A surfer who survived a great white attack in Australia is said to be lucky to be alive.
Kuwait elections: Only female MP Safa al-Hashem loses seat
Safa al-Hashem had served since 2012 in a country where women first voted in 2005.
Going undercover in the schools that chain boys
Reporter Fateh Al-Rahman Al-Hamdani writes about his experience of secretly filming inside Sudan’s Islamic boarding schools to expose abuse, and reveals why the investigation was so personal to him.
Letters to kids: Why it’s a good time to write to your children
If you’ve been struck by the feeling of living through history, maybe it’s time to write it down.
Jocelyn Benson: Armed protesters flock to Michigan official’s home
The state’s attorney general called the incident “disturbing behaviour masquerading as protest”.
Tribes Want Deb Haaland For Interior Secretary. Some Biden Advisers Are Trying To Thwart Her.
Anonymous Biden allies are telling news outlets the Indigenous congresswoman is not qualified.
Which Essential Workers Should Get Vaccinated First? States Face A Painful Decision
After months of sacrifice, unions are making their case for putting their members near the front of the line.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Patch Notes Revealed (December 7), Free DLC Available
Just ahead of the launch of Black Ops Cold War and Warzone‘s Season 1 expansion, Call of Duty developer Treyarch has announced a new patch is coming to Black Ops Cold War very soon.
This newest game update will go live around 11 PM PT on December 7, and it includes a series of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, stability updates, and adjustments to weapons and Scorestreaks. The patch doesn’t contain any weapon buffs or nerfs, however.
The big change for weapons is that there is now more polish to the “visual kickback” when firing from the hip. Additionally, the updates fixes an animation issue with the Hauer 77 and it clears out a bug that could cause thermal scopes to not work properly when riding in a vehicle.
Take-Two CEO Thinks Photorealism In Games Isn’t Too Far Off
Graphics in games are already impressive, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes it’s only going to get even better. During the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference (via Gamesindustry.biz), Zelnick said he expects photorealism to be possible within the next decade.
“And I can’t quite say what that will involve, but I think what you’re going to see is technology will allow our creative folks to do things they’ve never been able to do before, including make games that look exactly like live-action,” he stated. “Some of what we do now looks a lot like live-action, but it’s still animation. In 10 years, you’ll have the option if you want to make things that look completely realistic, all done inside a computer, never mind all the other advances technology will enable.”
He also spoke with general optimism about the business side of games too, nodding to the widespread possession of smartphones as a factor that will affect future business developments. “I’m guessing [Take-Two’s] business in ten years looks very different than it does today in the same way that it looks very different today than it did ten years ago when there was no mobile business and no recurrent consumer spending,” Zelnick commented.
Lord Of The Rings Online Is Coming To PS5 And Xbox Series X, It Seems
The developers of the long-running Lord of the Rings MMO, The Lord of the Rings Online, are planning what sounds like extensive updates for the future that could include a console edition for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Publisher Daybreak Game Company was recently acquired by Enad Global 7, and in an investor briefing (via PCGamesN), the company said it has a number of updates for the MMO in the works. The company is investing so heavily into the game in an attempt to piggyback on Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show, Enad Global 7 said.
“Planning visual and technical updates for LOTRO for PC and next-gen consoles to capitalize on Amazon’s highly publicized large investment (~$500mm) in LOTR TV series,” reads a line from the presentation.