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Just Cause 3 runs at 900p 30FPS on the Xbox One, so much more on PC

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 24, 2015 11:30 PM CST

It wasn't too long ago now that we reported that Just Cause 3 was rendering at 900p on the Xbox One, but now the frame rate has been confirmed at a 'solid' 30FPS. Just Cause 3 is running at 1080p on the PS4, and at much higher resolutions like 4K and beyond (and multi-monitor setups) on the PC.

The news is coming from NeoGAF user 'Death Metalist', where he posted his first impressions on Just Cause 3. He said: "For the most part it's a solid 30 FPS unless there is a really big explosion involved with physics stuff". He continued, teasing: "The game starts off pretty strong and pretty much throws you right in the mess of things while teaching you some of the mechanics. Literally within the first 10 or so minutes you'll get the wingsuit and tethering objects. I could only make 2 tethers and the maximum is 6 tethers. Of course, that's only possible by upgrading it thanks to your gear mods menu option, you do challenges to unlock crazy upgrades that concerns pretty much everything you use. Weapons, grenades, hook etc".

The best bit, is when he explained the draw distances and how big Just Cause 3 is, where he added: "The game has great draw distances on consoles and it seems to be a really massive place to wreck havoc in. So far this just seems to be a crazier, bigger and better JC2. There are 3 regions, 29 provinces, 130 settlements, 25 missions, 112 challenges, 40 daredevil jumps, 23 ancient tombs and a bunch of other collectibles".

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Continue reading: Just Cause 3 runs at 900p 30FPS on the Xbox One, so much more on PC (full post)

How to use Fallout 4's bottlecap glitch without depleting ammo

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 24, 2015 8:30 PM CST

Fallout 4's bottlecap glitch has certainly amassed riches for many post-apocalyptic adventurers, but like any convenient feature, the trick comes at a pretty steep cost. In this quick guide we'll show you how to get past that annoying flaw and reap the benefits of riches while keeping your hard-found ammunition intact.

How to use Fallout 4's bottlecap glitch without depleting ammo

Just about every Fallout 4 player has heard about the bottlecap glitch. For console players, this trick is an extremely handy way to rack up bottlecaps fast and buy out great legendary gear and ammunition. As bottlecaps pretty much fuel your enjoyment in the Commonwealth, having more caps than a recycling plant certainly boosts the game's fun factor.

While just about every games outlet has reported on the existence of the bottlecap glitch, I haven't seen any websites discuss the trick in detail or expose its caveats and trade-offs. Essentially the trick will rob you of your ammo if you aren't careful, making even the best weapons completely useless. A few times I've been caught with my pants down and without any ammo, and it often ends quite badly. Luckily, we have your back and show you how to avoid this frustrating after-effect so you can rob every vendor blind and grab near-infinite caches of caps, ammo and gear.

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Continue reading: How to use Fallout 4's bottlecap glitch without depleting ammo (full post)

Sony tells users not to upgrade to Windows 10

Chris Smith | Software & Apps | Nov 24, 2015 2:32 PM CST

While Sony had already warned users about waiting to upgrade to Windows 10 due to possible issues, it has now officially announced the upgrade limitations over its complete lineup.

With VAIO desktops and laptops being largely crossed off the upgrade list, Sony reportedly tested its products that were released in 2011 and beyond. While many of the tests have just been preliminary 'upgrade and click around' tests, Sony has begun further testing with many of its product range, while trying to pinpoint and fix exact issues with all of its latest products.

Issues with Windows 10 on Sony VAIO systems range from Blue Screen of Death errors due to switchable internal video cards, AMD video carded systems having limited camera support and the non-complete functionality of many Sony exclusive apps.

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Continue reading: Sony tells users not to upgrade to Windows 10 (full post)

Software modder brings PlayStation's Remote Play to PC... for a price

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 24, 2015 11:16 AM CST

Sony's Remote Play functionality is one of the most innovative features of our current generation of consoles, and represents a nice boon for PS Vita owners. But why stop at the Vita? Gamers have already brought Remote Play over to Android, so why find a way to bring Remote Play over to desktop PC's? A dedicated software modder has done just that, but his approach might ensure the project is dead on arrival.

Software modder brings PlayStation's Remote Play to PC... for a price

Renowned gamer and coder Twisted has spent quite some time on Remote Play PC. After a full year's work, Twisted has announced that the Remote Play PC app is ready to go, and that Sony's cross-platform tech will find its way onto gaming PC's starting tomorrow. But it's not going to be free: Twisted plans on charging $10 for the app.

"I'd like to work on this project full time, adding features, getting it stable and porting it to other platforms which I know a lot of you want," the homebrew dev wrote in the latest announcement update. "The only way to support this is to charge for the app, all my previous projects have been free and I don't want to have to but sadly its the only way to support my living costs. On the plus side this means I have more time to work on the project and provide support to its users, something which I've been limited on in the past."

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Continue reading: Software modder brings PlayStation's Remote Play to PC... for a price (full post)

Dell admits fault, promises to remove preinstalled security flaw

Chris Smith | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Nov 24, 2015 9:27 AM CST

Described as an "unintended security vulnerability," Dell has admitted that a root certificate preinstalled on some of its models exists and promises to remove it.

A Dell spokesperson explained that "to address this, we are providing our customers with instructions to permanently remove the certificate from their systems via direct email, on our support site, and technical support," further commenting that the computer giant does not install malware on user systems pre-delivery.

While Dell claims no responsibility for this flaw, a security blogger by the name of Hanno Bock disagrees. He says that this root certificate is not only shipped within these pre-built machines, but it's under the name 'eDellRoot' and is linked to 'Dell Foundation Services' drivers.

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Continue reading: Dell admits fault, promises to remove preinstalled security flaw (full post)

Star Citizen's $350 custom HOTAS controller goes on sale next month

Anthony Garreffa | Peripherals | Nov 24, 2015 2:33 AM CST

It wasn't too long ago that we talked about the $350 custom HOTAS controller for Star Citizen, something the developer worked very closely on with peripherals maker Saitek. Well, the first controllers are about to go on sale.

Roberts Space Industries has revealed that the first model of its custom flight sticks would go up for preorder next month, and it will feature a modular design. The throttle and stick will feature integrated trackballs, and it'll be compatible with a matching ten-keyless keyboard and a separate keypad that will sport an interactive OLED display.

Carl Jones, Robert Space Industries' COO, explains: "The idea is that you can split it apart and combine it with other devices". The idea behind this is that gamers will be able to play Star Citizen with a joystick and keyboard, a joystick and throttle, two joysticks, or any combination of the custom controllers.

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Continue reading: Star Citizen's $350 custom HOTAS controller goes on sale next month (full post)

Ubisoft has included NVIDIA GameWorks features in Rainbow Six: Siege

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 24, 2015 12:32 AM CST

Ubisoft is getting ready for the release of Rainbow Six: Siege, which deploys on December 1 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC with a new trailer highlighting the NVIDIA GameWorks features - check it out.

Ubisoft has included NVIDIA GameWorks features in Rainbow Six: Siege

Rainbow Six: Siege will feature HBAO+ for deeper and richer shadows and improved occlusion, TXAA, 'enhanced graphics', and much more. For NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (notebook), GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti, you can grab yourself a copy of Rainbow Six: Siege or Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for free, by checking out the "Bullets or Blades" promo that NVIDIA is running.

Let's hope it launches without multi-GPU issues, unlike Batman: Arkham Knight and Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.

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Continue reading: Ubisoft has included NVIDIA GameWorks features in Rainbow Six: Siege (full post)

Samsung Gear VR sells out online

Sean Ridgeley | Extended Reality (XR) | Nov 23, 2015 9:35 PM CST

Samsung's cheap but effective virtual reality device Gear VR started shipping this week. If you haven't gotten your hands on it yet, you may not be able to for awhile, as it's all been bought up through the advertised e-tailers (Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung.com).

Samsung said of the news, "We are delighted with the overwhelmingly positive response Gear VR has received from reviewers and eager buyers alike. We are working hard to fulfill all orders as quickly as possible."

The popularity isn't too surprising: Samsung is a well-known and respected electronics maker, and Gear VR allows one to test out augmented reality with little sacrifice thanks to the $99 price point.

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Continue reading: Samsung Gear VR sells out online (full post)

Microsoft pulls Windows 10 version 1511 downloads

Sean Ridgeley | Software & Apps | Nov 23, 2015 7:25 PM CST

Microsoft has pulled downloads for version 1511 of Windows 10, the major release launched last week. As of yesterday, the downloads will only give you build 10240, and you can only upgrade through Windows Update, meaning you're (almost) out of luck if you want a clean install or to specifically upgrade with the ISO for some reason. You can use this semi-secret link, but it may well be pulled soon.

The company confirmed to ZDNet and us that this is very much intentional and they want the update available through Windows Update only, although they don't specify why. There are user reports that claim tech support has told them the ISO downloads have caused issues, and this official Microsoft documentation might indicate the cause, so that's a possibility. When asked for comment on this, a Microsoft spokesperson told us, "We look into any issues our customers report and appreciate their feedback. We don't have any further information to share today."

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Continue reading: Microsoft pulls Windows 10 version 1511 downloads (full post)

Just Cause 3 on PC supports NVIDIA GameWorks

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 23, 2015 6:23 PM CST

Avalanche Studios' deliciously chaotic open-world explosion-sim Just Cause 3 releases in just little over a week from now, and we've spotted some new details that concerns PC gamers.

Just Cause 3 on PC supports NVIDIA GameWorks

According to a leaked shot of Just Cause 3's back cover, the game will use NVIDIA's expansive GameWorks effects suite. GameWorks offers a slew of impressive enhancements across the board, from destructible environments and real-time physics to ambient smoke and fog effects. Considering Just Cause 3 is based around a wide, open world of fiery havoc, some of the GameWorks effects like PhysX, Destruction, Enhanced Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion and Turbulence are a no-brainer.

The back cover also highlights the game's PC requirements, which we've included below. Neither Square Enix, Avalanche or NVIDIA have revealed the full list of GameWorks effects used in Just Cause 3, but we can make some quick deductions.

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Continue reading: Just Cause 3 on PC supports NVIDIA GameWorks (full post)

Get an Extra 15% Off Any Drone In The TweakTown Store

TweakTown Deals | Deals | Nov 23, 2015 5:37 PM CST

It may not be Black Friday yet, but that doesn't mean you can't start snapping up some of our best deals. Take an extra 15% off already-discounted drones now when you apply code DRONE15.

All of our drones are on sale, including favorites like:

The palm-sized SKEYE Hexa Drone, with a six-propeller design that lets it pull off impressive tricks while staying stable. You can even take it out for night flights thanks to the built-in LED lights. Get it for $45 (34% off), and save an additional 15% with code DRONE15.

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Continue reading: Get an Extra 15% Off Any Drone In The TweakTown Store (full post)

Fallout 4 player charts the Commonwealth in this splendid map

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 23, 2015 5:17 PM CST

Fallout 4 is one of the few big-name Bethesda RPG's that didn't come with a huge fold-out poster map, and we don't even get with Prima Games' basic guidebook. Sure you can shell out some extra caps to get the fancy hardback edition...or you can make your own. One amazingly-skilled gamer opted for the latter choice and created a spectacular feat of cartography that will fuel your adventures for months to come.

Fallout 4 player charts the Commonwealth in this splendid map

The sprawling Fallout 4 map was created by a Redditor named koolkyle802, and it exposes the hidden treasures and terrors that post-apocalyptic Commonwealth has to offer. The map has everything from cities, settlements, locations, bobbleheads, holotapes, magazines and a chromatic tide that denotes enemy threat levels.

KoolKyle802 used GIMP to create the map and has since been awarded four different instances of Reddit Gold for his contributions to the Fallout community. Essentially the map provides top-tier navigation for gamers who don't have or don't plan to buy Prima's guidebook.

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Continue reading: Fallout 4 player charts the Commonwealth in this splendid map (full post)

Owning blueprints to a 3D-printed gun can now land you behind bars

Chris Smith | Modding | Nov 23, 2015 2:25 PM CST

If you're thinking about making, downloading or tinkering with a 3D-printed gun file, you might want to think again. Reports have come to light stating that the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) doesn't take to this kindly, offering hefty jail time to anyone who might want a gun file of their own.

Last week, the NSW Government passed its Firearms and Weapons Prohibition Legislation Amendment Bill 2015, with one section stating that simply owning a 3D blueprint of a firearm can land you up to 14 years in jail.

With incarceration also extended to owning plans for "electric milling machines," this new legislation marks further action against illegal real-life weaponry, offering up harsher penalties to those with stolen guns or others who are keen on making illegal firearm modifications.

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Continue reading: Owning blueprints to a 3D-printed gun can now land you behind bars (full post)

Microsoft, Volvo team up to develop autonomous car technology

Michael Hatamoto | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Nov 23, 2015 10:24 AM CST

Automaker Volvo and Microsoft have announced they will work together to help develop autonomous car technology, with collected data aimed at delivering "meaningful services."

"Technology will transform when it comes to autonomous cars, connectivity and the car buying process," said Bjorn Annwall, senior VP of marketing at Volvo, in a statement to CNBC. "We believe this will happen it's naturally the tech and automotive industry comes closer to explore this together. We are exploring a number of different collaborations."

Specifics related to how the two companies will work together were not released - but the idea of machine learning and finding a way to promote Volvo vehicles using HoloLens are two likely solutions. Consumers can expect to begin seeing "mixed reality" solutions starting sometime in 2016.

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Continue reading: Microsoft, Volvo team up to develop autonomous car technology (full post)

Hyundai hopes to have fully autonomous cars available by 2030

Michael Hatamoto | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Nov 23, 2015 9:28 AM CST

Korean automaker Hyundai expects highly autonomous vehicle technologies available by 2020, with full autonomous models available by 2030, according to company senior executives. Over the next five years, almost $10 billion will be invested by Hyundai to bolster its autonomous research efforts.

"Fully-autonomous vehicles are still some way off, and a great deal of research and rigorous product testing will need to be carried out to make the 'self-driving car' a reality," said Lim Tae-won, VP of the Hyundai Motor Central Advanced Research and Engineering Institute. "Kia is still in the early stages of developing its own technologies, and we are confident that the latest innovations - both partially and fully autonomous - will ultimately make driving safer for everyone."

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Genesis self-driving vehicle recently completed a three-kilometer series of test runs in South Korea - marking the first time the vehicle hit public city streets. The vehicle will be showcased next month, with the sedan supporting semi-autonomous solutions.

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Continue reading: Hyundai hopes to have fully autonomous cars available by 2030 (full post)

ESL confirms buyout of American eSports company, ESEA

Chris Smith | Gaming | Nov 23, 2015 8:33 AM CST

With both companies working together to provide multiple ESL/ESEA CS:GO tournaments recently and having rumors mount that a buyout talk was in progress, ESL has now confirmed that it has acquired ESEA for an undisclosed amount.

With the confirmation of this buyout hitting the public, ESEA will continue to operate separately of ESL, with HLTV explaining this renewed relationship is set up for ESEA to benefit "from the products and services provided by ESL, which is owned by Swedish digital entertainment company MTG."

This purchase is said to be yet another move by MTG to solidity its position in eSports, previously purchasing 75% of ESL for $83 million and the world's largest LAN, DreamHack, for $28 million.

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Continue reading: ESL confirms buyout of American eSports company, ESEA (full post)

EK Water Blocks unveils new DBAY D5 MX reservoirs and pumps

Chris Smith | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Nov 23, 2015 6:32 AM CST

EK Water Blocks is set on a path to become the best watercooling option around. Having taken some steps in this direction recently, this Ljubljana-based company has just announced its new DBAY D5 MX reservoirs and reservoir plus pump combinations.

The new MX series Dual Bay reservoirs are designed to slot into two 5.25" drive bay slots, allowing for more room within your case for crazy RAM, motherboard and video card combinations. Combined or purchased separately, EK suggests that users pick up its EK-D5 PWM pump motor in order to complete the set, further providing a locking ring nut and O-rings for this pump.

Released to the public in four variations, most ports are standard G1/4" threaded, with a single G3/8" threaded port on the top of the reservoir designed for filling only.

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Continue reading: EK Water Blocks unveils new DBAY D5 MX reservoirs and pumps (full post)

Ubisoft are aware of the SLI issues with Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 23, 2015 4:46 AM CST

While Warner Bros. has pretty much given up on multi-GPU setups for Batman: Arkham Knight, even after the game being so bad at launch the developer had to pull it from sale Ubisoft is up the same creek without a paddle.

Ubisoft has acknowledged the issues with multi-GPU setups on Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, with Ubisoft's Community Manager "Mr_Shade" posting on the Ubisoft forums with "The team are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it - it's possible that NVIDIA will release driver updates to correct this, but in the mean time - please try using just one GPU for the game so you can play if that solution works for you".

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Continue reading: Ubisoft are aware of the SLI issues with Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (full post)

Microsoft explains why Red Dead Redemption is missing on Xbox One

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 22, 2015 8:34 PM CST

The Xbox One's backward compatibility feature was heralded with much fanfare when it was announced, but when it actually started rolling out, the games library was quite underwhelming. Instead of the heavy-hitting Xbox 360 titans like Red Dead Redemption, we were delivered a slew of Kinect and Xbox LIVE Arcade games. Now Microsoft has stepped forward to explain why key games are missing from the lineup.

Microsoft explains why Red Dead Redemption is missing on Xbox One

"It's really up to publishers to approve [backward compatible] games," said Microsoft engineer Richard Irving in a recent interview with Eurogamer. "Publishers are super engaged and responsive to that stuff, the response was overwhelming from fans. It's just that some of the content takes longer than others to organise, so we weren't able to get all of the top 50 or 100 games, but we have a good number of them."

Irving also said that Microsoft has to "re-engage" publishers and effectively show incentive to convince games-makers to fork up the licensing to a new console. "It didn't seem fair to ask our partners to go off and find licenses for all this Xbox 360 content so what we opted to do instead was to give fans the opportunity to prioritise which games they want. So then we can re-engage with publishers and ask about specific games and say, 'please let us know if this is something you can do'. As you can imagine, publishers have cut very specific deals on some of that content. For example Madden--you can imagine how many licenses go into a game with the players, the NFL, sponsors, and so on. And there's over 1000 games at this point on Xbox 360."

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Continue reading: Microsoft explains why Red Dead Redemption is missing on Xbox One (full post)

Xbox Two and PS5 expected in 2018, powered by AMD with 4K support

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 22, 2015 7:26 PM CST

We knew they were coming, but according to the latest rumors the next-gen consoles should be released in 2018 - much earlier than the roadmaps Microsoft and Sony had before the current gen consoles were released.

Xbox Two and PS5 expected in 2018, powered by AMD with 4K support

Before the Xbox One and PS4 were released, 4K gaming wasn't really solidified - but now it is. It's getting cheaper and cheaper to get on the 4K bandwagon, and over the next year or two, the current-gen consoles are going to look very aged next to mobile, VR and PC gaming. The Xbox One and PS4 are barely capable of 900p let alone 1080p (and then let alone 60FPS), with AMD set to beef up the APU powering the Xbox Two and PlayStation 5 consoles.

The biggest thing that we need to think about is VR. Sony is already onboard with PlayStation VR, but the PS4 is underpowered to really push 1080p (or higher) at 90FPS (or higher). This is where the PS5 and Xbox Two will be better equipped, but another thing to consider is backwards compatibility. Thanks to the new consoles being powered by AMD technology again, and an x86 architecture, the Xbox Two and PS5 should be backwards compatible with the Xbox One and PS4, so you won't lose your game library like you did from the Xbox 360 and PS3.

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Continue reading: Xbox Two and PS5 expected in 2018, powered by AMD with 4K support (full post)

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