Apple : Safari users can bypass paywalls with new private browsing mode |
- Safari users can bypass paywalls with new private browsing mode
- Cybercriminals deploy malware to make ATMs spit out cash
- Roku TVs and players can finally access Apple TV content
- Workers trust AI more than human managers
- Cardinals vs Nationals live stream: how to watch NLCS 2019 baseball online from anywhere
- Cyberpunk 2077 release date, trailers, gameplay and news
- Breath of the Wild 2 release date, news and trailers for the next mainline Zelda
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| Safari users can bypass paywalls with new private browsing mode Posted: 15 Oct 2019 06:39 PM PDT Getting users to subscribe to sites is already difficult enough for publishers but now the latest version of Apple's Safari browser is enabling users to read content locked behind a paywall for free. The latest update to the browser, which began rolling out to users at the end of September, prevents sites from detecting when Safari users have the browser's private browsing mode enabled. Just like Google's incognito mode, private browsing temporarily prevents publishers from reading or writing cookies to a user's smartphone or computer and this makes it impossible for a paywall to detect how much content a reader has consumed. Since the paywall is unable to verify how many articles a user has read, it simply allows them to access premium content without a subscription.
Publishers had previously implemented a number of countermeasures to prevent users from visiting their sites while in incognito mode but unfortunately, Safari's private browsing feature is able to bypass these measures. Private browsing modeDespite the popularity of Apple's iPhone and Mac products, far fewer Americans use Safari to browse the web and instead prefer to use Google's Chrome browser. According to Statcounter, Safari controls just nine percent of the US desktop browser market. However, Safari users are more likely to pay for news and for many news outlets, they often represent a majority of their subscribers. SVP of strategic initiatives at the News Media Alliance, Danielle Coffey explained to DIGIDAY that while private browsing mode helps protects users' privacy, its hurting news organizations, saying: “This will lead to a hard paywall for all readers and also make it more difficult to monetize content. While we’re interested in protecting our readers’ privacy, we still need a return on our investments to sustain quality journalism.” As the companies behind popular web browsers focus on privacy to both appeal to consumers and stay ahead of regulators, expect more media companies to begin locking their content behind paywalls as the practice of using cookies to let people read a few of their articles is no longer possible.
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| Cybercriminals deploy malware to make ATMs spit out cash Posted: 15 Oct 2019 04:33 PM PDT New details regarding a series of jackpotting attacks on ATMs in Germany that took place in 2017 have been uncovered thanks to a joint investigation conducted by Motherboard and the German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR). Jackpotting is a technique in which cybercriminals use either malware or a piece of hardware to trick an ATM into ejecting all of the cash it contains. A stolen credit card isn't required to launch a jackpotting attack and those behind these attacks usually install the malware onto an ATM by opening a panel on the machine to gain access to a USB port. Motherboard and BR's investigation revealed that while jackpotting attacks have decreased in Europe during the first half of this year, multiple sources have said that the number of attacks in other parts of the world have increased.
The US, Latin America and Southeast Asia have all faced jackpotting attacks recently and banks as well as ATM manufacturers have been impacted across the financial industry. JackpottingBack in 2010 at the annual Black Hat cybersecurity conference, the late researcher Barnaby Jack showed of his own strain of ATM malware live on stage. Once the malware was successfully deployed to the ATM, the word “JACKPOT” was displayed on its screen as the device spit out bank notes. When it comes to the jackpotting attacks which occurred in Germany during 2017, prosecuting attorney Christoph Hebbecker revealed to the joint investigation that 10 incidents took place between February and November in which attackers were able to steal 1.4m Euro. However, now jackpotting has made a comeback as cybercriminals look to illegally earn funds in the real world. One of the main issues with ATM security is that many ATMs are essentially aging Windows computers that are very old and slow. ATM manufacturers have made security improvements to their devices over the years but unfortunately that doesn't necessarily mean that all ATMs across the industry are up to the same standard. Executive director of the ATM Industry Association in the US, Canada and Americas, David N Tente explained to Vice how banks can better protect their ATMs from jackpotting attacks, saying: "In order to execute a jackpotting attack, you have to have access to the internal components of the ATM. So, preventing that first physical attack on the ATM goes a long way toward preventing the jackpotting attack." In the world of cybersecurity, attack methods that fall out of favor with cybercriminals are often revived later on and that certainly seems to be the case with the recent wave of jackpotting attacks.
Via Vice This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Roku TVs and players can finally access Apple TV content Posted: 15 Oct 2019 02:33 PM PDT Despite being one of the most open platforms for streaming services, Roku has always struggled to crack Apple’s walled garden - until earlier this year when the pair announced that they would bring the Apple TV app to Roku for the first time. Months later, the fruits of that partnership have ripened. Roku TV and Roku player owners can now download the Apple TV app on most Roku devices, including the new Roku Express and Roku Ultra, but excluding the oldest models in the lineup. To download the app, go into the featured section of the channel store or search Apple TV by name through the Roku voice remote or Roku app on your mobile device. Once it’s downloaded, you can log into the app by either entering your information on your Roku or by using a QR code to log in through your mobile device, and then access any shows or movies you have in your collection. While the app is currently limited to content you either already own or want to rent from the iTunes Store, the Apple TV app on Roku will soon support Apple's new streaming service, Apple TV Plus, after its arrival on November 1. That said, if you want to start streaming your iTunes shows and movies, the Apple TV app is available to Roku users for free starting today in the US and UK, as well as Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Republic of Ireland.
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| Workers trust AI more than human managers Posted: 15 Oct 2019 01:56 PM PDT Workers place more trust in robots and AI than their managers according to the second annual AI at Work study conducted by Oracle and Future Workplace. To compile the study, the two firms surveyed 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries to find that AI has changed the relationship between people and technology in the workplace and is reshaping the role HR teams and managers need to play when it comes to attracting, retaining and developing talent. In contrast to common fears that AI and robots will take workers jobs, the AI at Work study found that employees, managers and HR leaders across the globe are reporting increased adoption of AI in the workplace and many are welcoming the emerging technology with enthusiasm.
AI is becoming more prominent in workplaces with 50 percent of workers currently using some form of AI at work compared to only 32 percent last year. Workers in China (77%) and India (78%) have adopted AI over two times more than those in France (32%) and Japan (29%). However, the study also found that men have a more positive view of AI in the workplace than women with 32 percent of male workers optimistic versus 23 percent of female workers. Who to trust?Increased adoption of AI at work is having a significant impact on the way employees interact with their managers and as a result, the traditional role of HR teams and managers is shifting. Of those surveyed, 64 percent said they would trust a robot more than their manager and half have even turned to a robot instead of their manager for advice. Workers in India (89%) and China (88%) are the most trusting of robots over their managers, followed by Singapore (83%), Brazil (78%), Japan (76%), the UAE (74%), the US (57%), the UK (54%) and France (56%). Once again though, more men (56%) than women (44%) have turned to AI over their managers. When asked what robots and AI can do better than their managers, respondents said robots are better at providing unbiased information (26%), maintaining work schedules (34%), problem solving (29%) and managing a budget (26%). However, workers said that managers are still better at understanding their feelings, coaching them and creating a work culture. SVP of the human capital management cloud business group at Oracle, Emily He explained why organizations should work with their HR departments when implementing AI at work, saying: “The latest advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly reaching mainstream, resulting in a massive shift in the way people across the world interact with technology and their teams. As this study shows, the relationship between humans and machines is being redefined at work, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to successfully managing this change. Instead, organizations need to partner with their HR organization to personalize the approach to implementing AI at work in order to meet the changing expectations of their teams around the world.”
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| Cardinals vs Nationals live stream: how to watch NLCS 2019 baseball online from anywhere Posted: 15 Oct 2019 01:41 PM PDT You'd better believe that the Washington Nationals are on the brink of making history, with just one game of baseball (and the St Louis Cardinals) separating them from their first ever World Series. To see who will prevail in the 2019 NLCS, follow our guide to getting a Nationals vs Cardinals live stream - no matter were on Earth you are. Yep, the 2019 baseball World Series beckons and while the Cardinals have a storied history of going to baseball's big one, the Nationals have anything but! But it's the Nationals that have looked like the experienced campaigners at the NLCS stage, prevailing in two hard fought encounters and then one crushing victory to take a 3-0 series lead. Adam Eaton's 2-run homer in the eight innings in Game 2 was enough to take the W. But it was that man Howie Kendrick who stepped up once again to be counted as he fired off 3 RBIs in 8-1 home victory for the Nationals. Previously, both the Cardinals and the Nationals needed the full five games to dispatch their opponents in their respective division series. The Cards were particularly emphatic in their deciding game, destroying the Atlanta Braves 13-1. The men from the capital had to overcome last year's losing finalists the LA Dodgers to take their next step towards the franchise's first ever World Series. After falling behind twice in the series, Howie Kendrick's heroics (4 RBIs in Game 5) saw them through to their first ever NLCS. Whether you’re crackers for the Cardinals, a Nationals nut or just a fan of baseball, we’ll show you how to watch every game in the 2019 NLCS series online from anywhere in the world without resorting to some dodgy feed you find on Reddit. Keep reading and we’ll guide you through all of the Nationals vs Cardinals live stream options to watch the baseball on your TV, computer and even on your mobile devices.
How to watch the NLCS online from outside your countryLiving in the US, UK or Canada and want to catch the Cardinals vs Nationals? Scroll further down the page and we'll explain how to watch a baseball live stream, whether or not you have cable. But if you can't watch because you're not in your home country and so your coverage is geo-blocked then we can suggest a clever alternative (and no, it doesn’t involve finding some dodgy feed on Reddit). Using a VPN - or Virtual Private Network - you can change the IP address to one in a different state or country which does have the stream so that you can watch the series from anywhere in the world. The process is very straightforward… How to watch St Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals in the USIf you live in the US and have a cable subscription, then watching this series is a pretty straightforward process. TBS is the official broadcaster for the series in the US and the network will be showing all seven games. If you have a subscription to MLB.tv, you can also stream it on MLB.tv so long as you get an authentication code from one of the cable providers. If you don't have a subscription to MLB's streaming service, now would be a great time to consider getting on board as you can watch every World Series game and even get ready for the 2019 season with MLB.TV's Postseason package for just $24.99. Not a cable subscriber? Don’t worry as we’ll explain all of the other ways you can watch the baseball online down below.
- Discover our pick of all the US's best sports streaming sites How to stream Nationals vs Cardinals live in the UKUK baseball fans will be able to watch this season’s games on BT Sport which is included in BT’s TV bundles. If you aren’t a BT Sport subscriber, you can sign up for the BT Sport app for £10 a month with the first three months free or subscribe via Sky TV or TalkTalk TV for £29.99 a month. If BT Sport’s monthly prices are too high for you, remember that MLB.TV is also available in the UK. How to watch the 2019 NLCS in CanadaThere are a number of ways to watch MLB in Canada. Baseball fans with a cable subscription will be able to watch games on Sportsnet, TVA Sports, TSN and RDS. Don’t want to pay for a premium cable subscription just to watch baseball, don’t worry as MLB.TV is available in Canada (with no blackouts). This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cyberpunk 2077 release date, trailers, gameplay and news Posted: 15 Oct 2019 01:16 PM PDT Cyberpunk 2077 will be hacking into our digital lives in only a few months – but the more teasers, trailers, and gameplay we get to see, the less sure we can wait that long before CD Projekt Red's massive dystopian RPG actually comes to our screens. Landing on Xbox One, PC, and PS4, Cyberpunk 2077 looks set to be a vast open-world game, draped in dizzying neon colors and futuristic gadgetry, and packed with more branching storylines than you could shake a high-tech drone at. In both an extended trailer and in our hands-off demo at E3 2019, we saw a bit more of the metropolis of the future, where body modification has become an obsession, and you play a mysterious outlaw in the sleazy underbelly of the city. Here's all the news, trailers, and announcements we've had on Cyberpunk 2077 so far. Or, if you can't take the anticipation ahead of the game's 2020 release, check out our thoughts on the Cyberpunk RED tabletop role-playing game instead. UPDATE: There have been some more photo mode teasers and discussions around how CD Projekt Red plans to monetise its post-launch content. Read on to find out more. Cut to the Chase
What is Cyberpunk 2077?Cyberpunk 2077 is a neon cyberpunk game that has The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red moving from a gritty, high fantasy world to an equally gritty, science fiction world metropolis. It's based off the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name, but plays a hell of a lot like The Matrix game we've always wanted. We caught our first peek at the game behind closed doors at E3 2018 – you can check out what we saw in the 48-minute walkthrough video below (in the trailers section). Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that looks vastly different from its developer's The Witcher series, with towering neon skyscrapers, bionic enhancements and a focus on vertical movement rather than wide open plains. It's also all in first-person. At E3 2019 we learned a lot more about the plot of the game, which features the one and only Keanu Reeves. Reeves plays a character named Johnny Silverhand who's embedded in a biochip that's placed in the main character's brain. In order to unlock the secrets to the biochip, what basically becomes the main thread of the game, Silverhand will guide you to Alt Cunningham, the most legendary net runner of all-time. The only problem? She’s dead. But her consciousness lives on the web and you’ll need to do whatever it takes to track her down – including, but not limited to, befriending or eliminating leaders of the biggest gangs in Night City. Cyberpunk 2077 trailersThe latest Cyberpunk 2077 trailer is a 15-minute deep dive into the game's lore, world, and gameplay. If you don't mind spoiling some of the visual treats in store – including what it's like to actually step into cyberspace – check out the video here. E3 2019 gave us an incredibly slick trailer, with a look at some new characters, weapon-play – including Keanu Reeves, who will be playing the rock star Johnny Silverhand. Get your fix in the trailer below. In March 2019, we got yet another video, this time of the development team gearing up for the E3 2019 showcase event. Those hoping for a 2019 release may want to start to brace themselves however – though the game remains without a release date, the suggestion of the video below is that development is still in full swing, and a release date may be some time away yet: After a veritable truckload of hype, CD Projekt Red released 48 minutes of gameplay footage, based on the demo journalists saw at E3 2018. In it, you'll see what gunplay looks like, character creation and backstory assignment, plus how you'll upgrade yourself via cybernetic enhancements. You'll meet some of the characters in Cyberpunk's seedy crime circuit and explore the city on foot and in vehicles. (Quick warning: the trailer contains nudity, violence and swearing.) We were treated to a Cyberpunk 2077 trailer during E3 2018 which you can watch below:
Cyberpunk 2077 release date: April 16, 2020In the game’s first official teaser trailer, it was stated that the game will be coming “when it’s ready,” but now we have an official release date: April 16, 2020, care of the E3 2019 trailer. This is despite an investor call in early 2016 that suggested that Cyberpunk 2077 would be released before June 2019. It was also said in this call that CD Projekt Red is planning to release two new triple A RPGs before 2021. It was later clarified in forums that Cyberpunk 2077 would be the first of these games to arrive and work on the second would not start before Cyberpunk 2077 was finished. Image Credit: CD Projekt Red Considering The Witcher 3 took around three and a half years to develop, a 2019 release didn't seem unmanageable for the studio. But the scale of the development, as well as rumors of the game being a cross-gen Xbox Two and PS5 title, it makes sense that the game has taken longer than initially anticipated. Cyberpunk 2077 news and featuresPost-launch content We're still a long way away from any kind of post-launch content for Cyberpunk 2077 but fans have been thinking about how CD Projekt Red may consider monetising it. Well, the studio doesn't seem to have locked down any definite path just yet but it is being considered and the most likely scenario appears to be that the game will follow in the post-launch content footsteps of The Witcher 3. In an interview with GameSpot at PAX Australia, the head of CDPR's Krakow office, John Mamais said “I think it’s a bad idea to do microtransactions after you release a game. It seems like it’s very profitable, though. It’s probably a hard decision for the guy that runs the business to decide if we should do it or not. But if everyone hates it, why would we do something like that and lose the goodwill of our customers?” As far as Mamais is concerned, the Witcher 3's model which saw free DLC launched with big paid expansions was "a good model" which "worked pretty well." As a result, Mamais added "I don’t see why we wouldn’t try to replicate that model with Cyberpunk 2077. We’re not talking about that yet, but it seems like that would be the smart way to go.” Photo mode? Let's face it, we all want to take pictures of Night City and there have been hints that this may be possible when the game launches. The developer told fans previously that there were plans to include a photo mode in the game and a recent video posted to Twitter has suggested that may still be the case. The video shows a scene of the Night City skyline while the symbol of a camera shows briefly. The hashtags on the tweet itself read Capture Cyberpunk and Photos From Night City. This makes a photo mode seem very likely and given it's a feature found in most big budget games these days that may not be entirely surprising. However, the game's first person perspective may present some challenges if CD Projekt Red wishes to allow players to take pictures which will include their fully-customised avatars. No Reeves romance for you We know, you're devastated. We all are. But it's now been confirmed that Keanu Reeves is not a character you'll be able to romance during Cyberpunk 2077 (via PCGamer). What about multiplayer? After repeatedly stating that multiplayer elements were in R&D but saying nothing more, CD Projekt Red has confirmed on Twitter that it's definitely in the works. So far, the plan appears to be to release the game in April as a single-player experience and then follow this up with various single DLCs that will be free to download and play, after which players will begin to be invited for "some multiplayer action." Multiplayer is, then, slightly down the road but it is coming. Character creation will be gender fluid Jonkers said that "you don’t choose your gender anymore. You don’t choose, ‘I want to be a female or male character’ you now choose a body type. Because we want you to feel free to create any character you want." GTA-style radio Coming to Stadia Spin-off card game “The game thrusts players into the dark alleyways of Night City, where ruthless gangs clash with corporations in an endless war for money, power, and control. “In Cyberpunk 2077: Afterlife, players become Fixers, the data brokers and masterminds in Night City that recruit cyberpunks, equip them with gear, and send them out on missions. But nothing's free in Night City. Players need to balance between what they want and what they can actually afford. Using an innovative drafting mechanic and special dashboard, players must decide which cards they want to buy, and which to sacrifice for funds in order to purchase new ones. Each successful mission raises the player's Street Cred, with mission survivors becoming Veterans, imparting their knowledge and experience to newer recruits. In this chrome-infused world, Street Cred is the only currency that truly matters.” Hardcore mode that says goodbye to UI In an interview with Wccftech, CD Projekt Red’s Alvin Liu discussed hardcore mode, revealing that it will get rid of the game’s UI to provide a “real challenge” for players. That means there’ll be no markers or indicators telling you where things are or what level of enemy you’re going up against. It’s real immersion in Night City and the desert beyond with the potential for real frustration. Of course, it’s not just the hardcore players that are being catered to in Cyberpunk 2077; Liu revealed that there will also be modes for those who are less experienced with first person games and shooters and wish to enjoy a more laidback experience. “If you want to play more casually for the story and maybe you’re not experienced with shooters, which was a real big concern for us. We want to tell a story and maybe you’re a big fan of The Witcher and you’re not comfortable playing a shooter, we have settings available for that.” Liu explains that as well as settings for less experienced players, there will also be weapons. The smart gun, for example, will help players to aim. Though it comes at the cost of the smart gun being a weaker and slower weapon. It will, however, be a good start for those looking to get to grips with the aiming system. For those unfamiliar with first person games, there’s also going to be a Field of View slider. Making more of the game world visible through the eyes of the avatar should alleviate that sense of tunnel vision that comes from trading third person view for first person and the potential for nausea this can cause some players. Environmental hazards In an interview with Wccftech, UI director Alan Liu revealed Cyberpunk 2077 will feature dynamic weather such as acid rain and other environmental hazards. Settings available for those uncomfortable with FPS Cyberpunk 2077 will look just as good on console as PC "Actually no, we have a very custom engine, the RED Engine," Liu responded. "And actually, we’re targeting consoles as first-class platforms and it looks amazing there. So obviously, if you spent, you know, $2,000 building your PC rig, it’s going to look better on that. But the graphics are quite amazing for what you’re going to get from Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles and low-end PCs." Could we see a movie adaptation in the future? "I can’t really say anything on that," Pondsmith told VGC in response to whether he is optioning the Cyberpunk movie rights. "But with Keanu Reeves being tied up in things, it’s become much more of a possibility." "At this point we are teaching people about this new kind of cyberpunk. My favorite film is Blade Runner, but I recognise inherently that it’s a cerebral film and 2049 was even more cerebral. A cerebral film is not necessarily going to allow other people to enter that space and understand it, but at the same time you don’t want to do it totally action." Keanu Reeves' band gets its first single There may or may not be three games in development Take your pick of protagonists There will be romance There will be no morality system There's more than Night City Multiple Endings New Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay shown at E3 2019, but not playable Inside Pacifica, two gangs – The Animals and The Voodoo Boys – are fighting for supremacy. In order to meet Bridgitte, the head of the Voodoo Boys, you'll have to first deal with her lieutenant Placide, who wants you to infiltrate The Animals' hideout. Your goal, at least you're told, is to find a high-tech van that's monitoring all the network traffic in Pacifica. To get to this van, you'll have to make your way past The Animals' crew. The reason they're called The Animals, it turns out, is because they take a drug that enhances their muscle mass. To get through them you'll either need to fight your way through – a risky proposition – or sneak your way into the hideout. Image Credit: CD Projekt Red Customization: perks, skills and attributes The choices are vast, and while they're not completely limitless, CD Projekt Red doesn’t want to confine you to a single play style or set path. The reasoning behind that, it seems, is to better mirror the game’s source material – a 30-year-old tabletop role playing game called Cyberpunk (however, there was also a later edition called Cyberpunk 2020). Behind all of the hacking and gunplay lies a fairly complex RPG – the perks screen we saw during our demo had more than 20 perks to choose from and level up. These perks impact how your character plays, but can also impact what choices you have in conversations with the world’s NPCs. Image Credit: CD Projekt Red Vampire Bloodlines and Deus Ex were inspirations for the game Tomaskiewicz said that games such as Deus Ex, Vampire Bloodlines and Elder Scrolls had influenced him in his work on Cyberpunk 2077's quests. He cites the original Deus Ex as a particular influence and praises the ways in which it gives players the freedom to complete missions in multiple ways. This suggests we can expect a great deal of freedom and complexity and non-linearity in Cyberpunk 2077’s missions as well as in the protagonist you'll be using to cause havoc in the game world which is something quite different from the tight gameplay-loop found in The Witcher. CD Projekt Red is working on two AAA titles – both to be released by 2021 This release window was reaffirmed on the official CD Projekt Red forums, with moderator Donata Popławska confirming the studio is sticking to its original roadmap. "As far as the strategy of the CD Projekt Capital Group for 2016-2021 is concerned, its plans to release the second AAA game by 2021 remain unchanged," the moderator wrote (translated via Resetera user Antiax). However, Popławska did not expand on what the second AAA title to be released in this time frame could be. "We are currently focusing on the production and promotion of Cyberpunk, so we do not want to comment on further projects," they continued. Lady Gaga could be making an appearance? In addition ActuGaming claims the collaboration will be officially announced at E3 2019, with Gaga rumored to be making an appearance at the gaming convention. Last year Gaga tweeted a strange mix of letters and numbers, which the official Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account replied to with "Of course! Of course we will!", suggesting the A Star is Born actress would be involved with the game in some way or another. E3 2018 confirmed features It's a first person RPG set in a huge open world known as Night City – a metropolis split into six districts, each offering a different environment to explore. During the demo we only saw a small part of one of them. Players can create their own character called V and embark on their journey to crawl up from the criminal underbelly. This is a dark game and though The Witcher series is mature, this takes it to a new level. As you'd expect, the game lets you augment your body using various bits of tech – illegal or otherwise – and you can use drugs to enhance your combat, or a kind of digital brain-hack called 'Braindance'. We know weapons are wide ranging and seriously creative, with smart guns and bullets as well as terrifying Mantis Blades for melee. There are no loading screens in Cyberpunk 2077 and the story and side quests are branching and numerous, and your choices genuinely impact the outcome. You can read more about how impressed were were by what we saw. E3 2018 secret message In the message CD Projekt first apologises for "staying silent longer than we planned" but following the release of The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine the developer wanted to wait until it had "something meaningful and substantial" to show. It goes on to say that the vision for Cyberpunk is "an alternative version of the future where America is in pieces, megacorporations control all aspects of civilized life, and gangs rule the rest." This game will, CD Projekt says, be a "true single player, story-driven RPG" where you'll be able to create your own character. At the moment the developer isn't ready to confirm any kind of release date and asks for more patience. It also says it has "no bloody clue" about how big the game is but does say it's "seriously big." Image Credit: CD Projekt Red It could be on the next generation of consoles Given the game's current timeline, it's possible it could launch on current systems in April (PS4, Xbox One) and then next-gen systems (PlayStation 5, Xbox Two) later in the year. It will be on Steam It’s going to be bigger than The Witcher 3 In fact, he said that The Witcher 3 was being treated as a learning experience and that they could do better. To do better, the studio has doubled in size with studio head Adam Badowski saying that after The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 needs to be “even better, even bigger, even more revolutionary” than what had originally been planned. Image Credit: CD Projekt Red You’ll be travelling on more advanced tech than boats and horses Don’t expect horses and basic boats here – a job listing for a Senior Vehicle Artist for the studio said they’d be expected to work on “incredibly complex vehicles, planes, bikes, robots and mechanics.“ There may be multiplayer The company president said in March 2018 that these elements are not on the table right now, so it's possible that they'll be introduced after the game's release in a sort of online world like GTA Online. There will be online Whether or not the online elements will feed into the multiplayer is unclear. But there won't be microtransactions It appears that while many studios are feeling the need to move to a service model to ensure their titles make money, CD Projekt is staying committed to the story-driven single player experience with Cyberpunk 2077, one which served them very well with The Witcher. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Breath of the Wild 2 release date, news and trailers for the next mainline Zelda Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:52 PM PDT Dust off your climbing boots and paraglider, gamers: Nintendo has finally confirmed that a The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel is in development, with a breathtaking trailer pointing to a darker turn for the next mainline Zelda game. But what will Breath of the Wild 2 do differently from the 2017 game, and when will we finally get our hands on it? Nintendo dropped the bombshell at the end of its E3 2019 presentation – via an online-only keynote, given Nintendo doesn't host its own presentation in person anymore – confirming our suspicions after the Japanese publisher appeared to be hiring for a 3D level designer last year. 2017's Breath of the Wild was a masterclass in open-world game design, breathing a huge gust of fresh air into the Zelda franchise while somehow retaining everything that made the series special. Widely considered one of the best games of that year – if not all time – it's no surprise Nintendo is working on a direct sequel. While we got a look at a lot of exciting Switch games at E3 – Luigi's Mansion 3, Link's Awakening, and Pokemon Sword and Shield – a Breath of the Wild sequel might have been the most exciting. It's still early days, but here's everything we know – and want to know – about Breath of the Wild 2 for Nintendo Switch. UPDATE: Nintendo has been doing some hiring calls which suggest that Breath of the Wild 2's core development team is still being constructed. Cut to the chase
Breath of the Wild 2 release dateNintendo hasn't shared much information other than the trailer and a few sparse comments – run through below – but the trailer did close off with a line stating the Breath of the Wild sequel was "in development". We certainly won't see the game being released in the coming months, but it's hard to tell beyond that. Take your time, Zelda (Image Credit: Nintendo) There was six years between 2011's Skyward Sword (Wii U) and 2017's Breath of the Wild (Wii U / Switch), though the latter's development was delayed by issues with the game's physics engine. Given the team appear to be re-using the same engine and open-world Hyrule setting, Nintendo probably won't need the same lead time to get this game to release – as with Majora's Mask on the Nintendo 64, which launched just two years after 1998's iconic Ocarina of Time, and re-used many of the same in-game assets. With Link's Awakening landing in late 2019, we can't imagine BOTW 2 launching too soon after, either. December 2020 seems the earliest it could possibly release, with a 2021 window seeming more probable. Breath of the Wild 2 trailersWe got our first glimpse of BOTW 2 at E3, with this spooky trailer that shows Zelda and Link exploring an underground chamber – with some mysterious runes, glowing hands, and a brand-new haircut that has set the internet on fire. Suffice to say: we're excited. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 trailer is just 82 seconds long and there's no dialogue whatsoever – but there are some clues to be gathered from it. It features a torch-carrying Link and Zelda traversing a dark dungeon beneath Hyrule (no big surprise there). Spirit-like tendrils creep around the musty tomb they're exploring, with the pair riding a large elephant-like beast. Something shocks the pair, and then we cut to what appears to be the resurrection of some long-dead (and creepy looking) warrior. Could this be the return of Ganondorf? The video then cuts to a long shot of Hyrule Field, with Hyrule Castle in the distance. There's a tremor, the castle is smothered with dust... and that's the end. The clip finishes with a message that reads: "The sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is in development." We wouldn't usually expect so much animation to be done so early in development, but it probably helps that Nintendo already has the in-game engine from Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild 2 news and rumorsCould Zelda have a bigger role this time around? (Image Credit: Nintendo) More hiring calls There hasn’t been much information around Breath of the Wild 2 since it was confirmed so naturally fans have been clamouring for a hint of where the game might be in its development. The latest hint comes from a Nintendo Japan tweet regarding some job listings for a “scenario planner” and a “level designer” for the game. The fact that such core roles are still being filled suggests that the game is still in the fairly early stages of development and isn’t likely to be a 2020 release. We can’t know for certain, of course, until Nintendo confirms an exact release date but we’re inclined to say later rather than sooner. All the DLC that never was In an interview with Kotaku, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said there were originally plans for more DLC content for BOTW, after The Champion's Ballad and Master Trials add-ons that came in 2017. "Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas," says Anouma. "But then we had a lot of ideas and we said, 'This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.'" A darker turn for the series All we really know at this point is how little we know. But boy are there rumors. The unexpected trailer has already sparked a huge amount of speculation, hopes and hot takes on what the next mainline Zelda title might include. We've heard from Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma that the game is going to have a darker tone than Breath of the Wild, and will even be "a little bit darker" than Majora's Mask (via IGN). The trailer certainly supports this, with what looks like Ganondorf's corpse being resurrected by a disembodied hand, and seemingly imagery from 2006's Twilight Princess, which saw Hyrule turned into a bleak shadow realm – largely in response to the far cheerier and cartoonish The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. A Gerudo corpse, possibly Ganon, is grabbed by a mysterious force (Image Credit: Nintendo) The Twilight realm The glowing blue hand in the trailer is the biggest clue that we'll be seeing more of the Twili – shadow people descended from Hylians who tried to take the power of the Triforce for themselves. The hand is wrapped in twisting shapes reminiscent of Twilight architecture, while the swirling magic could remind some of the portals that let Twili invade Hyrule in the 2006 game. We know that BOTW's dev team originally toyed with the idea of an alien invasion, and seeing shadow creatures teleport out of the sky could well have been what they have planned this time around. A clue in the audio Showing just how far some Zelda fans will go, reddit user u/ReroFunk (via Inverse) has pieced together a pretty convincing theory regarding Twilight Princess villain Zant, a Twili who served Ganondorf in the game. If you listen to the trailer's audio in reverse, there are certain notes that seem to echo the music played during your final encounter with Zant – who, while defeated, is adamant he'll return through the power of his "god". u/ReroFunk also suggests we could see the demon king Demise return for the next Zelda game. Demise was the final boss in Skyward Sword, and revealed to be the original form of Ganondorf. The below still from the Zelda trailer also looks a lot like Demise when you think about it. Ganon, Demise, or something else entirely? (Image Credit: Nintendo) Lots of dungeons (and an extended map) The latest rumors about the Breath of the Wild sequel suggest that we could be in for a treat in the form of a new map that's not like anything we've seen from Zelda before. What's more, a couple of new job listings suggest that Nintendo is looking for people to work on designing some dungeons and hidden bosses for the game – so far, so exciting. Zelda's turn in the spotlight? One of the favorite fan theories doing the rounds regards the Hyrule princess herself. She's shown with a practical short haircut, and is dressed in a manner pretty similar to Link's own adventurer's gear – leading some to think she may be a playable character. Zelda's devs have seemed pretty dismissive of the idea of a female Link in the past – sadly – but we may in this game see sections playing as Zelda, or at least with her playing a more active role in the story. Breath of the Wild 2: what we want to seeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is widely considered one of the best games in the series, and there'll be a lot of pressure to deliver a game not only as good – but also good in its own way. Here's what we're hoping Nintendo will be able to bring to the sequel when it lands. Some new environments Don't get us wrong: Breath of the Wild 2's setting was beautiful, with huge scale vistas and a brilliant dynamic weather system, but we're still hoping we don't have to retread too much of the same ground. Some divergences in the scenery would help to keep things fresh: maybe a great earthquake splitting the landscape, or an eternal twilight turning Hyrule's green fields into something else altogether? Soaring over Hyrule gave us some of BOTW's best moments (Image Credit: Nintendo) Save data carrying over For those of us who have invested a large portion of time in BOTW, it seems a waste to have to start from zero when powering up the next game – especially if it takes place right after we left off. Allowing for certain DLC items to carry over, and making reference to your individual decisions in the previous game – such as certain quests you did or didn't complete, or how many Divine Beasts you recruited before facing Ganon – would really help to make the sequel feel like a meaningful extension of the previous game. Some larger-scale dungeons Sure, you could technically say that BOTW's above-ground landscape was a dungeon in its own right: packed with enough enemies, treasure and surprises without having to hunker underground. However, the snack-sized shrine puzzles and Divine Beasts never quite recreated the scale and wonder of the Zelda Series' most iconic temples, and it'd be great to see one or two dungeons that really pull out the stops. No more Korok seeds For the completionists out there, BOTW's hide-and-seek Koroks were a sweet addition to the game's action. But the reward of a golden turd for collecting all 900 Korok seeds was a bit of an anti-climax – and we really don't want to have to collect all of them all over again. Maybe go with something else next time, Nintendo? Everything BOTW did so well Regardless of the above, we're hoping Nintendo sticks close enough to BOTW's formula – open world exploration, destructible weapons, and environmental puzzles – as not to ditch what made the entry so successful. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Last of Us 2: release date, news, and rumors Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:45 PM PDT You read that right: The Last of Us 2 is nearing the end of development and will be in our hands in 2020. As endings go, The Last of Us's was pretty conclusive. But as it turns out, that hasn't stopped The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog from cranking out a sequel in the form of The Last of Us 2 – or, The Last of Us: Part 2 if we're using its proper name. Given the first game was hailed by players and critics alike as a masterpiece with excellent, emotional storytelling and engaging, realistic characters, we have to admit that the decision to release a follow-up isn't particularly shocking. We'd probably have been more surprised if there wasn't one. And yet, when The Last of Us 2 was first announced, we'd be lying if we said our hearts didn't skip a beat. The Last of Us 2 was first announced by Naughty Dog at PlayStation Experience in 2016 alongside a teaser trailer but it wasn't until September 2019 that we were finally told the game's release date during a State of Play livestream. Now we know for sure that we'll be joining Ellie on her next adventure in February 2020. [Update: Now that the release date is confirmed, Neil Druckmann has been talking more openly about The Last of Us 2 and its two discs (!). Read on to find out more.] Cut to the chase
The Last of Us 2 trailersThe most recent trailer for The Last of Us 2 is also its release date announcement trailer. Shown during the September 2019 State of Play stream, it confirms the game will be coming on February 21 2020 and shows Ellie in action as well as a glimpse at Joel. The Last of Us 2 was shown during E3 2018. This trailer finally gives us a look at Ellie in an intimate scene before cutting away to some of the brutal but stealth-based combat we can expect to see in the game when it's launched. The gameplay sequence gives us a look at Ellie fighting for her life in the wild. Success in a fight appears to require the right balance between stealth and all out attack as damage seems to have a more realistic impact. Ellie can move quietly between areas, taking weapons from bodies and crafting, before bursting out and taking down her enemies. It's a different creature in many ways to the original The Last of Us but it looks like something to look forward to, with more advanced enemies to challenge us and more complex gameplay to thrill us. See the gameplay for yourself below. The Last of Us Part 2 had another trailer drop during PSX 2017. During a panel it was confirmed that the game will be set in the city of Seattle and the darker themes we know are coming were touched upon. You can watch the panel for yourself below: Another trailer for the game was shown at Sony's press conference during the 2017 Paris Games Week. This trailer is around 5 minutes long, focusing on conflicts between the human factions in the game. It shows part 2 is going to have a dark story, perhaps even darker than the first, and the trailer is fairly harrowing to watch. Visually impressive though it is, do note that it's gory before you watch it for yourself below. The first look at The Last of Us 2 came with its announcement at PlayStation Experience in 2016. Despite the fact that the game was early in development, the trailer showed a full (non-gameplay) scene that features both Ellie and Joel. You can watch it below: The Last of Us 2 release dateAfter hoping, praying and speculating we finally got confirmation during the September 2019 State of Play that The Last of Us 2 will be released on February 21 2020. What we know so farNeil Druckmann Interview In an interview with the official PlayStation Blog, Neil Druckmann has been casting some light on what we can expect from The Last of Us Part 2 when it’s released in 2020. Rather than throw in new enemies just because they can, Druckmann says that the studio has carefully considered new Infected additions like the Shamblers. These new enemies emit clouds of burning acid and will force players to consider how they approach combat in a different way, especially when they’re appearing alongside the fast Runners and powerful Clickers. Human enemies are also more dynamic. According to Druckmann, every human enemy in the game will have a unique name so that when they die their comrades might scream out their name in grief. Human enemies can become emotional and unpredictable, making combat more dynamic and realistic. Fans of visuals will also be happy to know that The Last of Us 2 will be making the most of the power of the PS4 like The Last of Us did with the PS3 before it. This means, according to Druckmann, that the game is “able to have much wider environments, sequences with a horde of infected, several squads of enemies looking for you in big spaces.” Similarly, this has made it possible to give Ellie and all of the other characters a new animation system called motion mapping making their movements more responsive and more realistic: “The fidelity we can get in the faces and the motion capture — we can better translate what the actors are doing on stage into the game, and get these nuances so we can rely more on the way someone blinks or the way they squint instead of lines of dialogue. It allows the writing to be much more nuanced than it’s been before.” Two Discs The Last of Us 2 is going to be an ambitious game. So ambitious that the adventure will be split across two discs. Following Sony’s State of Play livestream where the game’s release date was confirmed, it was confirmed in retail listings that Ellie’s adventure will be sold in two discs. At the very least you’ll be getting them together and not years apart. Allies There are few things more frustrating than a completely incompetent ally in a combat scenario when you're playing a game and, fortunately, it seems that won't be a concern with The Last of Us 2. In an interview with GameSpot, the game's co-director Anthony Newman said that the team took criticisms with regards to allies in the first game on board and are looking to rectify them in the sequel. “In the past in almost all of our games, the allies have done kind of fake damage, where you see them shoot enemies and it's a little bit theatrical—like their bullets are clearly doing way less damage than yours,” Newman said. For The Last of Us 2, however, ally bullet “do exactly as much damage as yours do" so players can count on the AI to help them. September PlayStation Events and Multiplayer The Last of Us fans finally got confirmation that The Last of Us 2 will launch on February 21 2020 during the September State of Play alongside a brand new trailer that features plenty of action and a look at Ellie and Joel. Over the course of the event, it was also confirmed that The Last of Us 2 will not launch with a multiplayer element. In a tweet, Naughty Dog stated that its main focus for the game's launch is its single player which is "far and away the most ambitious project Naughty Dog has ever undertaken". That doesn't mean, however, there will never be any online element to The Last of Us 2. The tweet goes on to clarify that at some point in the future an online element for the game will be launched when it's ready. Any online element will be worth the wait, however, according to series co-creator Bruce Straley who left the studio in 2018. Taking to Twitter, Straley noted that the online multiplayer is "extremely ambitious" and that any delay is for "good reasons" and that fans are "in good hands". GameStop Conference Some brand new The Last of Us 2 footage was apparently shown behind closed doors during the recent GameStop managers conference in Nashville. The footage, which will be available to the wider world "soon", was short and showcased some of the game's stealth aspects, including how clickers can be used to your advantage. When this "soon" that the footage will be released is isn't yet known but one opportunity for Sony and Naughty Dog to show some new footage would be during Paris Games Week in October if it doesn't drop even sooner. More from Troy Baker The teasing for The Last of Us 2 continues at Manchester Comic-Con. Troy Baker, voice of Joel, has once again been talking about the game and this time he’s said: “There is nothing about this game, nor the reveals, that hasn’t been 100% carefully crafted and methodically curated. All I can tell you is that as much as you’re clamoring for it, you’re not ready.” If that’s true then the careful curation possibly extends to Baker’s excellent hyping here. What that tells us is that we’re not going to hear anything about this game’s release date until Sony and Naughty Dog want us to and it could be a little while longer before we do. Troy Baker shedding some light Things have been a little quiet around The Last of Us Part II lately so Troy Baker, the voice of Joel, has caused some excitement merely by mentioning the game. During Manchester Comic-Con, Baker was asked what can be expected from the sequel and wasn't able to give away much. What he did say, however, was that "it's hands down the most ambitious game that Naughty Dog has ever done for sure. It's far larger than I thought was going to be possible." That's a pretty big statement to make and one guaranteed to leave fans salivating. When it came to the release date, though, Baker wasn't able to make any announcements. Not because he didn't want to (though obviously and understandably he didn't) but because he and his fellow cast members don't know the release date just yet. "Last time we announced, we slipped," he explained, "And they don't want to do that again." (Via PlayStationLifestyle) Rumors of a delay There was much excitement on May 29 as a result of PlayStation exclusive Death Stranding finally getting its release date confirmed as November 8 2019. This has, however, had a ripple effect which is concerning fans of The Last of Us 2. With Death Stranding now slotted in as PlayStation's big exclusive release for the holiday season of 2019, it's been rumored (by Kotaku's Jason Schreier among others) that The Last of Us 2, also originally said to be looking at a late 2019 release, will now be pushed into early 2020. This has not been confirmed by Naughty Dog or PlayStation so it remains nothing more than rumor at the moment. It's also worth pointing out that The Last of Us 2 has never had a set-in-stone release date anyway. However, an early 2020 release date for The Last of Us 2 does not seem impossible at this point as PlayStation having two such huge releases close together at the end of 2019 would be a surprise indeed. A recent interview with Ellie actress, Ashley Johnson, has also added to those early 2020 rumors as, when asked by the interviewer when the game will release, she appears to begin to say February. However, nothing has been confirmed by Naughty Dog just yet so everything stands as rumor only at the the moment. Into the final stages News around The Last of Us 2 has been hotting up recently as the game inches closer towards completion. Naughty Dog has now confirmed that the final scene for the game has been shot and the game’s co-director, Anthony Newman, has tweeted out a recruitment call as the studio begins to “close out” the game’s development. As promising as these announcements are, they don't reveal anything about whether or not we can expect to see The Last of Us 2 this year or next. Regardless, development has reached a critical stage and though Sony won’t be attending E3 2019, that doesn’t mean it can’t make some announcements around the time of the show. In fact, recent rumors have suggested that we will see some kind of news around this time. Hopefully we’ll see a confirmed release date in the coming months. Mocap is underway Things have been quiet on the official news front for The Last of Us 2 but we've been glad to see some studio insiders and actors from the game posting images on social media which show that the game's motion capture is well underway. Actors Ashley Johnson and Shannon Woodward have both posted images of themselves wearing mocap suits. They didn't give much away but the fact that Naughty Dog is this far into the motion capture process suggests we might at least be closer to hearing about a possible release date. Troy Baker is impressed The Last of Us 2 is still in the works, but we now know that one of its lead voice actors, Troy Baker, has had an in-depth look and he thinks the game is 'awesome'. It's not clear whether Baker just saw some gameplay or had the chance to go hands-on himself but according to GameRant he said during MCM Comic Con at Birmingham “It’s a fantastic story. It’s a fantastic game. We just finished a playtest. It’s looking awesome. I can’t for it to be on shelves.” Though we can't be sure where exactly in the development process it is (during PSX, it was said that Naughty Dog had reached around the 50 to 60% mark) this playtest is an encouraging sign. Directors With Neil Druckmann having been promoted to Vice President of Naughty Dog, The Last of Us 2 now has two confirmed directors. Druckmann will, of course, still be heavily involved in the creation of the game but it's now being headed up by Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau, both of whom were lead designers on Uncharted 4. Story Although it was no slouch in the gameplay department, it was the story told by The Last of Us that stuck with us for months afterwards. Naturally Naughty Dog had to give us some kind of hint about where the sequel would go. At the moment we know The Last of Us 2 will take place in the city of Seattle, five years after the end of the original game, with a 19 year old Ellie taking the starring playable role. Joel will still appear in the game but if the teaser trailer is anything to go by, he could be a much more passive presence. This time around, Ellie is extremely angry about...something. From what we saw from the teaser trailer she wants revenge, which to her appears to be a dish best served deadly. She does, after all, promise to “kill every last one of them.” It’s not clear who “them” is but it could signal that the Fireflies, the first game's well-meaning but morally grey antagonists, will make a return. Anger, hate and revenge are going to be key themes this time around so expect to be in for an emotionally heavy ride. In the trailer for the game shown at Paris Games Week in 2017, we got a look at how dark the game is likely to be. The trailer focuses on the opposing relationships between human characters in the game and features some seriously cringe-inducing violence. It doesn't tell us much about any new characters of how they'll relate to one another but it does confirm that we're going into a dark game world in The Last of Us part 2. In a recent panel at PSX both Druckmann and Gross said that though the game's story will indeed be dark and there'll be a focus on the theme of hate, "there is hope" and there will be "lighthearted moments." We can't pretend we're not relieved to hear this after the game's controversial Paris Games Week trailer which, Druckmann said, was intended to highlight the game's exploration of the pursuit of justice. Ellie is one of the most real and refreshing characters we’ve seen in gaming so it’s exciting that Naughty Dog are going to take her story further and put her in center stage. The creative director of the game, Neil Druckmann has said that the story will be about Ellie and Joel’s relationship and that though the story would be complementary to the story of the first game, it would be much larger. When asked at a PSX panel whether or not Joel or Ellie may die, Druckmann responded that "no one is safe" highlighting that the game's story really could go anywhere. Hopes are particularly high for this larger story as it’s been revealed that one of the writers of Westworld, Halley Gross, will be co-writing the game’s story. Having someone who’s written scripts for such an incredibly popular and successful show should be a boon for the game's story. Gameplay E3 2018 brought us our first proper look at the gameplay in The Last of Us Part 2. Given Ellie is now the leading playable character, it was expected that things would be a little different from the first game and the presentation at the show made this fairly clear. Ellie will have some moves similar to Joel but there are some things she'll be able to do that are completely different. For one thing she can jump - the new jump button should make the world of The Last of Us Part 2 more complex and more enjoyable to traverse. It also has the potential to make combat more interesting. Speaking of combat, Ellie doesn't really throw punches as her first form of attack, she has a stealthy knife. Melee combat generally appears to offer a little more than the original game, with evasions and an environment that can help as well as hinder your fighting. Not only has Ellie matured as a character, the enemies she faces have developed and they're more realistic than ever. The Infected in The Last of Us Part 2 are smarter and more reactive than their predecessors, making them a tougher foe to face. AI has improved, allowing enemies to communicate with one another and to look for Ellie when she's hiding. Expect some tense moments to arise from this.
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| Fable 4 is coming: here's everything we know so far Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:38 PM PDT Despite Fable being one of Microsoft's most-beloved exclusive IPs, we haven't seen a mainline instalment since Fable 3 was released way back in 2010 - that's nearly a whole decade without a follow-up. Image Credit: Lionhead Of course it hasn't been all quiet on the Fable front. There was an unsuccessful attempt to pivot to an online games-as-service model with Fable Legends. But that was followed by the eventual closure of original developer Lionhead Studios, which meant many thought we’d never experience another traditional single-player Fable adventure. However, when Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in early 2017 that the series wasn’t dead and still had places to go, hopes were understandably raised. More recently, reports have emerged that Playground Games, the developer behind the Forza Horizon series, is working on the fourth Fable game. Now it looks like we have a bit more to go on than rumors after an alleged Fable 4 leak found its way into the wild and the details were published on Reddit. We’ve put together everything you need to know regarding the news and rumours about Fable 4, as well as what we'd love to see from the next instalment. [Update: There are rumors that Fable 4 will have some impressive writers behind it. Read on to find out more.] Cut to the chase
Release dateGiven that Fable 4 hasn’t actually been confirmed yet, and we sadly don't have the prophetic powers of the games' soothsaying Theresa, it’d be hard to pin down any kind of release date for Fable 4. However, back in 2018, Eurogamer posited that development on the game was in its very early stages, with rumored developer Playground Games still hiring to boost team numbers up to around 200. Of course that news feels a little old now, but it's all we have to go on at the moment. So, taking it with a grain of salt, we may not see the next Fable game until 2021, 2020 if we're being optimistic. Image Credit: Lionhead News and rumorsThough Microsoft hasn’t officially confirmed Fable 4 is on the way, there have been signs that the franchise hasn’t been abandoned. We've collected together all of the top rumors and news below, take each with a grain of salt and remember that some of these are years old now - we're keeping them here to show you the full development of Fable 4. Fingers crossed the wait will be worth it. Writing chops If the rumours that Playground Games is indeed the studio tasked with developing the next Fable game are true then things are looking positive for the game’s story. Recently (via VGC) senior scriptwriter Kim MacAskill joined the studio’s as-yet-unannounced RPG team from Rocksteady to work alongside fellow Rocksteady and Batman: Arkham Knight writers Martin Lancaster, who is now a narrative director, and Craig Owens, principal scriptwriter. It remains unconfirmed that Playground Games’ RPG project is Fable 4 but if it is then the game will have some narrative chops thanks to the Arkham Knight alumni. Reddit leak On June 3, 2019, Reddit user LagSwag 1 published details of an alleged Fable 4 leak. The details come from a video that's since been removed (and which we haven't seen ourselves), which details a few key features of the fourth installement, including both first and third-person perspectives, an in-depth character creator, no guns, the option to ignore the main quest, the option for players to build towns, multi-player and running on Unreal engine. Wow, that's a lot to take in. If that wasn't enough to throw your head in a spin, two more details have emerged from the leak. The first is that the land of Albion (where the game is set) could be no more, with different worlds and planets to explore. And to access these planets? There could be a time travel element, via a Demon Door. This is clearly a huge departure from the original Fable games, but it sounds ambitious and exciting too. We also expected nothing less given past iterations of the game made huge leaps time-wise between each installment. Jumping possibly centuries into the future to a time when time travel tech is around makes a lot of sense. However, that's porting over old ideas of how the game progresses onto the new idea. Maybe this will take us back to the past of the first game but with time travel elements added in? The leak suggested the reason for the new planets is that someone got control of the magic Spire and used it to destory the planet (!), which means we might not be in the future at all? These are all just guesses, of course, but it's fun to speculate where the game might be taking us next. Image Credit: Lionhead Peter Molyneux talks Fable 4 Though Peter Molyneux is no longer actively involved in the Fable 4 franchise, rumors of the next title have reached him and in a recent IGN interview he had some comments to make on where he'd like to see it go, as well as what he regretted in games gone by. Molyneux said that he regretted the massive time jumps between the mainline games and that he'd like to see the next game be a prequel: “Fable story hinted at a dramatic time before Fable 1 when the Guild was founded, this would be a perfect setting for Fable 4, the land of Albion would be much more primitive, the magic much more attuned to nature, the combat much more brutal. The story would follow the founding members of the heroes guild, why it was set up." Finally, he wants to see a more organic morality and character progression systems, where players will affect their alignment through their actions rather than choosing a class at the beginning of the game. Find yourself stealing lots of stuff and making use of stealth? You'll quickly become known as a thief. The Eurogamer report In January 2018 Eurogamer said that according to sources close to the project, a brand new high-budget Fable game is in the works. This news comes less than two years after the closure of Lionhead Studios, and the report says that UK developer Playground Games, best known for its work on the Forza Horizon series, will be the new developers for the series. Eurogamers sources say that a team of more than 200 will be working on Fable from the team’s new offices in Leamington Spa, though development is still in the very early stages. Just what kind of Fable might Playground be working on? Well, the report says that the game is planned to be an open world world action RPG with a focus on character and story. Image Credit: Lionhead The game that Playground will reportedly be working on sounds rather similar to the vision Lionhead had for Fable 4 before its pitch was rejected and the studio was shut down. Prior to its closure, Lionhead had been working on Fable Legends, a free-to-play service game with a heavy emphasis on online multiplayer. This was quite a departure from Lionhead’s previous Fable titles and the studio hoped that it would be able to return to creating single-player story-driven adventures when development of Legends was complete. This didn’t happen. Fable co-creator Simon Carter told Eurogamer that the news left him with “mixed” feelings. Though he said it was great news for the UK games industry and he’d be pleased to return to Fable as a “punter”, he added that it’s “curious” that Microsoft would get rid of a development team that knows the franchise inside out. He doesn’t doubt, however, that the team at Playground is “very talented” and will do a “fantastic job.” It is somewhat curious that Microsoft has taken this sudden shift in attitude towards the Fable franchise. According to Eurogamer, it’s the result of the success of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn, This single-player story-driven game was a hugely beneficial exclusive for PlayStation and a sign that the future isn’t just exclusively for service-based online games. Image Credit: Lionhead Playground is a studio that has done fantastic work for Microsoft with the Forza Horizon series so it’s understandable that the company would turn to them in the hopes of another exclusive success. Microsoft has yet to comment on these rumors so Fable’s return remains unconfirmed. The Xbox Live API Leak Before Eurogamer’s report, in early January 2018 an Xbox Live API leak suggested that a Fable project with the codename Wisdom is being worked on by a UK-based developer. The Lionhead tweet Not long after this, a former Lionhead Lead Engine Programmer called Don Williamson posted on Twitter that he’d worked out which studio was working on Fable 4, stating that he believed it to be an interesting choice. This has since been deleted though it was captured by WCCFTech. When asked by WCCFTech if the studio working on the game was based in Brighton, Williamson replied that there was no Brighton-based studio big enough to take on the task. With the knowledge gained from the Xbox Live API Leak, WCCFTech surmised that it must be Playground Games working on Fable. The studio had been recruiting developers to work on a Triple-A open world RPG before this point, which ties in neatly with these suspicions. Given that Playground Games is best known for the Forza Horizon titles and hasn’t worked on an open world RPG before, it’s unsurprising that Williamson believed the studio to be an interesting choice. However, given the degree of hiring going on we imagine the team is trying to get developers with the necessary expertise. Image Credit: Lionhead Phil Spencer Our very first sign that the Fable franchise would one day return came from Xbox’s own Phil Spencer. In early 2017 Spencer tweeted that though Microsoft had nothing to announce at that time, there were “plenty of places” the IP could go. It wasn’t much to go on but it added weight to reports that emerged in the aftermath of Lionhead’s closure that Microsoft had turned down offers to buy the studio as it wanted to keep hold of the Fable license. What we want to seeAn exciting story Albion is a world with serious potential and we’d love to return to it in style. Previous Fable storylines haven’t always been groundbreaking and the story in Fable 3 was really very disappointing. However, the history of heroes and guilds has always been an interesting one and the Fable universe is far from short of interesting and well-written characters to jump off from. If more recent rumors are true, we may have to make peace with the Fable universe in a literal sense. We'll be sad to say goodbye to Albion, of course, but we're also confident that if the game is taken to different places, and even different planets, it'll make sense to the experience as a whole. Each iteration of the game has always felt like a big change - Fable 4 is likely to be no exception. A great soundtrack Without fail, every single Fable game has had a soundtrack that’s stuck in our heads. Every track manages to create an atmosphere and a real sense of fairy tale fun. We’d love to see this commitment to sound and music make a return in any new instalment. Multiplayer One of the biggest recent rumors is that the game could be getting a multiplayer mode. We're not entirely sure how this will work, but it's an option that will add a new twist on the classic game that we're excited to try for ourselves - and with everyone we know. Image Credit: Lionhead That sense of humor Alongside its soundtrack, the Fable franchise is recognisable for its sense of humor. It’s a little bit silly, occasionally a little bit dark and always individual. Though it’ll be a hard thing to replicate exactly, we’d love to see the new game take that same approach of not taking itself too seriously. It always helped Fable stand out from the other RPGs on the market and it would undoubtedly continue to do so - no other game has yet to strike the balance in quite the same way. More choices and consequences Peter Monyneux always had a grand vision when it came to Fable’s morality system but sadly it never quite lived up to his vision. It’s been a long time since the last numbered Fable title and the power of consoles has come a long way. Greater power means vastly improved AI and we really hope the new development team will use this to create a far deeper morality system. Rather than simplistic good and bad choices, we’d love to see more complex decisions and far-reaching consequences. Especially the chance for your character to be a more neutral presence in the Fable universe. Recent rumors suggest you don't have to necessarily become the hero to play the game anymore, so we're hoping for more nuance in character development here. The thought of Fable returning is exciting and given the criticism Microsoft has received with regards to its lacklustre exclusive offerings on Xbox, it’d make sense for the company to revive one of its most beloved worlds. However, the main thing to remember here is: nothing is official. But, we have everything crossed that will all change during Microsoft's E3 2019 conference where more details - as well as an official announcement - could well be revealed.
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| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) release date, trailers and news Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:31 PM PDT Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is something of a reset for the bestselling FPS franchise – removing the frills of zombies, jetpacks, double-jumps and futuristic gadgetry for a grounded take on what military engagement actually looks like in the 21st century. The name is no coincidence, either; 2007's Modern Warfare was a landmark entry in the Call of Duty series, and it looks like Activision is looking to recreate what made the game of the same name so successful. It’s all about the gritty realities of war this time out, with the ‘modern’ of the ‘Modern Warfare’ title referring to the gear, weapons and gadgetry being used today in the Middle East and Russia, rather than the far-flung fantasies of science fiction. With the battle royale genre taking up many shooter fans’ spare gaming time, Call of Duty’s crown as the king of competitive shooters has slipped in the past few years. Can a return to its most-popular roots bring it back to glory? With Activision having outlined recommended specs on PC, we know it will be a demanding game, and those after a breezier experience also have the COD: Mobile game which is landing on October 1 for iOS and Android. But if you're after the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare news, trailers, or beta updates, we have everything you need below. [Update: Call of Duty Modern Warfare has a brand new trailer and we now know the PC requirements. Read on to find out more!] Cut to the chase
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare release dateAnnounced right before E3 2019, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare leaked ahead of the event but a trailer gave us our first glimpse and a variety of details for the game. It included the release date, which is set for October 25, 2019. You're already able to pre-order the game on the official site too. Call of Duty Modern Warfare screenshotsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare trailersIt's not long until the game's release and we now have a thrilling launch trailer to enjoy. Watch it for yourself below: PlayStation's State of Play showcase saw the debut of several fantastic trailers for some highly-anticipated games, with a new story-focused Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trailer being a particular highlight. You can check out that trailer below. At Gamescom 2019, Infinity Ward released a new trailer revealing Modern Warfare's ray tracing in action. Check it out below: Not had enough footage of Modern Warfare multiplayer? Check out the 24 minutes of multiplayer footage released by Infinity Ward in August 2019 below. The latest multiplayer trailer has been revealed for what's being claimed to be Call of Duty's most immersive multiplayer to date. Infinity Ward has confirmed a brand new multiplayer mode for Modern Warfare called Gunfight and released five whole minutes of crisp 4K gameplay to give players a better idea of what to expect from this fast-paced, 2v2 mode. Watch it for yourself below. The first trailer for Modern Warfare was the release trailer that debuted on May 30. In it, we can see series protagonist (and all-around badass) Captain Price light up, and some intense - and dare we say great-looking - nightvision sequences. You can watch it below: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare newsLoot boxes There have been some worries among Call of Duty fans about what the monetisation plans around Modern Warfare may be, with loot boxes looming large in the minds of many. Studio art director at Infinity Ward, Joel Emslie, has stepped forward on the game's subreddit to say that the game will not have loot boxes. Under the thread title "Current Events" Emslie wrote in no uncertain terms: "Sigh. There continues to be misinformed and incorrect info being pushed about Modern Warfare. What I can say right now is that we are definitely NOT working on any kind of supply drop or loot box system. Also, functional stuff is unlocked through GAMEPLAY. Stay tuned, we're planning to release info this week." It looks like those feeling concern will be waiting for bated breath for more news before the game's release. PC Specifications Ahead of Modern Warfare’s release, the game’s PC specifications have been revealed. And they’re pretty hefty. The game will, according to Battle.net, require a massive 175GB hard drive space. The space required on consoles has not yet been revealed but it will be interesting to whether 4K consoles will need something similar. Minimum requirements OS: Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 10 64-bit Processor” Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300 Video” NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon HD 7950 Memory: 8GB RAM Storage: 175GB hard drive Recommended OS: Windows 10 64-bit Processor: Intel Cire i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen R5 1600X Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon R9 390, or AMD Radeon RX 580 Memory: 12 GB RAM Storage 175 GB hard drive Special Ops We now know more about Modern Warfare’s Special Ops mode thanks to an official blog post. According to the post, Special Ops (completely separate to the PS4 timed exclusive mode Special Ops Survival) can be played by up to 4 players together and the main aim is to work together to “stop and sever a global terror organization’s access to weapons, funds, intelligence, and hardware.” Special Ops is divided into two game modes: Missions and Operations. Operations are multiplayer only matches that feature unique objectives and a certain amount of freedom in terms of how you approach it. Missions, meanwhile, can be played with others or solo. These missions will be less sprawling than Operations and more focused on testing your skills with certain weapons or tools. On completing a mission your performance will be given a star rating. Cross-progression between online multiplayer and Special Ops has been enabled so you’ll be able to carry your items and progress between modes. COD: Mobile edition Crossplay Battle royale possibilities The rumors are unconfirmed but they do come from YouTuber LongSensation, a source with a fairly good track record. However, until Infinity Ward confirms or denies we can't be sure. PC optimzation Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be fully optimized for PC players, according to recent reports, complete with some PC-specific features as well as cross-play with consoles. As reported by DualShockers, the PC version of the game will have an uncapped frame rate as well as a slider for Field of View so that you can decide how much of your surroundings you want to see in your peripheral vision. Ultra-wide monitors will be supported with the ability to configure monitors to suit your needs. For any console players concerned about mouse and keyboard advantages in cross-play scenarios, matchmaking will be done according to peripherals so it's down to you whether or not you play with those using a mouse and keyboard. Infinity Ward is already ahead of those ultra-sneaky players who might think about changing their peripheral mid-match; you can't, it's locked in. Multiplayer reveal As promised, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's multiplayer reveal took place in August. Fans have already seen the brand new 2v2 mode, Gunfight, but now there's a bigger picture that suggests a truly reinvigorated Call of Duty multiplayer experience to look forward to. First up, there's cross-platform multiplayer between consoles and PC as well as a free season pass, showing Infinity Ward is taking a cue from popular multiplayer titles like Fortnite and is making efforts not to split up its playerbase. Further to 2v2 fights in Gunfight, there are 6v6, 10v10 and 20v20 matches though the real surprise is a new mode called Ground War which will support up to 100 players, though there's no footage of that just yet. With this expansive multiplayer offering, it seems that Infinity Ward is looking to appeal to all kinds of shooter fans. Watch the multiplayer trailer for yourself below. Killstreaks are back Ahead of the full multiplayer reveal scheduled for August 1, Activision has confirmed that Killstreaks will make a return in Modern Warfare, making it the first game in quite a while to include the feature. As players rack up kills, they'll be able to unlock weapons and armor. Some of the killstreaks have been revealed on Twitter already including the intimidating Juggernaut suit from Modern Warfare 3, the light infantry assault vehicle and, most unpleasantly, the controversial White Phosphorus. More information on the game will be revealed on August 1. Female multiplayer options Infinity Ward has been drip-feeding multiplayer news ahead of the full reveal on August 1st. The latest announcement has come from a Reddit post in which communications manager, Ashton Williams, has confirmed that there will be playable female models in Modern Warfare's multiplayer. Multiplayer intro In addition to that confirmation of playable female characters, Infinity Ward has also revealed some footage of what the short cinematic preceding a multiplayer match will look like to Twitter ahead of the full multiplayer reveal. Like in Call of Duty: WW2's War Mode, the cinematic will show players in a scene heading towards their drop point. Full Multiplayer Reveal Gunfight Gunfight is a mode for four players where two teams will play in “multi-round cage matches” across three small custom maps. Every two rounds, teams will swap to opposite sides of the map. All four players will have the same loadout which will typically be comprised of a primary and secondary weapon as well as a tactical Grenade and a piece of Lethal Equipment. The first team to win six rounds are the winners. This is going to be a mode for players that like fast rounds, with each round counting down on a 40 second timer. If one team hasn’t wiped out the other by the time the 40 seconds is up, a flag will appear on the map. The first team to control the area around the flag for more than three seconds is them the winner of the round. Each round, overall, will last for around a minute so speed is key. Aim Down Sight reload Aim Down Sight reload will mean that, while aiming down the sight of your weapon, your view won't be pulled away to watch an animation when you reload. Instead, you'll stay on target. Animation director Mark Grigsby offered some details on the feature in the post: “One other thing we added this year is the ADS [Aiming Down Sight] reload. In the past, if you're ADS, and you're shooting and you reload, the weapon would go off to the side, and you'd have to retrain to get to your target. This time if you reload, it stays on the target, so you can stay in the battle.” "Ripped straight from the headlines" This mission sees you tracking down the instigator of the terrorist attack (AKA The Wold) to a townhouse in North London. As a member of the SAS, the player creeps up a ladder and into the back of the dimly lit home where they methodically assassinate the plain-clothes terrorists occupying the residency. There's even an unsettling situation involving a woman using her baby as a shield. It's pretty rough but Infinity Ward claims the new Modern Warfare sees missions "ripped straight from the headlines" and investigated the "civilian collateral damage" that comes hand-in-hand with war. What was peculiar was that our presentation was shorter than those who had attended earlier in the week. We were only shown the London townhouse mission, whereas other journalists were shown an extra - more controversial - segment which seen players taking on the role of a child soldier in an unspecified war-torn country. Image Credit: Infinity Ward Is this a reboot of the classic Modern Warfare? Instead, Infinity Ward is using the Modern Warfare name here to evoke a similar feeling, and some of the same characters will return but this is an entirely new storyline set in a different timeline. It's totally separate to what we've seen in the previous games as here those events haven't occurred. We'll still follow Captain Price in this different timeline, and it may mean we see over returning characters throughout too. Price features heavily in the trailer above, and he ends it by saying there's a team of his "old comrades" so it may well be that we see the return of other fan favorite characters such as Soap or Gaz. This new timeline is also why the game isn't called Modern Warfare 4. It should mean it's a good place for new entrants to the series to pick up the game, but there's sure to be a few nods to the original series for die-hard fans. Narrative director at Infinity Ward, Taylor Kurosaki, also noted that the game's storyline is still being tweaked but it's anywhere between five and nine hours long. That means it's not set to be very long, but at least this time there is a storyline. Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 4 opted to drop the storyline in favor of focusing on online play, which is something we've heard very little about so far for this game. Image credit: Activision/Infinity Ward No zombie mode... In an interview with PlayStation Lifestyle, Minkoff said that the team's goal is to create something on par with today's battlefields - which, unfortunately, don't include any undead wandering around. "We don't have the flexibility to do something like put zombies in the game. That would compromise the feeling of playing in a world that feels realistic and authentic and relative to today's conflicts and things we face," Minkoff said. If you want Zombies, you'll just have to wait for the next Black Ops game. Image Credit: Activision / Infinity Ward A whole new engine We've yet to learn the name of the engine, but we know that the franchise has been working on it for five years. We expect to learn more about it in the coming months, but we can expect some more detailed environments, improved volumetric lighting and ray tracing technology too. Expect controversy That mission is in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. It was highly controversial at the time for depicting an undercover CIA agent who takes part in a mass shooting of civilians. The trailer suggests other terrorist attacks may feature in the story, and children also feature so it may be these elements are used to stir up controversy.
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| Pokémon Sword and Shield release date, trailers, and brand new features Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:12 PM PDT After releasing some of the best games in franchise history on the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo and Game Freak are finally ready to bring the main Pokémon games to the Nintendo Switch – the first of which are called Pokémon Sword and Shield. The games will release globally on Nintendo Switch this November and will bring with them a brand-new region, features and Pokémon for trainers to swoon over. The official Pokémon YouTube channel has been dripping feeding us with snippets of gameplay and Pokémon designs too – though not everyone is happy with what's been shown so far (more on this below). The Sword and Shield games will be set in the Galar Region (basically, a Pokémon-ified version of the United Kingdom) and will include a number of creatures including three new starting Pokémon, Scorbunny, Sobble, and Grookey. We'll also see a new mechanic called Dynamaxing that will replace Z-Moves and Mega-Evolutions – and apparently even Poké Jobs that help your Pokémon gain experience. So how does Sword and Shield stack up to Pokémon Let's Go: Pikachu and Eevee on Switch? Those games acted as a sort of reboot of the original Red and Blue titles for the Nintendo Gameboy, and for many didn't count as a 'core' Pokémon experience. Players will be looking to Pokémon Sword and Shield to bring the true Pokémon experience to Nintendo Switch, and expectations are much, much higher. So what do we know, and what are we hoping to see when Pokémon Sword and Shield launch this year? Read on to find out. [Update: We now know Pokémon Sword and Shield's download size! And we know there's going to be another update for fans on October 16. Read on to find out more.]
Cut to the chase
Image credit: Nintendo Pokémon Sword and Shield release dateDuring a special Pokémon Sword and Shield focused Nintendo Direct on June 5, Nintendo revealed that Pokémon Sword and Shield will release globally on November 15, 2019. In addition, Nintendo announced pre-orders for a double-pack edition of the games will be available soon. Pokémon Sword and Shield trailersWondering what towns in the Galar region might look like? A brand new trailer dropped during Gamescom will give you a better idea. Rolling verdant hills, quaint train stations and the ever-familiar comfort of the Pokémon Center. Check out the new footage below: Pokémon Sword and Shield will made battling bigger and better than ever, and we mean the former quite literally. In a trailer released in August 2019, some new battle mechanics are explored. Watch the trailer below to see new Hidden Abilities, moves, items and some more details about Dynamaxing. A new day, a new trailer. We were expecting possibly more of an in-depth Pokémon Direct, but this two-minute clip does give us a look at some new Pokémon designs – as well as some 'rivals' you'll be facing off against in the game. Check out the video below: Another recent Pokémon Sword and Shield trailer gave us a closer look at Dynamaxing, new Pokémon and the Galar Pokémon League. Check it out below: The best glimpse we've had of Pokémon Sword and Shield was during a special Nintendo Direct in June. The Nintendo Direct shed a lot of light on what new features we can expect alongside some new Pokémon pals. Check out the video below: The first Pokémon Sword and Shield trailer didn't give too much away, but you can see the first glimpse of the environments and art style. You also get a first look at three new starter Pokémon: the fire-rabbit Scorbunny, twig-monkey Grookey, and a sad-looking tadpole (sadpole?) called Sobble. Check the trailer out below: The last video, released right around the time of E3 2019, highlighted some of the geographical features of the Galar Region and introduced us to raid battles – a mechanic taken from the Pokémon Go mobile game. Pokémon Sword and Shield screenshotsPokémon Sword and Shield news and featuresAnother research update Hotel on the heels (or should we say hoofs?) of the Glimwood Tangle livestream The Pokémon Company is promising another research update on October 16. The update will go live at 6am PT/ 9am ET/ 2pm BST, although it's not quite clear what it will involve just yet. The trend so far has been to reveal new Pokémon but it could be something entirely different this time around. Perhaps a better look at some of the in-game towns? Download size revealed It's time for a clearout! Pokémon Sword and Shield will take up 10.3GB of storage on your Nintendo Switch. Glimwood Tangle Livestream Aspiring Pokemon researchers have tuned into the promised Sword and Shield livestream and what have they discovered over the 24 hours? Well, it looks like there's a Galar region variant of the horse-like Pokémon Ponyta. This psychic type will be exclusive to Shield, balancing out the recent announcement that Sirfetch’d will be exclusive to Sword. This Ponyta will have two special abilities: Pastel Veil and Run Away. The latter seems fairly self explanatory while the former will prevent Ponyta and its allies from being poisoned during battle. This ability can also cure poisoned Pokemon when they join a battle. Autosave The rumour that Pokemon Sword and Shield will be the first games in the series to include an autosave feature have been confirmed. In an interview with GameInformer, director Ohmori said that autosave will run in the background throughout the game. The feature will be turned on by default, but fans looking for a more traditional experience can go in and turn it off and save manually. Exp Share Another feature that will be automatic in Sword and Shield is Experience Share which will see XP fairly distributed among your Pokemon team by default, rather than subject to the use of an item. Meet Sirfetch’d Check out the reveal trailer for the leek-wielding Pokémon below: Autosaves? Could we finally see autosaves make an appearance in a mainline Pokémon game with Sword and Shield? Perhaps. A while after that Nintendo Direct it's now come to the attention of some eagle-eyed fans (via Eurogamer) that during the trailer "Now Saving..." briefly appeared during gameplay. This could, of course, just be the aftermath of a manual save but it looks like it could easily be marking the introduction of an autosave that is instigated by reaching certain points or crossing certain thresholds in the game. We won't know for sure, however, until it's confirmed or denied by Nintendo. Nintendo Direct September 2019 Nintendo dropped a Direct in early September with some brand new details on Pokémon Sword and Shield. First up, as we already knew character customisation is making a return but it's going to be more wide-ranging than ever before. Now in addition to changing tops and bottoms, you can change hairstyles, apply make up and pull some stylish outerwear. Catching Pokémon in a leather jacket? You betcha. There's also Pokémon Camp which allows you to pitch up a tent during your journeys and play with your Pokémon. This will improve their performance in battle and you can even take your Pokémon to visit the camps of other players online. Camping also means cooking. Now you can lovingly create dishes of curry and rice for you and your Pokémon with more than 100 variations to enjoy. To keep track of your recipes you'll be using the Currydex (yes, seriously). Of course, there are also some new Pokémon. The Direct introduced us to flying-water-type Cramorant and ghost-type Polteagiest. Gamescom 2019 Gamescom 2019 is here and despite that fact that Nintendo dropped a new Pokémon trailer merely days before the event, more new footage has been shown. Aren't we spoiled. The new footage gives a good look at an as-yet-unnamed town in the Galar region. This footage reveals that in addition to the previously revealed flying taxi service in the game, players will also be able to travel by train. Hopefully the attempt to reflect the UK will only be surface level or we'll get nowhere by rail. Towns will also have, as expected, Pokémon Centers, grocery stores and clothing stores to have a look around and spend some money. New battle mechanics In a recent trailer, some brand new battle details have been confirmed. Corviknight is shown to have a Hidden Ability called Mirror Armor which will allow it to reflect any stat-lowering effects back at its opponents. Hidden Abilities, it’s been confirmed in a blog post, are slightly more special than standard abilities as they’ll only feature in Pokémon that have been caught in Max Raid Battles (so a Corviknight you catch from a normal encounter won't have the Mirror Armor ability). These Max Raid Battles, coincidentally, are the way to encounter another kind of special Pokémon: one that's capable of Gigantamaxing. If you’re really lucky you might go into a Max Raid Battle and come away with a Pokémon that can Gigantamax and has a Hidden Ability but that’ll be a very rare event and you’ll have to take part in a lot of Raids. New items will also be introduced to the game. One of these is Room Service, which will lower the speed of the Pokémon holding it during Trick Room. The other is Eject Pack which will switch the holding Pokémon out of battle if its stats are lowered, allowing you to replace it with another from your team. Battling online A few more details on the Online Battle Stadium have been confirmed. Players with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription will be able to connect over the internet and compete in single or double battles. These battles can be ranked or casual, with the former involving facing trainers of similar ranks to try and earn points to move up, while the latter is, well, just for fun. With things working through the Nintendo Switch Online service, that means Pokémon Global Link is not supported. Pokémon have jobs now An official listing on the Pokémon Sword and Shield's website shows a way of earning experience points by freelancing your Pokémon out to random employers. Exploitation, or a fun summer job? At the very least it's a great way of ensuring your boxed Pokémon aren't languishing while you take your main team on your adventure as can sometimes happen. It seems something of a shame that you can't go along with your Pokémon and take part in a mini game for some jobs but either way it's a great way to keep your Pokémon training and to bring in some special items as rewards. Region variants Regional variations of familiar Pokémon always make exploring new areas even more fun. The region variants for the Galarian region really play up that U.K inspiration. There’s Galarian Weezing which is clearly drawing heavily on the Industrial Revolution with its chimney pipe hat and Victorian factory-owner vibe. Meanwhile Zigzagoon and Linoon have taken on a more badger-like appearance. There’s also an entirely new Pokémon confirmed for the Galar region: Morpeko. This little hamster-like creature is adorable until It gets hungry. In perhaps the most relatable Pokémon behaviour ever, when Morpeko enters hangry mode, it goes from electric type to dark type and looks utterly merciless. The bad guys Pokémon grunt organisations are very rarely subtle and Team Yell are continuing that trend with their name, their fashion and their utter adoration of Marnie. Marnie is one of your main rivals in Sword and Shield and she’s hell bent on becoming a champion. Team Yell are her followers who will get in your way in order to help her get there. Bede is your other rival. He’s a little more mysterious than Marnie (and looks a little more like a grandmother too). While he’s also aiming to become champion, he’s got other motives you’ll be aiming to uncover. Brand new models The Pokémon Sword and Shield development team has been facing ire from fans following the news that every single Pokémon ever won’t be available to catch in the new games with the latest rumors suggesting that Game Freak has been utilising old 3DS creature models for the Switch game in order to cut costs. This theory has been shot down by an older Famitsu interview with Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori (via Polygon) in which it’s stated that the models for the new game have been created from scratch. It was also said that the more intensive graphics of the Switch has lengthened the time needed to render Pokémon so the limited Pokédex would have come at some point. Version-exclusive Gym Leaders Pokémon Sword and Shield will have version-exclusive Gym Leaders. In Pokémon Sword you will battle karate prodigy Bea, while in Pokémon Shield, you take on emo king Allister. Gigantamaxing Previously we had heard of the Dynamax feature that allows Pokémon to become super-sized during battles, however Nintendo has now revealed the "phenomenon" of Gigantamaxing. While Dynamaxing can only occur in specific areas of the Galar region, and is a common occurrence for Pokémon from the region, Gigantaxmaxing is only specific to certain species of Pokémon and kicks things up a notch by not only increasing a Pokémon's size but also its appearance. In addition, Gigantamaxing boosts the power of the Pokémon and allows it to use a unique move known as a G-Max Move - each G-Max Move is particular to a specific species of Gigantamax Pokémon. More new Pokémon In a recent trailer Nintendo introduced us to some more new Pokémon we'll be encountering in Galar, including the walking ice-cream sundae Alcremie, adorable puppy Yamper, coal chunk Rolycoly and steel dragon Duraludon. Image credit: Nintendo Doubling Down Pokémon producer Junichi Masuda has reiterated the news that not all Pokémon would be available to catch in Sword and Shield in a statement to fans on the official Pokémon site. In the statement, Masuda thanked fans for their love of the Pokémon series but reaffirmed the decision to limit Pokémon in the game to those within the Galar region. He did, however, add that "even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games." Fan backlash against the news has been severe but it seems that Game Freak is sticking to its guns. Masuda added in his statement that the Galar region will see “the world of Pokémon continues to evolve. The Galar region offers new Pokémon to encounter, Trainers to battle, and adventures to embark on. We are pouring our hearts into these games, and we hope you will look forward to joining us on this new journey.“ Can't catch 'em all It's been confirmed that Pokémon Sword and Shield will not feature every Pokémon from the franchise so far, making them the first mainline games to do so. Given there are now more than 800 species of Pokémon this is, perhaps, not all that surprising. The reason, according to Game Freak producer Junichi Masuda (via Famitsu), is that on reaching generation eight there will be more than a thousand Pokémon in the Pokédex. Such a large number means "it has become extremely difficult to make Pokémon with a new personality play an active part and to balance their compatibility" as well as to make sure they'll all be balanced in battle. Not only that, it would be too difficult to have so many in-game models with a high enough graphical quality. Though the choice saddens Masuda, he says that it's a decision he "had to make some day" and that he's opting to "choose the quality". Poké Ball Plus Pokémon Ball Plus We didn't hear much about Pokémon Sword and Shield during Nintendo Direct at E3 2019, but it was teased that the Pokémon Ball Plus can be used to take your in-game Pokémon for "a stroll". However, the ball cannot be used as a controller. In addition, it was teased that "good things" will happen if you build up a strong connection to one Pokémon in particular. Release date revealed Nintendo held a special Pokémon Sword and Shield focused Nintendo Direct on June 5 that revealed both games will release globally on November 15, 2019. Max Raid Battles Much like Pokémon Go, Sword and Shield has a feature which allows trainers to team up with up to three others online to take on more powerful Pokémon. Legendaries Pokémon Sword and Shield's wolf-like Legendary Pokémon are Zacian (sword) and Zamazenta (shield). Dynamax Mode This new mode allows trainers to make their Pokémon giant and super-powered. This mode can only be activated once during a battle and lasts three turns before a Pokémon reverts to normal size. Image credit: Nintendo More new Pokémon Alongside the starter Pokémon, Nintendo has also revealed a few more new Pokémon joining Sword and Shield: Wooloo (sheep Pokémon), Gossifleur (a fancy lady Pokémon that evolves into Eldegoss), Drednaw (who resembles a snapping turtle) and Corviknight (a raven and glorified taxi service for the Galar region). Wild Area Galar features a Wild Area where trainers can explore, battle and capture Pokémon. Which Pokémon appear depends on the environment and weather. Stadiums Trainers will battle Pokémon leaders in Stadiums rather than the usual gyms. These stadiums are huge and packed with a cheering audience. New characters Nintendo revealed your new rival is Hop, whose older brother is the Pokémon champion of Galar. Meanwhile Professor Magnolia and her assistant Sonia will act as your guides. Image credit: Nintendo Trainer outfit customization will be a feature While it's not a brand new feature, trainer outfit customization has been popular with Pokémon players since it was introduced in X and Y. And it's a feature which a recent Uniqlo competition has confirmed will be in Pokémon Sword and Shield. In a collaboration with The Pokémon Company, the clothing brand asked fans to design a top which would then be sold in stores. Now that the winning entry has been chosen (a design featuring Magikarp and Gyrados) it's been revealed that the top will also be wearable in Pokémon Sword and Shield as a trainer outfit. Just how many more outfit options there'll be in the games isn't known yet, but we're hoping to catch a glimpse of some more if Nintendo shows us some new Sword and Shield footage during its E3 conference this year. Made for handheld While the Pokémon Let's Go games were developed with TV mode in mind, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has stated that Pokémon Sword and Shield will "emphasize the fun of playing Nintendo Switch in handheld mode." Furukawa made the comments during Nintendo's March 2019 Financial Results Briefing (via Nintendo Life). Image credit: Nintendo A whole new world We know the game is set in a brand new region of Galar, rather than a rehash of Kanto or a previously visited territory. Galar seems to be loosely inspired by England's cities and countryside, with rolling hills and brickwork cities to explore. The trailer also showed glimpses of jewel-encrusted mines and what might even be a football stadium (see the kit below), though we're waiting to see whether competing in a Pokémon-themed Football World Cup will be possible for players. Brand new Pokémon Yup, this is a new generation of Pokémon, meaning you'll be seeing a lot of new faces – as well as a lot of old ones. The trailer gave us a mix of familiar Pokémon like Pikachu and Hoothoot along the new starters, and we're hoping Game Freak manage to keep the new designs interesting (no ice cream or candelabra Pokémon, please.) Modern to the core Sword and Shield look to retain the look and 3D animation style of the Pokeémon Let's Go games that launched on Nintendo Switch last year. Pokémon games haven't been flat 2D games in years, and has increasingly been moving towards full-size avatars and 3D environments. Some may miss the old-school pixel charm of the earlier games – and find the 3D creature models a bit bland – but for better or worse this is what we're getting. Pokémon Stars what? What still confuses us is that we've been waiting for the long-rumored Pokémon Stars game for over two years now, Eurogamer. published a report in late 2016 that said multiple sources had confirmed a new version of Pokémon Sun and Moon was being developed for the Switch under the code named Pokémon Stars. While it never materialized, 'Stars' could well have been a code-name for what eventually became the Let's Go games, or could still prove a Switch port for the Sun and Moon games.
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| The best cheap fitness trackers in India: Top affordable sports bands Posted: 15 Oct 2019 11:44 AM PDT Wearables have come a long way from being glorified step counters to being useful health accessories. From letting you track your activities to offering advanced features like keeping a track of your heart rate and more, the wearables space has matured a lot. These latest generation activity trackers can help one track steps, calories, distance travelled and monitor heart rate and sleep. Apart from helping you stay fit, activity trackers also double up as a smart accessory that can replace your regular watch on most occasions. What's even better is that there are several high quality and yet cheap fitness trackers in the market, you will be spoilt for choice. Here are the most affordable fitness trackers that you can buy in India right now.
The Mi Band series has been quite popular in India for a while now. Like most things Xiaomi, the Mi Band fitness trackers offer great value for money while still being quality products. Xiaomi has taken it a step further this year with the Mi Smart Band 4 that comes with a colour display for the first time in the Mi Band series. In addition to the colour display, the Mi Smart Band 4 also lets you track your heart rate, steps, sleep and more. The Mi Fit app lets you connect the Mi Smart Band 4 to your iOS or Android device, so platform compatibility is not an issue either. Read our full review: Mi Band 4 The Honor Band 5 was launched in India recently, giving customers more options in the sub-Rs 2,500 price range. Loaded with several fitness tracking features and adequate customizability, the Honor Band 5 matches other fitness trackers in terms of features in its price segment. Huawei's TruSleep, TruSense, swim stroke recognition and always-on heart rate tracking make the Honor Band 5 a noteworthy option when it comes to the cheapest fitness trackers in India. Garmin took the Vivofit 3 and added a colour display that is always-on and visible in direct sunlight. Despite this, you still get year-long battery life that the Vivofit 3 offered. Core fitness tracking features like like steps, distance, calories and sleep are covered, in addition to the automatic activity detection thanks to the Move IQ system. Thanks to the Garmin Connect app you can also customize the display, while setting timers and alarms directly from the wrist. Best of all the Vivofit 4 it also 20 per cent cheaper than the Vivofit 3’s 2015 launch price. Of course you’ll miss out on premium features like heart rate tracking and GPS, but that’s to be expected at this price. Read our full review: Garmin Vivofit 4 Want the cheapest fitness tracker on this list? It's here and it's called the Mi Band 3, and it's not a completely useless device. In fact, the Mi Band 3 can do a lot considering how much it costs. It comes with a battery life that should last around a whole month depending on how much you'll be using it, and there is tons of fitness tech built-in. There's no GPS, but it comes with a heart rate monitor and tracking tech for your daily step and workouts too. It's not the most attractive fitness tracker you can buy, but it has a slimline design and it's light so you won't really notice you've got this on your wrist. The screen can show you stats for your workouts, and it's much bigger than the one on the Mi Band 2. The launch of the Mi Smart Band 4 means that the Mi Band 3 is now even more affordable. Read our full review: Xiaomi Mi Band 3 Samsung debuted its latest fitness trackers in the Galaxy Fit range earlier in June, offering two options to customers in the form of the Galaxy Fit and the Galaxy Fit e. While the Galaxy Fit is a full-fledged activity tracker, it costs a lot more than the Fit e. The Galaxy Fit e comes with various features like auto workout tracking, with the ability to detect three activities - walking, running and dynamic workout. It can also keep a track of your heart rate, and lets you wear it while swimming, thanks to its 5ATM (50-metre) water resistance. Fitbit has a long history when it comes to activity trackers, and there’s a reason it is still going strong today - it works. And in the case of the Fitbit Flex 2 it works well, has a lot of features for a low price. The Flex 2 will do all the usual step, distance and calorie burn tracking using its motion sensor smarts, but it goes further. You can also track sleep and even do exercises that the band will automatically detect and track. The entire tracking data gets synced with Fitbit's smartphone app, giving you a great visual presentation of your activities. The Flex 2 is also swim-proof, comes in different styles and uses LED lights and vibrations to notify you about calls and texts from a connected smartphone. All that and it should last five days before needing a charge. Read the Fitbit Flex 2 review If you are in the market for a fitness tracker that looks unique and stylish, the Misfit Ray is a noteworthy option. It stands out from the crowd of dull, boring fitness trackers and brings some sass to your wrist. There are plenty of muted color options to pick from and each features the same anodised aluminum central device with LED lights. There’s also a smart button that can be set to control aspects of your smart home, for example. The swim-proof wearable uses replaceable batteries for a charge-free six months of constant use. That includes step and sleep tracking plus vibration alerts for calls, messages, reminders and alarms. Read the Misfit Ray review While the Misfit Ray is a stylish option, the Misfit Flash is its opposite. Some might even find it a little too cartoony, but hey, if price is your main focus, you may want to opt for the Misfit Flash. We originally gave the Misfit Flash a three star review, which isn't very good, but since the price has dropped we think this tracker is a lot better value now and worth picking up if you're looking for something very simple to track your steps. It won't be able to do a lot of what the other trackers on this list can do though, so if you want much more than a glorified pedometer you should look elsewhere. Read our Misfit Flash review
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| Windows security might be about to get a huge upgrade Posted: 15 Oct 2019 11:41 AM PDT Microsoft has announced that a new Microsoft Defender antivirus feature called Tamper Protection is now generally available. The new feature works by preventing malware and other third-party apps from disabling Microsoft Defender (formerly Windows Defender) features without a user's knowledge. According to a blog post from Microsoft, Tamper Protection will prevent malicious apps from disabling virus and threat protection, disabling real-time protection, turning off behavior monitoring, disabling Defender's antivirus components including IOfficeAntivirus, disabling cloud-delivered protection and removing security intelligence updates.
The software giant says that Tamper Protection “essentially locks Microsoft Defender” and prevents security settings from being changed either by third-party apps or using methods such as configuring settings in Registry Editor on a Windows device, changing settings through PowerShell CMDlets, and editing or removing security settings through group policies. Tamper ProtectionThe free version of Microsoft Defender that ships with Windows 10 will be getting the new Tamper Protection feature and it will also be rolling out to the commercial version of the software, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Microsoft first began work on Tamper Protection in December 2018 when the feature was made available to Windows Insiders for testing. In March of this year, the company rolled out Tamper Protection for even more tests on Microsoft Defender ATP before its release today. Beginning today, the feature is now available for all Microsoft Defender users and it will be enabled by default for all users in the coming weeks as part of a multi-stage rollout. However, if you don't want to wait, you can now enable Tamper Protection manually by turning it on in the Windows Security options page.
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| Pay later for your shiny new Samsung gadget with new Karna collaboration Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:33 AM PDT A new collaboration that allows customers to buy gadgets from Samsung.com but pay using Klarna means it will be easier to spread the cost and without any interest. Klarna will allow you to pick a few payment options to spread the cost of your shiny new Samsung TV, Samsung phone deal, Android tablet, smartwatch, or whatever you like the look of. This works very simply as you buy immediately and get your gadget sent right out. What happens next depends on the cost of your purchase:
One great way this works is on phones, allowing you to get, for example, a Galaxy S10 deal, as you pay monthly over 24 months with the Klarna Spread the Cost plan. You're then invited to the latest Samsung Galaxy upgrade yearly as it get released. This also means you're free to get a SIM only network so you're not locked into a contract and can always be getting the best SIM only deals for data, minutes, texts and benefits. Nick White, online director at Samsung UK & Ireland, said: "At Samsung, we never shy away from big ideas and innovation, so it was only right that we partnered with a payments company that shares our values and vision. "Klarna does exactly that - and its exceptional user experience for both new and existing customers will allow us to give online shoppers the most seamless experience possible." With Black Friday 2019 just around the corner, flexible payment options couldn't come at a better time.
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| Smart home devices are being hit with more cyberattacks than ever Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:25 AM PDT New research from Kaspersky has revealed that cyberattacks on IoT devices are booming with 105m attacks on IoT devices (originating from 276k unique IP addresses) detected during the first half of this year alone. This figure is seven times higher that the number found in H1 2018 when only around 12m attacks originating from 69,000 IP addresses were detected. Consumers and businesses have continued to purchase smart, network-connected devices such as routers and DVR security cameras, despite the weak security measures included by manufacturers. Cybercriminals are now capitalizing on the weak security of IoT products and have increased their attempts to create and monetize IoT botnets.
To learn more about IoT attacks and how to prevent them, experts at Kaspersky set up honeypots to attract cybercriminals and the cybersecurity firm recently released its findings in a new report called 'IoT: a malware story'. IoT attacksBy analyzing the data collected from its honeypots, Kaspersky found that attacks on IoT devices are less likely to be sophisticated but more likely to be stealth-like as users may not even notice their devices are being exploited. The Mirai malware family was behind 39 percent of the attacks the firm detected and this malware is capable of using exploits which means that botnets based on it can slip through old, unpatched vulnerabilities to devices and gain control over them. The second most widespread malware family, Nyadrop employs password brute-forcing to gain control over IoT devices. Nyadrop was seen in 38.57 percent of attacks and the malware is often used to download Mirai onto devices. Finally, the third most common botnet threatening smart devices is called Gafgyt and it was responsible for 2.12 percent of attacks while also employing brute-forcing. Kaspersky's researchers were also able to locate the regions that became source of infection most often in H1 2019. China took top place with 30 percent of all IoT attacks occurring in its borders, followed by Brazil at 19 percent and Egypt at 12 percent. Security researcher at Kaspersky, Dan Demeter provided further insight on the report's findings, saying: “As people become more and more surrounded by smart devices, we are witnessing how IoT attacks are intensifying. Judging by the enlarged number of attacks and criminals’ persistency, we can say that IoT is a fruitful area for attackers that use even the most primitive methods, like guessing password and login combinations. This is much easier than most people think: the most common combinations by far are usually “support/support”, followed by “admin/admin”, “default/default”. It’s quite easy to change the default password, so we urge everyone to take this simple step towards securing your smart devices”
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| Astros vs Yankees live stream: how to watch ALCS 2019 baseball online from anywhere Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:19 AM PDT Two of the most well-supported baseball teams in the MLB are facing off in the 2019 ALCS - the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. Both will be desperate to make the World Series and you can watch every pitch and home run by reading our guide on getting a Astros vs Yankees live stream from pretty much anywhere in the world. So far the 2019 ALCS series is beautifully poised at a game apiece as the players head to New York City. The Yankees went big in Game 1, with second baseman Gleyber Torres putting five RBIs against his name. While it was a sorry day for Cy Young Award-winning Astros starter Zack Greinke who gave up seven hits in the first six innings. But the Stros turned things around a day later in a nerve-jangling game at the Minute Maid Stadium that went to an eleventh innings. Carlos Correa was the hero of the hour with a collosal match-winning home run. Although Aaron Judge's two-run homer earlier in the game reminded everybody of what a threat he'll continue to be as the series progresses. Whether you’re shouting for the Yankees, love the Astros or just a huge fan of baseball, we have the information you need for watching the 2019 ALCS series online and from anywhere. Read on to see how to live stream Astros vs Yankees baseball on your TV, computer and even on your mobile devices.
How to watch the 2019 ALCS online from outside your countryWe have your viewing options below if you want to watch the baseball from the US, UK or Canada, including the routes you need if you don't have cable access - you can see how to live stream Cardinals vs Nationals 2019 NLCS with our dedicated guide. However, try watching your usual online coverage when you're abroad and you'll soon discover that you can due to broadcasters' geo-blocking. No, we don't suggest you go running to Reddit to see where you can stream a dodgy, illegal feed. It's by utilising a VPN - or Virtual Private Network - that allows you to change the IP address of your laptop or mobile to one in a different state or country which does have the stream so that you can watch the series from anywhere in the world. How to watch Houston Astros vs New York Yankees in the USIt's Fox's turn to host the coverage of the ALCS in the US, with games shown on either Fox or FS1. That's where you need to head if you have cable. If you have a subscription to MLB.tv, you can also stream it on MLB.tv so long as you get an authentication code from one of the cable providers. If you don't have a subscription to MLB's streaming service, now would be a great time to consider getting on board as you can watch every World Series game and even get ready for the 2019 season with MLB.TV's Postseason package for just $24.99. Not a cable subscriber? Don’t worry as we’ll explain all of the other ways you can watch the baseball online down below.
- Discover our pick of all the US's best sports streaming sites How to stream Yankees vs Astros live in the UKUK baseball fans will be able to watch this season’s games on BT Sport which is included in BT’s TV bundles. If you aren’t a BT Sport subscriber, you can sign up for the BT Sport app for £10 a month with the first three months free or subscribe via Sky TV or TalkTalk TV for £29.99 a month. If BT Sport’s monthly prices are too high for you, remember that MLB.TV is also available in the UK. How to watch the 2019 ALCS in CanadaThere are a number of ways to watch MLB in Canada. Baseball fans with a cable subscription will be able to watch games on Sportsnet, TVA Sports, TSN and RDS. Don’t want to pay for a premium cable subscription just to watch baseball, don’t worry as MLB.TV is available in Canada (with no blackouts). This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google Pixel 4 deals are here - pre-order now to get a free Chromebook and more Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:04 AM PDT We've waited eagerly for the new Google Pixel 4 and, now it's been officially unveiled, we couldn't be happier. Not because of the awesome dual-sensor rear camera or the promise of Android 10 - but because of the sensational Google Pixel 4 deals already available to pre-order! We must admit that we were fearing the worst in the lead up to launch, but the Pixel 4 is actually cheaper than the Pixel 3 was on release. You can get it for £669 for the 64GB version - down from the 3's £739 starting RRP - while the 4 XL will set you back an iPhone 11 Pro and Samsung Note-10 smashing £829. But that's not all, as the majority of major retailers have a extra little sweetener on board. Just like on the Pixel 3a release earlier in the year, if you pre-order the Pixel 4 before it's physically released on October 24 you can also claim a FREE Chromebook. That's a fantastic freebie for fast, simple home computing that's worth over £200. There's a list of the main participating retailers below. Still not happy? Then maybe this will convince you...Carphone Warehouse will also chuck a tasty little voucher at you if you pre-order Pixel 4 deals from the retailer. Get a £50 giftcard for Currys PC World, Google Play, Just Eat or a pre-paid Mastercard if you order on contract, or £25 value for Currys PC World, Costa, a pre-paid Mastercard or a Now TV Sky Sports 1 Month Pass if you're buying SIM-free.
Where to buy Google Pixel 4 pre-order deals:If you want to pre-order the Pixel 4 (or, indeed, the Google Pixel 4 XL), then you can do so immediately from the following retailers and claim that free Chromebook: Read more:
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| Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: what’s new with the latest Google smart speaker? Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:47 AM PDT The Google Nest Mini has officially been unveiled as the successor to the company’s most affordable smart speaker, the Google Home Mini. Launched in 2017, the original Google Home Mini delivered all the smarts of Google Assistant in a compact form, allowing it to act as a cheap hub for your smart home, as well as nifty little speaker. While popular, the Google Home Mini did have its issues; namely poor audio quality, which the tech giant is hoping to rectify with the new Nest Mini. So how does the new model stack up against its predecessor? While we haven’t had the chance to test the Google Nest Mini extensively yet, we’ve poured over the specs to compare Google’s cutest smart speakers.
Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: price and availabilityOne of the most attractive aspects of the Google Home Mini is it’s low price; at just $49 / £49 / AU$79, it’s one of the most affordable smart speakers on the market. Happily, the new Google Nest Mini is exactly the same price, so you won’t be paying a premium to get your hands on the newer Google Assistant speaker. The Google Nest Mini will be available to buy from October 22, and it’s not clear whether the original Google Home Mini will be discontinued to make way for its successor. Either way, we can expect to see the original Mini discounted over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so if you’re in the market for a cheap speaker, it’s worth keeping an eye on our best Black Friday deals page for updates from the massive sales event. The original Google Home Mini Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: designDesign-wise there’s not a huge amount of difference between these two smart speakers; they’re exactly the same size and shape, with the same chic fabric grille and four-LED display. However, the Google Nest Mini’s fabric grille is now made entirely from recycled plastic bottles, while the external enclosure is made from “at-least 35% post-consumer recycled plastic”, according to the company. Like the original Google Home Mini, the new Nest Mini comes in Chalk, Charcoal, and Coral, as well as a new color, Sky (in case you hadn’t guessed, this is a light-blue shade). Both speakers feature capacitive touch controls, which allow you to control your music playback, while a microphone switch enables you to turn off active listening, stopping Google Assistant from constantly picking up your voice. New to the Google Nest Mini is ultrasound technology; this means that when audio is playing, the LEDs will light up as you approach the speaker to help you see the volume buttons. According to Cnet, it does this by emitting tiny inaudible chirps that “bounce off objects in the environment, reflect back to the microphones and tell the device if someone is near”. You can also now play/pause your music by tapping the top of the Google Nest Mini. Unlike its predecessor, the Google Nest Mini is wall-mountable, making it a cool design focal-point for your home, as well as a hub for all your smart gadgets. Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: featuresAs they’re both powered by Google Assistant, you’ll find the Google Home Mini and Google Nest Mini share many of the same features, allowing you to control your smart home devices hands-free with your voice. The things Google Assistant can do are incredibly varied; the powerful voice assistant is capable of anything from answering your general knowledge questions, to checking your emails and appointments. It’s getting smarter all the time, using artificial intelligence to learn and adapt, maturing and becoming more useful with every passing day For example, both speakers can place calls for free in the US, a feature that's also recently launched in the UK, as well as stream music through an assortment of music apps like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio and more. The new Nest Mini has been updated to support Bluetooth 5.0, which offers a stable connection when playing music wirelessly from your device. Thanks to Google Assistant, the Home Mini and the Nest Mini can also send requests to pull up a YouTube video over to your Chromecast-enabled TV and control Internet of Things (IoT) devices like smart lights, smart security cameras, and more. One new feature that’s coming to the Google Nest Mini (and all other Nest smart speakers and displays), is the ability to use it as an intercom; this allows you to talk to anyone in your home using your phone or another Nest speaker. Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: soundAudio fidelity was never the Google Home Mini’s strong point, but as a desk buddy, the audio works just fine. Its 40mm driver won’t exactly blow you away with powerful bass and the 360-degree sound that Google promised back in 2017, but this mini speaker can get fairly loud. Google says that the new Nest Mini has twice the bass power of the original Home Mini, with “a richer and more natural sound that allows you to hear more detail and is authentic to the artist’s intent”. This boosted bass is made possible by a custom 40mm driver that’s designed to bring those bass frequencies to the forefront of the soundstage, while the company’s proprietary tuning software helps to “perfect the sound”. Need a bigger sound? Both speakers can be grouped with other Google Home or Nest speakers to fill your entire home with music. New to the Google Nest Mini is the ability to pair two speakers for true stereo sound, bringing it in line with the third-gen Amazon Echo Dot. Google Nest Mini vs Google Home Mini: takeawayWithout having thoroughly tested the Google Nest Mini, it’s difficult to say whether it will represent a huge improvement over the Google Home Mini. However, Google has introduced a few quality of life features that are sure to make using the Google Assistant speaker easier than ever before. Subtle design changes, like the ability to wall-mount and the use of eco-friendly materials are a step in the right direction, while ultrasound technology makes the Nest Mini smarter than its predecessor. We can’t exactly speak to the audio quality without listening to the Nest Mini, but Google certainly sounds confident in the sonic changes its made – whether they make a tangible difference to the bass response of this diminutive speaker remains to be seen. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google Recorder is a real-time transcription app that even works when you’re offline Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:46 AM PDT In the run-up to today’s Pixel 4 event Google was leakier than a fishnet stocking full of soup. One of the things that fell out was Google Recorder, which made its way into some people’s hands before it was officially unveiled on stage. It might not be a big surprise anymore, but it looks like it’s going to be a big deal. Google Recorder is going to be a brilliant tool for students, journalists and anybody else who needs to record and transcribe speeches, lectures or interviews – and the good news is that while it was unveiled purely for the Pixel 4, it’s been tested on other Android devices too. What does Google Recorder do?Google Recorder records audio and converts it into searchable, editable text. It does it automatically, and it works offline. That’s a crucial difference between it and other voice recording apps, which either require an internet connection to do transcribing or just don’t offer transcriptions. You don’t even need to ask it to transcribe your audio; it does it automatically. It’s important to take tech demos with a pinch of salt, of course, but what Google showed us was very impressive: the app appeared to work incredibly quickly with error-free results. We’re sure it’ll be a bit more patchy in areas where there’s a lot of ambient noise, but given a good quality microphone and a reasonably quiet environment its performance should be excellent. The app looks like a more Zen version of Samsung’s Voice Recorder and very much like the Voice Memos app that Apple ships with iOS. The first leaked version didn’t have transcription features, but it got those earlier this month in a significant pre-launch update. That update brought three killer features: transcription, exact match searching and audio classifiers. What features does Google Recorder have?The big selling point here is of course the transcription, something we’ve already seen from a number of online services. But real-time and offline takes it to a whole new level. One key benefit of automatic transcription is that you can search your audio for specific things you or the speaker has said, which is what the exact match searching feature delivers. It enables you to search for a specific word or phrase either in the current recording or across all your recordings. When Google Recorder finds a match, it can take you straight to the appropriate bit of the audio while highlighting the appropriate bits in the transcription. It’ll also show you on the audio timeline if the word or words appear elsewhere in the clip so you can scrub directly to the appropriate section. That’s going to be a boon for journalists whose interviewees tend to waffle, or for students whose lecturers take an eternity to get to the point, and it’s something other recording apps don’t generally offer. The big benefit of these various features is attention. If you’re not trying to concentrate on making notes that’ll make sense or just be legible in the future, you can give all your attention to the person who’s speaking, not the notes you’re making. Google Recorder can recognize cats and whistlingThe app enables you to search for specific sounds. According to Mishaal Rahman, who got their hands on an early version of the app, the audio categories the app can automatically recognize include Applause, Bird, Cat, Didgeridoo, Knock, Laughter, Music, Rooster, Phone and Whistling. Language support so far is limited to US English, but more languages will be added soon. Google Recorder: saving and sharingWhen you’ve finished recording, the app enables you to tag it with your location and give it a title. In a nice touch it uses Gmail-style suggestions based on the audio it’s recorded, although you can ignore that and go for your own suitably memorable title instead. Once you’ve done that you can share the end result as an audio file in .m4a format, the transcription in .txt format, or both together. Naturally you can save to Google Drive too. When is the Google Recorder release date?The app will be pre-installed on the Pixel 4, which goes on sale on the October 24. Plus it'll be free, so you don't have to pay to subscribe to the service. What phones will Google Recorder be available for?The official answer is just one, the Pixel 4: at the moment Google Recorder is going to be a Pixel 4 exclusive. However, the APK file for the app has been leaked and seems to run on Android devices such as the OnePlus 5T, albeit with some issues. That suggests that the exclusivity is more to do with marketing than any technical tomfoolery, and that in turn suggest that Google Recorder will make its way to other Android phones eventually. The system requirements state Android Pie as a minimum. If Google Recorder can come to other Android phones, we’d also expect an iOS version to follow along sooner or later. After all, Google wants to organize all the world’s information, not just the information on Android devices, and Pixels are just another way to get people using Google’s online services. What other options are there?Don’t forget the excellent Voice Typing feature in Google Docs, which does a great job of speech-to-text – although it does require an internet connection to work. And don’t forget to check out our round-up of the best online transcription services covers every platform, not just Android.
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| Office 2010 only has one year of support left Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:30 AM PDT As Office 2010 support has now reached the final year of its 10-year lifecycle, Microsoft is encouraging customers to migrate to its newer subscription-based Office 365 ProPlus bundle which it says is the future of Office. The software giant recently announced that extended support for Office 2010 will come to an end on October 13, 2020. However, as is the case with Windows 7 which has an end of life date of January 2020, Office 2010 will also no longer receive tech support, bug fixes or security patches. While customers could choose to upgrade to the on-premise Office 2019 for a one-time purchase, Microsoft is heavily encouraging enterprise customers to make the switch to Office 365 ProPlus which employs a per-user subscription model.
In its Office 2010 roadmap, Microsoft highlighted the fact that Office 365 ProPlus is regularly updated with new features while Office 2019 has had the same features since its initial release in October 2018. New features, more devicesMost enterprise plans come with Office 365 ProPlus and the bundle includes full versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access and Skype for Business. Additionally, Office 365 ProPlus allows users to install Office on up to five devices including PC, Macs and mobile devices. In a blog post on Microsoft's site, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, Jared Spataro explained the benefits to upgrading to Office 365 ProPlus in detail, saying: “Upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus, a product built for today’s challenges and literally getting better all the time, as we continue innovating across—and investing in—the experience. Consider just a few benefits: AI and machine learning to advance creativity and innovation, real-time collaboration across apps, and Microsoft Teams as the hub for teamwork. With built-in, cloud-powered security to protect your data, Office 365 ProPlus also provides the peace of mind that comes with knowing your business will not only be productive, but safe.” While the on-premise Office 2019 may be the modern equivalent of Office 2010, Microsoft hopes that its new cloud, AI and collaborative features will be enough to convince enterprise users to move to a subscription-based pricing model instead.
Via ZDNet This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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