Crew member on the new Resident Evil movie dies, crushed by Hummer

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Dec 24, 2015 8:14 AM CST

During the filming of the latest, and last Resident Evil movie, a crew member has died in a horrific on-set accident.

South African website IOL reports that 34-year-old Ricardo Cornelius was severely injured during the filming of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, when a US Army issue Hummer fell on top of him on the film's set in Cape Town. Cornelius died in hospital on December 3.

Reports state that the Hummer was standing on a small platform, which then tilted when it was being manually rotated. The vehicle fell, landing on Cornelius. But it gets worse. He was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support, with his wife telling IOL "At the hospital, doctors said they had to take him into theatre as soon as he arrived".

Continue reading: Crew member on the new Resident Evil movie dies, crushed by Hummer (full post)

The Division lets you set the weather, impacts other gamers and NPCs

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Dec 24, 2015 4:32 AM CST

We've just found out what to expect in the different editions and packs of The Division, and now some more details are coming to light about the open-world game from Ubisoft.

Thanks to an interview between Forbes and Massive Entertainment's Lead Environmental Artist, Sebastian Lindoff, and Technical Art Director Chad Chatterton, we've found out that you'll be able to choose both the time and weather for each mission in The Division.

As for the weather, they explained: "Totally. You can choose when to play any of the missions, night or day, with clear weather or during a snow blizzard. We only restrict some of the heaviest fog settings in some missions because it could adversely affect too much the combat balancing, but all the other weather settings can have an impact on how you approach an encounter, varying the levels of visibility for you and your enemies".

Continue reading: The Division lets you set the weather, impacts other gamers and NPCs (full post)

DX12 title Fable Legends is free-to-play, will have microtransactions

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Dec 24, 2015 12:55 AM CST

One of the first DirectX 12 titles to be released next year will be Fable Legends, with a new leak on Lionhead Studios' game pointing to just how much microtransactions will cost, and what you'll get for your money.

Fable Legends is a free-to-play title, with Lionhead recently delaying the game. The studio didn't realize how big the game was getting, and needed more time to get everything right. The studio explained that the team "working exceptionally hard and we're proud of how far the game has come. We're operating our closed beta 24/7 and have added lots more features, quests, creatures, and heroes to play. Hundreds of thousands of fans have participated in the beta so far, and we can't wait to open it up for all of you to play. To achieve our aspirations for Fable Legends, we've moved our open beta release to spring of 2016".

As for the microtransactions, Fable Legends will offer a 'ton of gold' for $59.99, where you'll receive 12,800 gold. There's also a hundredweight of gold, stone of gold, mark of gold, and finally, a pound of gold - all with varying prices. Lionhead splashes away gamers' issues with a pay-to-win formula for Fable Legends, with the studio explaining "You'll be able to play Fable Legends from beginning to end for free. That means the whole story as it stands, plus any additional quests/storylines we release after launch will all be free".

Continue reading: DX12 title Fable Legends is free-to-play, will have microtransactions (full post)

The new Battlefield could feature co-op play, made by DICE LA studio

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Dec 23, 2015 11:52 PM CST

We know that EA DICE is working on the new Battlefield, but we don't know what Battlefield title we'll get. Will it be Battlefield 5, or will it be something different like Battlefield: Bad Company 3?

Well, it was only earlier this month that DICE's development director Dan Vaderlind took to Twitter saying: "Now that we've shipped Battlefront and a part of the team continues to work on it, I am moving on to another project, the next Battlefield". This was exciting news on its own, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson adding "I have no doubt that DICE LA will be building their game at some point, because it's a really, really passionate group of people".

DICE LA is actually hiring right now, looking for both a singleplayer and multiplayer level designer. The LA-based studio is also on the look out for a senior technical animator, a senior lighter, and a senior concept artist. DICE LA is looking for candidates to "push quality to the next level for an unannounced AAA title". While it doesn't specifically state that it's a new Battlefield game, we have confidence that it is.

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Second Life wants to make VR a more social activity with new project

Second live developer, Linden Labs, is working on a new product, called Project Sansar, that wants to integrate a more natural and social experience with upcoming VR solutions.

If there's one thing about the incoming VR revolution, it's that not everyone is necessarily convinced that it's here to stay. Is this stereoscopic 3DTV all over again? That's a fair question, because to some it seems just a bit gimmicky at first glance.

But the makers of Second Life want to make VR a social activity, so that it can potentially become a lot more appealing to a much wider audience. Speaking with PSFK, the CEO of Linden Labs, Ebbe Altberg spoke a little on what they see as the future of VR. Second Life already has Oculus Rift support as of 2014, which lets you immerse yourself like never before, but they want to significantly expand upon that.

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J.J. Abrams regrets not directing Star Wars: Episode VIII

Derek Strickland | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Dec 23, 2015 8:34 PM CST

Although The Force Awakens has conquered the world of cinema, Episode VII director J.J. Abrams has even more faith in Episode VII. According to Abrams, Episode VII's script is "so good" that he regrets not directing it.

J.J. Abrams regrets not directing Star Wars: Episode VIII

The Force is strong with J.J. Abrams. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has smashed through box office records and propelled the franchise to a new galaxy of wonder. Abrams has helped reinvigorate the franchise after George Lucas led us astray with the Prequels, and is very much responsible for making Star Wars feel like Star Wars again. Despite his efforts, Abrams made the decision to hand off Episode VIII's directing off to Rian Johnson--a move that he now regrets.

"He read [the script for Episode VIII] and said something he never, ever says. He said: 'It's so good, I wish I were making it.'" said Greg Grunberg, an actor who plays a Rebel pilot in The Force Awakens, in a recent interview with The Washington Post . "He may have said something one time on Lost with Damon (the co-creator) but I've never heard him express regret like that."

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Engineers create world's first biologically powered computer chip

Derek Strickland | Science, Space, & Robotics | Dec 23, 2015 7:46 PM CST

Columbia University Engineers have successfully created the world's first biologically powered computer chip, which could ultimately usher in a new harmonious union of nature and technology.

Engineers create world's first biologically powered computer chip

Thanks to a new advancement in the field of bioelectronics, the union of man and machine may not be that far away. Researchers at New York's Columbia University have tapped the energy created by a natural biological process to power an integrated CMOS circuit, which is found in common electronics such as cell phones.

"In combining a biological, electronic device with CMOS, we will be able to create new systems not possible with either technology alone," says Ken Shepard, Lau Family Professor of Electrical Engineering who led the study. "We are excited at the prospect of expanding the palette of active devices that will have new functions, such as harvesting energy from ATP, as was done here, or recognizing specific molecules, giving chips the potential to taste and smell. This was quite a unique new direction for us, and it has great potential to give solid state systems new capabilities with biological components."

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Amazon's Christmas sale offers up to 70% on select games

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Dec 23, 2015 6:41 PM CST

Amazon's new sale ensures you'll have some awesome stocking stuffers for the gamier in your life.

Amazon's Christmas sale offers up to 70% on select games

Although Christmas is only two days away and Amazon won't be able to ship any goods out in time for the big holiday, that hasn't stopped the online retailer from kicking off a great sale on video games. Amazons new holiday sale is primarily focused on digital PC games that will make excellent stocking stuffers for the gamer in your life, with up to 70% off on great PC hits. Notable deals include XCOM: Enemy Unknown for just $7.50, Machine Game's epic shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order for just $9, the ultra-creepy Alien: Isolation for $12.50 and $BioWare's stalwart Dragon Age: Inquisition Game of the Year Edition for $30

There's also mark downs on physical PS4 and Xbox One games, but these are less pronounced, seeing anywhere from $10-15 in savings. Also be advised that Steam has just kicked off its annual Winter Sale, which has thousands of PC games discounted for the holidays. So between Amazon and Steam, PC gamers have a nice selection of sales to choose from. Never buy retail, folks!

Continue reading: Amazon's Christmas sale offers up to 70% on select games (full post)

Dozens of unreleased and recent release movie screeners leak online

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Dec 23, 2015 5:00 PM CST

It's going to be a bad Christmas for movie studios, as DVD screeners for some of the most anticipated films not scheduled for released for days, or even weeks have hit torrent trackers. Unreleased titles such as Disney-Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur', Quentin Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight', 'Joy' starring Jennifer Lawrence and Oscar-bait 'The Revenant' starring Leonardo DiCaprio and recent titles such as 'Creed', 'The Peanuts Movie' and 'Straight Outta Compton' are all being shared in standard definition, yet allegedly high quality rips according to TorrentFreak.

One of the leaked screeners for 'The Hateful Eight' has been traced back to Alcon Entertainment co-CEO Andrew Kosove who strenuously denies leaking the disc, telling The Hollywood Reporter that "I've never seen this DVD. It's never touched my hands. We're going to do more than cooperate with the FBI. We're going to conduct our own investigation to find out what happened." The screener DVDs, sent to members of various award bodies including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts have a habit of being leaked, despite featuring in-built security safeguards such as watermarks. This latest batch of leaks might just spell the end of them.

Continue reading: Dozens of unreleased and recent release movie screeners leak online (full post)

T-Mobile reducing streaming video quality, regardless of plan

Jeff Williams | Business, Financial & Legal | Dec 23, 2015 4:26 PM CST

Anonymous source and The Internet Association have both revealed that T-Mobile's Binge On program actually throttles data and reduces quality in order to serve up content.

T-Mobile shocked the world when the released their Binge On program, that allowed users to stream video and audio from various online services without having it count against your monthly data-caps. On the surface it seemed like a splendid deal, but there's always a catch.

That catch is that your content is served to you in lower quality, without you knowing and without giving you a choice. The Internet Association has been keen to point out the poor and sneaky business practices by T-Mobile, noting that providing Binge On is a boon to many customers, though even if it does happen to be throttled, proper notice or even a choice whether it should count against your data at the cost of high quality content, should be mandatory. The FCC is currently investigating the matter.

Continue reading: T-Mobile reducing streaming video quality, regardless of plan (full post)

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