News::'Grand Theft Auto 5' outsold almost every game in January

Rockstar Games is reaping the rewards of keeping GTA Online fresh with things like heist missions and holiday-themed events for these past few years. Grand Theft Auto 5 was the number two selling game last month amid slowing console hardware sales, a bizarre fact considering it debuted almost two-and-a-half years ago. September 2013, to be exact. Of course, that evergreen gateway to GTA Online's multiplayer has also benefitted from a staggered release starting on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, later coming to PC and then PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Regardless, how crazy this is wasn't lost on the NPD Group's David Riley:

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News::'Destiny' sequel set for next year

Destiny's Valentine's Day event is well under way, but developer Bungie is taking an extra step toward proving its devotion to fans. The long-rumored (and apparently delayed) sequel to the sci-fi online shooter is slated for release next year, corroborating earlier reports from Kotaku.

Source: Bungie

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News::VR is better when virtual objects feel real

For all the amazing experiences virtual reality enables (the illusion of flight, the exhaustion of exercise and even the emotional fatigue of trauma), it still has one major flaw: Virtual objects are intangible and have no physicality. If you want to walk through a wall, the game can't stop you. If you try to lean on a table, you'll probably fall down. It's a limitation of first-generation VR technology I'd grown to accept -- at least until I played Survios' Raw Data, a game that tricked me into pretending its completely virtual objects were real.

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News::WSJ: Google is working on a standalone VR headset, too

Clues have been circulating about Google's plans for a new VR headset in recent weeks. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Mountain View is working on a second virtual reality device. Unlike the headset we've seen tipped already, the second gadget is said to be a standalone unit that doesn't require a phone or PC in order to work. If this is true, it will be the first device to function without being connected to a computer or mobile device. A few days ago, a report surfaced stating that Google had a new headset in the works that would be a much more advanced version of Cardboard, but would still used a handset to drive the visuals.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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News::There won't be an 'Assassin's Creed' game this year

Time-traveling parkour people, take it easy this year. Ubisoft will not release a new Assassin's Creed game in 2016, breaking the franchise's annual launch schedule for the first time since 2009. Ubisoft says it's listened to fan feedback since the release of Assassin's Creed Unity, a game that was plagued by technical glitches when it launched in 2014. Sales of last year's installment, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, were slower than expected, Ubisoft noted in its quarterly financial report released today.

Source: Ubisoft blog

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News::Twitch streamers raised $17.4 million for charities in 2015

Twitch is huge. There's no getting around this fact: Video giant YouTube basically copied Twitch's gameplan last year, the site launched Twitch Creative and Twitch Plays sub-sections, it dominated the streaming eSports market, and debuted a successful convention that attracted more than 20,000 people. Twitch has grown so rapidly since its launch in 2011 that it's already jumped the shark at least once.

Just in case anyone was still confused about the bright purple future of live streaming, today the company shared some internal statistics from 2015, including the fact that it helped streamers raise $17.4 million for more than 55 charities last year.

Source: Twitch

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News::I broke my DS and it broke my heart

I never really loved my first Nintendo DS. It was gray, plastic and chunky thanks to its weird angular shape. It didn't have a lot of interesting games at launch. That first DS (aka the "DS phat") was a corporate gift from my bosses at The Pokémon Company, and that initial transaction always tainted my interactions with the thing, because it wasn't something I'd have bought for myself. It never really felt like it was "mine."

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News::Immersit's crazy 4D motion sofa kit hits Kickstarter

Immersit thinks that your gaming, virtual reality or home cinema experience could be a little more dynamic. To fix that, it just launched its Immersit 4D motion sim for your sofa on Kickstarter. The device consists of four hydraulic pads that lift the corners of your couch or chair via a central controlling "brain." By moving the pads, it can make your couch tilt, rotate, or vibrate with up to a thousand different motions. All of that is powered by another box that connects to a PC, game console or AV device.

Source: Kickstarter

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News::Xbox One thriller 'Quantum Break' is coming to PC too

Quantum Break's time-altering escapades are no longer tied to Microsoft's Xbox One console. When the game launches on April 5th it'll also be available on PC, giving players with beefy rigs the chance to push its visual prowess to the limit. That's not all developer Remedy Entertainment is announcing today though. Anyone that buys the game on Xbox One will also get a copy of the studio's previous title, Alan Wake, as well as its two DLC packs through backwards compatibility. If you pre-order Quantum Break you'll gain access to Alan Wake's American Nightmare too, a downloadable sort-of-but-not-quite sequel that came out in 2012.

Source: Xbox Wire

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News::You can run over 1,000 Windows 3.1 programs in your browser

The Internet Archive has spent many years gathering and storing digital content from the past. It now hosts millions of web pages, texts, videos and audio snippets, but recently the site expanded its collection to include software, or more specifically, games. After making more than 2,400 DOS titles available to play in the browser, the Internet Archive has embraced the GUI and done the same for Windows 3.1.

Via: Internet Archive Blog

Source: Windows 3.1 Software Library

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