To the rest of the world, the US can seem like a strange place. There aren’t too many countries that could produce a story like this, and that’s without Florida Man. But it’s happened and it might not be as pointless as you’d think.

The US Space Force – the world’s only independent uniformed outfit of its kind – competed in last year’s Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Bowl and won. Now, ahead of the league’s third annual competition on 16 December 2022 and to defend its title, the US Space Force’s esports team has raised the bar, so to speak, the way only it can — by launching the trophy into space.

Call of Duty League in Spaaaaaaace

From the promotional video, it’s unclear whether this was just a ploy to taunt the opposition or if the trophy has really left the planet. Our initial guess is probably both. According to a Task & Service report, the trophy really is floating through space.

After winning the second annual C.O.D.E. Bowl last year, Space Force hired a private contractor in the United Kingdom to yeet the trophy into space. Surprisingly, it survived the immense pressure and temperature changes and remains intact with the words “Come & get it!” scrawled across the base.

Call of Duty Endowment, founded by Activision in 2009, is a non-profit organization to provide vocational assistance to US and UK veterans. Specifically, the organization works with veterans to find and place them in meaningful jobs after they’ve served.

Dan Goldenberg, Call of Duty Endowment’s executive director, said in a press release, “The event will be incredibly fun to watch, but we never lose sight of our important mission of placing the 61% of veterans who identify as being either unemployed or underemployed into meaningful careers.”

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Netflix, in case you haven’t noticed, isn’t just about streaming video anymore. It’s also a budding mobile games publisher with designs on getting into the PC games space as well. Since it’s not really part of Ye Olde Video Game club, though, it more or less releases games whenever it wants.

There are nine new titles launching on the company’s service. Some of them are familiar looking, even if they are original properties. There’s a Stranger Things-themed match-three game, a Farmville clone (of sorts) called Country Friends, and a cutesy bullet-hell shooter called Skies of Chaos. But they’re just the familiar faces.

Netflix is a game

Netflix has singled out three games in particular for special treatment. They are Reign: Three Kingdoms from developer Devolver Digital, Cats and Soup, and something called Hello Kitty Happiness Parade.

Based on the Chinese tale Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Reign is a card-based battler that sees players attempting to negotiate their way through the waning of the Han Dynasty. The trailer shows off some interesting artwork and quite a detailed game mechanic. We’re used to the idea of this setting as an RPG and even as a Musou game like Dynasty Warriors. Seeing cards make their appearance is a little unusual. Still, Devolver knows their work and this one should be fantastic.

Cats and Soup is a game all about… cats and soup. The former are making the latter, with gameplay that looks inspired by the various ‘Clicker’ style games while the visual art bears a passing resemblance to Untitled Goose Game. It’s not all slaving away over a hot fire (which is a pretty neat trick for an animal without thumbs). The feline residents can get dressed up, have places to play, and generally have an Animal Crossing-style bash. But without the harsh loan repayments, we hope.

Then there’s Hello Kitty Happiness Parade, so named because it stars Hello Kitty and friends. And they’re happy. And there’s a parade for some reason. We’re not sure what to make of this one, but the small feline… thing… is a worldwide phenomenon so there is doubtless an audience for this mobile title. Players take Kitty and cohorts on a parade. It’s a rhythm game, so a certain level of skill is required, but it also puts us in mind of an older title that we can’t bring to mind at the moment. The concept was similar — get to the end of a parade without having anything go seriously awry.

As with all Netflix games, those with a subscription can access them, free of charge, via the mobile Netflix app.

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SpaceX unleashes a Dragon

This weekend saw the launch of Space X’s Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday at 15:00 SAST. Unfortunately, Luckily, the launch and subsequent docking at the ISS went off without a hitch – bringing in supplies, new solar arrays, and a bunch of scientific experiments for the astronauts up there to keep themselves busy.

The Dragon, which launched using a Falcon 9 rocket, wasn’t the only other spacecraft hanging around the ISS parking lot. It joined the Crew-5 Dragon, a Cygnus-18, a Russian Soyuz MS-22, and two unnamed Russian supply ships.

Possibly the most important cargo on the Dragon (besides the Dragon itself) is the new set of solar arrays. Once installed alongside the current set on the ISS, NASA is expecting a 20-30% increase in power. A couple have already been deployed, with plans in place to install the rest during future spacewalks.

The Dragon is expected to stick around for the next month or so, so the astronauts up there can finish their homework and return the experiments once the spacecraft returns to Earth.

LIVE: @SpaceX‘s Dragon spacecraft is delivering @ISS_Research experiments and a new set of unfurling solar arrays to the @Space_Station.

Docking is scheduled for 7:30am ET (1230 UTC). #CRS26 https://t.co/rN2L0lrdwH

— NASA (@NASA) November 27, 2022

Source: Digital Trends

Shock horror: Twitter’s verification system is changing yet again

If you’ve grown bored of the constant chatter surrounding Twitter and Elon Musk, join the club. We’re talking about it because we are paid to. Every weekday it’s the same story: “Something something Elon Musk Twitter something”. Once again, it’s Twitter’s verification system that’s being tweaked – which feels like it’s had more changes than the original Star Wars.

The platform’s verification system was suspended last week, with Elon Musk recently announcing plans to relaunch it on 2 December. This time, we’re not just changing the colour of the ticks – we’re getting new ones as well. Companies get a new gold checkmark; government accounts a grey one. The original blue checkmark is reserved for some of the few willing to cough up $8 — regardless of celebrity status. You see, Musk said that after the system’s relaunch that “all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before [the] check activates,” something he later described as “painful, but necessary.”

We’re not quite sure how long verifying a verification could take. We’ll have to wait until Friday to find out. Or at least until Musk changes up his formula again.

Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week.

Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.

Painful, but necessary.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

Source: Digitaltrends

Ferrari’s Virtual GT is coming

“Feast your eyes on the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo: Maranello’s first ever car designed specifically for the virtual motor sport world.” That’s the actual tagline Ferrari went for the unveiling of its Vision Gran Turismo. If that sounds silly, that’s because it is.

While the idea of Ferrari spending their time designing a car for a video game is a silly one, the actual idea wasn’t a bad one. In honour of Gran Turismo’s (GT) 25th anniversary, the games creator – Kazunori Yamauchi – gave Ferrari a task: “Design your rendition of the ideal GT for us.” And Ferrari didn’t disappoint.

The Vision GT was “built” to be aerodynamic as hell. The car’s air vents, rear wing, and diffuser were designed to provide as much downforce as possible. Inside, there’s a 3-litre, V6 hybrid engine, paired up with three electric motors – capable of providing 1338 horsepower.

The car is launching in GT 7 on 23 December – and is expected to become one of the game’s most popular cars. A concept model is being built, so the design team’s time wasn’t totally wasted. It’ll launch at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello on 15 December. At the same time, one player will receive the car early in-game, provided they win the upcoming campaign quiz. Keep an eye out for that.

Don’t bring your kids to this one

Actually, don’t bring your kids to any theatre. It ruins it for the rest of us. We’re here to see Minions 3: Reminioned like the grownups we are. But in the case of Bambi: The Reckoning, it’ll be a legal requirement not to bring your kids along. That’s because Bambi: The Reckoning will be R-rated, with the little deer slaughtering as many people (or animals) as possible.

If you’re wondering why someone would want to give its viewers nightmare fuel, Disney’s rights have lapsed into the public domain. The Reckoning follows a similar concept to that of ‘Pooh: Blood and Honey’, which was made for the same reason. The Reckoning’s director, Scott Jeffrey describes Bambi as a “vicious killing machine who lurks in the wilderness[…] Prepare for Bambi on rabies!”

Both horror retellings of our favourite childhood characters are set to release in early 2023. The director of Pooh is set to produce The Reckoning, which leads us to believe a multiverse could be in the works. “Pooh vs. Bambi – Dawn of Justice“, anyone? Not you, Zack. Seeing the movie once is enough, thanks.

Source: Gizmodo

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Black Friday has arrived. If you work in retail you’ve probably been dreading it all whole month. But if you don’t, you might have a few purchases lined up, looking to capitalise on the deals every brand is shoving in your face. Well, if you’re looking for a new laptop, here’s another one from Asus.

What makes this Friday so black anyway?

Asus launched its own eCommerce store earlier this year. There, you’ll find a plethora of products across the brand’s commercial, consumer and gaming ranges, as well as accessories, peripherals, chargers, and apparel. This year, discounts reach as high as 60%. But don’t take too long trying to decide if you really need food this month, quantities at listed discounted prices are limited.

If you’re feeling old-school, and don’t mind wading through hoards of other shoppers, there are still brick-and-mortar stores offering deals. Incredible Connection regularly stocks Asus laptops at various price points. The Zenbook Duo 14, featuring an Intel Core-i7, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage could be yours for R30,000 – provided they have any left.

Read more: Asus ZenBook Duo 14 Review – Seeing double

And for the shut-ins?

If you’d rather not don your elbow pads and drive around for 20 minutes looking for parking, there are other online options as well. The usual suspects are also offering online promotions on Asus’ stock.

Apart from your 2023 supply of toilet paper, Takealot has a few deals from Asus’ range. If money is tight (let’s be honest, when is it not), the company’s E410 Celeron model is going for R3,700. That might be fine if you’re literally only browsing the web. Need more power? The Vivobook 15 Ryzen 5 model can be had for R2,000 less than its usual price.

Looking to game on the go? It might technically be possible to run games on the models we’ve already mentioned. But if you don’t want to pull your hair out after losing a clutch, you’ll need something stronger. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take out a loan.

Asus’ TUF range is aimed at providing respectable specs at a reasonable price. The TUF Gaming A15 Ryzen 7 with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD is one example. It’s currently listed for R22,000 on Evetech, down from R25,000.

If it’s been a particularly good year, the ROG Strix G17 with a Ryzen 9 CPU, RTX 3070ti GPU, 16GB RAM, and 1TB NVMe SSD is down R4,000 on Wootware, another reputable local retailer. It’ll still cost you R41,000 but that’s better than R45k.

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Amazon has made some changes to the rules on Twitch, its live-streaming gaming site, to combat grooming.

The company announced on Tuesday that it will require mandatory phone verification for live streams and it will terminate accounts belonging to users younger than 13. This forms part of the company’s efforts as it continues to root out predators on the platform popular among young kids.

“Grooming is particularly insidious because it can be hidden in plain sight, and there are fewer established industry practices for detecting it”, said Twitch in a blog post this week.

In addition to blocking accounts belonging to users younger than 13. Twitch will block users previously suspended for being under 13 from creating new accounts.

Twitch shooter

We know teens (and some adults) lie to the internet about their age. The platform says its new changes are coming into effect “in order to better prevent any users under 13 who made accounts with false age information from going live and putting themselves at risk before we’re able to identify and remove their account.”

Some search terms and phrases have also been blocked on Whispers’ default privacy settings, the platform’s direct messaging feature.

Read More: Protecting children in the metaverse: it’s easy to blame big tech, but we all have a role to play

How predators find your kids

The tweak in its rules comes after Bloomberg News published a report, in September, on the pervasive growth of child predators on Twitch due to insufficient moderation tools on the platform. Bloomberg revealed that 70% of people on the follower lists of 1 976 accounts were teens and children. Data collected on live-streaming websites noted how predators target 279 016 accounts belonging to teens and children. The report prompted UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom, to address the protection of children with Twitch.

Ofcom says it is actively reviewing whether Twitch’s measures are robust enough to prevent harmful material from being uploaded.

Twitch broadcasts in 35 languages daily with 2.5 million hours of live content. The website relies on its users to report issues, leaving children vulnerable to abuse if no one or few people report an issue. Its discovery feature also makes it easy for predators to discover children, who often appear with fewer followers. Predators often follow accounts with fewer followers. According to Bloomberg, a predator revealed how they used Twitch’s ‘recently started’ feature to find accounts with lower follower numbers – which they say often indicates accounts belonging to children. Bloomberg says an account with lower numbers attracted 165 viewers within 35 minutes. The platform removed its ‘recently started’ feature in 2020 hoping the move would deter predators.

The company says it will prioritise reports that involve children younger than 13 so it can quickly resolve related issues. It plans to do so by refining the moderation technology used by its staff.

Read More: Twitch is changing the way creators earn their money

Unlike Twitch, other popular streaming services including YouTube and TikTok have restrictions and standards for their streaming service. On mobile devices, YouTube requires a user to have at least 50 subscribers and no live-streaming restrictions for 90 days prior to streaming. YouTube also restricts live-stream search results for users younger than 17. A user needs to be 18 years and older with at least 100 followers to stream on TikTok.

Twitch says it can’t reveal all its cards, in case the predators are reading.

“These updates are by no means exhaustive, nor are they an endpoint for our efforts. Much of what we’ve been doing, as well as much of what we have planned, must remain private to be effective,” says Twitch.

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NASA does a fly-by

After months of trying (and failing) to get the Orion Rocketship out of Earth’s orbit, NASA finally managed it last week. Since then, “Orion has been performing great so far,” says NASA’s Vehicle Integration Manager, Jim Geffre. “All of the systems are exceeding expectations from a performance standpoint.”

It’s going so well that NASA feels the time is nigh for a fly-by of the moon. See, the whole point of the Artemis 1 mission is to test Orion’s ability to safely carry humans to the Moon’s surface. To do that, it needs to actually get there. NASA expects Orion to reach the moon sometime today, 21 November.

Once there, the rocket will go through a series of four main engine burns. It’ll first take in the Apollo landing sites on approach. Then, the second engine burn will kick in, sending the ship into the moon’s orbit. The third engine burn starts the long journey back home. Come 11 December, we should see the end of the Artemis 1 mission, with Orion landing safely in the Pacific Ocean. Presumably, the final burn has a little something to do with that last bit coming off correctly.

Once returned, NASA can begin making plans for humanity’s first return to the lunar surface since 1972.

Source: Engadget

Google can’t handle the heat (allegedly)

When we say the words ‘app store’ your mind immediately jumps to Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store, right? Google wants to keep it that way, for the time being. Reports suggest that Google paid $360 million to deter Activision from building its own rival app store. The deal forms part of ‘Project Hug’ – a project encompassing 23 other agreements the search giant recently signed, according to Reuters.

Project Hug – now known as the ‘Apps and Games Velocity Program’ — is currently the centre of attention in a lawsuit between Google and Epic Games. Last year, Epic claimed that Google spent millions to keep big-name developers on its store. Epic’s complaints have recently been made public, giving us a bit more insight into Project Hug and the deals behind it.

According to the court documents, Epic alleges that Google made offers to Nintendo, Riot Games, and Ubisoft to stay on Google’s side. Epic claims Google paid Riot Games to “stop” the company from pursuing its own “in-house ‘app store’ efforts”. It feels that a similar deal took place between Google and Activision later on. “Epic’s allegations are nonsense,” Activision said. “Google never asked us, pressured us, or made us agree not to compete with Google Play.”

Google is obviously disputing the claims. “Programs like Project Hug provide incentives for developers to give benefits and early access to Google Play users when they release new or updated content; it does not prevent developers from creating competing app stores, as Epic falsely alleges,” it said while speaking to Engadget.

Whether Google really paid off developers to stop building their own app stores is still up in the air.

Overwatch 2 is finally playable (for everyone)

Just over a month after its release, players with prepaid cellphone numbers can finally play Overwatch 2. The original idea was to slow down the number of smurfs and cheaters entering the game by requiring new gamers to verify their accounts through SMS. The problem was: only post-paid cell numbers were allowed to sign up.

Now, Activision has removed the limitation entirely. Everyone can finally play, regardless of cellular contract status. But… players still need an actual phone number to verify their accounts. You can’t use VoIP, Wi-Fi, or internet phone services to verify your account.

Source: Activision Blizzard

Lego Pneumatic Engines exist, but you need to build it yourself

People are awesome. For the most part. We just don’t always get to see it in everyday media. Sometimes, however, these people can slip through the cracks – making accordions out of old computer hardware or building their own pneumatic engines out of Lego. Nico71 – who built his very own pneumatic engine out of Lego Technic bricks — is responsible for the latter.

You may be asking “why?”. Because… why not? Nico71 sells these designs online – both fully built and the blueprints for them. And it’s not just pneumatic engines Nico71 builds. He has everything from pneumatic tractors, to steam-powered bicycles. And afterward, Nico71 will probably implement the new engine into future builds.

If seeing this sparked an idea to build your own engine out of Lego, you can. Nico71 posted a YouTube video showing the build process and offers a more in-depth tutorial separately (which requires a small charge to access).

Source: hackaday

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Is originality still a thing? It feels as if every big corporation has headed down the same path – squeezing out every drop from the NFT cash cow before it drops dead. PlayStation is the latest company worth over $100 billion to start shilling its own NFTs. Why? Money. It’s toyed with the idea before with PlayStation Stars – NFTs that aren’t “officially” NFTs. That could be changing soon, however.

The patent was initially filed last year, though it was only published last week according to Video Game Chronicle. Titled ‘Tracking Unique In-Game Digital Assets Using Tokens on a Distributed Ledger’, it details a system that could be used to track digital assets within games. These assets can be created, used, modified, and transferred in-game.

The patent suggests that the system may be used to verify NFTs created by players and content creators. Almost everything can be an NFT under the patent’s description. Skins, characters, in-game items, cutscenes, audio clips, and images are all set to be included as usable assets. Players and content creators would have the ability to buy, sell or even rent these digital assets out to other players.

Read More: HBO apparently launching a Nifty set of collectible Game of Thrones NFTs

“The techniques and technologies described herein expand the functionality of digital assets associated with video games, and of systems that create and manage such digital assets, by tracking a history of the digital assets. Tracking the history of the digital assets can include, for example, tracking when, how, and by whom the digital asset was created, used, modified, rented to, rented by, sold to, purchased by, licensed to, licensed by, exchanged to, exchanged by, and/or other actions,” reads the patent.

It’s possible that this patent could stay in the PlayStation vault, never to be used. But it’s clear that PlayStation has the idea in its head. Whether it can hold off on scamming its fanbase for the foreseeable future remains to be seen.

Source: Digital Trends

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SA’s Mamelodi Sundowns FC, affectionately known as Masandawana, had a few firsts to celebrate this year but this is a big one. The team is roping in its fans to celebrate its inclusion in EA Sports’ FIFA 23.

We haven’t forgotten – Sundowns thrashed Orlando Pirates 4-0 this past weekend and became the new Carling Black Label Cup Champions.

The top PSL team partnered with Mettlestate for the Mamelodi Sundowns FIFA23 Championship. It plans to swap soccer boots for game controllers during the online tournament set for a finale at rAge Expo, at the Gallagher Convention Centre, from 9-11 December this year.

“Many of the people in our football club are fans of the FIFA series and are aware of the passion that South African gamers have towards the video game,” says Tlhopie Motsepe, Mamelodi Sundowns Chairman.

Read More: FIFA Mobile adds a Manager Mode on both Android and iOS

Sundowns says there will be four live qualifiers set to place in malls across South Africa, as well as an online qualifier for those who can’t make the live events.

The top eight finale at rAge will be made up of the top player from each live qualifier and the top four players from the online qualifiers.

This marks Sundowns’ entry into esports.

“Traditional sports and esports overlap in more ways than most people realise. FIFA23 is the perfect example of this,” says Mettlestate’s Managing Director, Barry Louzada.

Winners stand to take home cash. Lots of it.

𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙁𝙄𝙁𝘼 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙀𝙍𝙎!

Register for our R200K FIFA23 Championship! Reminder: You can register online or qualify in store! Online registration closes 25 Nov!

Visit our website for information and click the link to register: https://t.co/uY5gtBwWAx pic.twitter.com/PEdNVLVfZY

— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) November 16, 2022

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We’ve been waiting for the promised The Witcher 3 next-gen upgrade, putting off our re-playthrough for years until it could be played on the PS5. After playing coy for months, CD Projekt Red has confirmed the upgrade is coming on 14 December 2022.

And the best part? The next-gen update is free for everyone who already owns the original game. If you’ve still got your disc lying around somewhere, it’s time to get digging in those cupboards. A standalone version is also releasing, dubbed: The Witcher 3 – Complete Edition.

The Complete Edition includes all free DLC and the two major story expansions: Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone in one. You’ll also find faster loading times, ray tracing, 60fps and generally better-looking graphics. It’s possible that story elements will change, though we doubt that’ll happen. As long as CD Projekt Red doesn’t change up the ‘Favour for a Friend’ quest, we’re happy. Or ‘The Play’s the Thing’ questline for that matter.

Read More: The Witcher III: Blood and Wine – A brilliant goodbye

If you don’t have a next-gen console to play the upgrade, don’t stress. CD Projekt Red has confirmed the base versions of the game will receive “numerous additions and improvements”. The company failed to give any more details on what this means for last-gen console players. Still, it’s better than nothing. These changes don’t yet have a confirmed release date.

CD Projekt Red is planning a live stream on its Twitch channel to give us a better look at the gameplay changes and performance upgrades coming to the game next week. The timing hasn’t been confirmed, but keep an eye out on CD Projekt Red’s socials to see when that’s taking place.

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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. recently unveiled its latest gaming screen lineup at Gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany, which included the groundbreaking Odyssey Ark and the Odyssey G70B and G65B. The Odyssey Ark, announced last month, is the 55-inch 1000R curved gaming screen, with a 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time (GtG) and all-new Cockpit Mode.

“As the world’s largest gaming event, Gamescom represents an opportunity for Samsung to showcase our latest gaming innovations that will deliver the incredible future of gaming to player communities around the world,” said Hyesung Ha, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “The awe-inspiring Odyssey Ark and super smart new G70B and G65B reinforce our expertise while opening up a new world of possibilities through these gaming screens.”

Odyssey Ark: Ultimate Entertainment Screen with Superior Gaming Performance

The Odyssey Ark represents a new frontier in gaming with its exceptional picture quality and cinematic surround sound. The 55-inch 1000R curved screen provides an immersive view that wraps around the user’s peripheral vision, enhanced by Cockpit Mode which optimizes the screen environment with HAS (Height Adjustable Stand), tilt and pivot functionality. Quantum Matrix Technology powered by Quantum Mini LED enables ultra-fine and precise control of the densely packed LEDs with newly added 14-bit processing, enhanced by 16,384 black levels and a million-to-one static contrast ratio which showcases every detail in perfect clarity.

The Odyssey Ark is the ultimate entertainment screen, made possible by Samsung’s proprietary Matte Display and Sound Dome Technology. With both anti-glare and anti-reflection protection, users can watch, work and play without distractions, while surrounding themselves with cinematic sound delivered through four speakers at each corner and two central woofers – resulting in a 60W 2.2.2 channel with the lowest 45Hz notes of any gaming screen or gaming soundbar.

The Odyssey Ark is equipped with all the necessary features to deliver the best gaming, entertainment and lifestyle experiences. Plus, a simple Wi-Fi connection enables a full smart TV experience. Furthermore, Odyssey Ark is equipped with Ark Dial, a solar-powered controller which is exclusive to the Ark screen, allowing the quick and easy control of settings such as Flex Move Screen, Multi View, Quick Settings and Game Bar. In addition to being equipped with a solar panel, the Ark Dial can also be charged by a USB Type-C connection.

Odyssey G70B & G65B: Smart Services and Even Slicker Gameplay

Newly unveiled at Gamescom 2022 are the Odyssey G70B and G65B gaming monitors. These are the first models in the Odyssey lineup which have Samsung’s Smart Platform embedded.

Both the G70B and G65B provide smart functionality, including the option to create a home office environment even without a PC. The monitors conveniently connect with various IT devices and services all from one screen for an ultra-efficient working environment. Users can wirelessly connect to a Windows or Mac PC, use Samsung DeX, mirror a smartphone screen onto the monitor using Apple AirPlay 2 as well as access Microsoft 365 cloud services. Users can also watch the latest shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other leading OTT (over-the-top) service providers3.

In addition to the IoT functionality also available on the Odyssey Ark, the G70B and G65B are equipped with a high-sensitivity Far Field Voice microphone, allowing users to control the device with voice assistants such as Bixby and Amazon Alexa. The Always On Voice function allows users to interact with Bixby even when the monitor is turned off while displaying conversation-related information on the monitor’s screen.

The G70B is available in 28- and 32-inch sizes, offering a 144Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time (GtG). These capabilities are packaged up in a UHD resolution, flat IPS display that is enhanced by NVIDIA’s G-SYNC Compatible and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for smooth gameplay.

The G65B is offered in 27- and 32-inch size options and is equipped with a 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time (GtG). The QHD, 1000R curved display comes with FreeSync Premium Pro for a flawless gaming experience that will give any player a competitive edge.

Samsung’s Odyssey Ark is now available for preorder globally, however stock in South Africa will only be available in November 2022. The G70B and G65B will also be available towards the end of the year but will only be brought into South Africa on request.

For additional information on Samsung’s Odyssey gaming lineup, please visit https://displaysolutions.samsung.com/gaming-monitor/odyssey-ark. You can also visit the Samsung Odyssey Twitch channel to explore the gaming of tomorrow.

Samsung proudly supports Busan’s bid for the World Expo 2030.

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South African PlayStation distributor Gamefinity has officially confirmed the PSVR’s launch date and price for the country. And… it’s not cheap. Unsurprisingly. What is surprising is that South Africa won’t be left behind for the VR2’s global release.

Virtually bankrupting

For the standard PSVR2 bundle – which includes the VR headset, VR Sense controllers, and headphones – expect to pay R13,500. A bundle is available that includes the upcoming VR title Horizon Call of the Mountain. But, you’ll pay an extra R1,000, bringing the total up to R14,500.

If a charging dock for your Sense controllers is essential to your gaming experience, be ready to shell out another R1,100. This isn’t a requirement, as the controllers do charge via a cable plugged directly into the console. If you’re willing to navigate virtual reality like a poor person, you’re welcome to go right ahead.

Read More: Here’s what’s going into Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR 2

Most strangely, South Africans won’t wait months before the VR2 is on shelves. Pre-orders open tomorrow – at the same time as the rest of the world. The global launch is set for next year, 22 February.

PSVR2 pre-orders will be available on Gamefinity’s Koodoo store which will notify users once pre-orders are officially live.

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Wordle is about to get more challenging as the New York Times introduces new rules for the addictive word-guessing game.

The basics haven’t changed, you’ll still get six chances to guess the five-letter word, but the word list that was previously assembled by the game creators will now be assembled by Tracy. Who is Tracy, we hear you ask? Tracy Bennett is the person who used to oversee The New York Times’ crossword puzzle, and this is the person who has become Wordle’s dedicated editor.

“Tracy Bennett will be programming Wordle every day,” notes the publication in an announcement about the change.

Read More: So it begins – The New York Times has gotten the Wordle Archive taken down

That’s not all. The word of the day will no longer be a plural of a three or four-letter word with a simple ‘s’ or ‘es’ addition at the end. You’ll get plurals, but with a twist.

“The answer will never be FOXES or SPOTS, but it might be GEESE or FUNGI. As the game is currently designed, FOXES or SPOTS can be used as a guess word to help narrow
down the answer, but FOXES or SPOTS will not be the answer,” says The New York Times.

The New York Times acquired Woodle, created by Josh Wardle, in January this year and some have complained it’s gotten harder since the acquisition. “After nearly a year of speculation, it will finally be our fault if Wordle is harder,” says the editor.

By the way, we have a Wordle challenge here at Stuff and we know some Stuff members have a few tricks under their sleeves that they use on a daily when guessing the daily five-letter word. The changes are bound to heat up the in-office competition just a little more.

Source: The New York Times, Fortune.

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If we had to pick one company we wouldn’t want to turn our childhood memories into live-action films, it would be Netflix. And yet, somehow Netflix still manages to lay its hands on IPs that would be in far better hands with, say, HBO. Just look at Henry Cavill’s ‘The Witcher’ series. Then watch the trailer for HBO’s The Last of Us series to see what these adaptations could look like.

Hopefully, it can pull this one off. By ‘this one’ we’re referring to the newly announced live-action Gears of War movie, followed by an ‘adult animated series’. The film series was announced yesterday, 7 November, on the franchise’s 16th birthday.

Gears of War was released 16 years ago today and to mark the occasion, Netflix has partnered with The Coalition to adapt the @GearsofWar video game saga into a live action feature film, followed by an adult animated series — with the potential for more stories to follow! pic.twitter.com/3zInFSnUu4

— Netflix (@netflix) November 7, 2022

The Gear Wars

To be fair to Netflix, pulling off a video game adaptation isn’t easy. It’s not just Netflix that struggles. In fact, one of the more revered adaptations is a Netflix production – Arcane, the animated series centred on League of Legends lore. Besides that, most franchise adaptations fail to hit the mark and fade away into obscurity. Netflix just has a larger hand dipped into the videogame franchise coffer.

So far, not much is known about the Gears of War movie and series. When are they releasing? Anybody’s guess. Who’s in it? We doubt even Netflix could answer that yet. Though, if Netflix is hiring, we think Dave Bautista might want a shot. Give him a call, after he’s done with the 101 Marvel shoots he’s probably busy with. As long as it isn’t Noah Centineo, Chris Pratt, or Liam Hemsworth taking that lead role, we’ll take whatever you throw at us Netflix.

It could be a while before you see any more news from Netflix on this one, so don’t hold your breath waiting for further announcements just yet. You might not live to see it.

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The story could have been straight out of science fiction – scientists have grown human brain cells in a lab, and taught them to play the video game Pong, similar to squash or tennis. But this didn’t happen on the big screen. It happened in a lab in Melbourne, Australia, and it raises the fundamental question of the legal status of these so-called neural networks.

Are they the property of the team that created them, or do they deserve some kind of special status – or even rights?

The reason this question needs to be asked is because the ability to play pong may be a sign that these lab-grown brain cells have achieved sentience – often defined as the capacity to sense and respond to a world that is external to yourself. And there is widespread consensus that sentience is an important threshold for moral status. Ethicists believe that sentient beings are capable of having the moral right not to be treated badly, and an awareness of the implications of sentience is increasingly embedded in research practices involving animals.

If the Melbourne neurons are sentient, this may mean they are capable of suffering – perhaps through feeling pain or other avoidable discomfort. As there is broad moral consensus that we should not cause unnecessary suffering, this may mean that there are moral limits on what we can do with these neural networks.

It’s worth saying that the team that created the cells don’t think they are there yet as the closed system in which the experiment took place means that, even if we accept the neurons are responding to an external stimulus, we don’t know whether they are doing so knowingly and with understanding of how their actions can cause certain outcomes.

But given where we are, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that sentience could be the next milestone. And if this is true, it’s not just ethicists who should be paying attention – legislators should also keep a close eye on this technology.

The legal problem

This is because, since Roman times, the law has classified everything as either a person or a property. Legal persons are capable of bearing rights. By contrast, property is something that is incapable of bearing rights. So if we think our neural networks might soon have moral status, and that this ought to be reflected in legal protections, we would need to recognise they were no longer property – but legal persons. And the case of Happy, an elephant at Bronx Zoo who campaigners wanted to transfer to an elephant sanctuary, shows us why this is something we should be proactive about.

The New York courts were recently asked whether Happy had a right to freedom, and they said no – because she was not a legal person. A full overview of the case is here, but for our purposes, the key thing to take from the judgement is this: the courts accepted Happy was a moral being who was deserving of rights protection, but were powerless to act. That was because changing her legal status from property to person was too big a change for them to make. Instead, it was a job for the legislature – who are choosing to do nothing.

By recognising a moral claim they cannot enforce, the courts – and the law more generally – is perpetuating what it accepts is an injustice. This is especially shocking when you consider that the term “legal person” has never meant the same as “human being”. Throughout history and in legal systems around the world we have seen temples, idols, ships, corporations and even rivers classified as legal persons. Instead, it is just a signifier that the bearer is capable of having legal rights.

The lesson we can take from this is that we need to future-proof the law. It’s better to be proactive to avoid a foreseeable problem than try and play catch-up when it’s already happened.

And as we’ve said above – this problem is foreseeable with regards to the Melbourne neurons. Even if they’re not sentient yet, the potential is there – and so it is something we should take seriously. Because if we accept that these networks are sentient, and do have moral status because of this, then it is desirable that the law reflect this and grant protections commensurate to their interests.

This is not a revolutionary claim, and we have been in a similar place before. When IVF technology first arose in the 1980s, the law had to confront the question of the legal status of in-vitro embryos for the first time. The approach taken was to convene an inquiry to examine the moral questions raised by this new technology, which culminated in recommendations contained in the Warnock report. These recommendations formed the basis of the UK’s legislative framework around IVF, which creates a kind of “third status” for these embryos – not full legal persons, but with significant restrictions on what can be done to them because of their moral status.

The influences of the Warnock report are still visible today – so there is no reason why a similar approach could not be taken with regards to the issues raised in Melbourne. Yes, there are lots of unanswered questions about the capacities of these neural networks and we may very well conclude that they are not deserving of legal protection just yet.

But there are certainly enough questions around this technology to warrant an attempt at finding an answer.

• Joshua Jowitt is a Lecturer in Law, Newcastle University
• This article first appeared on The Conversation

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After an extended in-person hiatus, the rAge Expo will make its return to a physical Johannesburg event this year from 9-11 December. Unfortunately, it won’t be returning to the Coca-Cola Dome, that’s full of cars now. Instead, the festivities will take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

Putting Africa on the map

Part of the festivities this year include the live finals for the Intel Africa Masters Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. This will be the largest esports tournament on the African continent… so far. Teams from Egypt, Nigeria, North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco), and South Africa are currently competing in closed qualifiers to represent their region on the main stage and have a shot at their share of the R450,000 prize pool.

Intel and Mettlestate are handling the event in collaboration with Nigerian and North African esports organisations Gamr and GamersMagh. The Egyptian, Nigerian, and North African teams are already decided with ‘Cairo City G’zzz’, ‘Outlaws’, and ’15averageGang’ representing their respective regions. The South African closed qualifier is currently underway and will wrap up this month.

In a previous statement, Mettlestate’s Managing Director Barry Louzada said:

“We have the chance to showcase the unbelievable talent that Africa has to offer in the esports space. Having the finals of this cross-continental tournament at rAge will only highlight what the Intel Africa Masters has to offer its participants: opportunity and glory.”

If you’re interested in being more than just a viewer, there will be other attractions. Those include booths, cosplay events, and the NAG Bring-Your-Own-Computer LAN. You can buy your tickets for the Expo here and tickets for the LAN here. It’s worth noting, a LAN ticket will grant you access to the entire expo for the full three days. You can find more information about the CS:GO tournament on the official website.

Source: Glitched

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Local wireless internet service provider Rain and GPU maker Nvidia are teaming up to finally bring South Africans access to Geforce Now. The partnership and subsequent agreement were announced today, Thursday 3 November but the service will only kick off in Q1 2023 with a limited beta program.

Gaming on cloud Nvidia

If you’ve had your head in the sand, Geforce Now is Nvidia’s cloud gaming service. Much like how Netflix allows you to watch movies you don’t have, Geforce Now lets you play games you don’t have on a PC you don’t own. It doesn’t even have to be a PC, you can stream games to any compatible device. Yes, that includes your slightly ageing smartphone if your options are limited.

“Members can stream titles they already own from popular digital gaming stores including Steam, Epic, Ubisoft, Origin, even on under-powered devices.”

Unfortunately, Rain failed to mention local prices and available tiers in the announcement. In the US there are three plans to choose from. Ranging from a limited free tier to the RTX 3080-powered premium tier for $20/m (R370/m).

This partnership will allow an estimated 24 million South African gamers to enjoy cloud-based game streaming. Latency shouldn’t be an issue as the Geforce Now servers will be hosted locally at Rain’s datacentres. That will obviously depend on your internet connection which is a necessity for the service.

That number could very well grow with the availability of cloud-based gaming. Prospective gamers won’t need to spend tens of thousands of rands on powerful computer hardware.

“We are extremely proud to partner with NVIDIA and bring cloud gaming to the fast-growing gaming market in South Africa. The ability to stream and enjoy the latest games on most devices, is a massive leap forward for the gaming community” said Rain’s CEO, Brandon Leigh.

You can register here for next year’s limited beta programme.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has teamed up with… *checks notes* Burger King. This isn’t a forever thing though. It’s a promotion – something we’ve seen many times before. Offer some exclusive in-game features to accompany a separate purchase, and watch the money roll in. Fortnite did it, and CoD does it with countless other brands. Now it’s Burger King’s turn.

Remember, no garnish

This time around, certain burger combos will come with a free BK Operator skin, with an additional one hour of double XP to use within Modern Warfare II. The promotion is running for the entirety of November and allows users to redeem up to 40 hours of double XP.

The BK Operator skin has caused some controversy (a couple of people complaining on Reddit) amongst the CoD community. That’s because the promotion doesn’t span to the United States, one of the game’s largest fanbases.

This has led to many fans in the US trying to get their hands on a code through Twitter, Reddit and Discord. There are ways to sell these codes, though many of the posts are being taken down. You’re on your own with that.

Read More: Call of Duty MW II launches today but don’t bother buying it on disc – it’s (mostly) empty

Touch some grass

Starting from 7 November, select Burger King restaurants are bringing Modern Warfare II ‘game stations’ that’ll let gamers have a chance to win more real-life prizes. Only select restaurants across Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town will see the game stations. Everywhere else… sorry for you.

Purchasing the specific meals at these game stations gives both the skin and double XP code, along with a chance to play a time trial within the game and receive a spot on the leaderboard. Prizes such as headsets, monitors and ‘Burger Town’ t-shirts and meal vouchers are up for grabs.

To grab the skin, you’ll need to order one of the five meals under the Modern Warfare II banner on the in-store or on the app or website. At the time of writing, the Burger King app has disabled mobile ordering on all venues in the vicinity. Call ahead before heading to your local Burger King and make sure the promotion is happening there.

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If you’re still stuck playing Elden Ring on a PS4, it may be time to start a new playthrough on a PS5. No, we aren’t giving you one – PS5s don’t grow on trees. But, buying your own may be a little easier soon. And Sony feels confident that we’ll lap them all up.

Sony Group Corp reported that it had its single biggest financial day since 2017, after stating that production of the latest batch of PS5s exceeded their expectations over the past quarter. Now, it’s setting itself a new goal for the new fiscal year – selling over 23 million PS5s. That’s up from its current sale goal of 18 million for the fiscal year, which it’s also on track to beat.

Read More: Someone has officially jailbroken the PS5 – trouble is, it can’t run jailbroken games

Looks like PS5s are back on the menu, boys

Despite no ‘big’ games releasing in the last quarter, Sony said that sales numbers were “surprisingly stable” according to industry analyst Serkan Toto. “Video games are a hit-driven business. Sony did relatively well despite not having any blockbusters to drive growth this quarter,” he said.

Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer said that production in the last quarter exceeded expectations, managing to build over 6.5 million units in three months. Sony added that it has seen a growth in user engagement more recently, particularly with newer games. God of War, which releases next week, is expected to give a boost in sales.

Even with the production boost incoming, it might still be a while before PS5s are in stock everywhere. Plan your Christmas shopping accordingly.

Source: Bloomberg

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There used to be a time, not so long ago, when purchasing the physical edition of a game actually meant something. Sometimes you’d find bonus content, a map or two, and most importantly, the game itself.

Activision doesn’t seem to have gotten that memo. Today, you can lay hands on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, both digitally and physically. Problem is, the physical version is empty. Well, that’s not true. It has 72MB worth of data on there, which is basically just an authenticator that lets you download the game digitally. And we haven’t even reached the worst part yet. The download is roughly 150GB – defeating the main purpose of buying the game physically.

“The numbers, Mason! Where are they?”

In fairness, the discs these games ship on aren’t quite capable of storing games that large. Sure, Activision could have split the game across two or three discs and sold them that way. But who wants that hassle? As annoying as it is, this was probably the right call. It would have been appreciated if at least one of the game’s modes shipped on the disc, letting you play while your download goes on in the background.

Read More: Sony wants to keep Call of Duty multi-platform and believes Microsoft’s offer was “inadequate”

At least this way, we’re all stuck downloading the game, disc or no disc. That still won’t stop those who are already Prestige Masters by the time we log on later this evening. But it will slow them down.

Besides empty discs, South Africans have another reason for avoiding the CoD: MWII disc version. Head over to your local game store, and you’ll see the same thing everywhere: R1,500 for the physical version of the game. No steelbook, an empty disc, and a basic-looking Call of Duty box for a game that costs R1,380 on the PlayStation Store. Maybe buy it digitally?

Source: TechCrunch

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More researchers are finally studying the benefits of video games for children, instead of the disadvantages. And,  the results look good for the kids. A study published by medical journal JAMA Network Open notes how gaming may help children with cognitive and impulse control.

Prior studies have linked video games to intelligence, and depression. A study by Psychological Medicine in 2021 found that kids who play video games tend to suffer from fewer mental disorders, including anxiety and depression.

“Although most research has linked video gaming to subsequent increases in aggressive behaviour in children after accounting for prior aggression, findings have been divided with respect to video gaming’s association with cognitive skills,” notes the study.

What makes this particular new study different from the many studies done linking gaming and brain function in children?

Well, it is part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, which involved the largest group of children to date. All in all, 2217 children aged 9-10-years-old took part.

Read More: 5 reasons video games should be more widely used in school

Researchers asked: “What is the association between video gaming and cognition in children?”

The kids were divided into groups. One group played games, and the other did not. They were given two tests that measure short-term memory and impulse control while undergoing brain imaging. The group that played video games displayed enhanced cognitive performance.

“These findings suggest that video gaming may be associated with improved cognitive abilities involving response inhibition and working memory and with alterations in underlying cortical pathways,” notes the study.

The study found that kids who played video games for three to four hours a day performed better at tasks involving impulse and memory compared to kids who did not play video games at all. Three to four hours seems a bit long in our opinion, but we’re not scientists. You’ll make the call on that one, but we bet your kids wouldn’t mind the extra playtime.

Kids who played video games also performed better at activities linked to attention and memory. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, focused on video games in particular. 

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