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The latest news and reviews of PCs, laptops, chips and accessories.
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'Half Life: Alyx' will hit Steam on March 23rd
Unlike many other publishers who've delayed big games in recent months, it appears as though Valve is actually sticking to the March release window it set for Half Life: Alyx. Even better, the VR prequel to Half-Life 2 now has an actual release date: March 23rd.
E3 2020 registration opens February 15 at 11AM ET
If you're determined to see games for next-gen consoles months in advance, your opportunity might be close at hand. The ESA is opening registration for E3 2020 through the E3 website on February 15th at 11AM Eastern. You'll have to pay $165 to visit the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 10th and 11th if you're part of the general public (only the industry and press get in on June 9th), but the ESA is promising perks that include a new "floor experience" where you'll see conversations with creators.
We're all kinda fine with DRM now
Digital Rights Management. The phrase alone, or just its abbreviation, DRM, once had the power to spark scathing editorials and spawn furious debates in online forums worldwide. In the 2000s, major PC video game publishers began adding software to their discs that limited the number of times these games could be installed, tracking and verifying players in new, conspicuous ways. Variations of this system persisted throughout the early 2010s, when Microsoft attempted to release the Xbox One with built-in DRM checks. The response from fans was so vicious that Microsoft abandoned its strategy and rebuilt the Xbox One without DRM just months before its launch date. Fast forward to February 2020. NVIDIA launched GeForce Now, the first and only cloud gaming platform to operate on a "DRM-free" basis. When you buy a game via GeForce Now, you get to keep it, regardless of whether the service itself remains live -- a promise that its competitors, Google Stadia and Microsoft's xCloud, can't make. Yet, no one seems to care.
The Morning After: Samsung announces four new phones in one day
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. There are no more leaks left (for now). The Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy S20 Series have been unveiled and... is the Z Flip actually making an interesting case for foldable phones? Instead of simply using the phone to showcase its high-tech screen, Samsung's second attempt is something that I could actually see sitting on a desk, serving as a smart display / selfie machine. -- Richard
'Outriders' trailer reveals a superhuman co-op shooter
People Can Fly and Square Enix finally have something more substantial to show for Outriders than what you saw back at E3. They've released a "reveal" trailer that doesn't show much gameplay for the co-op shooter, but does say a whole lot more about the premise. You play one of many human colonists who settled on the planet Enoch to escape a decaying Earth, only to find that an "anomaly" is warping them with strange powers. Think of it as a much less benign equivalent to the Traveler in Destiny. Naturally, that means mixing up your gunplay with some space magic.
Riot begins leaking details about its competitive shooter 'Project A'
Riot Games shared precious little about what its Project A team-based shooter would entail besides a "character-based" focus, but more details are coming to light. Former Counter-Strike pro player Henry Greer (aka HenryG) reports that Riot invited him to play Project A at its European offices, and the title is apparently similar to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with a dash of class-based elements from games like Overwatch. You're still trying to plant or defend against bombs, and buying weaponry from a resource pool that carries over from round to round. However, characters each have their own abilities that need to be purchased at the very start of a round. There are even CS-like maps with chokepoints and lanes.
Bungie is rolling back 'Destiny 2' accounts again
Destiny 2 is yet again going through some significant issues. Bungie took it offline for emergency maintenance at around 1:30 PM ET after players lost crafting materials, items and currency following the most recent hotfix, in a situation mirroring issues experienced back in January.
Try out Windows 10X today with Microsoft's dual-screen emulator
Microsoft surprised everyone with the Surface Duo and Neo last fall, dual-screen devices that gave us a glimpse at the next generation of phones and PCs. At the same time, the company introduced Windows 10X, a new OS variant made for dual and foldable screens. But after that initial rush of news, Microsoft went quiet, presumably to actually start building these new experiences. Now, after releasing an SDK for the Android-based Surface Duo, the company is finally letting anyone jump into the world of dual-screen Windows 10X apps with a new emulator and tools.
'Anthem' is about to change completely
"Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we miss." That's how BioWare boss Casey Hudson closes out today's blog post about Anthem, the sci-fi loot shooter the studio launched in February 2019. It was poised to compete with the Destiny franchise, but it's been unable to find a significant audience due to widespread gameplay, technical and progression issues. With Anthem, BioWare clearly missed the mark -- and that's why Hudson's team is going to redesign the game entirely.
'Ring Fit Adventure' is the perfect winter workout
Winter in New York City is a special kind of hell for me when it comes to keeping fit. Exercising at home gets boring, it's often too miserable to go out for a run, and I'm not one for That Gym Life. For years, I basically resigned myself to packing on a few pounds and feeling like a gross slob every winter. But once my daughter Sophia arrived, I wanted to break that cycle. Trust me: Chasing after a 15-month old can get tiring pretty quickly if you're not prepared for it. So my big solution to stay somewhat fit? A video game!
Oscar-winning screenwriter Taika Waititi dunks on Apple’s keyboards
Winning an Academy Award makes you feel like you're ruler of the world, at least for the rest of Oscar night. Taika Waititi, winning a gong for best adapted screenplay, started issuing demands of his favorite technology company shortly after leaving the stage. When asked by reporters about the forthcoming Writers' Guild of America negotiations, the director focused his ire on Apple. Specifically, its keyboards, which the director says are "impossible to write on."
Bug prevents Windows 7 users from shutting down their PCs
Microsoft was supposed to have ended Windows 7 support in mid-January, but it can't seem to completely let go -- and neither can some PCs, apparently. Many users on Microsoft's forums, Reddit and elsewhere are reporting that their Windows 7 systems refuse to shut down or reboot as they normally would, claiming that "you don't have permission to shut down this computer." Users have unofficially fixed it by running the Group Policy Editor from the command line to force permissions, but that's clearly not something users should have to do just to turn their PCs off.
The next 'Destiny 2' season will revamp swordplay
While Bungie has mostly been coy about what the next season of Destiny 2 will entail, it just dropped a big clue. The studio has revealed that the season starting March 10th will dramatically rework swords. For one, they'll have their own pool of recharging energy used to power both ground-based heavy attacks and guarding -- the more energy you have, the more options and effectiveness you'll have. While you'll still need ammo to guard, this should encourage you to mix up your swordplay with different attacks and more guarding.
Hitting the Books: The Y2K bug could come back sooner than you think
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
The Morning After: A Samsung Galaxy Z Flip sneak peek
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Why wait until Tuesday to find out what Samsung will unveil? A tipster sent us these pictures of what appears to be Samsung's next foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Flip has appeared in earlier leaks, but these are the clearest real-world shots we've seen. Other than that, if you look below we have Friday's other major stories plus some highlights from all of last week. Samsung's Unpacked event will take place ahead of MWC 2020 -- probably a good thing, considering how companies like NVIDIA, Ericsson and LG have already dropped out of the mobile show because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. I'll wait to find out how much it costs before I get too excited, but the extra-tall device could be cheaper and easier to handle than the Razr. I gotta admit, I'm not worried about the midrange specs, dual-lens camera or what its external display can show -- I just want to go back to hanging up on calls by flipping my phone closed. I miss it so much. -- Richard
Microsoft's revamped Edge browser now runs on ARM-based Windows PCs
The default web browsing experience on ARM-based Windows PCs just took a big step forward. Microsoft has released its first version of its Chromium-based Edge browser for ARM-based Windows 10 systems, giving them all the compatibility and feature improvements without the performance hit that comes from emulating the x86 edition. Suffice it to say this could be very helpful if you're running a Snapdragon-powered computer like the Surface Pro X and want a relatively lean but capable browser.
Apple may be testing Macs with AMD processors
Recently discovered references to AMD CPUs within the code of the latest macOS Catalina betas suggest Apple may be testing the chipmaker's processors to see how they work with its Mac computers. A Reddit and Twitter user named "_rogame" spotted the code snippets, which reference several different AMD processors. For instance, one codename that has come up is "Renoir," which correlates to AMD's new Ryzen 4000-series chips.
Indie dungeon-crawler 'Below' is coming to PS4 this spring
More than two years after coming out on Xbox One and almost seven years since it was first announced at E3 2013, Below is making its way to PlayStation 4. If you've been patiently waiting to check out the game, developer Capybara Games says you'll be able to play Below on PS4 "later this spring."
Chrome will start protecting users from insecure downloads in April
Google Chrome will soon deliver on last year's promise to better protect users from insecure content -- downloads not encrypted via HTTPS -- on otherwise secure pages. Chrome 82, which will be released in April, will be the first version of Google's browser to warn users before allowing them to download certain insecure file types. In future releases, they'll be blocked outright.
Strict visa rules are still keeping game devs out of the US
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Foundation awards scholarships each year to up-and-coming artists, writers and programmers from around the world. The scholarships offer passes to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, plus a travel stipend, exclusive networking opportunities, tours of local studios, help with resumes and portfolios and one-on-one mentorships with industry veterans. For a developer trying to break into video games, it's a fantastic prize.