Light Start: Leaked Oculus, chippie Black Ops, play Doom in Minecraft and a 160Hz display on a phone

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A new Oculus Quest has leaked, here’s what it looks like

We love random product leaks — you know, the ones no-one expects ahead of a non-existent launch? That’s what recently happened with the unplanned leak of what looks to be a new Oculus VR headset. Owned by Facebook, the new Oculus seems to bear the ‘Quest’ moniker — the same as it’s predecessor. 

Last week a product image surfaced on Twitter, after which many more appeared on Reddit, including pictures of the VR headset being used out in the wild. Does this mean the headset could launch soon? No doubt. We’ll likely see the headset revealed soon enough, with an official launch date attached. Right now, however, we have no idea when we’ll see Facebook announce the product, much less release it into the wild. What we do know is that the upcoming device looks very similar to its predecessor, with a few minor updates to the controllers. We’ve also got an apparent launch date set at 15 September, according to some leak sources. 

One thing’s for sure — the Quest is one of the best VR devices to grace our foreheads, so we’re keen to see what tweaks Facebook has made to make it even more powerful. 

Source: The Verge[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The new Black Ops title was leaked by… Doritos?

We don’t have much information about this year’s Call of Duty title yet, but the leaks are pouring in, and this time it’s from an unexpected source — in the form of a Doritos packet. Earlier this year, a graphic leaked with little to no actual info about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Also, can this be a working title, Activision?

An account called TheGaming Revolution has shared images of an apparent Doritos promo for the upcoming game. The promo features a chance to win double experience points for a year, and details a start date of 5 October. Although this is probably not a release date, we can surmise that the game should launch before this time. “A similar promo for Modern Warfare started October 1st last year ahead of the game’s October 25th release, but it also didn’t arrive during a pandemic that could affect development,” Engadget details. 

With the cancellation of the annual E3 event, we’re not sure when the title will be announced — historically that’s where it happens. This time, Call of Duty will probably take place in the Vietnam War from the perspectives of the US, South Vietnam and the Viet Cong, including some excursions to other parts of the world. Hopefully, we’ll have a better look at the game sooner rather than later.

Source: Engadget[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

You can now boot a working Windows 95 PC in Minecraft and play Doom on it

If anything, Minecraft is the ultimate life emulator, and it just gets better with age. Thanks to a new mod in the game, players can now order PC parts, build a working PC and load Windows 95, and a bunch of other operating systems, on it.

A new VM Computers mod has been created for Minecraft, and it makes use of an orbiter satellite in the game that users can use to build a working PC. “The mod uses VirtualBox, free and open-source virtual machine software, to run operating systems like Windows 95. Within Minecraft, you simply place a PC case block and then use it to create virtual hard drives to install operating systems from ISO files,” The Verge explains. Thanks to the beautiful place that is the internet, users have been experimenting with this mod, trying to make a variety of software run on the in-game PC. Some users have successfully loaded and run the original Doom on the system. We’re proud to be part of this online community. 

Now, all we can do is sit back and wait to see what else Minecrafty players figure out on the system — because it has become the ultimate space to explore your creativity. 

Source: The Verge[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Asus’ new ROG Phone 3 has a hidden 160Hz mode

Gaming smartphones are bulking up on specs, and we’re keen to see more companies build tiny gaming PCs in the form of smartphones. That’s especially true for the latest Asus ROG Phone 3 gaming phone.

The device already boasts a 144Hz display for gaming — the best-in-market for a smartphone. Not many gamers even own 144Hz monitors for their main gaming setup so this in itself is a feat. Now it looks like the ROG phone 3 has a hidden 160Hz refresh option that is apparently meant for internal testing. But it can easily be accessed using a so-called ADB shell command. “The 160Hz refresh rate is only for our internal testing and ASUS has not made this part of the official specifications of the device,” Asus told Engadget in a statement. If you’ve got the phone (it’s highly unlikely if you’re in SA), you can access the 160Hz mode by way of using the Android Debut Bridge (ADB) PC app. All you have to do, is run the following command from a prompt or terminal window: “adb shell setprop debug.vendor.asus.fps.eng 1”. Just reboot the phone after running this command, and you’ll see the 160Hz option in Settings >Display>Refresh rate.

It’s exciting to see consumer smartphone tech progress to this level of raw power already. Smartphones were never built to run demanding graphical games, but we’re nearing a time where every phone is as/more powerful than a working PC, and that’s kind of scary. 

Source: Engadget

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