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Teenager Stabbed To Death, Has Consoles Stolen In Home Invasion

by Ewan Moore, Gaming Bible Three men have been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly breaking into a 19-year-old male’s home and stabbing him to death before leaving with his PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles. The incident took place in Des Moines, Iowa. Law & Crime reports that Taylor Scott Austin (20), Tyrone Glen Davis (20), and Daniel Fletcher Jackson (18) have been charged with first-degree murder after breaking into the Polk County home of Cory Elifritz. The trio are alleged to have knifed the young man before leaving him for dead while they robbed his home.  Officers were called to the house on October 28, where they found Elifritz lying in a pool of blood having suffered from multiple […]

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Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality

by Elizabeth Culliford and Sheila Dang, Reuters Facebook Inc is now called Meta, the company said on Thursday, in a rebrand that focuses on building the “metaverse,” a shared virtual environment that it bets will be the successor to the mobile internet. The name change comes as the world’s largest social media company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company’s live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name reflected its work investing in the metaverse, rather than its namesake social media service, which will continue to be called Facebook. The metaverse is a term coined in the dystopian […]

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New Tech Lets You ‘Feel’ Holograms Like STAR TREK’s Holodeck

by Matthew Hart, Nerdist In what is undoubtedly another step toward an IRL Star Trek holodeck researchers at the University of Glasgow in Scotland have developed holograms people can “feel” with their hands. The interactive holograms are quite basic at this point, but the proof of concept is certainly there. And, incredibly (dare we say magically?!), the system relies ultimately on illusions and air. Design Taxi picked up on the new, tangible holograms, which the research team recently described in a paper published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems. Professor of Electronics and Nanoengineering Ravinder Dahiya led the team that aimed to pair holograms with “aerohaptics.” That is, the process of creating feelings of touch with jets of air. To create the interactive holograms the researchers […]

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Marvel sues artists and their heirs to block them from rights to Spider-Man, other heroes

by Diana Dasrath and David K. Li, Variety Superhero factory Marvel asked a federal court on Friday to block artists behind iconic figures such as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, and those artists’ heirs, from wresting away control of those valuable rights. The federal civil suits from Marvel Characters Inc., filed in the Southern District of New York, claim the work of several artists and authors belong to the company and not to those original creators or their heirs. Those artists, or their descendants, had previously filed action with the U.S. Copyright Office seeking termination notices to end Marvel’s control over their characters. In the multiple civil actions filed by Marvel, attorney Daniel Petrocelli cited the precedent of the court siding […]

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“Diablo” developers speak on game and company issues

by Stephen Totilo, Axios The creators of “Diablo II: Resurrected” say people should “do what they feel is right,” when considering whether to buy next week’s big release from Activision Blizzard. Why it matters: “Resurrected” is the first game from Activision Blizzard since California filed an anti-discrimination suit against the company, largely over sexism, harassment and other workplace problems at Blizzard, where the “Diablo” series was created. “It was definitely very troubling to hear these types of things,” “Resurrected” design director Rob Gallerani tells Axios, referring to the misconduct allegations. “And we really wanted to support our colleagues and our co-workers.” Between the lines: The remake is primarily being made by Vicarious Visions, a studio in upstate New York that has long worked on non-Blizzard games and was not […]

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Reports show no ‘practical difference’ between Sony’s PS5 models

by Igor Bonifacic, Engadget At the end of August, YouTuber Austin Evans posted a video on Sony’s updated PlayStation 5 “CFI-1100” console. He was one of the first to obtain the revised model and what he found after tearing down the console was that Sony had equipped it with a smaller and lighter heatsink. In testing the unit, Evans found exhaust temperatures were higher than on the launch variant, leading him to claim it “worse” than its predecessor. That’s a statement that led to controversy, and, in some cases, confusion over whether people should buy the updated CFI-1100 model. Now we have a more definitive answer on what the new heatsink means for the PlayStation 5. Working together, Digital Foundry and Gamers Nexus conducted an independent teardown […]

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Evidence of ‘superhuman’ immunity to COVID-19

by REUTERS It’s being dubbed ‘superhuman immunity’. New research shows some people may have a significantly higher level of immunity to COVID-19 that could even protect them from future pandemics. Scientists studied individuals who have recovered from the virus and then later received a mRNA vaccine, such as Pfizer or Moderna. What they found was that protection against the disease and its variants was higher than immunity conferred by either infection alone or vaccine alone. Paul Bieniasz is a virologist at the Rockefeller University, he prefers the term hybrid, rather than superhuman immunity: “So this is a phenomenon that we and others have uncovered in people who were infected by SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic, and then some months later […]

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Here’s the Fee PS5 Owners Will Now Be Charged to Upgrade First-Party PlayStation 4 Games

by Jose Martinez, Complex Media Sony confirmed that upgrading its PlayStation 4 first-party titles to PS5 will start coming with a $10 fee.   The company announced last week on its PlayStation blog that anyone who purchases standard and Special Editions of the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West, which is slated for a Feb. 18, 2022 release, will be charged to upgrade to its next-gen console. However, Sony walked back the decision following widespread criticism, citing the pandemic’s impact on developers who were forced to delay the game past its launch window.   While the company chose to honor its promise with Horizon Forbidden West, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan used this circumstance to establish a new norm for first-party, cross-gen titles. “I also want to confirm today that moving forward, PlayStation first-party exclusive cross-gen […]

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‘Horizon Forbidden West’ PS4 buyers will get a free PS5 upgrade after all

by Jon Fingas, Engadget Sony won’t make you pay to upgrade Horizon Forbidden West after all. The company’s Interactive Entertainment chief Jim Ryan announced that Forbidden West PS4 players will get to upgrade to the PS5 version for free, as Sony promised last September. The tech giant “missed the mark” and will stand by its original pledge, Ryan said. The change of heart comes after Sony and Guerilla told customers they’d be limited to the version of the game they bought. If you started on PS4, in other words, you’d have to buy another copy to take advantage of PS5 features. Don’t expect a similar concession for other PS4-to-PS5 upgrades. Ryan made clear that all first-party cross-generation exclusives “moving forward” would include a $10 upgrade option for the PS5 edition. […]

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Michael K. Williams, Star of ‘The Wire’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Found Dead at 54

by William Earl, Variety Michael K. Williams, who memorably portrayed Omar Little in “The Wire” and Chalky White in “Boardwalk Empire,” has died at age 54. The New York Police Department confirmed to Variety that the actor was found dead on Monday at 2 p.m. inside of his Brooklyn residence. Williams was a regular on many acclaimed HBO series, including “The Wire,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Night Of” and “Lovecraft Country,” played Leonard on SundanceTV crime series “Hap and Leonard” and had a recurring role on J.J. Abrams’ “Alias.” He also acted in acclaimed films including “Inherent Vice,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Road.” The actor’s work often attracted awards attention, including three Emmy nods for outstanding supporting actor […]

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China further slashes kids’ gaming time to just three hours a week

by Daniel Cooper, Engadget China has announced a further crackdown on the amount of time children can play online video games, with the new limit set to just three hours per week. Bloomberg, reporting from local news sources, says that platforms like Tencent can now offer gaming to kids between the hours of 8-9pm on Friday, weekends and public holidays. It’s a significant and notable reduction from the previous rule, which had been generally capped at 1.5 hours per day in 2019. Earlier this month, Tencent was forced to cut the amount of time minors could play the smash hit mobile title Honor of Kings to just an hour on weeknights and two hours on the weekend. The added restriction is likely to impact the […]

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Developer Fixing Saints Row 2’s Long-Lost PC Version Has Died

Watson said in May “I will continue to work on this for as long as I am able” by Luke Plunkett, Kotaku Having long been presumed lost, in 2019 Volition were able to get their hands on the source code for Saints Row 2, and quickly set about fixing the game’s long-broken PC version. That work has been led by one man, Community Developer Mike Watson, who this week sadly passed away. Watson had battled stage 4 cancer last year, and even documented his struggles on the company’s Facebook page. While working through it when possible, earlier this year the cancer came “back with a vengeance,” and he was forced to step down from his role leading the small team in May. Despite this, he kept […]

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There’s already a new version of the PlayStation 5, and it’s got a very small but critical change

by Ben Gilbert, Business Insider A new version of the PlayStation 5 just launched, but it’s hardly distinguishable from the version that arrived in November 2020. The new PlayStation 5 model was first spotted in Australia by Press Start and later seen in other territories as well. What makes the new model different from the original model? It mostly boils down to a single screw: That’s the flathead screw that attaches the console’s base, which keeps the console standing upright. Since the PlayStation 5 launched late last year, anyone who’s been lucky enough to get one has had to use a screwdriver every time they wanted to attach or disconnect the base from the console. Like this: Frankly, it’s kind of a hassle, and […]

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NORMAN REEDUS STILL WANTS TO PLAY GHOST RIDER FOR MARVEL

by Matt McGloin, Comic Book News Norman Reedus, known for playing fan-favorite Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, again says he wants to play Ghost Rider for Marvel. Years ago saw the actor respond “f’ yeah” when questioned about Ghost Rider, and recently saw Norman Reedus offer up he still wants to play the Spirit of Vengeance when it was pointed out he could be reunited with fellow The Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal who is rumored to return as Punisher in the MCU. “That would be great. So, I don’t know, call somebody, make that happen. I want to do it,” said Reedus to CB.com, adding, “I want a fire skull. I want my face to turn into a fire skull and whip a chain around. […]

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Will the Global Chip Shortage Accelerate the Death of Video Game Consoles like PS5 and Xbox?

Gamers are sick and tired of waiting for the next-gen consoles to be readily available Adrian Covert, SPY It’s been a weird 18 months, to say the least, and right when it seemed like life was getting back to business as usual, a global chip shortage is threatening to drive up prices of the electronics that are crucial to our lives such as laptops, printers and even automobiles. In the gaming world, some products are downright unattainable. Despite the fact that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 were both released almost nine months ago, they’re both in extremely short supply. In theory, you can find PS5s for sale online, but in practice, the price gougers will get there first. Likewise, in the PC space, trying to […]

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Billion-dollar monetization giant EA shifts towards single player games

Billion-dollar monetization titan Electronic Arts is now re-embracing single player as it sets up profitable online tentpoles. by Derek Strickland, Tweak Town Following the breakout success of games like Jedi: Fallen Order, and with established online anchors like FIFA, Madden, Apex, and Battlefield established, Electronic Arts now seems more open to single player games. While the publisher’s billion-dollar live games offerings aren’t going anywhere, EA is now diversifying its portfolio across a spectrum of experiences. Live services no longer seem to be required for all of its games. The publisher has a number of single player-driven games currently in development, including a Dead Space remake. This one is actually a big example of EA’s turnaround. EA Motive, the team behind […]

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