Microsoft Testing Speech-to-Text Chat in Halo Wars 2
In an effort to be more inclusive to its gaming audience, Microsoft has launched a new pilot feature for Windows 10 and Xbox One users that converts speech to text and vice versa.
According to the Microsoft Accessibility Blog, the feature, dubbed Game Chat Transcription, will initially be available in Halo Wars 2. The company aims to expand support to other titles sometime in the future.
With Game Chat Transcription, players can convert all spoken communication into text form, which is then displayed in real-time on the screen. Meanwhile, the text-to-speech option takes all typed text and converts it to spoken audio that can then be heard by the other players.
Comic Book Reviews for March 15, 2017
It was another big week of comics, with Amazing Spider-Man #25 beginning a dark new era of Spidey, Venom #5 paving the way for a major character's return, Batman #19 continuing the brutal "I Am Bane" storyline and Dark Horse launching their adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
Scroll down to check out our reviews for these and various other new releases, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
DC COMICS
James Gunn All But Confirms Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Guardians of the Galaxy will almost certainly be getting a third installment.
Speaking to Complex, writer/director James Gunn said that "there will be a Guardians 3, that's for sure. We're trying to figure it out."
Given that the first Guardians is one of Marvel's best-received films so far - both critically and commercially - there's little doubt Disney would want the sub-franchise to keep running, although the media giant has yet to confirm a third film itself.
However, Gunn seems less sure on whether he himself will stick with the series after Vol. 2 is released in May: "I'm trying to figure out what I want to do really, that's all it is. I got to figure out where I want to be, what I want to spend the next three years of my life doing. You know, I'm going to make another big movie; is it the Guardians or something else?"
Daily Deals: Syberia 3, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Horizon Zero Dawn
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Cheapest Place to Preorder Syberia 3
Base.com are currently the cheapest retailer to pre-order your copy of Syberia 3. Game is due for release April 21st, 2017.
Tekken 7 Will Have Two More Characters From Other Games
Bandai Namco has announced that two guest characters will be added to the PC and console versions of Tekken 7 via DLC.
Announced in a press release, the two so-far unannounced characters will be released in Winter 2017 and Spring 2018 respectively. Each will be released alongside a special stage and extra costumes designed around the character in question.
Street Fighter's Akuma has already been announced as a guest character, and the publisher confirmed to IGN that he will not be one of the two DLC drops.
The DLC guests form two parts of the game's post-launch content plans, with a Summer 2017 pack including a "brand new game mode and more than 50 new costumes".
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Why Outlast 2 Was Refused Classification in Australia
Update: IGN has received a copy of the Australian Classification Board report, detailing the reason Outlast II was refused classification yesterday. Please note, the description below contains spoilers and is adult in nature.
Outlast II fell afoul of classification guidelines due to a rape sequence during a cut-scene in the game, viewed in first-person.
The event occurs amongst a group of grey-skinned humanoid creatures involved in “what appears to be a ritualistic orgy.”
As the lead character Blake yells at the creatures to get away from his wife, who is shackled to a platform above, “a female creature, her greyish breasts bared, pushes him onto his back, holds his arms to the ground and repeatedly thrusts her crotch against him. As Blake protests, saying “No! Stop that!” the creature thrusts again, before placing its face over his midsection and then sitting up and wiping its mouth. Although much of the contact between the creature and Blake is obscured, by it taking place below screen, the sexualised surroundings and aggressive behaviour of the creature suggest that it is an assault which is sexual in nature. The Board is of the opinion that this, combined with Blake’s objections and distress, constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence.”
Rupert Grint on Reimagining Snatch for TV
Inspired by the Guy Ritchie movie of the same name, the new Crackle series Snatch centers on a group of low level London criminals and hustlers who find they’ve accidentally escalated things into a much higher (and more dangerous) bracket when they find a truck of stolen gold bullion.
The trio at the center of the story are Albert (Luke Pasqualino), Billy (Lucien Laviscount) and Charlie (Rupert Grint) and I spoke to Pasqualino and Grint about the fun of working in a classic crime story of this sort.
IGN: What were your first thoughts when they approached you about this show and you learned they were doing this new version of Snatch?
Rupert Grint: First of all, I loved the movie. It was one of those films that always kind of stayed with me. I was probably way too young to see it when it came out.
Lethal Weapon: Can Murtaugh Save Riggs from Himself?
Warning: Spoilers for the Lethal Weapon Season 1 finale, "Commencement," follow below...
Welp. Clayne Crawford's Riggs has taken out Cartel hitman Gideon, ending the life of the man who ordered the hit on Miranda, but everyone's favorite crazy cop isn't done yet. No, as we saw at the end of Lethal Weapon's Season 1 finale, Riggs is off on a suicide mission, determined to take down Cartel boss Tito Flores.
Murtaugh's not about to stand by and let his partner get himself killed though and in the final moments of "Commencement," Roger heads out, off on a mission to bring Riggs back (even if he had, earlier in the episode, asked to be reassigned to a new partner). But what will Roger do when he finds Riggs? Will he arrest him or help him complete his mission?
The Best PS4 Hard Drive
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March 15, 2017 Update: The new PS4 firmware 4.5 introduces a slew of features, but one of the most welcome updates is external hard drive support. Internal hard drive installation has never been that difficult to begin with, but not everyone wants to take apart a $300+ console, and you're only limited to one drive. With an external drive, it's literally just plug and play, and you get to keep the internal storage and just add on more.