I get asked frequently about the web browser that I use and I usually answer that I use them all. While that is a bit exaggerated, there is some truth to that. Let me explain. I work with multiple web browsers throughout the day. I used to do all things in the Firefox browser using profiles, but switched to using multiple web browsers instead. Here is my setup: I have Firefox Stable and Nightly, Opera, Vivaldi, Google Chrome Stable and Canary, Chromium, Pale Moon, Waterfox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge on my system. I use Firefox Nightly almost exclusively for writing. I have 50 tabs open in the browser currently and 49 of them point to a page on Ghacks. I use Opera as the default web browser on the system, and I use Google Chrome for social activities (which I do predominantly because of this site). I switch the last two browsers frequently, so, instead of using Opera as the default I may use Vivaldi for a time, or switch to Microsoft Edge for my social activities. Img I do use a special Firefox profile for important activities such as online banking next to that. You may wonder why I use different browsers. I could just use one and it would not change a thing functionality-wise. The main reason why I use multiple browsers is that it separates activity from another. That's an okay-ish reason for not polluting work related browsing histories with other browsing activity, but the main reason is that it is beneficial to privacy and security. Privacy should be clear as it limits exposure to tracking and fingerprinting. Sites and companies use various means of tracking, for example by using cookies. If I separate social activity from other activity, I limited what companies like Facebook or Google get to know about my browsing activity and interests. Sure, that is also possible by not using social media but I do have to use it because of this site. You can also delete cookies regularly or use other means to block tracking, obviously. Security too benefits from such a setup as it limits the attack surface for certain types of attacks. I don't fall for phishing attacks but if I would, that phishing URL would open in the default web browser which I don't use for sign-in activity. It is also not possible to steal login data if I don't log in to specific services using that browser. Maintenance is also a lot easier. I can keep the browsing history and cookies in Firefox, keep some cookies in Chrome to stay logged in, and delete anything in Opera after browsing sessions. Also, I don't have to juggle between multiple browser windows of the same browser which I find more difficult and less intuitive than using multiple browsers for the same purpose. So, I keep certain tasks separated by using different browsers for that. The same can be achieved using Firefox profiles or even with a single browser if you set it up very careful (deleting or blocking cookies, content blocking, using containers or other functionality, using private browsing mode), but the latter is not as easy to maintain or setup. Another benefit of this approach is that I'm always up to date when it comes to new browser features or changes that developers introduce. That's great as I tend to cover web browsers here a lot on the site.

So, it’s not really any secret nowadays, that Google saves pretty well anything you ever do using their services. It’s also no secret nowadays, that many people try and avoid using Google services, and would prefer to use alternatives to many of their popular tools, such as Google Maps. Sometimes, alternatives are available that provide similar functionality, Startpage for search or another email provider for your email needs. As far as Google Maps is concerned, it is a great product but there are alternatives available online and locally. GNU/Linux users have the handy GNOME Maps application at their disposal. Installation GNOME Maps is extremely simple to install, with most major distributions carrying the package ‘gnome-maps’ in their main repositories. Simply install with your package management tool of choice, and you’ll be all set to go. On Linux Mint for instance, you'd select Menu > Software Manager to open the built in program. Type maps in the search box in Software Manager and select Gnome Maps from the list of results. From there, it is just a matter of selecting the install button to install Gnome Maps on the Linux machine. Software dependencies do get installed automatically after your review of them. You can launch Gnome Maps right after installation from the Software Manager, or anytime later from the Linux Mint menu. Using the application / Features When I first started checking out GNOME maps, the first thing I noticed, is how absolutely buttery smooth the program launched, and ran, using Linux Mint 18.3 MATE edition. I was scrolling around the world, setting directions for how to cross Russia by foot (which let me tell you in case you ever wondered, should take roughly 60 hours, depending on locations used) in a matter of moments, and it really was quite easy to do. One of the handy features I found I rather enjoyed, is the ability to right click anywhere on the map, and set the starting place for directions, and then do the same for the destination, if you didn’t feel like using the address, or coordinates. How this is all accomplished, is using a few different open-source technologies. The maps are used / taken from https://www.openstreetmap.org/ Route / directions / trip planning is done using https://graphhopper.com/ Depending on your privacy settings, you CAN allow Maps to use your location, thanks to https://wiki.gnome.org/GeoClue Final Thoughts Really, I was incredibly surprised with the ease of use, and how lightweight the program felt on my system. The only real unfortunate thing, is that unless you plan to print, write down, take pictures of, or memorize your directions... You likely won’t be taking them with you on your mobile device. However, if you’re looking to get away from using Google Maps before you head out somewhere, or just want to look at travel times, GNOME Maps is perfect!

A new set of Fortnite challenges means a new batch of optional objectives to complete in Battle Royale, provided you own the Battle Pass. Week 7 challenges include two in particular that will require either some legwork on your part or a guide to specific locations--which is where we come in. The first of these trickier challenges asks you to follow the treasure map found in Retail Row, something that is labeled as a "Hard" objective (meaning you get 10 Battle Stars for completing it). This works identically to other treasure map challenges: You hunt down a map randomly located in the stated area, and it directs you to another location on the map, where you have to collect an item. However, if you know where to go, you can skip the treasure map altogether and go directly to the treasure location. For Week 7, that means going to the Wailing Woods. If you look at the map, you'll see a part of it that is less densely populated with trees, which is home to a hedge maze. Navigate to the southwestern corner, and you'll find the treasure hidden in a dead end. Walk up and activate it (by holding the same button or key you'd use to open a chest), and the challenge is complete. More time-consuming is the challenge that wants you to search the Hidden Gnome in different named locations. You'll have to search a total of seven of these gnomes, though you thankfully don't have to do all of this in a single match. There are far more than seven gnomes on the map, so you don't necessarily have to head to specific locations to do this. Anywhere you see a name on the map--Retail Row, Loot Lake, Tilted Towers, et al--you'll find a gnome hiding inside of a building. As with the treasure, you'll have to hold a button or key (again, the same as opening a chest) to "search" a gnome once you find one. In some cases, such as the one in Junk Junction, you may need to destroy some of the surrounding objects in order to easily access it. Others can be searched without physically seeing it, as is the case with one hiding in a bathroom stall in Greasy Grove. We've assembled the map below and verified it with locations discovered by Reddit user thesquatingdog to help you identify the locations where you can find a gnome.

After rumors and leaks, Activision has finally confirmed a remastered version of the original three Spyro the Dragon games is coming. Among the improvements that Spyro Reignited Trilogy boasts are improved graphics, and along with a trailer, we've gotten some comparison screenshots that serve to highlight just how much better this new version looks. Activision's announcement states the Trilogy features "scaled-up HD graphics" where the more than 100 levels have been "mapped faithfully from the originals, only now re-imagined with modern mechanics to give fans an excellent gaming experience." In terms of visuals, this is described as a "completely remastered" collection with "re-imagined cast of characters, brand-new lighting, animations, environments, and recreated cinematics." Spyro himself is much more detailed, but it's the improvements to the environments themselves that stand out the most. It looks to be a major upgrade. Spyro Reignited Trilogy releases for PS4 and Xbox One on September 21. That roughly coincides with the original release of the first Spyro, which debuted back in 1998. It consists of that original game, Spyro the Dragon, along with its two follow-ups: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (Gateway to Glimmer in Europe and Australia) and Spyro: Year of the Dragon.

Hearthstone's next expansion is inching ever closer. Blizzard announced today that The Witchwood will launch next Thursday, April 12. It will add another 135 cards to the game, as well as mark the start of the Year of the Raven. The annual change will cycle some older sets out of Standard play to make room for this year's expansions. The company is still slowly revealing the full set, but that will all come to a head on Monday, April 9, at 11 AM PT. That's when Blizzard will host a live stream with game director Ben Brode and Hearthstone streamer Sean "Day9" Plott to show off the remaining cards. That will also likely mark your last chance to pre-order the Witchwood bundle, which grants 70 packs for $50. After the expansion launches, of course, packs will be available at their regular price. If you're looking to score some free cards and packs, though, Blizzard has arranged a few methods. You can take part in daily quests now, as all of them are granting randomized card packs as rewards in addition to the regular gold rewards. You can also log-in to Hearthstone anytime between the Witchwood launch and July 10 to claim three free packs and one class legendary card. Witchwood will introduce one new Hero Card, the Shaman Hagatha, as a central character. A new single-player mode, called Monster Hunt, will follow shortly after launch. If you want to get inside the design philosophy of Hearthstone, check out what the devs told us recently about making everything feel overpowered.

Blizzard has unveiled Retribution, a new mission that will be coming to Overwatch as part of the Overwatch Archives event. Like 2017's Uprising, which allowed players to experience Tracer's first ever mission as part of Overwatch, Retribution delves into another key moment in the series' lore. "Travel eight years into the past and join Blackwatch as they seek to capture a high-ranking member of the Talon organization," Blizzard explains. "Fight in the streets of Venice as Genji, Moira, McCree, or Reyes (later known as Reaper) to complete the mission and unlock pieces of the past with over 100 items from last year and 60 new ones—including highlight intros, emotes, sprays, and more." The trailer, which you can watch above, shows Genji, Moira, McCree, and Reyes infiltrating a building. Naturally, everything goes wrong and before long they're fighting for their lives in a desperate escape. Of course, the characters are wearing their Blackwatch costumes, which will be available to unlock during the game, along with numerous other cosmetic items. Last year's Uprising mode will also be playable during the Overwatch Archives event, and can be played in Story Mode or All Heroes Mode. Story Mode will properly retell Tracer's first mission in King's Row, with four heroes available: Tracer, Mercy, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn. All Heroes Mode, meanwhile, lets you play the same King's Row mission but as any hero you want. As announced previously, the new Uprising event goes live on April 10. Overwatch was one of the subjects of Versus, a new, fun debate show on GameSpot. In the first episode ,Tamoor Hussain--an Overwatch fan--and Oscar Dayus--who loves Rainbow Six Siege--argue over which game is better, discussing categories such as characters and map design, before having a much lighter quick-fire question round.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is coming on April 25 to iOS and Android. Developer Jam City announced the release date today, along with word that various actors reprise their Hogwarts film roles for voice work in the game. Those voices include Michael Gambon (Professor Dumbledore), Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Sally Mortemore (Madam Irma Pince), Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey), and Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch). Hogwarts Mystery is set in the 1980s, after Voldemort has been (kind of) vanquished but before Harry Potter starts attending. That means we're unlikely to see kids from the Potter days appear in the game, as well as professors who joined later in the series. The idea is to give players their own Hogwarts experience without tying it to the events of the books and films. Players can create their own student, pick one of the four houses, go to classes to learn magic, and make branching story decisions. This is one of two announced Harry Potter mobile games. The other, Wizards Unite, is being developed by Niantic, the studio responsible for Pokemon Go. Like that game, it will have you exploring the real world to collect power-ups and defend key points. Warner Bros. has teased yet another Potter game for consoles, but no announcement has been made.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' latest Event Mode is about to begin--and this one is going to get messy. Tequila Sunrise pits players against each other in close quarter combat, and begins on PC tonight in North America and early tomorrow morning in Europe. Tequila Sunrise allows shotguns and melee weapons only, pitting four-man squads against each other on the Miramar map. It begins April 5 at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET (3 AM BST on April 6), and goes for 72 hours until the same time on April 8 (or April 9 in some regions). There are also some twists when it comes to safe zones that should keep things interesting. Here's what PUBG Corp. has shared ahead of Tequila Sunrise's release: Loot Spawn Details Weapons Shotguns (3x spawn rate) Melee Weapons (3x spawn rate) No other weapons Items Bag/Helmet/Armor Lv.3 (3x spawn rate) Bag/Helmet/Armor Lv.1 (0.5x spawn rate) Ammunition (3x spawn rate) Safe Zone (White Circle) Behavior Immediately after the plane gets in the air, the first safe zone is visible on the map. The first safe zone will be smaller than its normal size. Other Event Rules Time of day is locked at sunrise. Care packages are disabled. In other PUBG news, a new patch has just been released for the game, bringing with it bug fixes and the new Killer Spectate mode that allows you to watch the player who killed you during the rest of the match. If your killer dies too, you'll be able to continue watching the player who killed them. Meanwhile, PUBG's upcoming map, currently in the testing phase, now supports players who want to play as Squads on Codename: Savage on the game's experimental test server. You still need a beta key to access the map, and you can sign up to receive one the PUBG website.

If you've ever played Diablo, you know the name Deckard Cain. The weathered old man generally serves as an adviser, rather than any sort of combatant, yet he's set to become just that in Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm. Yes, Deckard is set to become a playable hero in HotS, and Blizzard seems to have had a lot of fun with his design. He's capable of healing and generally supporting his team, though he's susceptible to being Silenced and doesn't offer much in the way of mobility. His abilities include one that throws a healing potion on the ground for a teammate to collect, another that uses the Horadric Cube to deal damage and slow enemies, and a scroll that roots and damages. As is often the case, it's the Heroic abilities that are best. Lorenado summons a tornado made of his books that moves in a target direction and pushes back enemies that it touches. Best of all is Stay A While And Listen, which casts a large cone in front of him. Those inside are subjected to a story he tells, which makes them fall asleep. Deckard launches "soon" on the public test realm and will be released to the full game sometime after that. Blizzard has also announced it plans to release a comic, Rise of the Raven Lord, that will explore Heroes of the Storm lore sometime later in April.

Despite proving to be an enjoyable arena shooter, LawBreakers has not turned out to be the success its developer hoped for. With the game struggling to attract players, developer Boss Key Productions has finally commented on what both it and the game's future holds. In a message on its official website, Boss Key admitted that it hasn't spoken about the game in some time, describing the last four months as "especially trying, as we pride ourselves at being communicative and transparent." "So here is the very real truth, which may not come as a surprise," it said. "The fact is LawBreakers failed to find enough of an audience to generate the funds necessary to keep it sustained in the manner we had originally planned for and anticipated. And while a pivot to free-to-play may seem like [the] easiest change to make, a change of this magnitude takes publishing planning and resources to do it." While this sounds like the preface for Boss Key announcing that it is ending support for the game, the studio says it's "determined to give this game the second life it deserves." Due to the need to keep the company afloat, though, this won't be its sole focus moving forward. "etween now and then, we cannot sit idle," the message said. "We will continue to support the game in its current state, but we also need to focus on other projects with fresh creative leaders. We have been working on something new and we can't wait to share more about it! It's a passion project that we're in complete control of." LawBreakers is an arena shooter in the mold of something like Unreal Tournament or Quake but with a class-based system. It was the first game released by Boss Key, the studio founded by Cliff Bleszinski, the ex-Epic Games developer best known for his work on Unreal Tournament and Gears of War. The game debuted on PC and PS4 last August and immediately struggled to grab much of audience, with its playerbase quickly dwindling. Bleszinski has spoken out on his desire to save the game, though fellow co-founder Arjan Brussee left the studio to return to Epic. Arena shooters are a sub-genre that hasn't seen many games released in recent years, which seemingly left open a niche for LawBreakers to exploit. However, its struggles may have been at least partially due to the overwhelming success of PUBG, according to publisher Nexon. In an earnings report, the company said, "The timing of its launch turned out to be unfortunate, specifically the blockbuster PC online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds came out right about the same time, making the market environment very tough for first-person shooters in general and for LawBreakers."

Ubisoft has deployed a new Far Cry 5 PC patch, title update 4, which will also become available for consoles after the weekend. The new title update will be auto downloaded automatically through UPLAY or Steam, and addresses some low occurrence crashes and save corruption issues. In addition, the patch offers some quality bug fixes alongside improvements COOP connectivity, map download efficiency, PVP matchmaking, and more. The official release notes for the new Far Cry PC patch have been included below: Far Cry 5 PC Patch release notes Stability & Performance Fixed low occurrence crashes and walkthrough breaks Additional quality bug fixes Fixed low occurrence save corruption Companion, Enemy, & Animal AI Fixed low repro AI issues Design & Mission Progression Fixed issues preventing silver bar purchase Fixed minor bugs Gameplay & UI Fixed minor bugs COOP and Online Improved COOP connectivity Fixed low occurrence COOP specific walkthrough breaks Fixed voice communication issue where players could be permanently muted Hurk was blowing up the client player when in a helicopter, fixed that. Far Cry Arcade Improved map download efficiency Fixed various Arcade gameplay issues Fixed issue where map textures would be extremely low Improved PVP matchmaking Fixed lobby loadout selection and map selection issues Map Editor Fixed issue with Arcade Editor crashes PC Patch Only: Fixed issues that were causing incorrect spawn if the game was minimized during loading Far Cry 5 is available now for PC and consoles. The game was released on March 28, and you check out our very own review of the game right here. We’ve included a small part from that review down below: "Far Cry 5 doesn’t strike me as a reformation of a series formula that has worked well for years, but rather a baptismal into something new. It can be hard for Ubisoft to wash away the sins of open-world game design, yet there’s the beginning of something greater to behold in Hope County. Whether making the trip to Hope County alone or with friends, the idyllic scenery makes such a stark contrast to the action of a Far Cry title that it’s going to be impossible to fly over and skip this one."

SOme additional information: Highlights Battle for Azeroth will release on August 14, 2018! Dark Iron Dwarves and Mag'har Orcs will be the first two new Allied Races. Play through the War Campaign at release and unlock them. Kul'Tiran and Zandalari Trolls will come later in the expansion. Another round of realm connections is coming! The pre-expansion patch will include content in Darkshore that tells the backstory of the Burning of Teldrassil. It will include both story quests and replayable skirmishes with elites. There will be 2.5D animated pieces that tells the story of the Burning of Teldrassil. Misc Warlords had the Garrison campaign, Legion had the Order Hall campaign, and Battle for Azeroth has a War Campaign. Attendees were shown the Zandalar landfall cinematic. Nathanos and a Zandalari troll are on a ship and mention that they believe that they have lost the Alliance that were chasing them after they rescued Princess Talanji. Talanji is in the cabin, praying to Rezan for aid. She is worried that her father will not agree with her seeking out the aid of the Horde. He sees her boldness, power, enemies that fear both, and that her enemies that seek her demise are here. Alliance ships appear behind the Horde vessel and attack, with it sustaining some damage. Talanji summons a large dinosaur spirit and pushes her ship away quickly into fog. After exiting on the other side, you can see an entire fleet of Zandalari ships waiting. They fire and destroy the Alliance fleet. We are very close to a beta, which the team is trying to save for when the game is feature complete and polish is remaining. Patch 7.1 may have been released a little too soon, but other than that Legion content pacing worked out well. Trial of Valor was an idea that came up just before Legion launched. There are 6 factions for the continents, 3 for each continent. There are 2 neutral factions: Tortollan and Voice of Azeroth. World PvP The team isn't 100% sure why players are hesitant to engage in PvP combat. Is it the fact that there is a person on the other end, so they feel pressure and stress, or is it the behavior of the character on the other end. Leveling with War Mode (World PvP) enabled will grant more experience and rewards, with the intent being to offset the time lost to dealing with PvP and making leveling just as fast and rewarding with PvP on. You will fill up a bar with Conquest Points, earning a weapon or another piece of gear each time you fill it. Every week you earn another piece, and after you completed your set you will build a more powerful set. If you are a Gladiator level player, there is still a random loot system that rewards gear competitive with raid gear. Honor Talents are now tied to player level and will be unlocked as you level to 120. When you have War Mode on, you will be put on a shard with only other players that have it on. Group finder will only list groups with players that have the same War Mode toggle state as you. You can manually group with people that have War Mode off, but you won't be able to see them out in the world. Warfronts The expansion will release with a 20 player Warfront in Arathi Highlands. Warfronts may change the outside world when your faction controls it, granting access to quests or world bosses. Your faction will turn in resources, unlock the warfront, play through the content and win the battle, then hold it for around 5-7 days while the other faction turns in resources to fight to control it. Resources turned in include Azerite, gold, tradeskill materials, and more. You will almost always win a warfront battle, so there is no risk of one faction holding it for a long time. Warfronts are held by one faction across an entire region. More Warfronts will open as the expansion progresses. Island Expeditions You’ll queue for Normal, Heroic, Mythic, or PvP difficulties either alone or with a group by using an Expedition table in Zuldazar Harbor (Horde) or Boralus Harbor (Alliance). Island Expeditions are three-player encounters, and while you can play as any mix of roles, you’ll want to make sure you’re coordinating with the rest of your group to overcome the opposing faction and acquire 6,000 Azerite before they do. Island Expeditions use your party member's visibility to show Azerite on the map until the entire island's map is revealed. There are six different islands with dozens of enemies and structures. There are 6 enemy groups per faction. Battle for Azeroth Interview with WoW Developers Blizzardwatch and our team sat down with Jimmy Lo (Senior Concept Artist) and Travis Day (Senior Producer) to ask some questions about Battle for Azeroth. Arathi is the only announced Warfront, but there are definitely more planned. The goal is to have a rotation of different locations by the time all the patches are out. The team likes to control specific class fantasy and so it will be on a case by case basis whether or not spec specific artifact weapon transmogs will be allowed by different specs. Thin humans are a different body type for the Kul Tiran humans. They are not a different race. The team wanted bigger and smaller models to fit the various NPC roles and add more flavor to the world. The way the opening of Battle for Azeroth plays out with the burning of Teldrassil, the team hopes that what happened is open for debate. It is likely that the belief will be that Sylvanas burned the tree, but how much of the Horde is behind that decision is open to debate, as well as how much of the retribution is Anduin proving his manhood. The art team is always looking at races to see what customizations can be added. With the focus on Allied Races, the team has wondered what options should be revisited on existing races and update as needed, such as with the Blood Elf golden eyes. The team is not 100% sure how the future Allied Races will be unlocked. They used the ones on live to see what motivates the players. Some races might be unlocked organically just by progressing in the Battle for Azeroth story. This might also affect where and what level the allied race starts at. Battle for Azeroth will have a War Campaign which is an ongoing chapter story similar to how Suramar played out. The campaign will begin during questing and continue at max level. The team is getting a little more open to different race/class combinations, such as the introduction of a Night Elf Paladin during the Legion story. There is nothing planned in the near future for new combinations. The team is interested in using the new AI in other aspects of the game, but they want to see how players react to it first. It is doubtful it will be used for all NPCs in the world, but possibly things like rare spawns. The new AI can do things like jump and line of sight you. In terms of storylines for zones, the team starts off with a premise and displays it through key art and imagery. After the aesthetic is set up, the team discusses where the story will go and what the story is trying to tell. The existential threats and story form the cohesive world and allows the team to set up how they want the players to traverse these locales. Every quest in the game has gone through about 24 different people before it makes it to live testing. Quests and side quests evolve as different team members test them. One of the primary characters in Kul Tiras comes from one of the artists. The character’s story was pitched and was well received and so was placed in the game. One of the quest designers is responsible for the creepy girl in Drustvar’s story. She worked mostly on Tiragarde Sound, but pitched an idea for the Drustvar story once she heard the background information on the zone. The goal for the Heart of Azeroth is to have traits on each tier that are applicable both generally and specifically to each spec of your class. This will likely make it so that you have different gear pieces for your head, shoulders and chest that you prefer for each of your specs. The team believes it’s a healthy part of gameplay to collect different sets based on different gameplay. This includes PvP and different specs. There will be traits that are useful for all different styles of game play such as increased crit chance on abilities, which is beneficial regardless of PvP or PvE. Questing gear will have smaller increases to abilities than max level gear and higher item level gear.

The critically-acclaimed RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 for the PC is coming to consoles. The game will arrive on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August. Developed by Belgian company Larian Studios and partially funded through Kickstarter, the game is the sequel to 2014’s Divinity: Original Sin. The game became a massive hit and received glowing reviews for its strong RPG elements and co-op gameplay. Marketed as a “back-to-the-roots RPG“, Original Sin was popular with fans of classic RPGs like Baldur’s Gate and the earliest installments in the Fallout franchise. Its success on the PC led Larian to release Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in 2015. The game was given to owners of the original PC copy for free. The sequel was released on the PC on September 14, 2017. Bandai Namco has announced that the company is teaming with Larian Studios to bring Divinity: Original Sin 2 to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Larian founder Swen Vincke praised Bandai Namco for their work on The Witcher and Dark Souls, and said it was important to have their game “distributed by a team that understands how to bring RPGs to a broad audience“. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox one ports will include a user interface designed for consoles. Divinity: Original Sin 2 features four-player online co-op, and two-player split-screen support. Set in the fantasy world of Rivellon, players take control of one of six characters with their own unique backstories and personalities. Alternatively, players can create their own character. The six playable characters are also available to join the player’s party, though only four are allowed in the group. Players are given total freedom in choosing their skills and as well as their companions’ skills, making it easier for the player to customize their entire party for battle in turn-based combat. The game follows the story of the player character and his companions as they embark on a quest to stop their enemies from claiming godhood. If playing in co-op mode, a player’s friend can take control of one of the companions. Players are free to make their own decisions and can often clash with each other. The same is true for the computer-controlled companions who won’t always share the player’s goals. Like its predecessor, Divinity: Original Sin 2 was well-received by critics upon its release. Original Sin 2 was nominated for “Best Role-Playing Game” at The Game Awards 2017, and was named PC Gamer’s Game of the Year. The game ranked in at No. 23 on Screen Rant‘s Best Video Games of 2017. Divinity: Original Sin 2 releases in August of 2018 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Check your back for knives in The Creative Assembly's latest historical Total War. I am the king of nowhere. My lying bastard nobles have spent years tearing me down with a prolonged campaign of extortion, and now they rebel in unison, turning my provinces to their cause and sending armies to claim my head. All I wanted was to turn the northeast of England into a Viking paradise. I crushed rebels and repelled aggression from the north for them, and now they betray me? My kingly ego would rather overlook the fact that I failed to build any farms and presided over chronic food shortages. My decision to mint my own currency and put an imprint of my head on all the coins didn’t go down well with my Christian English subjects, who would rather see the Lord’s cross there. When one of the nobles started getting uppity, I should perhaps have taken the option to torture him rather than pay him off. In the following years the nobles came to me for bribes several times after that, and each time I caved my reputation collapsed further. As a result the reign of king Guthfrid of the Northymbre Vikings is short and violent, which is fitting considering the tensions surrounding that period. Maybe his son and heir will go on to do better, though with the name Cnut, I have my doubts. Thrones of Britannia is set in 878 AD, just after Alfred wins the battle of Edington and halts the Viking takeover of England. The proud factions of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland enter a febrile peace, the sort that just wants to implode the second a leader farts in the wrong direction. It’s an ideal setting for one of the most experimental Total War games to date, especially for a game that’s well suited to telling stories. At a glance this is still very much a Total War game—you build up your settlements and direct armies on a campaign map that encompasses England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and then direct your forces in real time strategy battles when armies clash. However this game is particularly interested in using streamlined politicking and narrative dilemmas to drive your campaign in unexpected directions. The ‘Saga’ moniker fits perfectly. “I like building stories,” game director Jack Lusted tells me. “Political events are certainly a nice way to add to that. If you strip an estate from someone or you secure loyalty in a certain way, they might agree, but they become vengeful, then they might have other events pop up based on them working against you now.” Origin story During our chat I learn that the publication you hold in your hands right now is partly responsible for Lusted’s love of Total War, his subsequent modding efforts, and a career at Creative Assembly that spans Empire, Napoleon, Shogun 2 and Rome II. “I got into Total War back in 2002. I got PC Gamer every month and read a few articles about the first Medieval and thought, ‘Ooh that sounds quite interesting,’ and then the copy with the review came out. I remember it was by Kieron Gillen and it had the words, ‘I am the king of Spain!’ at the start, and I thought, ‘I’m going to buy that!’” I tell Jack that I almost tortured one of my nobles and he laughs. Choosing to torture the noble would have given him the ‘Enforced Loyalty’ trait. “That will over time adapt. For a number of turns he will be loyal, and then afterwards he will not be loyal, and he will remember that you tortured him.” I enjoy the way Thrones of Britannia models these violent soap operas because they provide a deeper structure to the campaign than the traditional Total War sequence of ‘meet faction, build a few armies, crush faction, repeat’. You can appease disloyal governors and generals by gifting them one your limited number of estates – though choose carefully, if you later forcibly remove the estate, expect a tantrum. Alternatively, you can add priests to their retinue to keep them in check. If you’re sure a noble is about to rebel, or you’re just sick of them, you can always pay a lump sum to have them assassinated. Many of Thrones’ systems seem intended to force you to sit still every now and then to tend to your people. Over the course of a campaign your citizens slide up and down a ‘War Fervour’ axis. If you fight relentlessly for years, morale will slip away. Sit still too long and your people start itching for a fight. At higher difficulty levels your people will move more quickly along this axis, which forces you to read the room and indulge in efficient wars that sate your citizens’ bloodlust without wearing them out. If you wage a war in a high War Fervour state your units enjoy bonuses to their stats. “It’s all about trying to add more breaks and different flows to the game, more chance to think,” says Lusted. War Fervour first appeared in Total War: Attila’s Age of Charlemagne expansion but has been refined for Thrones of Britannia. “It adds a much more cyclical nature to the game if you’ve got periods of war and periods of peace. The recruitment system works with that, you’ve got that planning ahead.” Recruitment works very differently in Thrones of Britannia. You no longer purchase units fully formed from military buildings in your settlements. Instead, armies pick units to muster from a regenerating faction-wide pool of units. The unit appears in your army at a fraction of its normal size and grows to full strength over a few turns. This is primarily designed to simulate the process of assembling an army more realistically—it takes time to train and equip new recruits—but the system serves a few other purposes. Units in the pool have a percentage chance of regenerating, and the chance is much lower for elite units. This means your Vikings are almost always going to have access to axe warriors but the truly elite guard are precious resources that you don’t want to lose. The new recruitment system has a big knock-on effect on settlement construction. “I really wanted to try a Total War without recruitment buildings,” says Lusted. “So often discussions about building is around which one is my military province. Let’s remove that from the equation, make provinces all about what those provinces are and the bonuses they give, and trying to customise your buildings to maximise that.” Each province features a walled major settlement and a scattering of tiny defenceless settlements built up around resource features. Farms and mines are essential for the upkeep of your armies and the overall happiness of your citizens, but they are easily sacked by roaming enemy forces. Burning enemy farms is a viable tactic in Thrones of Britannia because food shortages stop armies from recovering their losses. I discover this first-hand when I counter-attack against northern invaders and run out of food stores. A desperate cluster of units, some only a dozen men strong, stumbled up the coast capturing undefended settlements as I ordered my citizens to farm harder and trade more to support the conflict. I like the way Thrones simulates some of the slog and attrition of drawn out wars, even while keeping the battles exciting. My Viking campaign would have ended much earlier if I had failed to secure an unassuming settlement called Dunholm. Sometimes in a Total War campaign one province or settlement becomes the battleground of an all-or-nothing stand on which the success of your campaign turns. The forces of Northleade lined up against my Vikings in the snow for a terrible showdown. High command I find Thrones of Britannia’s battles to be especially clear and readable. There seem to be fewer incrementally different troop variations, which makes it easy to assess what units are for. Clear tooltips and characterful but practical unit descriptions also help, and the game’s reliance on Attila’s codebase means it should run well on a larger range machines. At Dunholm my archers effectively used flaming arrows to deter enemy cavalry while my spearmen ‘castled up’ – a command that prompts them to form their shields into walls and a roof, turning the unit into a spiky armadillo. At a key moment my spearmen uncastled and surged forward to soak up an enemy infantry charge and I counter-charged with my long axemen. The double-handed axes cleaved through enemy armour and absolutely flattened the core of the Northleade force. After that all I had to do was chase down the general and mop up the enemy firing line. Though the game had predicted a close fight, my plan had worked flawlessly, and there was no way Northleade would be able to muster a new force quickly enough to stop my subsequent charge north. I love these moments in Total War. Normally the campaign’s long term objectives are irrelevant to me, other than as a means to generate clutch battles and neat story twists. Thrones of Britannia could change that, however, with a new series of layered objectives, including some secret ‘ultimate’ late game objectives that emerge once you’ve truly dominated the map. There are straightforward conquest victories that challenge you to secure a certain number of provinces, but you can also win a fame victory by building famous landmarks and levelling up your generals and governors. There are ten playable factions belonging to five cultural groups: Anglo Saxons, Gaels, Welsh, Viking settlers and Viking Sea Kings, and each cultural group has its own path to victory based on unification. The Scots can secure the stone of destiny, the Welsh can secure sites of legendary historical status, Alfred can unite the English into one kingdom. Once you have achieved one victory condition you can keep playing to earn more, turning all of Britain and Ireland into one kingdom under your name. At that point, you’ve won at being king. What could be more Total War than that? Thrones of Britannia is out on May 3.

Not all US lawmakers have welcomed the "illegal" strike on Syria ordered by President Donald Trump that was allegedly in retaliation for a staged chemical attack in the suburb of Damascus last week. Without having the mandate from the United Nations, Washington and two of its European allies have launched strikes against Syrian targets, seeking to retaliate against President Bashar Assad for a suspected chemical attack near Damascus on April 7, which, according to unconfirmed reports, killed dozens of people. "We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," Trump said in a televised speech on Friday evening, accusing Assad of carrying out "crimes of a monster." The US actions on foreign soil were taken by the president without the direct approval of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Following Trump's announcement, a number of them have condemned the move. "This military action against Syria is a strike against a foreign government. Such an act requires a Congressional authorization to use force, and we have not provided one," Rep. John Garamendi (D-California) said on Twitter. "By illegally bombing Syria, President Trump has once again denied the American people any oversight or accountability in this endless war. Congress, not the president, has the power to authorize military action," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) tweeted after Trump ordered the strike. The strike was also called "illegal" by Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), who noted that Trump does not have any legal authority to wage war against nation states. He wondered if Iran and North Korea will also witness the wrath of the US soon. The same sentiment was voiced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), who urged Trump to have a clear exit strategy prior to involving US troops abroad. "I haven't read France's or Britain's 'Constitution,' but I've read ours and no where in it is Presidential authority to strike Syria," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) added. The American military response abroad "must come through congressional approval," Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-California) said on Twitter. ‏"Instead, President Trump has once again struck Syria on his own."

Syria's surface-to-air missiles counter US-led strikes Damascus activated its anti-missile defense to counter missiles that were launched by the US and its allies against Syrian government targets. Syrian air defenses were scrambled to confront the combined American-French-British aggression that targeted at least three military sites in Syria on Friday. Footage of the Syrian response to the Western missiles has been obtained by RT's Ruptly video agency. The footage shows Syrian surface-to-air missiles responding to the attack. Smoke can be seen rising from a scientific research facility in Barzeh, which the coalition claims was targeted for its alleged involvement in the production of chemical and biological weapons. According to reports, citing Syrian government sources, some 30 missiles were launched by the US and its European partners. The Syrian air defenses managed to intercept roughly a third of them. Friday's strikes saw over 100 missiles launched at Syria, US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters. It remains unclear which weapons were used, but the US deployed 59 Tomahawk missiles against Shayrat air base in Syria last year. "We used a little over double the number of weapons this year than we used last year," Mattis said on Friday. "We were very precise and proportionate, but at the same time it was a heavy strike."

Multiple targets in Syria were bombarded by the US, UK, and France in retaliation to what they said was an Assad-orchestrated chemical attack near Damascus. Here are the main facts about the intervention. Washington approved "precision strikes" against Syria early on Saturday, alongside British and French forces that also took part in the bombing. Shortly after US President Donald Trump announced the bombardment, reports began surfacing of explosions in Damascus. Syrian air defense units were scrambled to thwart the aerial invasion, intercepting 71 out of 103 of the missiles, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Now, as Syria deals with the aftermath of the early morning airstrikes, we look at five major things you should know about the American-British-French attack. What did they target? One of the strikes targeted a scientific compound in Barzeh in the vicinity of Damascus, which the coalition claimed was involved in the production of chemical and biological weapons. The Syrian government said the bombing destroyed an education center and scientific laboratories, but resulted in no casualties. The UK Defense Ministry said four Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s launched Storm Shadow missiles at what the UK military claims was a former missile base, 15 miles west of Homs. The ministry claimed that the Syrian government kept a stockpile of chemical weapons precursors at the site. welve cruise missiles targeted Al-Dumayr air base east of Damascus, according to the Russian military. The Syrians used Soviet-made S-120, S-200 and Buk-type anti-aircraft systems, claiming to have intercepted all the missiles. What weapons were used? The US did not specify the types of weapons deployed in the strikes, but it did use Tomahawk cruise missiles in last year's bombing of Syria's Shayrat air base. US Defense Secretary James Mattis said more than twice as many weapons were fired as in April 2017, adding "it was a heavy strike." The Russian Defense Ministry said the US and its two allies deployed combat aircraft and warships to launch over 100 cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles on Syrian civil and military facilities. The strikes, it said, were conducted by two US ships traversing the Red Sea, adding that the coalition also deployed B-1 Lancer strategic bombers and arranged tactical air support in the airspace over the Mediterranean. Social media & 'classified' intel: Pretext for the intervention The timing of the American-British-French attack is noteworthy. It came just hours before the UN's Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) experts were set to visit the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday to establish whether chemical weapons had been used there last week. Announcing the strikes, the White House said it has a large body of "reliable intelligence" as well as "social media users, non-governmental organizations, and other open-source outlets," which implicate the Syrian government in the alleged Douma attack. Washington also referred to the questionable claims that "the Syrian regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons to compensate for its lack of military manpower." Earlier, the US State Department claimed to have proof that the Syrian government was behind the alleged chemical attack in Douma. However, it refused to make the intelligence public, as "a lot of this stuff is classified at this point." Moscow repeatedly dismissed the claims, saying the chemical weapon attack was orchestrated. The Russian military previously warned of a "provocation" involving chemical weapons being planned by militants. How did the Syrians respond? Syrian air defenses did all they could to protect the country. Ruptly footage has emerged showing Syria's surface-to-air missiles responding to the attack. Russian military said later Syrian air defense units downed 71 out of 103 cruise missiles launched by US and its allies.

Damascus says the US-led attack on Syria was a reaction by the West to its military advances and the defeat of Western-backed rebels, urging the international community to condemn the "barbaric" aggression. "The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal American-British-French aggression against it, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, cited by Sana news agency. The attack "will lead only to the escalation of the situation in the world and threatens the global security," the ministry said. Damascus believes it was timed to the arrival of the fact-finding team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the site of last week's alleged chemical attack in Douma to prevent the experts from exposing the West's "lies and fabrications." The strikes were met "with a high morale by the Syrian people" and "will in no away" affect Syrians' resolve in the fight against Islamist terrorists, who Damascus calls "tools" of the Western powers. The Syrian General Staff reported that the majority of the 110 missiles bound for Syria were brought down by its missile defenses, noting that some of the projectiles did manage to reach the ground and cause material damage. At least three people were injured as a result, it said. Earlier, it was reported that up to six civilians might have been wounded in the strike. "The strike of the three counties on Homs hit the ammunition depot not far from the Shin district in the western part of the Homs province... Six civilians sustained shrapnel wounds," a source in the Syrian security services told Sputnik. Syrian state TV reported that a training center and laboratories at a research facility in the Barzeh district outside Damascus were hit in the strike. The facility, named by the Pentagon as one of the three main targets allegedly involved in chemical weapon production, sustained only material damage, with no casualties reported. Also targeted was a Syrian air base to the west of Damascus, a Syrian commander told Reuters. He said that the missiles hit the al-Shirai airbase, but did not specify the extent of the damage. The base is located in the town of Al-Dimas on the border with Lebanon. Commenting on the long-term consequences of the attack, a Syrian lawmaker told Sputnik that it will hardly make a difference as far as the situation on the ground or wider political implications are concerned. "The aggression by the three states will not affect the situation on the ground or on the political arena," People's Council Deputy Maha Shbib told Sputnik. "Unfortunately, the counties that cry the loudest about the international law, violate it themselves." He reiterated that the attack on Syria will only help unite the Syrian people in their support of President Bashar Assad and the military.

The US and its allies struck civil and military facilities in Syria, violating the UN Charter and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, responding to the American-French-British intervention in Syria. Washington launched “an aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” the statement from the president said. Putin stressed that the multi-national strikes were not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, and were carried out “in violation of the UN Charter and principles of international law.” What's more, the current escalation of the Syrian crisis has “a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations.” Yet, history will set things straight as “it has already found Washington responsible for massacres in Yugoslavia. In fact, by using force, Washington is only prompting a new wave of asylum-seekers from Syria and the whole region, according to the Russian leader. Meanwhile, Russia is calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the US and its allies, the statement concluded. Washington and its allies unleashed the bombardment in the early hours of Saturday in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack by the Assad government in the town of Douma, 10 kilometers from Damascus, last week. The strikes were conducted before a team of investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was due to reach Douma to determine whether the attack had indeed taken place. Syrian air defense systems have intercepted the majority of cruise missiles and air-surface missiles from the allies, the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier, adding that none of its own air defense units were involved in repelling the attack. According to the latest data from the Russian MoD, Syria intercepted at least 71 cruise missiles out of the 103 launched by the allies on Saturday. Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei harshly criticized the airstrikes on Syrian soil, branding the leaders of the UK, US, and France “criminals.” He added that the attack will not result in any “benefits,” recalling the US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Swedish ISP has landed an interesting win against a UK-based company acting for international copyright trolls. In 2016, Tele2 was ordered to hand over the personal details of customers behind around 240 IP addresses after they were accused of movie piracy. Tele2 appealed, claiming it doesn't hold the data, and now a court has ruled in the ISP's favor. On October 27, 2016, UK-based Copyright Management Services (CMS) filed a case against Sweden-based ISP, Tele2. CMS, run by Patrick Achache of German-based anti-piracy outfit MaverickEye (which in turn is deeply involved with infamous copyright troll outfit Guardaley), claimed that Tele2 customers had infringed its clients’ copyrights on the movies Cell and IT by sharing them via BitTorrent. Since Tele2 had the personal details of the customers behind those IP addresses, CMS asked the Patent and Market Court to prevent the ISP from deleting the data before it could be handed over. Once in its possession, CMS would carry out the usual process of writing to customers and demanding cash settlements to make supposed lawsuits go away. Tele2 complained that it could not hand over the details of customers using NAT addresses since it simply doesn’t hold that information. The ISP also said it could not hand over details of customers if IP address information had previously been deleted. Taking these objections into consideration, in November 2017 the Court approved an interim order in respect of the remaining IP addresses. But there were significant problems which led the ISP to appeal. According to tests carried out by Tele2, many of the IP addresses in the case did not relate to Sweden or indeed Tele2. In fact, some IP addresses belonged to foreign companies or mere affiliates of the ISP. “Tele2 thus lacks the actual ability to provide information regarding a large part of the IP addresses covered by the submission,” the Court of Appeal noted in a decision published this week. The problem appears to lie with the way the MaverickEye monitoring system attributed monitored IP addresses to Tele2. The Court notes that the company relied on the RIPE Database which stated that the IP addresses in question were allocated to the “geographic area of Sweden”. According to Tele2, however, that wasn’t the case and as such, it had no information to hand over. CMS, on the other hand, maintained that according to RIPE’s records, Tele2 was indeed the controller of the IP addresses in question so must hand over the information as requested. While the Patent and Market Court said that Tele2 didn’t object to the MaverickEye monitoring software in terms of the data it collects on file-sharers, it noted that CMS had failed to initiate an investigation in respect of the IP addresses allegedly not belonging to Tele2. “CMS has not invoked any investigation showing how the identification of the IP addresses in question is made in this case or who at Maverickeye UG was responsible for this,” the Court writes. “Nor did CMS use the opportunity to hear representatives of Tele2 or others with Tele2 in mind to discover if the company has access to any of the current IP addresses and, if so, which.” Considering the above, the Court notes that Tele2’s statement, that it doesn’t have access to the data, must stand. “In these circumstances, CMS, against Tele2’s appeal, has not shown that Tele2 holds the information requested by the disclosure order. CMS’ application for a disclosure order should therefore be rejected,” the Court concludes. The decision cannot be appealed so Copyright Management Services won’t get its hands on the personal details of the people behind the IP addresses, at least through this process. The decision (Swedish, pdf) Source: Torrentfreak.com

welcome to invitehawk

welcome to invitehawk

Remember when the Galactic Emperor sent an entire legion of his best troops—his best—to Endor and they got their asses kicked by a gang of ambulatory teddy bears with sharp sticks? Soon you will be able to relive that astonishing incident in Ewok Hunt, a new limited-time mode coming to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 on April 18 in the Night on Endor update. The new mode begins with an Ewok ambush of Imperial Stormtroopers. The Imperials are obviously better trained and equipped, but the Ewoks are plentiful and, I don't know, too cute to die en masse or something. The Ewoks win if they wipe out the Stormtroopers, while the troopers claim victory if they can hold out until an extraction team arrives to save them from the marauding, three-foot-tall floof-beasts. The catch is that the Imperials, much like the real-world force they're modeled after, cannot survive an extended war of attrition: Players start the mode as either an Ewok or a Stormtrooper, but every Stormtrooper felled respawns as an Ewok. It sounds like Ewok Hunt could be a lot of fun, although I won't be at all surprised if EA has to do some on-the-fly balance tuning after it goes live. Finding the sweet spot in an asymmetric mode like this is always a tricky proposition, and especially so when numbers and balance of power shift over the course of a match. It won't be any fun for anyone if the Emperor's best troops rage-quit every time they start to fall behind. The April update will also see the return of Crystals, the premium currency that EA removed from the game just ahead of release in the face of anger over Battlefront 2's loot boxes. Crystals must be purchased with real money, but EA emphasized that they can only be used to directly acquire "Appearances" for playable characters, which are also accessible via credits earned through gameplay. More than 50 new Appearances are coming in the update, including Wounded Chewbacca, Scarred Kylo Ren, Administrator Lando, and 40 new Trooper Appearances. EA also confirmed that another "season" of Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is on the way. "As we move forward with Star Wars Battlefront 2, there are two types of content update that we will be releasing. The first is in the same style as the Night on Endor Update that we’re releasing on April 18th, and the second is Seasons," the latest Community Transmission says. "Seasons will focus around a specific theme (such as a new Star Wars film, or an anniversary in the Star Wars Universe) and will usually span multiple months. In March we launched the Progression Update, April is Night on Endor and moving forward we’re committed to keeping up this cadence of content updates." Details about the second season will be released when it's closer to launch, currently scheduled for sometime in May.

In January, Shibuya Productions founder and president Cedric Biscay said that Shenmue 3 would be out this year, and promised "many other surprises" as well. Tonight, we got a couple of them: The first two Shenmue games, originally released in 1999 and 2001 for the Sega Dreamcast, are coming to PC. "This is the definitive version of these all-time classics and will be the best Shenmue experience to date," Sega said. "The re-release will stay true to the originals with modernized features including fully scalable screen resolution, choice of modern or classic control schemes, PC graphics options, an updated user interface and the option to enjoy either the original Japanese or English voiceovers." Shenmue follows the adventures of Ryo Hazuki, a young martial artist on a quest to avenge his father's murder. Players must search for clues, talk to NPCs, and deliver some jujitsu beatdowns in a real-time open world with day/night cycles, changing weather, and a population that goes about its own business on its own time. Such was the game's commitment to taking a more realistic approach, (insofar as vengeance driven tales of martial artistry are ever realistic), Ryo even worked a spell on the docks as a forklift truck driver, with pretty much all the mundanity you'd expect that to entail. The sequel made its way to the original Xbox in 2002, but this will mark the first appearance of either game on PC. Shenmue 3 is of course coming to the PC as well, in case there was any doubt: Shibuya dropped some new screens and recommitted to a 2018 release earlier this year. One big question is how the old graphics will be upgraded for the PC release: What the games will scale to, how (or if) the textures have been upgraded, and what PC-specific options will be supported. We're hoping to hear answers soon, and hopeful it won't end up like Chrono Trigger, which launched with an ugly pixel smoothing filter in place that left many fans unhappy and was ultimately patched out. Shenmue 1 and 2 will be available for preorder soon on Steam; physical editions are coming as well, but are currently only planned for consoles.

Buried within a lengthy Kotaku story on the current less-than-ideal state of things at Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13 is an interesting tidbit about another 2K game you may have heard of. The report says that a top-secret studio located "next door" to Hangar 13 is currently in the early stages of work on a brand-new BioShock game. "Next door, a small group of people were working on a project code-named Parkside, quietly recruiting from across the video game industry for a game so secret, they wouldn’t even tell their colleagues at Hangar 13 about it," the report says. "Word got out, though, that it was in fact a new game in one of the most interesting shooter franchises of the past decade: BioShock." The project is apparently still quite small. "They're trying to be really smart about figuring out what the core thing is," one person involved with the project said. "They’re careful about not falling into the same problem every studio has, where they have too many people and nothing for them to do." Kotaku's report on Hangar 13 is interesting and well worth a read in its own right, and kind of sad too: Despite the problems with Mafia 3, it sounds like the studio was ready for bigger, better, and genuinely interesting things, but layoffs and a loss of leadership cost it much of that momentum. But it's the oddly-offhand mention of a new BioShock that's the real eye-opener. Not that it's surprising that 2K would return to one of its most visible and valuable series, of course, and it has been five years since BioShock Infinite came out. I guess I just expected a little more fanfare. It'll be very interesting to see where BioShock goes next. The report doesn't indicate who's leading the game's development, but Ken Levine, the creative director on BioShock and BioShock Infinite, won't be involved: He pulled the plug on Irrational Games in 2014, and is now heading up a new, smaller studio called Ghost Story Games.