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Elon Musk shakes up OpenAI, Microsoft and Google with new AI startup

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Apr 17, 2023 2:32 AM CDT

Elon Musk is reportedly jumping headfirst into the AI race with a new startup company called X.AI Corp, which will directly compete with his former artificial intelligence company, OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT.

Elon Musk shakes up OpenAI, Microsoft and Google with new AI startup

Reports recently published in The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times (FT) claimed that Musk has created a new startup called X.AI Corp, which will focus on developing AI tools that are similar to services created by OpenAI such as ChatGPT, or Microsoft's Bing Chat. If these reports are accurate, this will be the second time Musk has jumped into the world of AI. The first was the creation of OpenAI, which he later left in 2018 after his proposal to run the company was rejected by its board of directors.

According to The Financial Times report, which cited a person familiar with the situation surrounding Musk's new startup, "a bunch of people are investing in it" and there is real excitement for the project. Notably, FT cited Nevada business records that state Musk created a company called X. AI on March 9 and that Musk is the sole director of that company. The creation of X. AI comes only a few weeks after Musk signed an open letter that put his name alongside other prominent technology figures such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, and Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque.

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Continue reading: Elon Musk shakes up OpenAI, Microsoft and Google with new AI startup (full post)

Raytracing removed from Resident Evil 2 & 3

Sean Ridgeley | Gaming | Apr 17, 2023 2:05 AM CDT

User reports are pouring in: the Steam versions of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 no longer support raytracing. That is to say, you can no longer find the option in the menus to begin with, and it is not enabled in the background. One might suspect the games have defaulted to their DirectX 11 versions, but cursory testing shows this to not be the case.

Raytracing removed from Resident Evil 2 & 3

The loss of raytracing at least isn't huge: its implementation in the two remade horror titles was never particularly well-liked, although many would tell you it was preferable to screen space reflections.

Additionally, 3D Audio is reported to be missing for Resident Evil 3 (though others claim 2 also); it's said only speaker and dynamic range settings audio settings are now available.

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Continue reading: Raytracing removed from Resident Evil 2 & 3 (full post)

Elon Musk admits to the rumor about why he actually bought Twitter

Jak Connor | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 17, 2023 1:31 AM CDT

Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sat down for an exclusive interview with the BBC, where he revealed some details about his acquisition of Twitter.

Elon Musk admits to the rumor about why he actually bought Twitter

The Twitter CEO sat down for an interview last week where he made some honest confessions about some of his recent business ventures, as well as putting some long-standing rumors to rest. Musk revealed during the interview that the acquisition of Twitter and now being at the helm of the company has been "quite painful" and an overall "rollercoaster" of an experience. The tech billionaire conceded that he doesn't "have a stone-cold heart" and that he's been "under constant attack".

Musk added that this "constant criticism" is arriving to him in various forms, either through the media and/or regurgitated on Twitter. Musk described his situation and this constant criticism as "rough". Despite these challenges, Musk said that he still keeps his Twitter replies open to read the public's comments and has completely removed his entire block list. If Musk is telling the truth here, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, the Twitter CEO has left himself completely exposed to all forms of criticism, which speaks to his overall push for more freedom of speech on his platform.

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Continue reading: Elon Musk admits to the rumor about why he actually bought Twitter (full post)

Blizzard promises major dungeon improvements for Diablo IV launch

Sean Ridgeley | Gaming | Apr 17, 2023 1:14 AM CDT

The recent set of Diablo IV betas pleased most, but not without caveats. Dungeon design was a primary complaint; the entire community seemed in agreement this key endgame system was tedious due to all the backtracking required and having to kill stragglers before you could complete your goal. Additionally, repetitive layouts were brought up by content creators and fans constantly.

Blizzard promises major dungeon improvements for Diablo IV launch

With the game due to launch in just two months (June 6), the concerns were amplified as many feared developer Blizzard would not be able to address the issues in time. Fortunately, that appears to not be the case. A new blog on the official website spells it out plainly: dungeons will receive major improvements to layout and gameplay, thus minimizing the need to backtrack and increasing fun factor.

"Players previously needed to enter side rooms to interact with Structure Objectives, causing them to retread the same path," the post explains. "Now, many of our Structure Objectives have been repositioned along main dungeon pathways, making them easier for players to reach and allowing them to readily explore the dungeon after defeating the Structure."

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Continue reading: Blizzard promises major dungeon improvements for Diablo IV launch (full post)

Someone modded DLSS 3 and Frame Generation into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 10:58 PM CDT

Regarding modding PC games, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim reigns supreme as one of the most modded games in history. From ray-tracing to 4K textures to entirely new questlines with fully voiced characters, Bethesda's iconic RPG from 2011 is still going strong - and thriving.

Someone modded DLSS 3 and Frame Generation into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

With the launch of the new GeForce RTX40 Series of GPUs from NVIDIA, one of the most talked about bits of new RTX tech has been the arrival of DLSS 3 and Frame Generation. An AI solution that generates entirely new frames to improve a game's performance - especially if there are any CPU limitations or bottlenecks.

With the DLSS 3 plugin publicly available, it was only a matter of time before someone looked at injecting it into the world of Skyrim. After successfully modding DLSS 2 (Super Resolution) into Skyrim and Fallout 4 - both run on Bethesda's Creation Engine - modder PureDark adds DLSS 3 and Frame Generation.

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Continue reading: Someone modded DLSS 3 and Frame Generation into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (full post)

GeForce RTX 4060 Ti custom model spotted, overclocked, and with 8GB of VRAM

Kosta Andreadis | Graphics Cards | Apr 16, 2023 10:27 PM CDT

With the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 launch last week (check out our review of the Founders Edition model here), we're already getting confirmation that the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti launch is happening sooner than later.

GeForce RTX 4060 Ti custom model spotted, overclocked, and with 8GB of VRAM

As per insider T4C Fantasy (via Twitter), we've got word that a partner model - the Colorful iGame GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ultra W OC - is sporting a 2580 MHz overclock compared to the default 2535 MHz boost clock, which is higher than the GeForce RTX 4070's 2475 MHz.

Though, as of writing, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti will feature 8GB of VRAM (the baseline RTX 4060 also reportedly features 8GB of VRAM), which will be a significant point of discussion when the cards debut. With recent PC releases like Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, and The Last of Us Part I being heavy on the VRAM, many wonder if 8GB for a mid-range card is acceptable in 2023.

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Continue reading: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti custom model spotted, overclocked, and with 8GB of VRAM (full post)

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced as Computex 2023 Keynote Speaker

Kosta Andreadis | Graphics Cards | Apr 16, 2023 9:56 PM CDT

Computex is back in a big way, with COMPUTEX 2023 set to take place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from May 30 to June 2, featuring over 1,000 exhibitors from 17 countries.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced as Computex 2023 Keynote Speaker

According to the event planners, this year's theme covers "high-performance computing, artificial intelligence application, next-gen connectivity, hyperreality, innovations and startups, and sustainability."

And with high-performance computing and AI in the mix and the return of in-person industry events back on the menu, the "COMPUTEX 2023 Keynote to Reveal Global Key Technological Innovations" is set to kick off the event and will feature NVIDIA CEO and founder Jensen Huang as its headliner.

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Continue reading: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced as Computex 2023 Keynote Speaker (full post)

ASUS says that the new ROG Ally gaming handheld is launching globally and soon

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 9:29 PM CDT

When ASUS announced its new handheld, the ROG Ally, it caused quite a stir thanks to specs that positioned the Windows 11 gaming handheld as a direct competitor to Valve's Steam Deck.

ASUS says that the new ROG Ally gaming handheld is launching globally and soon

Sporting a Full HD (1080p) display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 500 Nits, it also features a custom AMD APU built on a 4nm process with Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architecture that ASUS is calling the fastest to date in its class. With pre-order sign-ups for ROG Ally in the US live now at BestBuy, ASUS has confirmed that it will have a worldwide launch "and it may be sooner than you expect."

A potential imminent launch is exciting news, especially when something like the Steam Deck is only officially available for purchase in certain regions. For example, the only models available in Australia are imports.

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Continue reading: ASUS says that the new ROG Ally gaming handheld is launching globally and soon (full post)

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has goofy mech battles, rockets, and classic bosses

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 6:26 PM CDT

Like Breath of the Wild before it, Nintendo's new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game will offer wacky adventuring and give players lots of opportunities to experiment with the world.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has goofy mech battles, rockets, and classic bosses

There's nothing quite like a new Zelda game. Every title brings its own unique flair, action mechanics, visual style, and a whimsical goofiness that's been retained in the series' 36 years on the market. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pushes all of these things even farther than before with its new powers and abilities.

In a final trailer, Nintendo shows off some of Link's fancy new tricks. The most game-changing one, Ultrahand, lets players turn TotK's sandbox into a gigantic Erector set by melding various objects together to form something new. Slap a propulsion fan on practically anything in the game and you now have a vehicle, whether it's a flying platform, a boat, a hot air balloon, or a tractor. Link can even make hilarious mech-style automatons and ride them into battle.

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Continue reading: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has goofy mech battles, rockets, and classic bosses (full post)

Ubisoft+ more expensive than Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox consoles

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 5:05 PM CDT

Ubisoft+ is finally coming to Xbox consoles, but it's not a part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the price is kind of steep.

Ubisoft+ more expensive than Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox consoles

Ubisoft recently announced that its premium Ubisoft+ subscription service is now available on Xbox consoles. There's just a few caveats: Gamers will have to pay $17.99/month for the multi-access Ubisoft+ package to play games on Xbox, and the list of included games is not as big as Ubisoft+ on PC. Sign up or learn more about the Ubisoft+ subscription here.

Xbox gamers will be able to play 65 games as part of the Ubisoft+ subscription, compared to the 164 games offered on PC. The good thing is that multi-access subscribers can play on both Xbox and PC, and all of the popular staples are available on Xbox including all Far Cry games from Far Cry 3 onward and all Assassin's Creed games a well.

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Continue reading: Ubisoft+ more expensive than Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox consoles (full post)

Final Fantasy XVI playable demo coming to PS5 in June, save data carries over

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 4:04 PM CDT

Yoshi-P officially confirms that PS5 players will receive a playable Final Fantasy XVI trial demo shortly before the game launches in June.

Final Fantasy XVI playable demo coming to PS5 in June, save data carries over

Hailed as the first true action-based Final Fantasy (I guess Square Enix forgot about FFXV and even FF Type-O), Final Fantasy XVI makes lofty promises of explosive hack-and-slash Devil May Cry-style combat alongside unique customizations and strategic execution. We've actually seen quite a bit of FFXVI footage over the past few weeks, but there's still some questions on how the game will actually play.

Luckily, PlayStation 5 gamers will be able to try the game out before they buy. In a recent interview with Famitsu, Yoshi-P announces that FFXVI will get a playable gameplay demo trial about two weeks before the game launches. Considering FFXVI releases on June 22, we could see the demo roll out as early as June 8.

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Continue reading: Final Fantasy XVI playable demo coming to PS5 in June, save data carries over (full post)

Final Fantasy XVI's Ifrit seen dealing 2 million damage in epic monster battle

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 16, 2023 3:28 PM CDT

Final Fantasy XVI promises to deliver epic, larger-than-life monster battles with outrageous damage output.

Final Fantasy XVI's Ifrit seen dealing 2 million damage in epic monster battle

There's a lot to like in the recent Final Fantasy XVI State of Play gameplay stream. Square Enix has made it clear that FFXVI will spin a tale of medieval sword-and-board fantasy complete with dazzling locales, explosive combat, and some of the most chaotic boss battles in the history of the franchise.

These battles will pit two massive fantasy beasts against one another in some of the most flashy arcade action we've seen from the series. These eikons (summons in FFVII, Guardian Forces s from Final Fantasy VIII, aeons in FFX, etc.) are hulking monstrosities that hearken back to the glory days of kaiju films--gigantic Japanese creatures that duke it out and destroy an entire city in the process.

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Continue reading: Final Fantasy XVI's Ifrit seen dealing 2 million damage in epic monster battle (full post)

Steam Deck to break 3.47 million unit sales in 2023, analysts predict

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 15, 2023 4:14 PM CDT

Valve's new Steam Deck will break 3 million total unit sales throughout 2023, analyst firm Omdia has forecasted.

Steam Deck to break 3.47 million unit sales in 2023, analysts predict

Following a failed attempt to break into the console market with the ill-fated Steam Machines, Valve has struck gold with its latest hardware innovation. Valve's Steam Deck has successfully merged the worlds of handheld and PC gaming, giving players enough horsepower for lighter on-the-go handheld gaming across a wide spectrum of Steam titles. The benefits to PC gamers is substantial and the Steam Deck offers a unique in-between device that can sit comfortably alongside both consoles and PC.

Valve's success has been celebrated far and wide, but there haven't been any real hard figures behind Steam Deck sales. Previous reports from October 2022 indicated the Steam Deck had sold over 1 million units, however analyst firm Omdia has some interesting Steam Deck sales estimates.

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Continue reading: Steam Deck to break 3.47 million unit sales in 2023, analysts predict (full post)

Halo made $6 billion from games and multimedia, 343 Industries says

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 15, 2023 3:31 PM CDT

UPDATE: It appears the Halo franchise has actually generated $10 billion in revenues as of 2019 (thanks Timur222), and the $6 billion figure provided by Frank O'Connor's LinkedIn profile may be outdated.

Halo made $6 billion from games and multimedia, 343 Industries says

343 Industries creative director Frank O'Connor confirms the Halo franchise has generated multiples of billions of dollars in revenues across games and other media.

Halo is big, and during the Xbox 360 era, it even rivaled Call of Duty, the best-selling FPS series of all time. The series is still popular, however nostalgic Halo fans seem to have fallen off since Bungie handed the series off to 343 Industries. Despite controversial releases and the introduction of pay-to-win microtransactions, at no point did Halo ever stop being a success.

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Continue reading: Halo made $6 billion from games and multimedia, 343 Industries says (full post)

Longtime Halo dev Frank O'Connor may have left 343 Industries

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 15, 2023 2:35 PM CDT

After 19 years of Mister Chief, it appears that Frank O'Connor has left 343 Industries, Microsoft, and the Halo franchise.

Longtime Halo dev Frank O'Connor may have left 343 Industries

If you're a longtime Halo fan, then you probably know who Frank O'Connor (aka Franklez) is. O'Connor joined Bungie shortly after Halo 2 launched in 2004, becoming one of the most recognized faces at the company as the forward-facing community manager of the Halo franchise. Throughout the years, O'Connor has showed up in various Halo vidocs and created the unofficial Mister Chief mascot that poked fun at the serious tone of the franchise. After nearly 4 years as a community manager, O'Connor spent nearly 20 years as a creative director on Halo, assisting with major mainline releases like Halo 4, Halo 5 Guardians, and Halo Infinite.

Now it looks like O'Connor has left 343 Industries and Halo altogether. O'Connor recently updated his LinkedIn profile that lists his time as a franchise creative director at Microsoft has ended. The profile now lists that O'Connor has been a "franchise creative director" in the same Greater Seattle area for 2 months. O'Connor's departure has not been confirmed and it's possible this LinkedIn update is a mistake.

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Continue reading: Longtime Halo dev Frank O'Connor may have left 343 Industries (full post)

Super Mario Bros. movie hits $500 million, tops all 2023 films to date

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 15, 2023 12:25 PM CDT

After making nearly $67 billion from the Switch and achieving the third best-selling console of all time, Nintendo is now conquering the box office.

Super Mario Bros. movie hits $500 million, tops all 2023 films to date

Nintendo's new Super Mario Bros. movie isn't just a success--the film is now the top best-earning video game adaptation of all time by breaking the $500 million mark, beating other popular game films like World of Warcraft ($439 million), Pokemon Detective Pikachu ($449 million), and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 ($405 million).

The Mario movie is actually the second-largest animated film of all time, with the top stop being reserved for Illumination's mega-popular Minions The Rise of Gru ($942 million). The movie's success was long predicted by analysts, especially considering Mario is one of the most-recognized pop culture icons in modern history.

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Continue reading: Super Mario Bros. movie hits $500 million, tops all 2023 films to date (full post)

SEGA to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio for $1 billion

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 14, 2023 4:19 PM CDT

UPDATE: Rovio has confirmed it is discussions with SEGA:

SEGA to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio for $1 billion

"Rovio confirms that it is in discussions with Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. ("Sega") regarding a possible tender offer for Rovio's shares. Rovio and Sega will release further information at an appropriate time."

SEGA has made an offer to buy Angry Birds developer Rovio, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

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Continue reading: SEGA to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio for $1 billion (full post)

U.S. Senator calls Sony anti-competitive, asks for all exclusivity documents

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 14, 2023 2:41 PM CDT

Prompted by the FTC's new console market definition and accusations made at a recent U.S. trade hearing, Republican North Dakotan senator Kevin Cramer accuses Sony's PlayStation division of anti-competitive practices and asks the company to provide sensitive business documents.

U.S. Senator calls Sony anti-competitive, asks for all exclusivity documents

U.S. Senators are starting to take a greater interest in the video games industry, especially in regards to Sony's so-called anti-competitive business practices. Senators like Kevin Cramer (R-ND) have formally issued a public request to Sony's currently acting CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, that asks Sony to deliver unredacted copies of sensitive business documents. The public gambit seems to be that if Sony has nothing to hide, then it will willingly provide the documentation.

Sen. Cramer is asking Sony to fulfill four separate requests for information, including all exclusivity agreements that Sony has signed with third-party independent publishers. Sony is unlikely to comply with this request alone if not for a court order. Based on Sony's responses to the FTC, we know that Sony's filing system is not well-suited for this kind of mass documentation gathering, and Sony legal counsel says that this is a big reason why the company has taken such a long time to respond to Microsoft's document requests in the FTC administrative hearing discovery process. However, Sony has been ordered by the FTC to comply with all document requests, including third-party exclusivity deals, from 2019 onwards. Now politicians want to see this information as well.

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Continue reading: U.S. Senator calls Sony anti-competitive, asks for all exclusivity documents (full post)

NVIDIA RTX 4070 gets price cuts, with rumors the GPU is off to a shaky start

Darren Allan | Graphics Cards | Apr 14, 2023 12:12 PM CDT

NVIDIA's RTX 4070 is off the starting blocks, and there's still a good amount of stock of the GPU floating around after launch, with prices sitting at MSRP - and some graphics cards even being discounted already.

NVIDIA RTX 4070 gets price cuts, with rumors the GPU is off to a shaky start

It certainly doesn't seem like RTX 4070 stock is flying off the shelves, or at any rate, supply is easily coping with demand.

And indeed there are suggestions that demand may be on the weak side, such as the tweet above from leaker TechEpiphany, who claims that big German retailer MindFactory (MF) only sold around 300 units on launch day, which is indicative that interest is "pretty low" in the GPU.

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Continue reading: NVIDIA RTX 4070 gets price cuts, with rumors the GPU is off to a shaky start (full post)

Meteor Lake could be gaming laptop CPU champ - if Intel gets it out quick enough

Darren Allan | Processors | Apr 14, 2023 10:43 AM CDT

Intel's Meteor Lake processors might hit 5.4GHz in their mobile configuration, which could make these CPUs top-notch for gaming laptops - providing Intel isn't too slow off the mark with getting them out of the door.

Meteor Lake could be gaming laptop CPU champ - if Intel gets it out quick enough

This is the latest spillage from well-known YouTube leaker Moore's Law is Dead (MLID), who chews over fresh chatter on the subject of Meteor Lake in his latest video (among other topics).

MLID's source assures us that Meteor Lake will not fall short on clock speeds, even if it won't reach the same levels as Raptor Lake. We're told that currently, the top-end Meteor Lake laptop CPU is running at 4.7GHz, and it's expected to hit 5GHz - but the hope is it'll end up as high as 5.4GHz. The latter isn't something the source is confident about, but it's certainly what Intel is aiming for right now.

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Continue reading: Meteor Lake could be gaming laptop CPU champ - if Intel gets it out quick enough (full post)

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