Fortnite As Addictive As Possible - October 2019

Many parents know the problems with overlong sessions of their children, in Canada now two minors want to sue manufacturers Epic Games. The development studio has purposefully produced Fortnite to be the most addictive game, their lawyers say.

A 10-year-old and a 15-year-old have applied for a class action lawsuit against Epic Games at a Montréal court. The accusation of their lawyers: The US development studio Epic Games have Fortnite Battle Royale deliberately programmed "that it is the most addictive game", quotes the newspaper La Presse. Epic has worked with psychologists and tried in experiments with volunteers to avoid any "attention loss".

Lawyers working for a law firm called Calex Légal parallels the lawsuits against the tobacco industry on several occasions. They are now looking for other injured players who join the lawsuit. This was filed in Canada because there would be no rules in the terms and conditions of Epic Games, which prevent such disputes. Concrete demands on the amount of the claims for damages or the like does not yet exist - it is not foreseeable which criteria the judges would apply.

Lawyers accuse Epic Games of incorporating sophisticated "reward systems" into Fortnite and "using artificial intelligence systems to find out" when they would work best.

Whether and how these allegations can be proven is unclear - without insider information from the studio that would be difficult. However, it is an open secret that the game industry is trying to optimize their programs with the help of psychologists to tie players as long as possible and to mislead to spend money.

The two teenagers have played many thousands of games in Fortnite and spent a lot of money on in-game extras. The attempt of the parents to limit the time of their offspring or to keep them from playing has led to considerable conflicts in the families. Epic Games has not commented on the lawsuit yet.

Raspberry Pi Zero Becomes A Game Boy

The GPI Case looks like a Game Boy of bygone days but is a case for the Raspberry Pi Zero - including power switch and jack. There are a few differences to the Nintendo original: such as additional buttons and a color display.

The online retailer Retroflag offers for Nintendo fans and hobbyists a housing that looks like the Game Boy from the year 1989. Even details such as the word "dot-matrix with stereo sound" are shown on it. The GPI Case is compatible with Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi Zero W mini computers. The board is plugged into a separate case that mimics a gaming cassette for the portable retro console.

The GPI Case itself has - like the Nintendo model - action buttons, a directional pad and the elongated buttons Start and Select. One difference is that the case has four instead of just two round switches on the right side. This makes the system suitable for a wider selection of games, such as titles for the Super Nintendo. Shoulder buttons are also present and integrated into the back of the case.

The display of the Gpi Case is not a monochrome dot matrix like the Game Boy. On Reddit, a hobbyist shows the system with a 2.8-inch color LC display in use and also manages to install a slightly larger, but faster Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 Lite there.

Batteries and headphone jack:

Behind the flap on the back of the case three AA batteries are inserted, which supply the installed computer with energy. The micro-USB port on the back should be able to be used for firmware updates and system access. The system power switch is located on the top of the chassis. He should be familiar with Game Boy owners. A 3.5 mm cable can also be connected to the underside.

The GPI Case currently costs $ 70 in the US. It will also be sent to Germany via Amazon. Not included are batteries and a necessary Raspberry Pi Zero. This costs about 15 euros again.

Technically Less Demanding Pubg Lite Appears In The West!

Even on laptops, players should be able to play the free downloadable lite version of Pubg. There are limitations to the standard version - but fewer are available.

Pubg Lite has been in Asia since the beginning of 2019, and now comes the free downloadable version of the Battle Royale classic Playerunknown's Battlegrounds to the west. From October 10, 2019, players with slower hardware and laptops can compete. The graphics are screwed down significantly in comparison to the standard version of about 30 euros, the basic gameplay is similar: 100 players fight to stay as long as possible in the virtual life. The one who achieves this the longest has won.

Only in Lite is there a mode in which two teams of four players compete in an abandoned warehouse between shipping containers and vehicles against each other. The tempo is much higher than in Battle Royale. The winner is the team that first creates 40 eliminations.

With Pubg Lite, the developers want to generate revenue primarily through the season passes. There is a free Lite Pass and both paid Lite Pass Premium and Lite Pass Premium Plus. All unlock all sorts of rewards after completed challenges. Other cosmetic extras are available on chests. Information about the prices is not yet available.

Pubg Lite offers only two maps, namely the original version of the island Erangel and the desert landscape Miramar, but not the snow map Vikendi. In terms of functions, the program is catching up with the standard version, with Asia incorporating some of the more advanced movement options recently, such as Ledge Grab, where you can cling to edges.

On the hard drive, Pubg Lite occupies about 4 GB. If desired, the program dynamically adjusts the resolution to what is happening on the screen and to the hardware so that players can expect a stable frame rate even on slower computers - if that works.

Minimal system requirements
Windows 7 (64 bit)
Intel Core i3 2.4 GHz
Intel HD Graphics 4000 (DirectX 11)
RAM 4 GB
Recommended system requirements
Windows 7 (64 bit)
Intel Core i5 2.8 GHz
Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 (DirectX 11)
RAM 4 GB

In Europe, players can pre-register for Pubg Lite on October 8, 2019, and they will receive some in-game extras. The launcher can already be downloaded from the official website.