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SirMadsen

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  1. As the climate warms, it threatens the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists mapped the glacier’s historical retreat to learn about the glacier’s past and what it is likely to do in the future, writes CNN.
    Can quickly withdraw
    The research shows that Thwaites can retreat quickly, once the glacier breaks free from a seafloor ridge that helps hold it in place.
    “Thwaites is really hanging on and we should expect to see big changes in the future – even from one year to the next,” says Robert Larter , one of the study’s co-authors.
    Melts from below
    Scientists have worried about the glacier for decades because warm ocean currents can melt the glacier from below, which research from 2020 shows is indeed happening. Thwaites, located in West Antarctica, is one of the widest on Earth and is larger than the state of Florida.
    The latest research has mapped a huge area and shows that the glacier may be retreating at a much faster rate than previously thought.
    The lead author of the study, Alastair Graham , states that the research “truly was a once-in-a-lifetime mission”.
    Wants to return to Antarctica
    The researchers want to return to Antarctica soon to collect samples from the seabed so they can continue to determine when the previous rapid retreats of the glacier occurred. It will then help to predict future changes to the “doomsday glacier”.
  2. Pretty early on it was established that two expansions were planned for Cyberpunk 2077 , but in the wake of all the fuss , CD Projekt Red hinted that there might just be one expansion after all.
    Yesterday , the Phantom Liberty expansion was finally revealed , which will be released for PC, Stadia, PS5 and the Xbox Series consoles in 2023 (old-gen must not be included). A comment on the Youtube video (thanks, XGP ) expressed enthusiasm for further expansions. However, the CD Projekt response is vague.
    "Glad to hear we sparked your interest. As for the future, Phantom Liberty is the only planned expansion for Cyberpunk 2077.
    - CD Projekt Red
    that it was probably best to put the energy into an expansion anyway, and then move on. We know that the future of the studio is spelled a fourth The Witcher . However, we do not know when it will arrive.

  3. Remasters - Good or bad?

    Discussions · SirMadsen · 09/24/2022 06:30 PM

    In the era of remakes, there are good ones, bad ones and especially bad ones. Everyone is trying to cash on the success of a former title.
    Is there any remake that you think is worth playing? If so, which one?
    Discuss the topic in the forums.
  4. Microsoft Flight Simulator may be the oldest (the series is about to turn 40!), but flight sim competitor X-Plane has also been at it for decades. And yesterday a new version - X-Plane 12 - was released as early access.
    So it's an early version that's still in development that's been released, and you have to be aware that mods and third-party stuff might not work. But X-Plane 11 is included as a backup, if that's any consolation. New in version 12 are, among other things, new planes, weather effects and improved graphics. The early access version currently contains 19 aircraft with detailed cockpits.
    The price tag is 60 euros. A demo version is available to test fly if you have difficulty making up your mind.
  5. Today, Playstation 5 has received support for the resolution 1440p. It comes in the form of an update launched this morning, and it gives you the option to choose a resolution between 1080p and 4K. Something that many seem to have longed for.
    In addition, the update includes gamelists, the ability to ask a party friend to share the screen, it's easier to connect to a friend's game, and more.
    "Thanks to the support and feedback from our PS5 beta participants, today we’re rolling out a new system software update to PS5 players globally. The update includes several highly-requested features like 1440p HDMI video output* and gamelists, as well as social features like the ability to request a Share Screen from a fellow party member, easily view new friends’ profiles, and receive a notification to help you join a friend’s game more quickly from a party chat.
    The full changelog can be found on the Playstation blog.
  6. Powerwash Simulator can now join the crowd of more or less strange simulators that have become very popular. Via Twitter, they announce that over three million people have now played the game. It was released in early access on Steam in the middle of last year and launched sharply on July 14 this year for PC and Xbox.
    Three million in just under two months, which can be considered really impressive. However, it should be added that it is not a matter of three million games sold, as the title is said to have received a lot of traction from its inclusion in Game Pass.
    The layout of the game is exactly what you would have expected. It takes place in Muckingham, where you have to clean everything from cars and locomotives to playgrounds and artwork with your trusty pressure washer. The money earned is then spent on new equipment and upgrades to one's existing gadgets. You can either take it easy and clean at your own pace or tackle different challenges where you have to get the job done in the fastest time or with as little water as possible.
     
  7. The acquisitions in the gaming industry continue, and this time it is once again Chinese Tencent that has the spending pants on. Now they have invested approximately three billion dollars in buying 49.9 percent of Guillemot Brothers Limited – the holding company of the Ubisoft founding Guillemot brothers, which also owns the majority of their Ubisoft shares. It also entitles Tencent to 5 percent of the voting rights in Guillemot Brothers Limited.
    However, more investments in France may become relevant, as Tencent has also been given the green light to increase its direct ownership of Ubisoft from 4.5 to 9.99 percent. After that, however, they must wait at least eight years before increasing their ownership. They are guaranteed to take advantage of this, as it was previously said that they want to buy more of Ubisoft.
    It has long been rumored that Ubisoft might be acquired, and management's response has basically been that they have no problem continuing to operate independently, but that they will consider any offers that come their way.
  8. In May, we received the news: Swedish Embracer buys Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal and Square Enix Montréal from Square Enix for 18 billion dollars. Of course, such a deal does not happen overnight, but now each studio has gained full control over the respective brands.
    For example, Crystal Dynamics reports on Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain.
    "We are excited to inform you that Crystal Dynamics has taken control of several game franchises – including Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain – from the games' previous owner, Square Enix Limited.
    Thus, notes Crystal Dynamics, they are now the owners of the games and have control. Even Eidos Montréal has updated its information, and thus has the IP Deus Ex under its wings.
    As I said, Embracer is the new owner of the various studios, and wants "remakes, remasters, spinoffs".
  9. Stray Fawn Studio scored Kickstarter success when they raised money to create the game The Wandering Village . That was in 2020, and now it's finally time for it to be released in early access on Steam. It's a city-building game, but with the significant difference that you don't build on solid ground, but on the back of a gigantic, six-legged creature that wanders through the world.
    The people in the game have been driven from their village by plants that spread poisonous spores. However, they encounter the creature Onbu, and thereafter it is up to the player to create a functioning society in the limited space, either in symbiosis with the Onbu or as a selfish parasite. At the same time, the creature wanders through several different types of environments with varying opportunities and challenges.
    On September 14, it will be released in early access on Steam , while Xbox players will be able to test it sometime in 2023 via the Xbox Game Preview.
  10. A few months ago, CD Projekt Red announced that a new Witcher game is indeed on the way. They then wrote that "a new saga begins", which suggested that the plan might be to release not just one game, but several. And now they have confirmed that this is actually the case.
    In connection with their half-yearly report, they arranged a presentation for their investors and then also answered questions from them. When asked "what do they mean by a new 'Witcher saga'", CEO Adam Kiciński replied that they are now working on the first game, but that they have several games in mind.
    He subsequently refers to the existing trilogy as the first saga and the upcoming games as the second. He also confirmed that the game is still in the pre-production phase, which means it will be a while before we see it.
    So far, we haven't gotten much information about what the first game in the next series will be about, but based on the image they used to announce it, it seems to revolve around the "School of the Lynx", or the Witcher school of the lynx. We also know that the game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5, and if you want to know why, you can read about it here.

  11. Top 5 Steam Games September 2022

    Gaming · SirMadsen · 09/24/2022 11:02 PM

    September have started and these are the top 5 sold games right now.
    5 - Ready or Not
    Ready or Not is an intense, tactical, first-person shooter that depicts a modern-day world in which SWAT police units are called to defuse hostile and confronting situations. 4 - Disney Dreamlight Valley
    Explore a world filled with the magic of Disney as you discover rich stories and build the perfect neighborhood alongside Disney and Pixar heroes and villains in this new life-sim adventure game. Welcome to Disney Dreamlight Valley. 3 - Total War: WARHAMMER III
    The cataclysmic conclusion to the Total War: WARHAMMER trilogy is here. Rally your forces and step into the Realm of Chaos, a dimension of mind-bending horror where the very fate of the world will be decided. Will you conquer your Daemons… or command them? 2 - Red Dead Redemption 2
    Winner of over 175 Game of the Year Awards and recipient of over 250 perfect scores, RDR2 is the epic tale of outlaw Arthur Morgan and the infamous Van der Linde gang, on the run across America at the dawn of the modern age. Also includes access to the shared living world of Red Dead Online. 1 - Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes
    The Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes event pack sets the mood with several new music pieces to accompany your ruler’s conspiring and scheming. New soundtracks are general, Western European, and Arabian-themed tunes.
  12. Recently, Nasa signed a $50 million collaboration agreement with Microchip Technology, a chip company based in Arizona.
    Now Zdnet reports that Nasa has signed a similar collaboration agreement with Sifive, an American chip company best known for designing RISC-V processors.
    The purpose of the agreements is to develop new HPSC processors (High Performance Spaceflight Computing) to be used in future rockets, rovers and other vehicles that explore space.
    The goal is for the new processors to be a hundred times faster than those currently used. In addition, they must be able to withstand extreme temperatures and cosmic background radiation.
    This ground-breaking spaceflight processor will have a huge impact on our future space missions and also for technology here on Earth, said Niki Werkheiser from Nasa in connection with the signing of the agreement with Microchip Technology. In this context, it can be mentioned that most of the technology used in today's spacecraft has more than 30 years behind it, which makes it difficult to find working spare parts.
  13. Security researchers at AT&T Alien Labs warn in a new report of Shikitega, a new malware that targets connected gadgets that use Linux-based operating systems.
    The purpose of Shikitega is to install software that secretly mines cryptocurrencies, something that will ensure that the hackers make a lot of money without lifting a finger.
    Exactly how Shikitega spreads is currently unclear, but it appears to be in the form of modules that are not detected by antivirus programs. Once all modules have been downloaded, the known vulnerabilities CVE-2021-3493 and CVE-2021-4034 are used to gain full control over the systems.
    The best way to protect yourself against Shikitega is to install the security fixes that close the aforementioned vulnerabilities.
  14. There was a lot of Assassin's Creed news during Ubisoft's Showcase. In addition to Assassin's Creed: Mirage and lots of other things, Ubisoft also teased a multiplayer-oriented Assassin's Creed. The game is codenamed Invictus and Marc-Aleix Coté said:
    “The reasoning behind having a multiplayer initiative as well is I feel Assassin’s Creed can branch into different channels. We’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do with the Animus with Assassin’s Creed. We’ve had multiplayer in the past but that was not super accessible.
    “How can we expand upon that to have something that’s more approachable, more mass market and use this knowledge that we’ve had on games like For Honor and Rainbow Six to have a fun experience that leverages the franchise.
    It is unclear what exactly this will be about. But if the game is being developed by people who worked on For Honor and Rainbow Six Siege , is it likely to be some kind of team or solo assassin PVP? The game will be part of the Assassin's Creed hub Infinity (which was also announced during Ubisoft's Showcase).
  15. Almost two years old, Assassin's Creed Valhalla has received a bunch of updates and three expansions since its premiere. The latter in particular have moved Eivor's story forward, so while tonight's Ubisoft Forward broadcast focused primarily on the future of the series - we've also been told how this part ends.
    Sometime this fall, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will receive a final free expansion aptly named The Last Chapter. Here, Eivor's connection to Odin will be further explored as he/she leaves Ravensthorpe once and for all, which hopefully means we'll get an answer as to why our protagonist's grave is in Vinland. At the same time, we also learn that Basim has an important role in the expansion, so maybe we will also get some clues about what awaits in Assassin's Creed Mirage next year.
  16. A smarter lock screen, emails that can be undone and new type of password. Here are the iOS 16 features that point to the future of Apple’s mobile operating system.
    The new system shows two trends. Firstly, that the user experience between mobiles and computers (Mac in this case) is increasingly merging. Partly because the differences between Ios and the arch-rival Android from Google are getting smaller and smaller.
    1. A lock screen like you've never seen it before
    Widgets, widgets and more widgets. These little app windows have been around on Android for a long time, but it wasn't until Ios 14, released in 2020, that iPhone and iPad widgets moved out of their locked place in the Today view, and could be placed on any home screen.
    The next step in development means that widgets can also be attached to the lock screen. In this way, it will be possible for iPhone users to see information about things like calendar events, weather and battery level directly on the lock screen - without having to unlock the phone.
    Lock screen notifications will also work a little differently with iOS 16. Instead of being stacked in the middle of the screen, the notifications will "roll in" at the bottom of the screen. The lock screen notifications will also be able to update to show new information about your Uber order, for example
    2. Use your iPhone as a webcam
    Raise your hand everyone who devotes large parts of the working day to various video meetings. There have previously been third-party apps to use your iPhone as a webcam, but now Apple is building that feature into the upcoming iOS and Mac OS Ventura operating systems for computers.
    But – in classic Apple spirit, the new feature will only work if you have a Macbook with an M1 or M2 chip.
    Apple users who have that type of hardware will, for example, use functions such as center stage, where the webcam pans, and a special portrait mode during video calls with their Macbooks.
    3. Fitness moves into the iPhone
    The Fitness app provides an aggregate view of your daily physical activity, but previously required an Apple Watch to function. In iOS 16, that requirement is removed. Starting this fall, Apple users will thus be able to close their daily activity rings without having an Apple Watch around their wrist.
    4. Messages and Mail become better
    Spelling errors make no one happy - and in the worst case, it can lead to misunderstandings. A new feature in Ios 16 that will become popular is that you can change misspellings and other things in Imessage messages that have already been sent.
    Apple's own Mail also gets support for scheduling emails - a feature that is certainly already available in other mail apps. But with iOS 16, it will also be possible to recall an email for a short time after it has been sent. Great for anyone who has happened to write something ill-thought out in an affect.
    5. Share Safari tabs - and skip the passwords
    The Safari browser has been able to group open tabs for some time now. Now it will be possible to share groups of, for example, work-related tabs to other users. It should be possible to see in real time which of these tabs your colleagues and friends are looking at.
    Passkeys is a new security feature that makes its entrance in Ios 16. Basically, it's about unique digital keys that are created using biometric finger or face data from Touch id/Face id.
    The new type of password is then automatically synced between devices via iCloud Keychain. Furthermore, the keys are only on the device itself and are never stored on a web server.
    According to Apple, Passkeys should be significantly more secure than corresponding passwords consisting of characters.
    The iPhone maker goes so far as to claim that passkeys are more or less immune to mischief like phishing attacks, but that remains to be seen.
    Apple is also working with the Fido alliance to make Passkeys work on other platforms as well.
    6. Apple's maps are getting smarter
    The next update to iOS will bring Apple Maps support for adding multiple stops during a run. In total, the user should be able to add 15 stops during a route.
    If the drive has been planned via the maps program on a Mac, the routes are automatically synchronized from the computer to the iPhone before the drive.
    7. Pay later with Apple Pay
    "Buy now and pay later", with the new function Apple Pay Later, which is built into the Wallet app, it is possible to split a purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks - without interest or fees being added.

  17. Netflix and Ubisoft enter collaboration

    Gaming · SirMadsen · 09/24/2022 11:20 PM

    Netflix and Ubisoft are now saying they will collaborate on the development of three mobile games for Netflix from some of the world's most beloved gaming franchises starting in 2023. The three games are expansions of the Valiant Hearts, Mighty Quest and Assassin's Creed universes and will be available exclusively on mobile for Netflix subscribers, without ads or in-app purchases.
    This is how Netflix writes about the three games:
    "A new Valiant Hearts game – the successor to Ubisoft's multi-award winning game Valiant Hearts – is directed by the original core team and will retain the same DNA but have a new story. The game will be available to Netflix members in January 2023. Following the critically acclaimed mobile game The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, The Mighty Quest is coming to Netflix in 2023 with a new game. This time around, the game will draw inspiration from the roguelike genre to deliver an experience that celebrates the series premiere of hack'n'slash combat in a fresh and replayable format. Assassin's Creed fans will be able to immerse themselves in the Assassin's Creed universe on Netflix in more ways than one: In addition to the previously announced live-action series, a brand new mobile game is being developed exclusively for Netflix.
  18. Ubisoft has released a first gameplay trailer for The Division: Heartland , the free-to-play game announced for spring 2021. In the film, we get a glimpse of Silver Creek, a small town in rural America where you fight against pandemics as well as human opponents in this team-based shooter.
    "This standalone free-to-play The Division game introduces new playable characters in a rural setting, far from the events in New York and Washington D.C. Silver Creek was once a pleasant town in the American Midwest, but it was left in ruins following the spread of the Dollar Flu. Players will take on the role of loyal Division agents from across the nation responding to a call for help. Fighting alongside and against other trained agents, players will explore the secrets of Silver Creek and provide hope to what remains of small-town America.
    Heartland will be released for PC, consoles and in the cloud in 2022 or 2023, says the press release. Some form of early testing will be conducted, and if you are interested in participating, you can register your interest at thedivisiongame.com.
  19. At the end of the week, Nvidia's Geforce RTX 3000 series turns two years old, and shortly the company intends to launch the next generation of graphics cards. On the menu is the architecture "Ada Lovelace" and the Geforce RTX 4000 series, where previous information suggests that it is the top card Geforce RTX 4090 that is rolled out first. This is now confirmed by a product database at the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), with which a large percentage of cards from Gigabyte have been registered.
    The database at EEC (via Videocardz) indicates that Gigabyte is preparing to launch no less than eleven different models of the Geforce RTX 4090. These are models all the way from lavish water-cooled cards like the Aorus Xtreme Waterforce to traditionally more stripped-down variants like the Eagle and Windforce 3X. All model names also reveal the amount of memory of the Geforce RTX 4090, which lands at 24 GB – the same capacity as the Geforce RTX 3090.
    Beyond the model names and the amount of memory, however, there is nothing more useful to extract from the EEC's database. However, more concrete information about the upcoming Geforce RTX 4000 series is expected to be revealed at a live event that Nvidia is holding during its developer conference GTC on September 20.
  20. Ubisoft chooses to raise the price of AAA games for the latest console generation. Starting with Skull and Bones , you'll get to cough up more for the company's big game. This applies to both Playstation 5 and Xbox Series.
    The announcement of the price increase is given by the company's CEO Yves Guillemont in an interview with Axiom. He says the price tag is raised to $70 for big games.
    A look at the digital console stores tells you that you can pay $79 for the standard version of Skull and Bones (released on November 8). That's the same price that Sony charges for its big new PS5 games digitally, and even games from some other publishers have that price tag (Fifa 23, for example) Microsoft, for its part, has chosen not to raise the price of Xbox Series games: their own games normally costs around $60 at release (also available on Game Pass).
    Prior to this console generation, new console games have been priced at $60 for several generations, so an increase was hardly unexpected. However, it is surprising(?) that Ubisoft comes out with the increase now instead of when the consoles were launched.

  21. Season 3 of The Witcher has finished filming

    Movies & TV · SirMadsen · 09/24/2022 11:35 PM

    The third season of the popular The Witcher series on Netflix is underway, although it hasn't been a smooth ride. Filming kicked off in March this year, but a couple of months ago we reported that they were forced to take a break due to a covid outbreak, and according to Redanian intelligence, it was Henry Cavill himself who tested positive. However, the filming must have been able to continue to a certain extent in his absence.
    And now it should be ready. Bola Ogun, who directed the last two episodes of the season, has confirmed via Instagram that it is now heading into post-production. Redanian intelligence has also gotten a look at a card that Cavill is said to have sent to those who worked on the season, in which he thanks them for their work during the tough production.
    So when will we see the third season? Netflix hasn't revealed that yet, but based on the previous seasons, it's not impossible that it will take until the winter of 2023, although post-production is said to be completed sooner than that. It all depends a lot on when Netflix feels it is beneficial to release the series.
  22. Someone has managed to come across a huge collection of footage from Rockstar's upcoming GTA game and then leaked it online. It's about leaked footage and images from GTA 6 which is currently in development. In addition to images and videos, it has also been confirmed that more serious things such as the source code for the game were leaked. The leaked material must have come from the staff's communication logs in the Slack app. Some videos also appear to be taken from Rockstar's in-house development program, which is hard to fake. Below are some tweets with the leaked material.
    Leaking images and videos may be fine, but leaking the source code can have more serious consequences in that the game is delayed. Rockstar themselves have not given any statement about the leak, but given the nature of the leak, there will probably be something in the next few days. Industry expert Jason Schreier has confirmed the leak.
    "Not that there was much doubt, but I’ve confirmed with Rockstar sources that this weekend’s massive Grand Theft Auto VI leak is indeed real. The footage is early and unfinished, of course. This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games.
    - https://twitter.com/jasonschreie
  23. The ban on the game Wolfenstein 3D is lifted in Germany. This means that the Germans get to play the classic FPS adventure 30 years after the rest of us. As a bonus, Spear of Destiny will also be included for those who purchase the game on Steam.
    Germany has traditionally had tough laws for digital games. There has almost always been some form of censorship in the games that have been released (if they are even allowed to be released). It has been everything from the enemies being turned into robots or the blood being dyed green, all to reduce the "violence" in the games. It has been particularly sensitive if the games had any kind of connection to Nazism or the Second World War. Games like Wolfenstein have been banned without pardon in the country, but now after 30 years the classic Wolfenstein 3D is finally being released . Game history is made!
  24. The gang behind the Call of Duty games continues to work on reducing the number of cheaters and people who misbehave with others. A consequence of that is that half a million Call of Duty players have been banned so far. In addition, 300,000 account names have been changed since an automatic filtering system was launched. The changes apply to names that are judged to be offensive, offensive and similar.
    The administration uses both automatic systems and human moderators to keep chats and names in order. The policy has been tightened and the amount of offensive nicknames is said to have decreased by 55 percent after that. But it is expected to continue fighting against unwanted behavior in the future as well. It's windy at the top, as it's usually called.
  25. Lego Bricktales has been looking really impressive since it was announced at the beginning of the year. So far we've had to settle for "2022" as a release date, but now they've finally announced that the game will be released on October 12 for PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.
    The announcement also comes with a new trailer that gives us a quick look at some of the dioramas we'll be visiting, building, solving puzzles and searching for secrets in. They include a jungle castle ruin, a commercial port, what looks like an ancient burial chambers, a pirate ship in a cave, a pyramid, a … you get the idea, there are many different environments.
    For some time now, there has also been a demo of the game that you can download from Steam. It should include the game's first two courses, which we previously got to see in gameplay walkthroughs.
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