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A credible leaker shared the news this week that we will soon see the first wave of Activision games on… Continue reading Xbox Game Pass to get an absolute Activision classic, say leakers
The post Xbox Game Pass to get an absolute Activision classic, say leakers appeared first on ReadWrite.

A credible leaker shared the news this week that we will soon see the first wave of Activision games on Game Pass since Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard King last year.

The leaker, eXtas1s, shared the information on the exputer forums, stating that according to his sources and some graphical evidence he tracked down, we can expect to see the first games drop in August, with others soon to follow.

What Activision games are coming to Game Pass?

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

The first Activision games coming to Game Pass will be the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the remastered editions of the classic 1990s PlayStation games.

The original trilogy of Crash Bandicoot games was popular when released and remained a fan favorite over time. The N. Sane Trilogy has been a highly successful remaster and has sold over 20 million copies.

The Crash N. Sane Trilogy is not the only nostalgia-driven remaster from Activision that we’ll see coming to Game Pass, according to the leaks.

While the Crash games have a release window of August, the leaker didn’t have confirmed dates for the next games due to the subscription service.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

It’s a good time to be a cartoon 3D platformer protagonist because the second game mentioned is the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, remasters of the classic purple dragon and his late 1990s games.

As with the Crash Bandicoot games, Spyro was a huge hit when released and the remaster has also been a success, with over 10 million sold.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Tony Hawks 2

And, in a triple-whammy of ‘remasters of games bound to make millennials think about their childhood’, the third game slated for the Game Pass catalog is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. Kick, flip, ride, and grind through these nostalgia-fueled skating games.

While the game doesn’t feature the same soundtrack as the original (a soundtrack that shaped the musical tastes of millions of teens), it does have a new one that stands up on its own merits. It includes several tracks from the originals as well as many new additions that fit the vibe.

While we don’t know when Spyro Reignited or Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater will arrive on Game Pass, the leaks have pinned an August release date for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, so the wait won’t be a dull one.

Plus, Game Pass receives frequent new additions and this month already has seen eight games, including the indie darling puzzle game The Case of the Golden Idol.

Featured image credit: Activision

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The European Union is set to issue a formal warning to Elon Musk’s social media platform X for not adequately… Continue reading Elon Musk’s X set to get more warnings from EU
The post Elon Musk’s X set to get more warnings from EU appeared first on ReadWrite.

The European Union is set to issue a formal warning to Elon Musk’s social media platform X for not adequately addressing harmful content.

The action against X could result in a fine of up to 6% of the platform’s revenue if X does not address the European Commission’s – the bloc’s regulator – findings. Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissioner at the EU, is planning to announce the escalation before the EU’s summer recess, reports Bloomberg.

If X fails to address the Commission’s preliminary findings and make the necessary changes, a formal decision could be reached before the end of the year, which could result in the fines being levied.

This is the next step in the ongoing investigation by the Commission that was opened in December. The investigation is looking into how platforms, including X, Meta, AliExpress, and TikTok, handled content after the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

EU takes action against Elon Musk under DSA

The commission has confirmed that proceedings against X are ongoing, with no specified deadlines for the next steps. X has not yet commented on the situation.

The enforcement is part of the EU’s broader efforts under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which target major online platforms. The DSA, effective since last August, mandates social media platforms, online marketplaces, and app stores to manage misinformation and harmful content, including hate speech and terrorist propaganda

The DMA, which came into effect in March, imposes regulations to prevent abusive practices and market domination by big tech firms. Recently, the EU has also issued formal warnings to Apple, which may delay the introduction of their AI features in the European Union as a result; and Meta over their “pay or consent” model.

Featured image credit: generated with Ideogram

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Flight simulator fans may find themselves in a slightly unique position come November when Microsoft unloads its much more advanced… Continue reading Not upgrading to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024? Don’t worry, the current version will be supported until 2028
The post Not upgrading to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024? Don’t worry, the current version will be supported until 2028 appeared first on ReadWrite.

Flight simulator fans may find themselves in a slightly unique position come November when Microsoft unloads its much more advanced Flight Simulator 2024 onto the world, even though the version that came in 2020 and was promised a 10-year roadmap will still very much be installed on a lot of systems.

There will undoubtedly be those that do not make the jump to the new version for many reasons – cost, compatibility, or PC hardware so what if you are one of those people? Will you be left in the jet wash on the new shiny toy?

It seems as though you needn’t worry as Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator confirmed to FSElite in an interview last week that we can expect to see updates for the current sim right up until 2028 which just about ties in with the decade since release.

Microsoft is confident that the majority of mods, airports, and aircraft will function if brought into MSFS 2024 but there is still going to be a messy overlap with companies going forward perhaps having to develop two versions of an add-on, one that takes advantage of the new sim and one that doesn’t. More likely support for MSFS 2020 could ebb away quite quickly, although the fact that it has had 15 million pilots since it launched could shore that up a little. Nobody is walking away from a guaranteed user base for a brand-new one.

Running two comparable products alongside each other is not something that often happens in the game industry. If we are talking racing games, things such as Project Cars 2 completely disappeared from Steam when Project Cars 3 came out.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how it is handled – there will need to be a touch of sensitivity about it to avoid some people’s noses getting out of joining.

In the meantime, if you are looking to improve your cockpit ahead of playing Flight Simulator 2024 you may want to check out the new Flight Simulator Pro Military Edition from Next Level Racing that recently launched.

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If you missed out on having a PlayStation 4 in your life then you also missed out on playing Bloodborne… Continue reading PlayStation 4 Emulator shadPS4 shaping up to run Bloodborne on the PC
The post PlayStation 4 Emulator shadPS4 shaping up to run Bloodborne on the PC appeared first on ReadWrite.

If you missed out on having a PlayStation 4 in your life then you also missed out on playing Bloodborne on one, of if not the best, games to come out for the system, but that looks as though it may well change in the near future thanks to a new PS4 emulator for the PC that has managed to get the game booting and get to the character select screen.

Everybody loves Bloodborne still, in fact, we covered an Elden Ring mod for it only the other day, but this is different, this is the possibility of getting the actual game running on our gaming rigs, and maybe, just maybe, pretty much perfectly.

Emulators are a big deal as we saw from the launch of the revamped Dolphin earlier this week, but the high hardware demands of the more recent consoles can push even the beefiest of PCs way beyond their limits.

Now GeorgeMoralis on YouTube has shown off the 0.1.1 version of shadPS4 booting Bloodborne, and while you can’t play the game yet, history tells us that once things start moving they gather speed to the point where everything just works.

Shadps4 is already capable of running parts of certain games already and the Github page for the projects proclaims that this latest version with a new shader recompiler says they now have a lot of games that are beginning to work.

Getting an emu to work is painstaking stuff and involves so much going backward and forwards to adjust things to trick the game into thinking it is actually running on a PlayStation 4, when it is in fact, very much not doing.

This is not the first PlayStation to get the emulation treatment, the emulation of PS1 and PS2 is now getting on for perfect, and while the PS3 took some time due to its slightly weird architecture it is now capable of playing pretty much anything to some degree.

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Protestors have organized to provide vocal opposition to Senate Bill SB 549, also known as the Tribal Nations Access to… Continue reading Bill that would allow tribes to sue California cardrooms under fire
The post Bill that would allow tribes to sue California cardrooms under fire appeared first on ReadWrite.

Protestors have organized to provide vocal opposition to Senate Bill SB 549, also known as the Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act. 

More than 100 people, including elected representatives and cardroom employees, were present in Sacramento to campaign against the proposed legislation enabling California tribes to sue cardrooms. With the bill currently in the general assembly, the tribes – which were recently courted by gambling giant FanDuel – allege their rights are being violated given that they have exclusivity for Las Vegas-style gambling in The Golden State.

Chants could be heard from the protestors which included  “We’re not fine with 549”, while others displayed message banners such as “No on SB 549!” and “Bad Bet For California.”

Local politicians, including mayors and civic representatives, made speeches to warn how the bill could damage cardrooms in California and the knock-on effect of hurting jobs in the state.

Marcel Rodarte, executive director of California Contracts Cities Association, told the protest, “SB 549 is a bill that will negatively harm many of our cities with cardrooms in their communities. Cardrooms are an integral part of our cities as they provide jobs.”

Stark warning on job losses

Tasha Cerda, Gardena city mayor added, “Our two cardrooms have been the backbone of our community as they will provide vital tax services that our city uses to fund vital public services which allow us to provide a better quality of life for our residents and communities,” 

“Our cardrooms employ over 1,200 residents and individuals from surrounding communities. That’s over $47 million in wages a year.”

The California Gambling Association issued a stark warning, outlining that around 32,000 jobs could be lost if SB 549 is passed. That could lead to cardrooms having to downsize or close altogether, which explains why there has been such vociferous opposition.

At the center of the legal dispute is the format of certain card games, whether the facilities act as the “house” or the “bank” and the potential violation of the rights held by the tribes.

Image credit: Via Ideogram

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Well that didn’t take long. Exoprimal, Capcom’s multiplayer shooter starring dinosaurs as the bad guys, is wrapping up its live-service… Continue reading Capcom’s dino-shooter Exoprimal wraps up all post-launch content plans
The post Capcom’s dino-shooter Exoprimal wraps up all post-launch content plans appeared first on ReadWrite.

Well that didn’t take long. Exoprimal, Capcom’s multiplayer shooter starring dinosaurs as the bad guys, is wrapping up its live-service plans just one year after release.

In a note posted to the game’s official website, Capcom said Exoprimal would now recycle prior seasons’ content once season 4 ends on July 11.

This means the game is still supported, the servers are still on, and all modes of play are available, but it’s not getting anything new. So, as a multiplayer-only shooter, this basically means Exoprimal is finished. The old season passes of unlockable content (seasons 1 through 3) will go on sale again,.

“All gameplay modes will remain available to play,” Capcom said. “This includes the main Dino Survival mode, as well as endgame content such as Savage Gauntlet and Time Loop Rebellion. If you’re playing alone or match with only a few other players, bots (AI-controlled Exofighters) will still be added so that you can fully enjoy the Hammerheads’ story and reach the ending.

Is Exoprimal still available to play?

Exoprimal, which invited comparisons to the Capcom-published series Dino Crisis from 20 years before, launched July 14, 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

While the game does have a narrative and is playable solo it was designed primarily as a multiplayer, player-versus-environment (with PvP gameplay) shootout that would draw a crowd with a live-service content model. It wasn’t a critical flop, but it wasn’t a big commercial success, either.

Exoprimal has been available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers since its launch. Capcom said Exoprimal reached one million players about two weeks after its release. SteamDB says it hit a peak of about 5,000 concurrent users — that’s only for the PC version — back in November.

Featured image via Steam

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In The First Descendant, there are a lot of materials to keep track of, and ultimately collect, in order to… Continue reading How to get Void Shards in The First Descendant
The post How to get Void Shards in The First Descendant appeared first on ReadWrite.

In The First Descendant, there are a lot of materials to keep track of, and ultimately collect, in order to unlock new characters, enhance your gear, and more.

One specific material most will be needing, especially after making it through the beginning portion of the game, is Void Shards.

Here, we’ll reveal how to get Void Shards in The First Descendant – something that might appear to be easy but the game doesn’t exactly make things clear.

How to destroy Void Fragments to get Void Shards in The First Descendant

To get Void Shards in The First Descendant, you must destroy Void Fragments that are within Void Fragment Missions.

While this might seem like an extremely simple process, you might be here because you’re actually stuck when it comes to breaking down the Void Fragments.

To destroy the Void Fragments and subsequently secure Void Shards, you have to do so using Descendants that have a specific damage type.

This is laid out when hovering over the Void Fragment missions in the map, where you should be able to see a ‘Destructible Only by Skill’ section, along with the damage type you’ll need.

This can be Fire, Electric, Chill, Non Attribute, or Toxic, and you’ll need to play as a Descendant that possesses that type of skill.

For example, characters such as Blair and Lepic have Fire skills, Ajax and Valby have Non Attribute, and Bunny has Electric.

So, to put it simply, if you don’t have a character that has the damage type required to destroy the Void Fragment, you’re going to be stuck when the time comes in the mission.

Once you do get the right element though and wrap up the destruction, you’ll net yourself some Void Shards.

We recommend you definitely get stockpiling these as you’ll need them to even be able to access Void Fusion Reactor Missions, so best to get started now you have the information.

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Meta remains committed to improving the Meta Quest 3, with new updates coming out monthly. This month’s update, Horizon OS… Continue reading Meta Quest 3 v67 update – here’s what’s in there
The post Meta Quest 3 v67 update – here’s what’s in there appeared first on ReadWrite.

Meta remains committed to improving the Meta Quest 3, with new updates coming out monthly. This month’s update, Horizon OS v67, is now available to users of the headset.

The key updates in this update center around productivity and social interaction. Moving and grouping windows has received a boost, with users now able to have three panels in a “hinged” layout, with up to three additional panels arranged however they like.

These customization options will allow users to create a setup that works best for whatever they are doing and will be especially useful for tasks that require multiple windows simultaneously, like an ingredients list and the tutorial video on YouTube for example.

Also new is Theater View mode, which allows users to bring one window to the front and center, expanding its size and dimming everything else – useful for people making use of the expanded window options.

Meta Quest 3 update brings a new creator content feed

Another new feature introduced with Horizon OS v67 is the addition of content to the Horizon Feed made by creators, turning it into more of a social experience.

According to Meta, “Not only will this new content introduce you to new games and apps, but we’re including destination tagging so you can easily jump into anything that catches your eye.”

This will combine nicely with the increased window capacity, allowing users to open up anything that interests them in a new window to explore.

More new features are rumored

Some additional new features have been rumored, but Meta has not yet updated their release notes page to include details about v67, so until the update has rolled out fully or the page gets an update, we won’t know for sure.

One such update is the addition of swipe typing, which allows users to swipe their fingers across a keyboard rather than individually tapping each letter. It’s popular on smartphones and other touchscreen devices. You can check if this feature has made it to you by going to Settings > System > Keyboard and activating it there.

Users will also be able to watch videos from the file viewer or Meta Quest TV while they have a VR app open.

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The rehabilitation trustee of Mt. Gox, the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Friday that it has initiated repayments to some… Continue reading Mt Gox Begins Creditor Repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
The post Mt Gox Begins Creditor Repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash appeared first on ReadWrite.

The rehabilitation trustee of Mt. Gox, the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Friday that it has initiated repayments to some creditors in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). These repayments are being processed through select cryptocurrency exchanges as outlined in the rehabilitation plan.

According to a recent announcement released by the trustee, eligible creditors can expect prompt repayments if they meet certain criteria. Those include verification of registered account validity, agreement to terms set by designated crypto exchanges, and completion of necessary discussions with the trustee. The trustee has asked eligible rehabilitation creditors to remain patient during this process.

This announcement follows a significant movement of funds earlier today, where Mt Gox transferred 47,228.7 BTC (approximately $2.71 billion) to a wallet. Subsequently, these assets were distributed in multiple transactions, including a transfer of 1,545 BTC ($85 million) to a hot wallet on the Bitbank exchange.

The cryptocurrency market reacted strongly to these developments. Bitcoin’s price dropped below $54,000 at one point, and is currently trading at $54,363, representing a 7.6% decline over the past 24 hours. The wider crypto market experienced substantial liquidations, with over $665 million wiped out across centralized exchanges in the last day, according to Coinglass data.

What is Mt. Gox?

Mt. Gox was once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions globally at its peak. Founded in 2010 by Jed McCaleb and later sold to Mark Karpelès, the Tokyo-based exchange played a crucial role in the early days of cryptocurrency trading.

However, Mt. Gox became infamous in February 2014 when it suddenly suspended trading, closed its website, and filed for bankruptcy protection. The company announced that it had lost approximately 850,000 BTC belonging to customers and the company, valued at more than $450 million at the time. This event was one of the most significant setbacks in Bitcoin’s history, shaking investor confidence and highlighting the need for better security measures in the crypto industry.

Since its collapse, Mt. Gox has been undergoing a lengthy bankruptcy process, working to compensate its creditors. The recent news about repayments marks a significant milestone in this ongoing saga, potentially bringing some closure to affected users after nearly a decade.

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The crypto market experienced a significant downturn in the past 24 hours, with over $665 million in liquidations according to… Continue reading Cryptocurrency market tumbles: $665M liquidated as Bitcoin falls
The post Cryptocurrency market tumbles: $665M liquidated as Bitcoin falls appeared first on ReadWrite.

The crypto market experienced a significant downturn in the past 24 hours, with over $665 million in liquidations according to CoinGlass data.

CoinMarketCap data shows that world’s top cryptocurrency by market cap Bitcoin (BTC) saw a 7.4% drop, trading at $54,422 at the time of reporting. This price decline coincides with the defunct Mt Gox exchange’s movement of approximately $2.7 billion worth of Bitcoin, as it prepares for creditor payouts scheduled to begin this month.

Data from Coinglass also reveals that 230,541 traders were affected by liquidations across centralized exchanges. Bitcoin led these liquidations with $222.1 million, of which $181.8 million were long positions.

Ethereum also faced significant pressure, with $163.4 million liquidated, including $143.3 million in long positions. Ether’s price fell 10.57% to $2,890 in the last 24 hours.

Mt. Gox’s ghost still haunts crypto

Data provided by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows that Mt. Gox moved 47,228.7 BTC ($2.71 billion) to a wallet address, which subsequently redistributed the funds. Another Mt Gox-related address transferred 1,545 BTC ($85 million) to a Bitbank hot wallet.

The news follows Mt. Gox moving 12,240 BTC, worth approximately $840 million at the time, into a new wallet address in late May. Mt. Gox was once the world’s leading Bitcoin exchange, handling the majority of global Bitcoin transactions in its heyday.

Founded in 2010 and based in Tokyo, it played a pivotal role in the early cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, Mt. Gox’s downfall came in 2014 due to a combination of security flaws, technical issues, and a massive hack.

The exchange announced that approximately 850,000 BTC belonging to customers and the company had vanished, presumably stolen. Unable to recover from this catastrophic loss, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the United States.

Peter Chung from Presto Research suggested that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) might face stronger selling pressure than Bitcoin due to its smaller investor base. Despite the market volatility, Ben Caselin, CMO of VALR, maintains that Bitcoin’s core thesis remains unchanged. He told The Block in a recent interview:

Volatility and periods of selling do not change Bitcoin’s core thesis. […] With any luck, we can expect prices in the lower 50,000s or even slightly lower for weeks… But nothing fundamental has changed about the market structure and current price movements are really only a concern to short-term speculators.

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