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2023-06-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

Amazon Mechanical Turk Struggles Amidst AWS Billing Limit and Turmoil in the Gig Economy

Amazon Mechanical Turk, once a prominent player in the world of crowdsourced microtasks, is facing significant challenges that have led to massive losses and a bleak outlook for its future. The implementation of an AWS billing limit has hampered requestors' ability to post tasks, resulting in an excess of workers and a scarcity of available work. Furthermore, prolonged delays in removing the billing limit, coupled with other compounding issues such as the rise of AI and fraudulent activities, have pushed both requestors and turkers to seek alternative platforms, casting a shadow on the future of Amazon Mechanical Turk.

The AWS Billing Limit and Its Impact:

In October 2022, Amazon introduced a billing limit for all requestors on Mechanical Turk, severely restricting their ability to post tasks. This abrupt change has had detrimental consequences for the platform. Requestors, who were once able to leverage the large workforce available on Amazon Mechanical Turk, now face obstacles in accessing the talent pool they relied upon. The result has been a decline in task availability, reduced revenue, and massive losses for the platform.

Protracted Delays and Loss of Trust:

One of the key issues exacerbating the situation is the lengthy and cumbersome process to have the billing limit removed. Requestors have reported waiting for several months to have the limit lifted, causing frustration and leading to a loss of trust in the platform. The prolonged delay has driven many long-time requestors to abandon Amazon Mechanical Turk in favor of alternative crowdsourcing websites like Prolific or Cloud Connect, where they can access a more efficient and responsive environment.

The Exodus of Turkers:

With a surplus of workers and a dearth of available tasks, turkers on Amazon Mechanical Turk find themselves in a state of desperation. Many individuals rely on the platform as a source of income and are now grappling with a severe shortage of work opportunities. The situation is pushing turkers to seek employment elsewhere, further depleting the talent pool and exacerbating the platform's challenges.

Compounding Issues:

Beyond the AWS billing limit, Amazon Mechanical Turk faces a series of compounding issues that further threaten its future. The rise of artificial intelligence and automation has resulted in the replacement of turkers by AI-powered systems, rendering certain tasks obsolete and reducing the demand for human labor. Additionally, instances of hacked or stolen American accounts being used by foreigners to perform low-quality work have tarnished the platform's reputation. These fraudulent activities have frightened away requestors, who fear a decline in the quality of work and the security of their projects.

The Bleak Outlook:

Given the compounding issues and the exodus of both requestors and turkers, the future of Amazon Mechanical Turk appears uncertain at best. The platform's inability to address the billing limit swiftly, combined with the emergence of alternative crowdsourcing platforms and concerns over security and quality, has dealt a significant blow to its credibility and viability. It will be an uphill battle for Amazon Mechanical Turk to regain trust, attract new users, and adapt to the evolving gig economy landscape.

Conclusion:

Amazon Mechanical Turk finds itself in dire straits as the recent AWS billing limit, prolonged delays, and a host of compounding issues have inflicted massive losses and eroded trust among its user base. The scarcity of tasks and the resulting desperation among turkers, coupled with the exodus of requestors to other platforms, paints a bleak picture for the platform's future. Addressing the billing limit, improving security measures, and innovating to stay relevant in the face of AI advancements will be crucial for Amazon Mechanical Turk to regain its former stature and navigate the evolving landscape of the gig economy.

2019-05-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

Its no surprise that the Epic games store is universally hated by the majority of PC gamers, The reasons ranging from its ties with Tencent and the sheer lack of basic features that other popular game launchers have.

Recently it has been discovered that Epic has attempted to buy out large popular indie dev's in hopes of making the games exclusive to their own platform.

Some of the devs so far that they have attempted to buy out were the devs behind the popular PC game Factorio and Rise of Industry.

As pointed out by a Reddit user /u/fuckepic we now know that Epic is not only looking for big AAA titles to bring to its platform but also popular indie titles.

The devs mentioned thus far have openly declined Epics offers of a buyout. As seen in a tweet below one of the developers behind the game Rise of Industry have openly states that "their deal didn't appeal to me" and that "I want for as many people to have access to the game as possible.

This begs the question, How far will Epic go in bagging more exclusive games onto its doomed platform?

Some gamers have openly stated that they will not buy any games on the Epic store and some have outright boycotted them entirely. Some users have even said they would rather pirate the game then give Epic one cent, But maybe they have a point? The Epic game store has been notoriously called out many times in the past for its poor security and constant fraudulent charges showing up on random users credit cards. Some users have even said that the 2 factor authentication didn't stop someone from buying something on their account.

The most common scam seems to be fraudulent charges in purchasing Vbucks on a unsuspecting users account and quickly giving those to the hackers main account. And leaving the user with the bill.

At this point there is no turning back for the Epic game store, the cat is out of the bag and gamers everywhere are highly aware of the Epic game stores issues. The Epic game store will have almost no chances of redemption if it cant fix its bare basic features such as a review, refunds, ability to play offline ect.

If the Epic game store just continues to get exclusive games without fixing its most basic features then it is doomed to fail. PC users are already being driven to piracy and other means of obtaining the game. I do not condone piracy, But maybe this will be the wake up call Epic needs to finally realize they cant win over gamers by simply buying out every developer they can.

This brings me to my next point, Does it really matter if devs bring their game to the Epic store just because of the extra revenue split? Will it mean more success for a developer? These are questions that devs have probably wanted to know as well.

There is already such a large negative stigmatism against the Epic game store that its already obvious it will have far less users than other platforms like Steam. So in the long run in theory would mean the devs would just make the same amount they would have on Steam.

For example if steam has 90K people that are guaranteed to buy a new popular indie game at a set price of $40 then that would equal to a total sale of $3.6 million. So if that same game is on the Epic game store it might have only 40K people who will buy it at $40. But since Epic gives devs a larger revenue split it would mean that the dev would make about the exact same amount it would have on Steam due to its lower number of sales on the Epic store vs Steam.

So in the end is it worth angering your entire player base and fans for only a smaller portion of revenue? That's a question for you to decide.

There is already so much universal hate for Epic that when a dev decides to use the Epic game store they get review bombed for any previous game they released on Steam and they might have their reputation potentially ruined.

We get it developers want to make money and that's great, But when you decide to move to a highly inferior platform, you run the large risk of angering your most loyal and closest fanbase, This puts any future title you make and release in a rocky area. You run the potential of bankrupting your studio because you may or may not make enough money from game sales to keep your company afloat. The overwhelming negative feedback for the Epic game store should already be a large red flag not to move to Epics storefront.

It all comes down to 2 choices. Either you go to the Epic store and run the large risk of ruining your reputation and scaring your fanbase or release on a platform like steam and have positive feedback and its more users to be interested in your game.

Easiest Ways to Make Money Online in 2019!

2019-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to make a little extra cash online? Do you have big bills piling up that need payed off? well look no further! today we will be listing the top 5 best sites to make extra cash from home!

#5: Survey Junkie

www.surveyjunkie.com

On Survey Junkie you get paid to do surveys for different companies, The site is free to join and you get paid via paypal. Survey Junkie has a very user friendly interface and is highly rated on trust pilot as well.

So How Much Can You Make?

Survey Junkie definitely won’t make you a fortune. They even list on the website that “You Will Not Get Rich,”

The payout for each survey is always different. the longer the survey is, the more you get paid for completing it. The average survey on Survey Junkie is going to pay $1 to $3. It’s not a ton, but it’s on par with what you’ll find at other survey sites.

The amount that you make with Survey Junkie is going to depend on a lot of different factors. The biggest one is how many surveys that you get invited to.

Every user is different, and all of them are going to qualify for different surveys. One of the most common complaints about Survey Junkie is that they don’t offer enough surveys. This is a complaint that is very common with survey sites, just about every one of them is going to have the same problem.

You can get up to 5 surveys a week, From our experiences you can pocket about $12-$20 a month. That may not sound like a lot, but you’ll only spend a couple of minutes filling out these surveys. It’s really is easy money.

#4: Prolific

www.prolific.ac

Prolific is unlike other survey sites and assigns you work depending on your demographics. It can be the best choice for stay at home moms.

So How Much Can You Make?

The average survey on Prolific has a pay rate of about $20 per hour, So it can work out to a good amount depending on how much work you do.

Still though, the rates themselves aren’t that bad really, and they’re cash rates, rather than the mysterious “points” offered by other sites like swagbucks.

You will need to provide your PayPal account details so you can be paid for the surveys you complete, or you can use Circle Pay. You can also opt to donate your survey income to charity if you want.

You can only payout once your earnings reach a minimum of $5, However though you are charged a fee for the payout. Prolific suggest you wait until you’ve earned $20 and use Circle Pay in order to avoid such fees.

#3: UserTesting
www.usertesting.com

This site allows you to review new websites and apps. So a smartphone is going to be required. This can be great for people on the go who have extra time to kill.

So How Much Can You Make?

The pay on UserTesting is usually almost always $10 per task. Each task lasting about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes the pay is even more, You can average a few tests a week.

UserTesting is great for practicing your feedback skills, which will eventually open up a lot of other doors. The service pays you via PayPal and doesn't have a minimum payout rate. So you can withdraw money at any time since it goes straight to your PayPal account once the task is complete.

#2: Redbubble
www.redbubble.com

RedBubble lets you get paid for creative art designs to be printed on T-Shirts and other products.

On RedBubble you design and publish different t-shirt designs, clocks, mugs, phone cases, and about 20 other mixed products, With each sale you make netting you a few bucks.

RedBubble is based in Australia, and pays outs only once a month on the 15th. This site has huge potential if you are very creative as an artist and can make new great designs.

However it does take a good amount of upfront work before you see any dividends. You do all of the uploading and just wait for customers to find your designs with keywords or searches. Great if you are artistic or know how to use any creative software.

So How Much Can You Make?

The amount you make on RedBubble really depends on how many designs you make and also how popular your designs get. Its very important to use proper keywords and make designs only for the most popular categories. This site isnt for everyone, but if your skilled with art and graphic design then it can land you some serious money.

The amount you get from your creations can vary from $3 to $100+. So it can be hard to determine how much you can make on here.

#1: QuickThoughts
https://goo.gl/kYCDhu

Last but certainly not least is our favorite way to make money online by far. Quickthoughts is another smartphone app designed to be user friendly and can be used wherever you are. So you are constrained to staying at home all day for this one.

So How Much Can You Make?

On quickthoughts you can expect about $1 per survey but some of them can earn you $2 per survey, These however are entirely based on your demographics. Some people have had issues with bans and getting locked out of accounts, so its definitely not for everyone. Because of this, it is important to cash out the minute you hit the cashout minimum of $10.

There are both android and iOS apps but I highly recommend using android if possible because the iOS app only pays in iTunes gift cards and the android app pays in Amazon gift cards. Overall, Quickthoughts is great if you are not able to be constrained to a laptop or PC all day long. And the best part is that you can work on it whenever you want.

Dragon Ball Z Series to Return to TV This July

2015-04-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

Dragon Ball Getting First New TV Anime Series In 18 Years

Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise is returning to television in a new anime dubbed Dragon Ball Super, the anime has returned after it last aired 18 years ago. The new series is set to premiere in Japan on Fuji TV in July, airing Sundays at 9 a.m.

Dragon Ball Super will be set several years after the defeat of Majin Buu, during a period of peace that followed. Masako Nozawa, voice of Goku, Gohan, and Goten, says, “We've always used the word 'chō' (Super) with Dragon Ball in commercials, games and the like, but the fact that the series titled Dragon Ball Super is beginning is the best thing ever.”

Fuji TV producer Osamu Nozaki revealed that the series is being plotted by Toriyama himself, and teased that the series may feature the most powerful villains yet, saying, “As I read the plot [of the series] I've already received from Akira Toriyama, my dreams for this begin to expand. An enemy even stronger than Buu or Freeza may appear...”

No word yet on whether or not the series will be simulcast to western audiences, or eventually air on western television, but given how popular the series remains in North America and elsewhere around the globe, it seems like a solid bet.

(Source: Comic Natalie)

Angry Joe Shows 46 Minutes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Preview Build

2015-04-27T09:32:00.002-07:00

As if we weren't already excited enough for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Youtuber Angry Joe has uploaded 46 minutes of gameplay of the preview build for the game. From what we can tell it is ps4 gameplay. you can watch the full video below

The witcher 3: Wild Hunt releases May 19th.

Project Cars Will Allow Console Players to Control Graphics Options

2015-04-27T08:51:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about PC gaming is the ability to control the graphics options, allowing you to make trade offs between graphical settings and frame rate. While many developers have strayed away from offering these options to console gamers, the team behind Project Cars feel that console gamers should have more options.

Digital Foundry was the first to discover that the console version of Project Cars would have graphical options, it isn’t quite as advanced as a PC settings menu would be but it does have options for post-processing filters, lens flare, rain drops, bloom, vignette and exposure compensation.

A camera settings menu also allows you to change the field of view, which can be very important to some gamers. There is no word on whether or not these graphics toggles will affect the frame rate or performance in any way but this is a good start for console owners looking for greater control over their visual experience.

Project Cars Creative Director, Andy Tudor, also explained why the studio decided to include these options. Speaking with Gamespot he said: “Console owners should have just as much right to tailor their game to their particular preferences as PC players. Whether that’s authenticity, visual options, how the camera reacts, accessibility etc”.

Project Cars is due to launch on the PC on the 7th of May. Those looking to play the game on the Xbox One or PS4 will be able to get the game on the 12th of May in the US. The game launches on the 8th of May for all platforms in the UK.

Black Ops 3 Minimum PC Requirement's Revealed

2015-04-26T10:11:00.004-07:00

The official minimum PC requirements for Treyarchs upcoming Black Ops 3 has been revealed, For now the recommended specs have not been released. check out the minimum requirements below.

Minimum PC Specs

- OS: 64-bit Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 (windows 10 support isnt official)
- CPU: Intel Core i3-530 2.93 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 810 2.60 GHz
- System RAM: 6GB
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1GB / ATi Radeon HD 6970 1GB
- Hard Drive Space: TBA
- DirectX 11

Treyarch says that its goal is to supply a good experience for players with a high spec PC and an equally great experience for those with a lower end PC. Black Ops 3 Officially releases on November 6th of this year.

Mad Max Get Its First PS4 Trailer

2015-04-26T09:28:00.005-07:00

In just a few weeks, the much anticipated sequel to 'Mad Max'; 'Fury Road' will hit screens worldwide, with a flurry of pre-release trailers commanding much attention. Strangely, the long in production video game from Avalanche Studios has been much quieter. But now Warner Bros. Games has released the first trailer of in-game footage, and it looks highly encouraging - especially for a license tie-in.

Announced at E3 2013, the 'Mad Max' game was originally announced for Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One before being delayed when the theatrical release of 'Fury Road' was announced last year, but now, the previous generation console versions have been abandoned.

CD Project Red Teases New PC Screenshots

2015-04-26T08:59:00.001-07:00

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is less than one month away, so why not have some more epic screenshots to excite you even more. below we can see some amazing PC screenshots.

Level Designer on the game Miles Tost has posted some impressive new screenshots to Twitter, adding that the life bar fades out from the UI when it's not needed. In fact, most of the UI itself can be permanently disabled, which is a nice touch. Community & Website Coordinator, Marcin Momot, has also said that the screenshots we have here were taken on the PC, with a combination of high and ultra settings.

We know that there are over 100 hours of game time for The Witcher 3, with speedruns by internal testers taking over 25 hours to complete. Death can also be permanent in the game, if you want to play on the Dark side of things. The full game has a launch date of May 19, 2015 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Batman: Arkham Knight PC Requirements Released

2015-04-23T12:43:00.003-07:00

If you were wondering if your PC is good enough to handle Warner Brothers new video game Batman: Arkham Knight then you will be pleased to know that the system requirements have been released. But we must warn you, you will need a beefy PC to play this game. Check out the system requirements below

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz | AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Graphics Memory: 2 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 45 GB

Recommended System Requirements

OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz | AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
Graphics Memory: 3 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 55 GB

ULTRA System Requirements

OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz | AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
Graphics Memory: 4 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 55 GB

New Trailer for Tomorrowland is Epic!

2015-04-22T09:02:00.002-07:00

As if the hype wasn't already big enough for Disney's new upcoming futuristic film Tomorrowland, A new trailer ha been released today that is the best yet and only increases the hype and the excitement levels in me. check out the new trailer below.

Tomorrowland will hit cinemas in Australia on May 21st and May 22nd in the United States

The Witcher 3 & Batman: Arkham Knight to Receive DX12 Patch

2015-04-22T08:47:00.002-07:00

With Microsoft reportedly releasing Windows 10 in July, according to an AMD leak, what will be some of the first games to be upgraded with DX12 support?

MSI has revealed that The Witcher 3 and Batman: Arkham Knight will be some of the first games to receive DX12 support, something CD Projekt Red and Rocksteady Studios will provide through patches made available after they release their respective games. The news was revealed by MSI, and has been found on various forums like NeoGAF. Right now it's rumor territory, but with Batman: Arkham Knight and The Witcher 3 being two of the hottest games this year, it wouldn't be surprising.

The motherboard and VGA company said: "The most exciting part of Windows 10 for gamers is the introduction of DirectX 12. You are likely to start seeing the benefits of the new graphics technology already in The Witcher 3, Batman: Arkham Knight and more games released later this year. Some CPU-bound games like MMO's are able get a performance bump of up to 50% according to Microsoft".

New Study Shows 80% of PC Gamers Own an Nvidia GPU

2015-04-22T07:56:00.002-07:00

NVIDIA is dominating the PC graphics market, with 80% of PC gamers owning a GeForce based video card

NVIDIA has been enjoying some great times since it launched its Maxwell architecture last year, but the domination of Team Green has been going on for a while, especially when you look at a graph below.

The graph shows all of the GPU launches from Q3 2003, right up to Q4 2014. This includes the good old days of ATI with its Radeon X850 Pro/XT cards back in the first quarter of 2005, where AMD had 50.5% of the GPU market. Things really started diving down with the change to the HD 2000 series name change, where at the launch of the Radeon HD 2900 PRO, AMD had just 34.5% of the market.

Things hit another drop with the launch of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295, GTX 285 and GTX 275, where AMD reached just 31%. But, with the launch of the very impressive Radeon HD 5000 series (including the HD 5850 and HD 5870, which at the time were beasts of VGA cards), AMD bounced back right up to 43.8%, but it didn't last long. They dropped down to 34.7% in Q1 2010, but bounced right back up to 44.5% in Q2 2010. It has stayed at around 38-40% of the GPU market share until recently, where in Q3 2014 (right at the time of the Maxwell launch from NVIDIA), AMD dropped from 37.9% in Q2 2014, to 28.4% in Q3 2014, and to just 24% in Q4 2014.

This isn't the end for AMD, This is a chart that shows the discrete GPU market only, and not everything else that AMD is involved in. Personally, I think the big swing around was with consoles, where AMD pushed to have its APUs in all of the next generation consoles (the Nintendo Wii U, Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4). It should've been investing heavily into GPU development for the PC, and we've seen no release of a new architecture from AMD since the release of the Radeon 200 series since Q4 2013 - some 18 months ago.

NVIDIA is left securing a massive 76% of the market, sucking up 14% of that from AMD in just six months. With AMD on the verge of releasing its new Radeon 300 series, there's no better time than now for AMD to try and scoop back a chunk of those consumers in the next two quarters, where we should hopefully see AMD back to around 35-38% of the GPU market by Q1 2016.

Modders Create Snow Mod for GTA V

2015-04-22T07:52:00.001-07:00

Modders Make It Snow in Los Santos

Modders have made it Snow in Grand Theft Auto Online on PC, Showing us that modding GTA V is indeed possible. Right now it is unknown how Rockstar will react to modifying GTA V, especially in GTA online, so if you decide to mod your GTA V game you do so at the risk of being banned by Rockstar at your own risk.

The video below shows the mod in action, working on GTA Online on the PC version.

The Mod can be downloaded from here, though be advised that mods for GTA V come from unknown sources and as such should be regarded with caution.

Have fun and we take no risk if you mess up you game, but as long as you follow the steps in the mod instructions you should be fine. However the mod may ban you from GTA online, but that is unclear at the moment.

Rockstar Rumored to Map Entire USA for GTA 6

2015-04-21T19:58:00.001-07:00

Rockstar is reportedly mapping out the entire United States for its next GTA game, something that will push the release of GTA 6 to 2020. If this is true, it'll make benchmarking the game bigger and badder than ever.

The latest report has Rockstar mapping the whole US for GTA 6, and while this might be a rumor, it's not too far out of reality. Ubisoft did something similar with The Crew, which took the entire United States and shoved it into a smaller map which took around 1.5 hours to drive across.

The bigger issues of having the entire US mapped for GTA 6 would be playing in it, with the report stating: "Loading the entirety of the USA would have its issues. I mean, driving from one city to another could be a real chore, especially if it's just filled with country side and nothing much to do in between".

Second, the hardware requirements would be out of this world, even with the best coding that Rockstar could manage. By then, we should hopefully see consoles either gone, or rolled into services that stream the content to you from a supercomputer, similar to how NVIDIA's GRID technology works. But just imagine, a super-sized Grand Theft Auto 6 playable on the PC, or in VR

My Thoughts: such a feat is technically impossible for any video game console out now,but its just a rumor. could you imagine how large the game would be if they had the entire usa? it would be terabytes of data. just look at gta v, it was 100 square miles from one end to the other and it was 60gb, the usa from one side to the other is 3,200 miles.

Steam Locking Certain Features Behind Paywall

2015-04-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

Last week Valve introduced a new Steam Guard Mobile Authentication process as a means to keep its users safe from phishing attacks, and now it has taken another step in that direction. From here on out, unless you spend a minimum $5 with your account certain features are blocked from use. So whats blocked you ask? Friend invites, opening group chat, the Steam discussion boards and voting on Greenlight games among other things. But, considering that most people use the service for purchasing and playing games, this really should only affect those who're actively using the service.

Valve says that the easiest way to identify malicious users from folks who are genuinely using the service is comparing spending habits to account age. "Typically, the accounts being used for [phishing] have no investment in their longevity," Valve writes. So, if you're a typical Steam user you shouldn't notice a difference aside from a hopeful decrease in spam in your inbox.

AMD Loses 180 Million This Year Due to Nvidia's 900 Series GPU's

2015-04-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

AMD is in a bit of trouble lately, it seems that AMD has lost around 180 million dollars in the GPU market in Q1 of this year. AMD's initial earnings are down 26% and on a steady decline, AMD had to cut 700 jobs due to the extreme loss in stocks lately, all this is due to Nvidia releasing the new GTX 900 series GPU's last year at a better price to performance than the r9 200 series cards.

According to data posted by the prominent analyst Jon Peddie, Nvidia had a 76 per cent share of the graphics card market in Q4 2014, leaving AMD with the remaining 24 per cent. However, that proportion was 65 per cent and 35 per cent just one year earlier. That will be a huge concern for AMD's investors, particularly when the company is telling them that "PC gaming and gaming in general" is a "growth opportunity in the market and a growth opportunity for AMD."

In the same investor call, AMD CEO Lisa Su indicated that several product launches later this year would help it to achieve that growth.

"Building great products, driving deeper customer relationships and simplifying our business remain the right long-term steps to strengthen AMD and improve our financial performance," Su said in a statement.

"Under the backdrop of a challenging PC environment, we are focused on improving our near-term financial results and delivering a stronger second half of the year based on completing our work to rebalance channel inventories and shipping strong new products."

AMD to Announce R9 300 Series GPU's This June at Computex

2015-04-17T15:54:00.001-07:00

Last month it was reported that the new R9 300 series will actually make its official debut during Computex in June. Today during AMD’s Q1 2015 conference call the company’s President and CEO Lisa Su announced that the company will talk about upcoming graphics product launches later this quarter. No specific timeframe was given, however Computex which will be coming up in June as mentioned above is a perfect fit for such an announcement. Both in terms of the platform and the timing.

R9 300 Series Including The Fabled R9 390X Could Very Well Be Announced At Computex

AMD’s revenue for this quarter was down 26% from the same quarter last year and 17% from the last quarter. Drivers behind this decline range from continued aggressive channel inventory clearance efforts, recent currency issues in Europe, seasonally lower game console sales and aging lines of products that AMD hopes to refresh in the second half. Lisa Su stated that with strong product introductions such as the upcoming Carrizo APU which will be the company’s most advanced and power efficient APU to date along with some “new graphics product launches“, will ensure that the second half of the year will be notably stronger than the first.

So it seems the R9 300 series, including the fabled R9 390X will indeed be announced at Computex in June as the previous report from KitGuru has indicated. We’re hoping that AMD will host an event to reveal more details about the upcoming GPUs prior to Computex. However right now all we have to work with are leaks and rumors. Which so far have all been pointing to a new GPU code named Fiji XT, along with two new chips code named Tobango and Trinidad.

The specs for Fiji XT have showed up on the SiSoft Sandra benchmarking database but have yet to be confirmed. However it has become increasingly evident that the Fiji XT based card will feature stacked HBM VRAM, which is up to 9 times faster than GDDR5. AMD has already teased an upcoming “ultra-enthusiast” Radeon graphics card during GDC. Which was used to run multiple Virtual Reality demos at the show floor. Some journalists who were at the event referred to this GPU as “Fiji” but it was never confirmed whether this is the R9 390X. Or if indeed AMD will actually call its Fiji powered graphics product an R9 390X.

Dimension Drive: An Indie Game You Must Check Out

2015-04-17T12:34:00.003-07:00

Dimension Drive is a game asking for funding in a Kickstarter campaign for a top-down shooter. “It features a unique teleportation mechanic that allows you to fight on two battlefields at once, and game-play combining frantic shooting, defense and fast puzzling action,” here

Check out the kickstarter video below and check out the funding page below

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2awesomestudio/dimension-drive

Wildstar Likely Going Free-To-Play

2015-04-17T12:09:00.002-07:00

It seems the F2P market is dying as yet another subscription based MMO is rumored to be going free, just as The ElderScrolls Online did months ago, The game Wilstar is rumored to go F2P as major Australian retailers were told to take the remaining games off shelves and return it to the distributor.

A EB Games employee, said that the remaining games had been removed from shelves “a few weeks ago” and suggested that it might go free-to-play. The official WildStar website still offers the game for purchase starting at USD $40.

Gamestop & EB games later has revealed that the recall is a ‘normal stock movement’ in a statement provided to MCV Pacific – but remember they said the same thing about TESO and look what happened there. So we expect the game to be F2P sometime soon. But at this time the information is not confirmed.

this news is fairly fresh and will will keep our blog readers updated as the news is received.

The Star Wars Battlefront Trailer Is Here!

2015-04-17T11:06:00.001-07:00

The long awaited Star Wars Battlefront game will hit consoles and PC in November.

Fans finally got their first official look at what to expect during the Star Wars Celebration event.

Along with the first look at the game, there's been a whole load of information - some of which may not please fans' expectations.

- It will be released in US on 17th November and in the UK on 20th November.

- There will be no single player campaign. You can play alone, co-op or online but it is very much a multiplayer game. Developers DICE are aiming to recreate battles from the original trilogy but there will be co-op missions that are connected.

- There will be Force Awakens DLC released (set on new planet Jakku) not long after the film itself and will be free for those that pre-order the game.

- You will be able to play as a Jedi, Darth Vader, Boba Fett and fly the Millennium Falcon.

- There will be no space battles. There will also be no settings from the prequels so that means no Jar Jar Binks! All battles in the game will be planetry based, which may disappoint quite a few, as many had dreams of speeding through Endor before getting in an X-Wing to destroy the Death Star all in the same level - unfortunately that won't be the case.

- There are big plans in store for additional content.

I can’t talk exactly about what the future holds for Battlefront, but I can say we’ll definitely be supporting Battlefront post-launch. We have a long history of add-on content. One of the biggest challenges you have when working on Star Wars is the breadth of it. How do you choose which areas to pick?

We grew up with the Original Trilogy. We love it. It’s absolutely loved by our fans. In the new teaser, when Han Solo says, ‘We’re home,’ that’s the feeling we’re going for…. We’ll get that right.Battlefront Producer Craig Mcleod

After all these years, we're still getting excited over Star Wars films and games. We never thought that would happen after Phantom Menace.

The Witcher 3: wild Hunt Has Gone Gold

2015-04-17T08:25:00.003-07:00

CD Projekt RED has announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now done, and has gone gold.

The game will be available worldwide on 19 May, and now that it’s gone gold it’s highly unlikely we’ll see any more delays.

Story:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt once more puts you into the battle-worn shoes of Geralt of Rivia, professional monster hunter, as he travels a war-torn open world in search of the Child of Prophecy. A recently uploaded video gave a fairly in-depth overview of the sort of stuff you can get up to in the game itself, so rather than recap everything about exploring/swimming/talking/fighting/brawling/gambling/questing, I’ll just link back to that and suggest you check it out if you haven’t already. It’s really rather good.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is due out on 19 May.

Full Length Batman VS Superman Trailer Has Been Leaked

2015-04-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

The full length Batman VS Superman trailer has been leaked online and its absolutely mind blowing, it appears that someone recorded the trailer in a cinema from his phone, we know at this point the full HD trailer will be uploaded to youtube sometime soon, you can watch the leaked trailer below

UPDATE: The official HD trailer has been uploaded to youtube, watch it below

we understand this story may not be tech or gaming related but it is just too good not too share. we hope our blog readers enjoy it.

Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to hit theaters on march 25, 2016

Star Wars: Battlefront Release Date Revealed

2015-04-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: Battlefront Release Date Revealed On Website's Source Code

Star Wars: Battlefront has had it's release date Revealed in it's website's Source Code and in game renderings have been displayed.

Inside the source code for the Star Wars Battlefront official website there is some hidden text which reveals that the game will be releasing on November 17th and will be releasing on PS$, Xbox One and PC;

"The latest news and updates for Star Wars Battlefront. Available November 17, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC."

The newest Trailer for Star Wars Episode 7 was also released last night, so I have included the trailer below for any of you die-hard Star Wars fans out there.

Stay tuned for more information and a reveal trailer later today.

Guitar Hero Live Announced for Release This Fall

2015-04-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Activision has announced a new title Guitar Hero Live, the next entry in the guitar playing franchise, for Fall 2015 to be released on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, the Wii U, and “select mobile devices.”

Guitar Hero Live Is set to revolutionize how you play, by offering a first-person view and a real crowd which reacts to your quality of guitar playing.

Guitar Hero Live promises a more immersive experience with a first-person perspective and live-action crowds and band-mates.

Like previous games in the series…

As the lead guitarist, you play an array of songs that span the changing musical landscape, in a variety of venues, from the smallest club stage in front of a hundred people, to the massive main stage of an outdoor festival in front of a hundred thousand people.

Also new to the series is GHTV where players can play along with a continually updated 24-hour music video network. GHTV will feature official music videos from a variety of genres and decades. There will be various channels featuring different genres and themes for players to choose from, as well as an on-demand option. Of course, online and offline multiplayer are options as well. Activision describes GHTV as:

a living, breathing platform that serves as an ever-growing source for new music discovery while further bringing the party atmosphere back to the living room.

As previously rumored, Guitar Hero Live will also ship with a newly redesigned guitar controller, featuring 2 rows of 3 buttons to more accurately represent a real guitar, which will allow scalability in difficulty and reduce hand-cramping from reaching your fingers too far.

The newly redesigned guitar controller features two rows of three buttons.

Some bands have already been announced for Guitar Hero Live, including Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, The Black Keys, Green Day, Ed Sheeran, and Carrie Underwood. Activision is promising an eclectic variety of musicians this time out.

Guitar Hero Live is being developed by FreeStyleGames, the same developers behind the DJ Heroseries.