Gaming

This game teaches you to become a master of fake news

So you can look out for them in the real world

Published

February 22, 2018

Luigi Leonardo

We live in a time rife with questionable (if not, outright fake) news. With a lot of discourse happening online, it’s getting trickier to separate the fact from the lie. A trending game hopes to help you discern fake news by doing the most counterintuitive thing — teaching you to write fake news.

The game, called Bad News, tags itself as a “vaccine” for fake news by injecting you with humorous doses of lies.

Bad News launches directly from your browser (no installation needed). In the game, you’re a fledgling writer hoping to establish a globally recognized, cringe-worthy fake news blog in the future. Through a series of text prompts and questions, the game’s narrator guides you through the journey of creating fake news.

Image source: Bad News

The game asks you tap into either your virtual reader’s anger or fear. Through your choices, the narrator will tell you if a headline is too fake or too right-wing. By guiding you, its goal is to optimize your headlines for gaining the most followers while maintaining a decent amount of credibility. The game also teaches how to spin the most positive of news into the most outrageous conspiracy theory. And yes, it also lets you use Twitter bots to boost your followers by thousands.

You win the game by building an empire of fake news, breaking down rational discourse into conspiracy chaos. You lose by becoming too rational or too outlandish. Throughout the game, you earn “badges” which correspond to the tools that fake news writers leverage on — impersonation, polarization, conspiracy, among others.

All fun aside, the game’s ultimate goal is to teach players how to spot fake news in the real world. While the news articles you write in the game are completely fictional, the methods it uses are completely credible. Also, the game shows the massive implications that a fake news Twitter army can cause.

The game was created by the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab and Drog, a media literacy organization. Besides a tool for change, the game hopes to power research efforts on the effect of fake news.

Gaming

Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s new console

Formerly known as Project Scarlett

Published

December 13, 2019

Rodneil Quiteles

With millions of eyes glued to the Game Awards, Microsoft took the opportunity to unveil their latest console. Formerly known as Project Scarlett, the gaming console now has an official name — Xbox Series X.

The Xbox Series X has a custom-designed CPU that’s based on AMD’s Zen 2 and Radeon RDNA Architecture. Speaking of CPU, that’s exactly what the console looks like. Despite it looking like most CPU Towers, the console can be positioned both vertically and horizontally.

Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer claims the new console it will “deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way.” It’s also using an SSD which should boost load times. It’s also capable of 8K gaming with frame rates of up to 120 FPS as well as ray tracing.

Spencer confirmed with GameSpot that it the Xbox Series X is backwards compatible. It will support games you can play on the Xbox One and will also have support for accessories sold for earlier versions of the console.

There’s no word yet on exact pricing and availabilty but they did say it will come just ahead of the holiday shopping season in 2020. This puts it squarely around the time of the PlayStation 5’s release date. Exciting times ahead for console gamers!

Gaming

Black Shark 2 Pro: Price and availability in the Philippines

It’s finally here!

Published

December 12, 2019

Rodneil Quiteles

It’s finally here! The much anticipated Black Shark 2 and Black Shark 2 Pro are finally in the Philippines.

First announced back in July, the Black Shark 2 is a much anticipated gaming smartphone. Powering the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus.

The device also comes with an AMOLED display with a 240Hz touch report rate. However, is that the display still retains a 60Hz refresh rate that lags behind its major competitor — the ASUS ROG Phone 2 — which has a display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The display’s response speed was reduced to 34.7 ms, promising faster response times during high pressure gameplay.

Price and availability

The Black Shark 2 comes in three variants: 6GB/128GB (PhP 22,990), 8GB/128GB (23,990), and 12GB/256GB (PhP 28,990).

Meanwhile, the Black Shark 2 Pro comes in two variants: 8GB/128GB (PhP 27,990), and 12GB/256GB (PhP 33,490).

The phones will be available in select Mi Stores: SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, and SM Mall of Asia starting December 13.

Gaming

Resident Evil 3 gets its remake, available Q2 2020

Remade into horror and glory

Published

December 12, 2019

Gab Orlina

PlayStation saved the best announcement as its second to the last for its final State of Play. One of the most popular survival horror franchises gets another remake since its release 20 years ago. Capcom wants to take everyone back to Raccoon City in its full, high definition glory in Resident Evil 3.

Revisit the story of Jill Valentine as you venture through the virus-infected city in this modern remake. Avid followers of the multitude of Resident Evil games will enjoy the improved visuals while enjoying the same style of shoulder-perspective gameplay. Capcom programmed the entire remake on their own RE Engine, the engine responsible for Devil May Cry 5.

Apart from that, Capcom also announced Resident Evil: Project Resistance – a 4v1 multiplayer mode within Resident Evil 3. It features similar gameplay to that of Resident Evil 2, as players turn into survivors at the mercy of a Mastermind. Early talks suggested that it would be a separate title, but will now be part of the Resident Evil 3 remake.

The game will be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC on April 3, 2020. PlayStation is already taking in pre-orders for the game as early as now.