Dishonored 2 lets you play as Corvo or Emily, has dynamic endings

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 3, 2016 8:47 PM CDT

Bethesda has formally announced that Dishonored 2 releases on November 11, 2016 on PS4, Xbox One and PC, along with a few new tidbits about the game.

Dishonored 2 lets you play as Corvo or Emily, has dynamic endings

Dishonored 2 will actually feature two playable protagonists--Corvo Attano and Empress Emily Kaldwin--and players will be able to choose between the two. It looks like Emily and Corvo each have their own unique abilities, offering more replay value for the first-person stealth adventure. Bethsoft also revealed that Dishonored 2 will react to specific decisions you make in the game, unlocking dynamic missions that ultimately culminate in multiple endings. So on top of the dual-protagonist mechanic, we'll get an extra layer of replay value with the endings.

"Reprise your role as a supernatural assassin in Dishonored 2. Play your way in a world where mysticism and industry collide. Will you choose to play as Empress Emily Kaldwin or the royal protector, Corvo Attano? Will you make your way through the game unseen, make full use of its brutal combat system or use a blend of both? How will you combine your character's unique set of powers, weapons and gadgets to eliminate your enemies? The story responds to your choices, leading to intriguing outcomes as you play through each of the game's hand-crafted missions."

Continue reading: Dishonored 2 lets you play as Corvo or Emily, has dynamic endings (full post)

New Watch Dogs 2 lead character reportedly leaked

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 3, 2016 6:11 PM CDT

If these leaks are accurate, Watch Dogs 2 will feature a brand new protagonist.

New Watch Dogs 2 lead character reportedly leaked

Sullen hacker Aiden Pearce apparently won't be returning for Watch Dogs 2, and now thanks to an accidental leak we have a our first purported glimpse at the sequel's main protagonist. Performance artist and actor TheKingCort, who did motion capture and lent his likeness to the new hipster hacker character, prematurely posted the protagonist on hits Instagram page. King's Instagram feed is now set to private, and the post has presumably been taken down.

Ubisoft has already confirmed that Watch Dogs 2 will release in 2017, likely before the end of April of next year. Since a new Assassin's Creed won't release in 2016, Watch Dogs 2 will likely take its place, but a 2016 release might conflict with Ubi's original statements. AMD also confirmed that Watch Dogs 2 will be optimized for AMD video cards with extensive DirectX 12 support.

Continue reading: New Watch Dogs 2 lead character reportedly leaked (full post)

YouTube testing clean Material design

Sean Ridgeley | Internet & Websites | May 3, 2016 1:37 PM CDT

YouTube has had a pretty similar and somewhat chaotic design for a good six years or so, but it looks like that may finally change. A fresh and clean new design based on Google's Material platform has surfaced online, indicating it's likely in testing as you read this.

If you'd like to try it yourself, open Chrome and follow the steps below as outlined by redditor giorgiomarinel:

Note you may have to be on the US region setting, in Incognito mode, and/or sign out of your account to make it work. Happy Youtubing!

Continue reading: YouTube testing clean Material design (full post)

Twitter stock falls to all-time low

Sean Ridgeley | Business, Financial & Legal | May 3, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

Twitter's stocks dropped to $13.90 this morning according to Bloomberg, an all-time low since the company's public inception three years ago. It rose slightly to $13.99 later in the day, putting its market cap at $9.7 billion: a significant drop versus last week's $14 billion, which was estimated prior to the release of the company's quarterly results. As of press time, they sit at $14.08.

Things haven't been going well for Twitter lately, between a recent smattering of executive departures and a trend of dropping stock values. Months ago, The New Yorker went so far as to say the end is near for the social media service, while USA Today stated about the same time that it could go on for hundreds of years due in part to its $3 billion cash reserves. We're inclined to think the truth is somewhere in between.

Continue reading: Twitter stock falls to all-time low (full post)

The Rock's alarm clock app inspires you to get up in the morning

Sean Ridgeley | Software & Apps | May 3, 2016 10:34 AM CDT

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a new iOS and Android app designed to motivate you to get out of bed in the morning and make the day your...well, you know. Appropriately named "The Rock Clock", it lets you set a personal goal, choose when you want to get up, and then wake up to a message from The Rock himself.

Other features include video messages from The Rock, 25 custom alarm tones, and "Rock Time", which syncs your alarm with The Rock so "you get up when he does" (probably not smart if you don't live in the Pacific Northwest). Amusingly, there's an intentional lack of snooze alarm because "The Rock is not a fan of that button."

Reviews are, perhaps surprisingly, quite strong with most sitting at four or five stars. Although some users note room for improvement, it appears to be a great foundation to start with.

Continue reading: The Rock's alarm clock app inspires you to get up in the morning (full post)

Expert says self-driving cars means more car sex

Sean Ridgeley | Electric Vehicles & Cars | May 3, 2016 9:07 AM CDT

Driverless cars give rise to a variety of concerns for drivers and industry members alike. The latest: sex behind the behind the wheel, which has at least one expert on edge.

"I am predicting that, once computers are doing the driving, there will be a lot more sex in cars," states Barrie Kirk of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence. And while that sounds like a great thing, he points out the potentially dangerous side, saying, "That's one of several things people will do which will inhibit their ability to respond quickly when the computer says to the human, 'Take over."'

Videos are already online showing those in Tesla driverless vehicles engaged in activities like reading a newspaper or brushing their teeth, so sex isn't much of a stretch.

Continue reading: Expert says self-driving cars means more car sex (full post)

NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce teased with 'Order of 10' mystery

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | May 3, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

NVIDIA's big reveal of its next-gen GeForce video cards is just days away, with the company teasing select members of the press with its 'Order of 10' mystery. What is the 'Order of 10' mystery you ask? Well, it's a teaser and countdown to the GeForce 1000 series reveal.

First off, some tech press received a mystery box that led them to the site orderof10.com, with a hexagon image with each side the equivalent of a piece puzzle. The site could be accessed by entering a code from the triangle that is found inside of the box, which was also sent to tech sites. The box has a '10' logo embedded on the front, with a single triangle with the code found inside.

GamersNexus found another link that led to a reveal countdown that ends on Friday, May 6. This is the day that NVIDIA will reportedly unveil its next-gen cards, but the puzzle is an interesting piece of marketing. The six pages on the site were: Collision, Structure, Circles, Compute, Vision, and Astronomy. Each puzzle leads to the next, solving the entire mystery.

Continue reading: NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce teased with 'Order of 10' mystery (full post)

Polaris is exciting, but will this be the GPU we're looking for?

Jeff Williams | Video Cards & GPUs | May 2, 2016 11:12 PM CDT

There's a tremendous amount of excitement surrounding the upcoming Polaris P10 and P11 GPUs, as there rightfully should be. This marks a sort of subtle change in direction for AMD for some time. If rumors are true about the size and relative expected raw power of these two chips, then neither represent a true successor to Fiji, but will instead be a faster an far more power efficient Hawaii, which still continues to grow its performance with additional driver releases.

Polaris is exciting, but will this be the GPU we're looking for? 1

But that doesn't necessarily mean an end to the "Big" Polaris debate, nor does it mean we won't be seeing the all-out performance infused chip that holds back nothing. It just means that AMD has found an underserved market at, perhaps, lower price-points that don't quite have the stuff to power good VR experiences and that might also be power hungry beasts. So what did they do? From the reports that we've been hearing, it seems like they aim to take on that mainstream market from the bottom up, potentially having completely new Polaris based cards in all segments.

Continue reading: Polaris is exciting, but will this be the GPU we're looking for? (full post)

China is the first to have an autonomous police robot, with a taser

China seems to have beat us to the punch when it comes to enlisting robots and AI to help fight crime. It's not quite on the level of Robo Cop, but the autonomous machine is still slightly deadly.

China is the first to have an autonomous police robot, with a taser | TweakTown.com

The Chinese National University of Defense has created a low-cost slightly intelligent robot that can patrol streets all on it's own. the 1.49-meter tall and 78kg robot can patrol the mean streets of China for about a maximum of 8 hours on battery at a speed of 18km/hour. It has a suite of sensors that can detect dangers so that it can even make actual arrests.

Continue reading: China is the first to have an autonomous police robot, with a taser (full post)

The 'Space Jam' sequel is happening for reals this time

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | May 2, 2016 8:04 PM CDT

It's been coming for a while now, but it looks like the sequel to the 1996 live action/ animated smash hit 'Space Jam' is finally getting off the ground.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Justin Lin has boarded the long gestating sequel which is set to launch NBA star LeBron James' movie career. Justin Lin, a veteran of multiple 'Fast and the Furious' features, and is wrapping up the second 'Star Trek' sequel 'Beyond' which hits cinemas later this year. It's understood that Justin Lin, Andrew Dodge and Alfredo Botello are currently drafting the film's script. The original 1996 film, which starred the Warner Bros. stable of Looney Tunes characters alongside sporting legend Michael Jordan successfully reinvigorated the aging characters and was a box office success.

If all goes well, we could see 'Space Jam 2' in cinemas some time in late 2017 or early 2018.

Continue reading: The 'Space Jam' sequel is happening for reals this time (full post)