent press release, American company Das Keyboard has launched its all-new Alpha-Zulu mechanical switches alongside the X40 and M50 'Pro Gaming' keyboard and mouse products.
These new switches come packed with gold contacts and a 1.7mm actuation, giving a similar point to the well-known Cherry Red setup. The X40 keyboard further offers a 'space camo' color scheme, five programmable macro keys, USB 2.0 pass-through ports, a lengthy 6.5ft braided cable and red backlighting. This product provides users with two switch options - tactile and linear. These switch options mean that gamers are either able to get an extra-responsive product set up for StarCraft II and OSU in the tactile mode, or scale things back with the linear model for a quieter experience.
The M50 mouse provides users with a tailored experience that Das Keyboard claims is perfect for games requiring super fast clicks and precision. Packing a 6400 GPI 4G sensor and nine programmable buttons, this new product further provides six gaming profiles, a diecast aluminum shoe and 4D tilt scroll wheel.
Continue reading: Das Keyboard invents new mechanical switch, announces mouse and board (full post)
Disney's new Tron game confirmed to be coming to PS4 and Xbox One too
This past December at The Game Awards we were delighted to hear that we'd be graced with another, modern Tron game from Disney. But only the PC was mentioned, leading some to believe that consoles, which would be a perfect medium for such a competitive game, were being overlooked.
Now we have confirmation that Tron will be released on the PS4 as well as the Xbox One. On February 16th Tron Run/r, as it's called, will be released on all platforms for $20. Right now it's currently in Early Access on Steam.
In Tron Run/r you'll get to customize your own avatar and participate in all the classic activities from both of the Tron movies, with a lot of the familiar neon environments being recreated. There'll be upwards of 30 different levels to play through. And there's even a Stream mode which remixes existing levels into far more difficult creations.
Continue reading: Disney's new Tron game confirmed to be coming to PS4 and Xbox One too (full post)
Unlocked PS4, Xbox One cores add 'nice reserve of CPU power', says dev
Microsoft and Sony have both opened up 7 out of the 8 CPU cores that power their respective consoles, giving devs a bit more processing power to play with. Now that developers are starting to harness the extra CPU power, it's time to put the extra boost into perspective to see if the added core will make a difference or not.
According to the devs at Techland, who used the extra cores while developing The Following DLC for Dying Light, the 7th core adds a "good reserve of CPU power" for demanding situations. Given the limited nature of both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, devs are keen to use any extra power they have access to.
"Dying Light was made and optimized to work on six cores since that's what was available when we made the game. So the opening up of the 7th core CPUs on both platforms simply gave us a good reserve of processing power. It essentially gave us a helping hand in dealing with more processor intensive situations, but given when Dying Light was developed, it simply means we use the additional CPU power as a nice to have and not something we need have to rely on," Techland dev Tymon Smektala told Gamingbolt.
Continue reading: Unlocked PS4, Xbox One cores add 'nice reserve of CPU power', says dev (full post)
Latest Star Wars Battlefront patch nerfs heroes and weapons
Star Wars Battlefront just received it's January update and it brings a lot of changes to weapon and hero stats, finally bringing about the nerf we've been waiting for.
EA has also started to bring new content into the game with this update, keeping inline with their promise to add something each month. Private matches and daily challenges are added along with Hoth-themed skins for Luke and Han.
Also, no longer are Han Solo or Boba Fett quite as OP as they used to be. If you played smart, you could last for nearly half the match as either, even one-shotting people from a distance. But EA and DICE of made some much needed changes, lowering the damage they put out. The re-balancing of weapon stats has also commenced, something that has been requested for some time.
Continue reading: Latest Star Wars Battlefront patch nerfs heroes and weapons (full post)
After 48 hours in the HTC Vive, one man experiences no nausea
One of the first things people think about when VR is talked about; would be the fact that people will eventually 'live' in the virtual world - which is no different to spending 12-18 hours a day playing any form of games (mobile/PC/console).
Well, one artist has spent 48 hours inside of the HTC Vive, reporting a nausea-free VR experience. Thorsten Wiedemann, the founder and artistic director of the A MAZE Festival, told VICE: "I had no physical problems, no burning eyes, killing headaches or nausea". This was after 48 hours inside of the HTC Vive, for an art project called 'Disconnected' earlier this month. In the 25th hour, Wiedemann had a panic attack which nearly caused him to drop out, but he powered through - and all went well.
Wiedemann said that spending considerable time in VR will be common in 2026, where he said: "normal that you jump into VR to meet your international friends in Social VR Rooms and go on crazy adventures together. But a long trip will be still special and could be understood as a controlled drug experience".
Continue reading: After 48 hours in the HTC Vive, one man experiences no nausea (full post)
League of Legends made $1.6 billion in digital revenue in 2015 alone
We only just reported that the Call of Duty franchise generated $570 million in digital revenue throughout 2015, but League of Legends made nearly 3x that money in the same period of time.
Riot Games and Tencent (the latter company purchased the former company late last year) made an insane $1.62 billion in digital revenue from League of Legends in 2015, eclipsing every other game on PC. The closest to League's $1.6 billion was CrossFire from SmileGate, which made $1.1 billion while Dungeon Fighter Online made $1.05 billion, according to digital games industry analyst firm Superdata.
Superdata CEO Joost van Dreunan said: "The top 10 PC games earn more than the top 10 mobile games. Despite a heavy industry focus on mobile gaming, the combined earnings of digital PC games for the top titles came in higher, totaling $6.3B in sales compared to $6.18B for mobile. PC-based gaming - consisting of free-to-play MMOs, subscription-based games like World of Warcraft, social games and PC downloadable games - earns over $32 billion annually, well above the $25.1 billion generated by mobile games. Three of the year's top five digital PC games (Grand Theft Auto V, Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3) were released in 2015, indicating that PC gamers have made significant progress transitioning to purchasing games digitally".
Continue reading: League of Legends made $1.6 billion in digital revenue in 2015 alone (full post)
Activision made $570m in digital revenue from Call of Duty in 2015
With the Call of Duty franchise making $1.6 billion in revenue over 2015, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Activision made an insane $570 million in digital revenue for the year, just from COD.
Thanks to digital games industry analyst firm Superdata, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare pulled in $355 million in digital revenue while Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 made $224 million - a total of $579 million for the Call of Duty franchise in digital revenue, for 2015. FIFA 15 didn't do too bad, pulling in $332 million in digital revenue for EA, while Grand Theft Auto V made $322 million for Take-Two Interactive.
With Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare making $355 million in digital revenue for 2015 - you probably think that's a lot. Wrong. League of Legends made a whopping $1.6 billion in digital revenue for 2015, which overshadows anything COD did by a long shot. Even CrossFire made $1.1 billion, Dungeon Fighter Online pulled in $1.05 billion, World of Warcraft made $814 million and World of Tanks commanded $446 million in 2015.
Continue reading: Activision made $570m in digital revenue from Call of Duty in 2015 (full post)
Apple reports $18.4 billion in profits for Q4 2015, sets a new record
Another quarter, another slew of trucks backing up to Apple's HQ and dumping piles of money. Apple profits have gone through the roof for the past three months, surpassing the record-breaking quarter Apple enjoyed in Q3 2015.
Apple's Q4 2015 was magical, with $18.4 billion in profits from $75.9 billion in revenue. Apple noted the inflated profits and revenue to the average sale price of its best-selling devices - the iPhone, iPad and Mac - was also a record high, boosting Apple's margins to 40.1%. The company has also predicted its Q1 2016 results, where it's expected to hit $50-$53 billion, down from the $58 billion it pulled in during the same time last year.
Considering Apple only launched one new devices during the quarter, the oh-so-meh iPad Pro, it's surprising Apple did so well. But then you consider the insanely popular iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones, and it begins to make sense. Apple is also seeing a decline in orders with its suppliers, but of course, Apple didn't talk about that with its earnings release - for obvious reasons.
Continue reading: Apple reports $18.4 billion in profits for Q4 2015, sets a new record (full post)
Burnout developer announces Dangerous Golf, has a 'nod to NBA Jam'
Announcing their game completely out of nowhere, Three Fields Entertainment has unveiled Dangerous Golf. The developer is a British studio made up of former Criterion developers, with Criterion being the developer behind the infamous Burnout series.
Dangerous Golf, as TFE explains: "Dangerous Golf is an irreverent, silly, fun approach to golf games that challenges players to break the rules and wreak havoc on more than 100 holes in four unexpected locations. It's as serious a golf game as Burnout was a serious simulation to driving games. We wanted to mix the attitude of Burnout with the destruction of Black whilst setting the golf ball on fire - a nod to NBA Jam. This type of gameplay is part of our DNA, and something we think our fans will truly enjoy".
The game features the latest technology, where it's powered by Unreal Engine 4 and uses NVIDIA's PhsyX, APEX and FleX technologies. TFE added: "Our team worked closely with both Epic's Unreal Engine 4 team and NVIDIA to not only push the boundaries of their PhysX, Apex Destruction and Flex technologies, but also to deliver a truly physics based game experience. As such, players will enjoy causing amazing destruction by smashing thousands of physically simulated rigid body valuables, shatter priceless heirlooms into small pieces and paint the environments with physically simulated liquids".
Continue reading: Burnout developer announces Dangerous Golf, has a 'nod to NBA Jam' (full post)
Firefox 44 launches with push notifications after you close it
The latest Firefox build, now up to 44, can give you push notifications even after you close the browser. They've also removed support for the RC4 encryption cipher and added some very powerful, and easy to use, developer tools.
The push notification feature lets you receive all notifications from any website that you give permission to, and if it's not loaded in a tab you'll still get the notification through Firefox itself. Mozilla says it's a useful feature for getting dynamic updates about weather and even your social network feed.
They've also stopped support for the aging RC4 cipher that's used for HTTPS connections. It was originally designed in 1987 and is incredibly weak by today's standards. It doesn't take long to crack a this cipher with today's compute power. So if a website uses that as their method of connection, then you'll get a warning page and you won't be able to connect. Modern SSL certificates don't make use of that anyway, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. And those developer tools? Very slick.
Continue reading: Firefox 44 launches with push notifications after you close it (full post)
NVIDIA to launch HBM2-powered GeForce GTX Titan X successor in April
If you have been reading our GPU-related content, you should know that we are set for the biggest year in GPU history this year, from both sides: AMD and NVIDIA.
Well, at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference in April, we should see NVIDIA unveil the biggest GPU they've ever made - the successor to the GeForce GTX Titan X. The next-gen card could be called the GTX Titan X2, which would pull some of the wind out of AMD's sails with the dual-GPU Radeon R9 Fury X2, and we should see it featuring HBM2 - scaling up to 16-32GB with 1TB/sec of memory bandwidth. Insanity.
Back in September, we exclusively said that NVIDIA would release both a HBM2 and GDDR5X range of cards - something that will kick off with the HBM2-based Titan X successor. Towards June, we should see NVIDIA unveil a new GP104-based GeForce GTX 980 successor, based on GDDR5X - which offers 448GB/sec of memory bandwidth.
Continue reading: NVIDIA to launch HBM2-powered GeForce GTX Titan X successor in April (full post)
Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series 2016 has $30,000 in cash/prizes
Cooler Master has just launched its Case Mod World Series 2016 event, which the company calls a "competitive modding event designed to connect modders everywhere".
In total, there are $30,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs, thanks to sponsors ASUS, Avexir, Dremel, NVIDIA and OCZ. Global Community Manager for Cooler Master, Michelle Wu, explains: "Modding has exploded in recent years and is taking root in every corner of the globe. The Case Mod World Series is about fuelling that growth. It's about igniting the modding spirit - the maker spirit - on the web and right in your community. This year, we will be running local events to involve modders everywhere. Together, with the generous support of our sponsors, we hope to enable the modding community the world over".
There will be six judges, Ermanno Bonandini from Italy, Ronnie Hara from Brazil via Japan, Richard Keirsgieter from The Netherlands, Antony Leather from The UK, Richard Surroz and Brian Farrell from USA alongside the sponsors. From their respective fields of expertise, they will be judging the modded cases based on their scores in four weighted areas. Complexity, design, originality, and overall look. You can read more on the Cooler Master Case Mod World Series 2016 here.
Continue reading: Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series 2016 has $30,000 in cash/prizes (full post)
Star Wars Battlefront Season Pass detailed, a lot more maps coming
EA has released all of the details about the forthcoming DLC for Star Wars Battlefront as part of their Season Pass. And there's even some free content on the way as well.
The Season Pass, controversial as it is, seems to bring the infusion of content that the game should have had when it was released. There's going to be four new expansions coming out starting in March of this year. Each one will slowly introduce us to more maps, 16 in total, weapons and vehicles to choose from. They're also bringing new game modes for us to play with that should help to keep things interesting.
Aside from the paid Season Pass content, EA and DICE plan on releasing some free goodies to those that don't want to pay for the DLC. They'll have a new Survival mission set on Hoth and a new Hoth multiplayer map that'll support larger game modes as well, such as Walker Assault and Supremacy. The full details of everything coming out is below, after the break.
Continue reading: Star Wars Battlefront Season Pass detailed, a lot more maps coming (full post)
Strong 'X-Files' ratings prompts talk of more in future
The much anticipated 'X-Files' revival has aired the first two of its limited six episode run to very solid ratings despite mostly mixed reviews, with 9.6 million viewers in the United States.
Being off the air for nearly 15 years hasn't seemed to hurt appetite for new episodes, which has prompted Fox network CEO to confirm that the network is "Absolutely" keen to look to more episodes in the future. "The biggest impediment to going forward with 'The X-Files' was scheduling. Gillian is committed to other projects right now, David's schedule is always busy, but even the other night at the premiere we were all laughing and joking that we'd love to do this again, so we are on board if schedules can be worked out."
Coupled with sales of the recently released 'X-Files' Blu-ray boxset which have also been very good and even talk of a third feature film, the future for 'The X-Files' looks very bright indeed.
Continue reading: Strong 'X-Files' ratings prompts talk of more in future (full post)
Disney to make 'Star Wars' & 'Marvel' films until end of time
There's absolutely no doubt that the Marvel and Star Wars franchises are incredibly valuable to the Walt Disney company , with four films films in the top 10 highest grossing films of all time - with 'The Force Awakens' sitting pretty at number 3 with just shy of $2 billion dollars. But how long will they last? Can it simply gone on forever? Disney's CEO Bob Iger seems to think so.
Speaking to the BBC, Iger committed to releasing more 'Star Wars films' after the current batch are released. "There are five Star Wars films - four more with Episode Seven 'The Force Awakens' that are in varying stages of development and production. There will be more after that, I don't know how many, I don't know how often."
And on the subject of Marvel, Iger rejected the claim that fatigue has set in, saying "I don't think they're getting weary... you're dealing with thousands and thousands of characters - that will go on forever. But I think we keep raising the bar in terms of telling stories that bring them back, that excite them, that make it feel new and that is what we do for a living."
Continue reading: Disney to make 'Star Wars' & 'Marvel' films until end of time (full post)
Apple says iOS 8 and up designed to be unhackable by even Apple itself
In a freshly unsealed court case from October 2015, a judge asked Apple why it ignored requests to unlock the iPhone of a methamphetamine dealer. Turns out it didn't, the device (an iPhone 5s with iOS 7), was simply set to erase all data if someone attempted to unlock it 10 times in a row unsuccessfully (an unlocking device will try every possible code in quick succession). Presumably, this was by Apple design.
"In most cases now and in the future, the government's requested order would be substantially burdensome, as it would be impossible to perform," Apple stated, going on to say iOS 8 and above are designed to be unhackable by even Apple itself.
Apple lawyer Marc Zwillinger took it further at the hearing, noting, "Right now Apple is aware that customer data is under siege from a variety of different directions. Never has the privacy and security of customer data been as important as it is now. A hypothetical consumer could think if Apple is not in the business of accessing my data and if Apple has built a system to prevent itself from accessing my data, why is it continuing to comply with orders that don't have a clear lawful basis in doing so?"
Continue reading: Apple says iOS 8 and up designed to be unhackable by even Apple itself (full post)
Real wireless charging coming soon, charge devices from a distance
Wireless Power Transfer, of Tesla fame, is about to become a reality. His vision of actually transmitting power to charge devices is almost here.
Tesla's original design
Wireless charging is currently limited to simply not having to plug something physically into your phone. You still need to make contact with something, like a pad, to charge that battery. But soon, we'll have true wireless charging, where that precious power is beamed through the air to your device. From a distance.
Continue reading: Real wireless charging coming soon, charge devices from a distance (full post)





