With the Steam Deck's release coming up at the end of February, testers have their hands on the device and are revealing more about how it'll play. One tidbit coming out from a number of YouTubers testing the Steam Deck is that the handheld device's battery life will be heavily reliant on what settings are used to play, as reported by PC Gamer.

Officially, Valve has said that the Steam Deck will provide 2-8 hours of batttery, depending on the game and settings being used. Tests from YouTubers Gamers Nexus and The Phawx have shown this range to be generally accurate, though both managed to run the battery down in less than two hours, and neither managed to reach the 8-hour upper limit.

In a battery strain test, Gamers Nexus managed to run the battery down in 87 minutes by running Devil May Cry 5 with an uncapped framerate and Vsync disabled. With a 60fps framerate cap and Vsync enabled, DMC5 lasted around 2 hours instead, scraping the lower end of the Steam Deck's official battery life.

Similar tests run by The Phawx showed that the Steam Deck gets considerably better batttery life when playing less demanding games like indie or older titles, with Dead Cells running for around six hours with Vsync enabled. The Phawx failed to reach the advertised eight-hour upper run time with any game, despite testing various options.

On the plus side, it looks like the Steam Deck will charge fairly quickly, with Gamers Nexus's test showing the device charging to 80% in around 100 minutes while turned on and running idle. Like other devices using lithium-ion batteries, the Steam Deck slows its charging rate at 80% to preserve the battery, and takes about three hours to reach a full 100% charge.

While the tests showing the Steam Deck running out its battery in under 90 minutes are an extreme case with settings players don't have much reason to use on the handheld device, it's a reminder that the Steam Deck is fundamentally different to handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch. With the Steam Deck functioning more like a mini-PC that players can theoretically load any of their PC games onto, players will have to be more mindful of how their game settings will impact battery life.

After releasing in Korea at the end of 2019, MMORPG Lost Ark will be available in western markets from February 11, with Amazon on board as a publisher. The game is free-to-play, relying on microtransactions for revenue. Here's everything you need to know about getting into Lost Ark.

Players will be able to download Lost Ark for free from Steam or the game's website from February 11, though the game is already available for those who have unlocked early access by purchasing one of the game's Founder's Packs. You can find more details on getting into Lost Ark early here.

For players who don't pick up a Founder's Pack, the game will be fully free-to-play from February 11. While Korean MMOs are particularly notorious for predatory microtransactions, the western release of Lost Ark has modified the way its microtransations work in order to cater for those cultural differences.

Those changes include making sure that microtransactions are optional--in other words, giving players ways to earn the same content through regular gameplay if they choose, even if the process is fairly grindy. Players will also be able to trade any purchased items through the in-game economy.

The biggest microtransaction Lost Ark players should be aware of is the Crystalline Aura, a kind of monthly subscription that confers a number of useful buffs onto players including free fast travel, extra Bifrost slots, and reduced cooldowns and crafting time for the Stronghold. All

Lost Ark will also offer more conventional microtransactions, unlocking skins, pets, and other cosmetic items for players with cash to burn. However, as it's being published by Amazon, players with active Prime subscriptions can keep an eye out for freebies through Prime Gaming. The first of Amazon's free bundles is live now, offering a free Crystalline Aura, an Amethyst Shard pack and a Battle Chest bundle.

To celebrate its launch, Lost Ark has also made use of Amazon's ownership of Twitch, using the streaming platform to give away even more free loot to prospective players.

If you're ready to jump into Lost Ark now, or when the game launches for free on February 11, check out our Lost Ark guide for beginners.

Industry insiders explain the key problems they have identified along with potential design solutions that would eliminate the privacy/security-related risks faced by learners when using Lockdown...

(PRWeb February 09, 2022)

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2022/2/prweb18474840.htm

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday train rumbled into Windows networks with fixes for 51 documented security vulnerabilities, some serious enough to cause full computer takeover attacks.

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It's been a long time coming, and we're not there yet, but at least Microsoft Office will be a bit safer against macro malware...

The launch of GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition in 2021 did not get off to a great start, with many bugs and other issues impacting the game. Many of the problems have been patched, and the game overall has done great business for Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive.

The company said in its latest earnings release that the title "significantly" exceeded the company's commercial expectations. Take-Two did not disclose what its expectations were, nor did it divulge an official sales number. But VGC crunched some numbers and believes the game might have sold around 10 million copies.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick frankly acknowledged that the game had "some quality issues."

"I think we were all a bit disappointed about the quality initially. We're very grateful that most of those issues have been addressed. There's more work to be done," Zelnick said to GI.biz.

During an earnings call, Zelnick said Take-Two as a company has had "precious few quality lapses," with The Trilogy being one of them. However, Zelnick said he believes this was an "isolated case, and we aim to keep it that way."

A physical version of The Trilogy is coming to Nintendo Switch on February 11, while an edition for iOS and Android is scheduled to arrive in the first half of 2022, so the game stands to grow even bigger still.

A previous report said Rockstar might release a remaster of Red Dead Redemption if The Trilogy performed well. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, however.

In other news, GTA V has now sold 160 million copies, while a new edition of the game is headed to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in March. Additionally, GTA 6 is in development.

Rockstar Games has confirmed that development on GTA 6--or whatever the next entry in the series is called--is "well underway," prompting a lot of discussion and excitement in the gaming world. Strauss Zelnick, the head of Rockstar's parent company Take-Two, has now shed a little more light on the project, or at least the environment surrounding it.

Speaking to GI.biz, Zelnick was asked if there was any concern that a new GTA could negatively impact GTA V, which continues to sell incredibly well so long into its lifecycle. Not only that, but Rockstar is re-releasing the game, again, for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in March. But Zelnick said a new GTA is warranted because it's what fans are asking for.

"You always have to be willing to be fresh," Zelnick said. "You always have to be willing to bring consumers what they want. The minute you try to protect the past, you become irrelevant."

Zelnick also said he expects GTA V will continue to perform well in the market even when the next new GTA game comes out.

"I'm thrilled Rockstar's working on the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto. I have no doubt it will be just great, and there's every evidence to believe from the past that the Grand Theft Auto catalog will also continue to perform," he said.

Out for nowhere, Rockstar announced GTA 6 last Friday. While Rockstar isn't ready just yet to divulge specifics on the next GTA, the company said its general philosophy with new games is to "significantly move beyond" what it achieved before.

"With the unprecedented longevity of GTA V, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," Rockstar said. "We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready..."

As for when the next GTA might be released, we don't know, and Rockstar, as well as parent company Take-Two, have given no firm indication. However, some analysts believe it could release as soon as 2023.

For more on the next GTA, check out GameSpot's rundown of all the major GTA 6 rumors.

Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has announced new sales numbers for Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II, and both games continue to soar.

As part of Take-Two's latest earnings briefing, the company announced that GTA V has now sold a breathtaking 160 million copies since it originally launched in 2013. The entire franchise, meanwhile, has surpassed 370 million units sold.

Take-Two boasted that GTA V reached $1 billion in retail sales faster than any entertainment release--across gaming or any other industry--in history. It's also the best-selling game of the past decade in the US for both unit and dollar sales.

GTA V will keep growing, as Rockstar is releasing the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 15. Recently, Rockstar began to discuss what fans can expect from the new version, including 4K/60fps support.

The base game is just one factor in GTA V's success. The game's popular and lucrative GTA Online multiplayer mode is still thriving, and Take-Two said Rockstar's commitment to regularly updating the game to keep things fresh has been one of the reasons for its ongoing success.

A standalone version of GTA Online will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 15 as well, and PlayStation players can download it free for the first three months.

Also during the call, Take-Two announced that Rockstar's other big game, Red Dead Redemption II, has now sold about 43 million copies. The entire series has moved 65 million units, which means the original Red Dead Redemption sold around 22 million copies.

In other news, Rockstar just recently confirmed that GTA 6 is in development and is "well underway."

Safety Detectives: Please share your company background, how you got started, and your mission East-Tec: At East-Tec, our primary goal is to provide cybersecurity solutions that enable both individuals and companies to feel secure in the digital world. We started this mission at the end of 1997 and we have been creating innovative and award-winning […]

Before you complete FDA forms for your 510k submission, you need to made sure you have the most updated FDA forms. How do you know if the FDA form you are using is current? The FDA assigns numbers to each FDA form and the document control number is found in the bottom left footer of […]

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In honor of Safer Internet Day, the software development experts also have tips for what people can do to protect themselves when online

(PRWeb February 08, 2022)

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2022/02/prweb18481104.htm

If you try to use Facebook’s ad platform to promote your dispensary or cannabis related product, the odds that your accounts will be suspended or banned is quite high. This is because most of these social media platforms have strict rules against marketing anything drug related – except maybe for alcohol which generally gets a free pass. But even in places like Facebook, to use the advertisement platform to promote these substances will surely get you banned.