Computing
The latest news and reviews of PCs, laptops, chips and accessories.
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'Predator: Hunting Grounds' multiplayer trial kicks off March 27th
You might not have to wonder whether or not Predator: Hunting Grounds' asymmetric fights will be worth your time when the game arrives on April 24th -- you'll soon have an opportunity to try it in advance. IllFonic is running a multiplayer trial for the game between March 27th and March 29th, with downloads available on the 27th at 8PM Eastern in North America. It'll be open to both PS4 and PC players with cross-play support.
PlatinumGames' first original project looks like Ant-Man meets Godzilla
PlatinumGames is about to unleash its full freakish flamboyance on the world. Led by veteran director Hideki Kamiya, PlatinumGames has created stand-out titles on the behalf of major publishers for the past 14 years, churning out hits like Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Astral Chain and Nier: Automata. But now, following a cash infusion from Chinese tech giant Tencent, PlatinumGames is building its first original project, codenamed Project GG. "Unlike any of the games we've made so far, it's going to be a 100 percent PlatinumGames title," Kamiya said in a blog post. "For everything from its setting and characters, to its game design and story, to how it's promoted -- PlatinumGames is in full control."
Logitech and Herman Miller team up to design ergonomic gaming furniture
Plenty of gaming chairs look cool, but whether or not they're actually good for your back is another question. Furniture company Herman Miller and Logitech's gaming hardware brand Logitech G want to change that. They're teaming up to create a line of ergonomic furniture for gamers, starting with a gaming chair that could arrive as soon as this spring.
Harmonix’s next music-making game puts your DJ skills to the test
Harmonix, the developer behind Rock Band and Dance Central, is back with a new music-making game: Fuser. Players will become music festival DJs, mixing vocals, bass lines, beats and riffs from artists like Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, 50 Cent, The Chainsmokers and Imagine Dragons. They'll earn points for timing and crowd feedback, and they'll be able to share their mixes with friends.
Amazon discounts the 256GB MacBook Air to under $1,000
As part of its latest deal of the day, Amazon has discounted the 2019 MacBook Air. Until the end of the day, you can get the space grey model -- with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage -- for $999. The $300 price drop is the biggest discount the online retailer has offered on this specific model to date.
Grimes details her character's backstory in 'Cyberpunk 2077'
Keanu Reeves might not be the only recognizable face to have a substantial presence in Cyberpunk 2077. Grimes, who's also on the soundtrack, recently held a livestream (since pulled) where she shared details of an in-game character she'd previously only teased. Appropriately, it's an iconoclastic musician with a 'colorful' history. You might want to skip the next paragraph if you're eager to avoid spoilers or sensitive to talk of self-harm.
'Dota Underlords' leaves early access with battle pass in tow
Dota Underlords, Valve's Defense of the Ancients-themed 'auto-chess' spinoff, has left early. You can now take part in the game's first season.
The Morning After: Netflix's new Top 10 lists tell you what's popular
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Nearly every day, there's at least one post I always see on social media: What's good to watch on Netflix? Despite all the money and time invested in creating a recommendation engine and a library of content that should be able to satisfy anyone, people still can't find something to watch and just want a recommendation from someone else. Or, they want to get in on something with built-in popularity that makes for good discussion -- even if the quality is questionable (see Love is Blind and its highly anticipated season finale later this week). Now, nearly a year after CEO Reed Hastings said his company will lean more into sharing viewer data, Netflix has launched Top 10 lists worldwide. They're specific to each country and update every day across three lists: overall top ten, top TV shows and top movies. Are they interesting enough to cure boredom and keep viewers from clicking over to another app? It's hard to tell, but the thing I can't explain is how two holiday-themed movies (Grinch and A Bad Mom's Christmas) snuck on to Tuesday's top list in late February. Y'all are weird. -- Richard
Xbox One gets another simplified dashboard redesign
Microsoft revealed last month it's been working on a whole host of changes for the February 2020 Xbox One Update, and now they're finally rolling out. The biggest change is yet another new Home interface -- so if you've got downloads set to install automatically you'll notice things are different as soon as it hits. Twists have been removed to make room for dedicated rows for Xbox Game Pass, Mixer, Xbox Community and Microsoft Store, and you'll be able to add or remove rows however you wish. Over in My Games & Apps, meanwhile, things have also been pared back for easier navigation.
Lenovo ThinkPad refresh offers 10th-gen Intel CPUs and AMD's Ryzen 4000 Pro
Lenovo has updated its ThinkPad line with conventional and flexible laptops powered by Intel's 10th Gen vPro processors. However, select models can be configured with AMD's Ryzen 4000 PRO Mobile processors instead -- based on some benchmarks, the Ryzen 4000 line's flagship eight-core, 16 thread chip is potentially faster than some of Intel's processors -- making Lenovo the first company to offer AMD's chips to consumers. Regardless of their processor, though, the laptops have WiFi 6 connectivity and Modern Standby, which offers a smartphone-like always-on, always-connected experience.
Opera's workspaces keep messy tabs under control
If you're a fan of tabbed web browsers, there's a real chance your tabs can be overwhelming at times. Ever try to find that one article you were hoping to read when you have dozens of tabs to wade through? Opera, at least, thinks it can help you clean up that mess. Its newly released Opera 67 for the desktop (aka R2020) introduces tab workspaces that keep you organized. You could have a set of tabs devoted to your schoolwork while another caters just to your social media updates. You can even send links to different workspaces by right-clicking them.
Apple dives deep into specs for the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR
You probably know the basics of what the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR have to offer, but Apple is more than a little eager to help if you have any lingering questions. The company has posted white papers for both the Mac Pro (PDF) and Pro Display XDR (PDF) that dive deep into the specs for each. The Mac Pro paper doesn't offer startling revelations, but it does outline the workstation's capabilities in thorough detail -- you'll know a fair amount about the Xeon architecture, RAM, PCI Express slots, graphics and I/O by the time you're done.
Blizzard's first experimental 'Overwatch' mode: triple damage, one tank
If you're an Overwatch fan, it's not all bad news today. While the coronavirus outbreak has sidelined three weeks of Overwatch League matches, the good news is that starting tomorrow you'll be able to play the first of the game's new experimental modes. Dubbed triple damage, the "experimental card" changes the game's standard team composition to three damage-dealing characters, two support heroes and one tank -- as opposed to the even 2/2/2 split that's currently the norm in role queue matches.
Overwatch League cancels South Korean matches due to coronavirus
A week-and-a-half after it said it would host a slate of cancelled Overwatch League matches in Seoul, South Korea, Blizzard is now postponing those games as well. The move comes after a surge in Covid-19 coronavirus cases in the East Asian country. Like the matches the company had planned to host in Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai, Blizzard says it's delaying the rescheduled games to "protect the health and safety of our players, fans and staff."
Huawei’s 10.8-inch iPad Pro rival can wirelessly charge your phone
Huawei's big MWC reveal that never was is the MatePad Pro, a stylish tablet that will come with a keyboard folio and companion stylus in an attempt to go toe-to-toe with the iPad Pro. It's the company's biggest attempt yet to establish a premium tablet range, having made middling and entry-level tablets for a while. Years, in fact. As it did with its smartphones, though, the company has decided it's time to elevate its tablet efforts -- at a time when everything is either an iPad or a Windows 10 2-in-1. And you know what? Hardware-wise, Huawei may have completely nailed it.
'Baldur's Gate 3' comes to Steam in 2020 as an Early Access game
It took a while, but Larian Studios is narrowing down launch plans for Baldur's Gate 3. Hasbro (which controls Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast) has confirmed at the New York Toy Fair that the long-anticipated role-playing sequel will arrive on Steam sometime in 2020 as an Early Access title. You won't see BG3 gameplay until Larian's PAX East presentation on February 27th at 3:30PM Eastern, but it's already clear the studio doesn't intend to make players wait much longer past the two decades since Baldur's Gate 2.
The Morning After: Don't buy a Galaxy Z Flip
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Last week Motorola's Razr made its big comeback, then there was a rotary cellphone DIY kit, and this week we learned that the old Tiger Electronics handheld games are returning in 2020. I haven't even mentioned the Friends reunion on HBO Max. The only things still missing from the 90s at this point? Blockbuster, dial-up internet and Hypercolor. But for a peek at the future, look no further than Chris Velazco's review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. Unfortunately, the best foldable phone yet is still nearly impossible to recommend, but there's always next time, right? Even if this version of the flexible screen fails to pay off, there's always slide-out displays. -- Richard
The first 'Apex Legends' map is returning for a weekend-long event
If it's been a while since you played Apex Legends, you may want to take some time to return to the game this weekend. Starting today through to February 24th, Respawn Entertainment is bringing back Kings Canyon, Apex's original map, as part of a separate playlist. What's more, the Kings Canyon that's available to play this weekend is the original launch version, not the tweaked variant that came with the game's second season.
Twitch built a tool to help new players understand 'League of Legends'
Jumping into a game like League of Legends is not for the faint of heart. Between a notoriously toxic community and the almost endless complexity of the game itself, there are a lot of hurdles new players have to conquer before they can start enjoying the MOBA. But Twitch hopes it can help solve at least the latter problem with a new extension that details the state of a match at any time. The hope is that the tool will both make the game easier to learn, as well as foster more interaction between streamers and viewers.
Windows 10 icons are getting an overdue redesign
Microsoft refreshed Office's icons last year, and now it's Windows 10's turn. The software giant is rolling out updates to the icons for Windows 10's core apps over the months ahead, starting with the Calendar and Mail apps in a new Release Preview for Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. The company's design team explained that it wanted to break away from the flat, colorless icons you see today in favor of ones that are at once more consistent with newer branding (including apps available beyond Windows) and different enough that you'll have an easier time finding the one you want.