News::Researchers use video games to test chameleons' vision

You probably know that a chameleon's eyes move independently of one another. Thanks to video games, however, it's clear that this oddball vision is more powerful than previously thought. Israeli researchers made chameleons play a simple game where they had to track and lash out at multiple digital flies, gauging their ability to focus on two objects at once. In the tests, the lizards easily followed one target in each eye -- they only focused on one fly when they were ready to strike. The eyes even have distinctive movement patterns based on their active roles, so there's no doubt as to what they're doing.

Source: Reuters

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News::SXSW cancels online harassment panel, because of harassment

Online harassment is a real world problem, and you don't need to look any further than a cancelled South by Southwest Interactive panel for more reasons why. Citing "numerous threats of violence" the SXSW planning team has annulled "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games" at next March's event according to an email sent to panelists that was obtained by Jezebel. What's more, the festival has cancelled a pro-GamerGate panel, dubbed "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community," as well. An official statement from the organizers says that since announcing the two panels they've been inundated with threats of on-site violence and in the interest of keeping the marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas (their words) safe, the best way to do that was simply not act as a venue for the discussions. "Maintaining civil and respectful dialogue within the big tent is more important than any particular session," the statement reads.

Via: Jezebel

Source: South by Southwest, Jezebel, Reddit (1), (2)

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News::Xbox One's big backwards compatibility update arrives November 12th

During tonight's Halo 5: Guardians launch festivities, Xbox boss Phil Spencer just announced that the Xbox One will receive its Windows 10-based update on November 12th. That's the one that will put a new UI on the console, as well as give everyone the ability to play certain Xbox 360 games. Some Xbox One owners in the preview program has been beta testing the new OS for a few months, and the experience has occasionally been a bit rough. Hopefully all that testing means the bugs are appropriately squished once this software rolls out wide in a couple of weeks. You can see the announcement in the video embedded after the break, or jump to the live broadcast as the Microsoft folks count down to midnight.

Source: Xbox (YouTube)

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News::What's on your HDTV: 'Halo 5,' 'Ash vs. Evil Dead' and the World Series

This week's releases are topped by the arrival of Halo 5: Guardians, complete with the usual midnight releases and excitement. We've been playing it for a few days and while the game is as well-put-together as ever, the real question is if Microsoft's servers can hold up once gamers start filling them up later tonight. We'll see -- and good luck to all. On Tuesday night the World Series kicks off between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets, while ESPN has a new 30 for 30 about John du Pont. CBS is premiering its new Supergirl series tonight, but we're more excited about Saturday when Bruce Campbell comes back to TV in the role of Ash as Starz premieres Ash vs. Evil Dead. If you need a copy, there's also a new Army of Darkness collector's edition on Blu-ray. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

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News::Nintendo wanted to tone down the violence in 'GoldenEye'

The classic N64 first-person shooter GoldenEye 007 is one of the most beloved games of the '90s and played a big part in ushering such games from the PC to the living room. It's the kind of game that a certain audience will never tire of learning more about, which is why this report from The Guardian is such an enjoyable read. GoldenEye's director Martin Hollis discussed the game at the GameCity festival in Nottingham England and dropped some details on just how developer Rare was able to bring such a violent game to the family-friendly Nintendo console.

Via: Kotaku

Source: The Guardian

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News::AuraVisor takes on Gear VR, no phone required

Most current virtual reality headsets fall broadly into one of two categories: high-end options (Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR etc.) that connect to a console or PC, and glorified phone holders (Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard et al). AuraVisor offers a third way: the freedom of an untethered headset, but you leave your phone in your pocket -- everything is built-in to the visor. It's a fairly logical solution to the fast-growing problem of family-friendly VR. Using your phone in a headset is quick and dirty, but it comes with compromises on compatibility and comfort. Not to mention the ever-present risk of your fun being interrupted by all the other things your phone does (email, calendars and myriad other notifications). AuraVisor put VR into a single, Android-based device that could provide a Gear VR-like solution to everyone, minus the anxieties of using a phone.

Source: AuraVisor (Kickstarter)

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