It looks like we're to expect L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files to release on the PlayStation VR headset soon, with a new listing on the European games rating board, PEGI. L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files received an 18 rating.

With this news we should expect an announcement soon, and with Gamescom right around the corner that announcement might come sooner rather than later.

A refresher on what L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files is: "Featuring seven cases rebuilt specifically for virtual reality, L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files adds new layers of immersion and realism to Rockstar Games' atmospheric crime thriller as you solve select cases from the blockbuster original game, spanning mysteries from the Detective desks of Traffic, Arson, Homicide, and more".

Nate Mitchell has announced he's leaving Facebook in a post on Reddit, with the co-founder of Oculus saying: "Hey everyone - I have some bittersweet news to share with this community. After 7 incredible years, I've decided to move on from Oculus / Facebook".

I first met Nate back at PAX Australia 2013 when Oculus was a small start-up, and he was one of the most humble guys I'd ever met. He remembered me again at CES 2015, and again was a humble human being even with Oculus going through its meteroic rise with Palmer Luckey and creating a VR market out of nothing really.

Facebook is looking internally and externally to find a replacement for Mitchell, according to someone who spoke with WIRED. Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer said in a reply to Mitchell's post on Facebook: "Nate thank you for all you've done for VR and FB. Was and is an amazing ride and blast working with you. THANK YOU! Hope you get some well-deserved rest and I can't wait to see what you do next!"

Facebook has been paying contractors to listen to users audio clips and transcribe them, according to anonymous sources who spoke with The Associated Press.

The sources state that the social networking giant has hired outside contractors to go over the audio clips, with every single word (good and bad, secret and explicit conversations) being transcribed. Worse yet, the contractors do not know why Facebook needs the voice clips transcribed.

But don't worry, because Facebook confirmed it had been transcribing users' audio calls but it wouldn't do it anymore. On Tuesday, Facebook said: "Much like Apple and Google, we paused human review of audio more than a week ago". Pegging them into the first week of August 2019 where they stopped transcribing voice chats.

Further reading: Mark Zuckerberg has tape covering his microphone and webcam on his laptop, all the way back in June 2016.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to US Senator Gary Peters back in April 2018 during his Congressional testimony over privacy concerns, where he said: "You're talking about this conspiracy theory that gets passed around that we listen to what's going on on your microphone and use that for ads. We don't do that".

Sure, Zuck.

Google is in for a world of hurt tomorrow with Project Veritas set to put another crack into Pandora's Box with another exclusive -- a Google insider who has provided 950 pages of documents, and a laptop, to the Department of Justice's Antitrust division on Friday.

Download the 1000+ pieces of insider info from Google right here, and have your own sift through all of the information leaked.

This proof highlights the fact Google "created algorithms to hide its political bias within artificial intelligence platforms - in effect targeting particular words, phrases and contexts to promote, alter, reference or manipulate perceptions of Internet content" reports Sara A. Carter.

The documents that the Google insider gave to the DOJ will "provide proof that Google has been manipulating the algorithms and the evidence of how it was done". Google itself claims it is doing no evil, with CEO Sundar Pichai telling the House Judiciary Committee in December 2018 that it was not biased against conservatives.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (or FAA) has banned certain Apple MacBook Pro laptops on US flights after Apple began recalling 15-inch MacBook Pro models over batteries that can overheat, and create a fire safety risk.

Apple said back in June that it had "determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk". Now the FAA has chimed in saying that it was "aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops" and has since communicated with all major US airlines about the ban.

The FAA put its foot down with US airlines reminding them about 2016 safety rules for products with recalled batteries. These laws means that the affected Apple laptops, MacBook Pro models sold between September 2015 and February 2017 (that is a lot) cannot go on a flight on domestic or international flights into, and out of the US.

The bigger issue here is that most MacBook laptops look the same... so the TSA will be going through millions of bags per day with hundreds of thousands if not millions of Apple MacBook laptops. This means after a few days or weeks of this anything with an Apple logo on a MacBook (MacBook Air, normal MacBook, and MacBook Pro) will be flagged.

Sony has already talked about its next-gen PlayStation console, but we don't know when it will be officially detailed and officially called the PlayStation 5. I'm expecting it later this year, but according to new leaks the PS5 reveal will take place on February 12, 2020.

The leak is from 4chan so prepare your salt shaker, with the post saying they had information from a "former senior marketing manager" in the PlayStation division. The post continues to say that the final planning is happening for the PlayStation Meeting 2020 event, which is currently schedule for February 12, 2020.

Sony will reportedly unveil the next-generation PlayStation 5 console on February 12, 2020 at this event, alongside the big push of PlayStation exclusives and sure fire massive hits in The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima. Both of these games are going to be some of the best-selling games on PlayStation next year, so it makes sense for Sony to market these games heavily.

Not only that, but the 4chan leak talks about the "new investments" into the VR division, with "excellent results obtained in the last months after the numerous tests" on prototypes of the next-gen PSVR 2 headset".

I'm a huge Nintendo 64 fan so seeing this absolutely awesome custom Nintendo 64 that has dual flamethrowers built-in is pretty damn cool, or hot in this case. Check it out:

The man behind the build is BitHead1000 who did a full re-fit of a Nintendo 64 that saw him remove all non-essential components, and then replacing the plastic shell of the N64 with a custom-built metal replica. What this lets you do is shoot flames from your N64, if that's something you need to do.

Hell, the N64 logo at the front has been replaced with one that spins around with a red light behind it, and it looks freaking awesome. The build video goes for a good 22 minutes, but it is a glorious watch.

First lootboxes, and now Loot Crates could likewise follow the way of the dinosaur.

Real-life surprise mechanics company Loot Crate just filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty protection. The move comes after years of financial woes that led to warehouse operations closing down, and the axing of over 100 employees. Loot Crate currently wants to sell the company to the highest bidder to pay its debts, but similar to Starbreeze Studios, it's received a cash injection to help keep it alive until the sale goes through.

Investor Money Chest put up $10 million to keep Loot Crate operational until it liquidates its assets. The company says workers will still continue being paid in this period. Geek boxes will still be shipped out as the company functions like normal, all with a Sword of Damocles above their heads. "Daily operations will continue as usual, unique and exciting fan items will be purchased, crates will be shipped, and all aspects of the business will go on as before the Chapter 11 filing. Our employees will continue to be paid as usual during this transaction," said Loot Crate's CEO Chris Davis.

In a rare and candid blog post, Destiny director Luke Smith talks about microtransactions and their place in the Destiny landscape.

I still remember when cosmetic microtransactions came to Destiny. I hoped it'd never happen, but I guess it was inevitable under Activision's leadership. I mean hell, all major online games have them nowadays. But now that Bungie is independent and no longer under Activision's thrall, the studio has no plans to take them out entirely. That doesn't mean they won't change, however.

But how do microtransactions actually affect Destiny 2? Do they even need to be there? Well, yes and no--I guess sort of is the right answer. According to Smith, microtransactions are supplementary instead of primary. Expansions are still the main drivers for funding the biggest content drops like Shadowkeep, seasons, and big transformative shifts like the ones coming with the new spooky Moon-based adventure. But without the steady river of mTX cash, Bungie might not have nifty little extras like the Zero Hour mission and the minutiae of tweaks that go into the game.

Ever the king of monetization, Activision reigns by pulling in $800 million from microtransactions, subscriptions and DLC last quarter.

Activision's three segments--King, Blizzard, and Activision proper--all make for a lucrative money-printing digital powerhouse. Thanks to its immensely replayable online games, the company routinely earns more cash from monetization in one quarter than some publishers earn all year. Its most recent Q2'19 period was no different, and Activision pulled in $800 million from live services from April - June. This represents 66% of the total $1.21 billion in net bookings for the period.

In lieu of big frontline releases, Candy Crush developer King made the lion's share of microtransaction earnings with its free-to-play mobile game. But other segments didn't suffer--far from it. Activision pulled in $268 million in net revenues, driven by Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and Crash Team Racing, and Blizzard is in second place with $384 million, driven by continued monetization and sales across its fleet of multiplayer titles (World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Overwatch, Hearthstone, etc).