TikTok owner says it's still committed to VR after rumours swell of it ditching Pico headsets

 Meta Platforms Inc. is close to reaching a deal that will bring its mixed reality headset to China through a partnership with Tencent Holdings Ltd.

With its sandbox-like “Open Combat” missions and the return of fan-favourite villain Makarov, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this year’s Call of Duty campaign might be a fun step forward for the series. Sadly, it’s a disaster. Modern Warfare 3 is the worst single-player outing for COD in its lifetime; a duct-taped mess of missions, many of which are quite literally ripped from Warzone, that frequently plays like DMZ multiplayer with bots. It’s almost certain to be remembered as Call of Duty’s lowest point when it comes to single-player design.

When Pico launched its Oculus Quest challenger in China last year, it did so with great optimism. Light (295 grams) and affordable ($420), the virtual reality headset released by the ByteDance-owned manufacturer was expected to drive adoption in a market inaccessible to Meta.

For years, Americans have been giving their banking data to financial apps such as Venmo, YNAB and Rocket Mortgage. And for years, banks have been trying to figure out how to deal with the security risks. A new proposal from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggests a better way.

Japanese immersive entertainment studio Cocone said it will launch its Toyverse service in the U.S. in early 2024.

I don't see too many PS5 bundles gracing US shelves, and I should know - I'm on the hunt for them every week. However, Black Friday is rapidly approaching and now's the time for savings - I just didn't think we'd be seeing Spider-Man 2 offers so quickly.  Amazon and Best Buy are both offering a free copy of the latest web slinging adventure with their PS5 consoles this week, packing the highest value I've seen in a PS5 bundle to date. 

The PlayStation Portal's launch is almost here and despite people wondering why anyone would want one considering it needs a WiFi connection to work, tracking down a pre-order for the handheld device has been pretty difficult. In fact, with a little more than a week to go, at the time of typing this, there are only two outlets in the US with any Portal pre-orders left at all. If you still want to guarantee you get one on launch day, you're going to need to buy one through Walmart or head directly to PlayStation.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 (which I'll be calling 'Bloodlines 2' from here on) has had a troubled history. Its initial developer, Hardsuit Labs, fired both the game's lead writer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney in 2020. A senior narrative designer, Cara Ellison, left later that year. Then Hardsuit Labs got booted from the project entirely in 2021.

A “big,” update for Gran Turismo 7 is coming next week.

Supernova's have been some of the most spectacular space events ever to happen in the Universe. They are massive in nature and even more amazing in terms of their gigantic nature. Now, in a groundbreaking discovery, NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) telescope has unveiled the mysteries shrouding the historic supernova remnant, SN 1006. The telescope's first-of-its-kind polarized X-ray images have illuminated the enigmatic connection between magnetic fields and the flow of high-energy particles from exploding stars.

Starting this weekend, Hyundai is opening clinics in five US cities where drivers can take their vehicles for a software update it says will prevent the type of vehicle theft made popular on TikTok.

Xbox has revealed some of the inspirations for upcoming horror game Still Wakes the Deep. Developed by The Chinese Room, the game draws from quite a few different media for its inspirations, ranging from classic movies to science-fiction stories, and even the real world.