News Twitter bans posting of private media without consent Images and videos have been added to Twitter's privacy policy. Though Twitter can often feel like a lawless land full of chaos and disorder, there are a set of rules in which users must abide by in order to remain on the platform. These rules include not using hate speech or inciting violence. Now, Twitter is expanding its privacy policy and will prohibit the posting of private images and videos of individuals without their consent. Twitter announced the update to its privacy policy in a post to the Twitter Blog on November 30, 2021. Effective immediately, users will be subject to a handful of disciplinary actions, including a temporary or permanent suspension from Twitter, if they violate the newly implemented rule. Beginning today, we will not allow the sharing of private media, such as images or videos of private individuals without their consent. Publishing people's private info is also prohibited under the policy, as is threatening or incentivizing others to do so.https://t.co/7EXvXdwegG — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) As part of our ongoing efforts to build tools with privacy and security at the core, we’re updating our existing private information policy and expanding its scope to include “private media.” Under our existing policy, publishing other people's private information, such as phone numbers, addresses, and IDs, is already not allowed on Twitter. This includes threatening to expose private information or incentivizing others to do so. This news wasn’t received all that well by a lot of Twitter users, as many brought up scenarios in…

Interview Video Stern on making Godzilla Pinball, working with Toho, & gameplay mechanics One of Stern's latest crowning achievements was creating a Toho-licensed Godzilla Pinball machine. We spoke to Stern's Zach Sharpe about the details. Stern has picked up a number of amazing licenses to work with when it comes to creating new pinball machines over the years, and with each new machine, it seems to top itself. The latest crème de la crème was the release of a new Godzilla Pinball machine, actually done in partnership with license holders Toho. We recently got to chat with Stern Director of Marketing Zach Sharpe about the details of the game, what working with Toho was like, and how Stern improved upon its machine design in this latest creation. The Godzilla Pinball machine has looked incredible from the first announcement in September. It features Mechagodzilla, Mothra, a collapsible building multi-ball target, the Xileans, and even the original theme and Blue Öyster Cult’s Godzilla song. According to Sharpe, it was a dream come true for a lot of fans on staff and the team worked extremely closely with Toho to make it happen. With their collaboration, they arrived at theming a lot of the machine specifically around the Showa Era of Godzilla that ran from around 1954 to 1989. More than theming and using the Godzilla license properly, Stern’s Godzilla pinball machine also features a lot of first-time mechanical implementations for the company. For starters, it’s one of the first Stern Pinball machines to come with the new Stern Insider Connect program pre-installed and…

News Hitman 3 gets Winter Roadmap of content including all recent elusive targets This winter, Hitman 3 will also feature the return of the Holiday Hoarders seasonal event, the Hokkaido Snow Festival, and new community contracts. The year is almost over and Hitman 3 has had a wonderful wealth of good content to show for it. A solid DLC series, a new collection of elusive targets, and regular community contracts that even included creations from us here at Shacknews have been part of a stellar year of Hitman 3 for IO Interactive. The devs aren’t letting the last month of 2021 run quietly though. There’s a new Winter Roadmap of Hitman 3 content that runs through January 2022 and it includes another shot at every new elusive target that launched this year. IO Interactive revealed Hitman 3’s Winter Roadmap with a trailer on the Hitman YouTube channel on November 30, 2021. From now into January, there’s a wealth of content to explore both for Hitman 3 owners and those who want to dip their toes in with the Hitman 3 Free Starter Pack. For owners of the full game in particular, that includes a second chance at killing this year’s new elusive targets every weekend, but there are also community contracts and returning winter events that everyone gets to enjoy. You can see the official dates of content for the Hitman 3 Winter Roadmap just below: November 22 - December 5: Play Dubal For Free (Hitman 3 Free Starter Pack) November 30: Holiday Hoarders (HITMAN 3 Permanent Seasonal Content) December…

News Knockout City: Season 4 gets visited by Alien Invaders next week The aliens have landed in Knockout City and it turns out they have some pretty cool stuff. Knockout City is looking to finish off 2021 on a high note, so what better way to do so than with a Season 4 that explores a whole new theme. After going to the movies and exploring cyberspace, now it's time to brace for an alien invasion. Knockout City's Season 4 will be subtitled "Alien Invaders." Aliens have landed in Knockout City in Season 4! The alien landing site, as it turns out, makes for a pretty good map. Players can jump into the new Alien Smash Site, set along a farm on the outskirts of town. Players can do battle around discarded flying saucers, as well as across underground pits. This will be just the beginning for this Alien Invaders theme, with EA and Velan Studios promising content throughout Season 4. This includes four two-week events, which will feature brand new game modes and some season-exclusive rewards. More details will be revealed at a later date. Of course, with Knockout City being the ongoing multiplayer fest that it is, players can expect a new Brawl Pass for Season 4. As has been the case with previous Brawl Passes, this will feature 100 levels with new rewards. Those rewards will be revealed in the weeks ahead, but look for five weekly contracts, new Holobux items, and more. Look for the in-game store to be refreshed with new items, as well. Knockout…

News Musk warns SpaceX Starship Raptor engine crisis is creating 'risk of bankruptcy' In a recent company-wide email, Elon Musk described a dire situation for SpaceX if the company is not able to ramp up Raptor engine development. In terms of commercial space travel development, Elon Musk’s SpaceX company would appear to be far ahead of the rest of the industry in terms of development and technology. Ambitious long-term plans of putting a human being on Mars might be in jeopardy in 2022, though. In a recent company-wide email, Elon Musk expressed disappointment with progress on the Starship Raptor engine and claimed the matter could put the company at risk of bankruptcy if development and production aren’t ramped up in 2022. The apparent email from Musk went out over Thanksgiving break, as obtained by space tech outlet Space Explored. The email follows the exit of former SpaceX Vice President of Propulsion Will Heltsley in November. After Heltsley was removed from the project and left the company, Musk stated that leadership had dug through details of the Raptor engine development and found the situation “to be far more severe” than expected. Both Starship rocket and Starlink internet ventures of SpaceX are in jeopardy according to the apparent "disaster" in Raptor engine production facing SpaceX. The issues reportedly forced Musk to give up Thanksgiving break and focus in on the issues, as well as putting together the email that signaled the full direness of the matter. Unfortunately, the Raptor production crisis is much worse than it had seemed a few weeks ago. As…

Guide Rocket League Sideswipe controls Here are all the controls for Rocket League Sideswipe. Rocket League has finally made it to mobile devices with the release of Rocket League Sideswipe. This game takes the vehicular soccer game and adapts it for phones and tablets. This means that the game uses an entirely different control scheme than its console and PC counterparts. Let’s look at all the controls in Rocket League Sideswipe. Rocket League Sideswipe controls Rocket League Sideswipe is entirely controlled using the on-screen buttons. These buttons have default placements and sizes, but this can be changed in the settings menu. Rocket League Sideswipe controls Action Control Move Press + hold left side of screen in any direction Jump Jump Touch Button Double Jump Jump Touch Button x2 Boost Hold Touch Button Flip Double Jump + Move Aerial Move upwards + Boost Those are all the default controls in Rocket League Sideswipe. By navigating to the menu and selecting Control Customization, you can move the different Touch Buttons around the screen. You can also change their size and opacity to your liking. The device you’re playing on and comfortability with using the touch buttons will determine what works best for you. Just like in standard Rocket League, there aren’t all that many controls in Rocket League Sideswipe. Instead, the challenge comes in mastering movement and having the game sense to know when to unleash certain maneuvers. For more on Rocket League Sideswipe, stick with us here on Shacknews.

News GTA Trilogy - Definitive Edition Title Update 1.03 patch notes Rockstar released a new title update for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition with a slew of bug fixes. Check out the 1.03 patch notes here. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition launched in a state that was unacceptable, disappointing a lot of folks that were excited to re-explore the classic era that made GTA one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world. There’s a lot of work to make this trilogy of titles more playable, let alone good, but Rockstar seems dedicated to the cause. They’ve released one of the first major patches for the game in Title Update 1.03, fixing a number of bugs and glitches. We’ve got the patch notes here. GTA Trilogy - Definitive Edition Title Update 1.03 patch notes A new Title Update is now available for the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. This contains several fixes and will also be available for the Nintendo Switch in the coming days: https://t.co/otGLbh9onV — Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) Rockstar launched the patch notes for GTA Trilogy – Definitive Edition Title Update 1.03 in a blog post on November 30, 2021. It includes bug fixes that cover PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, but unfortunately not Switch at this time. Switch will reportedly be updated a bit later. You’ll find the full list of fixes, changes, and updates below: General - PlayStation…

Guide How to play with friends - Rocket League Sideswipe Here is how you can play online with friends in Rocket League Sideswipe. Rocket League Sideswipe is out now and brings the popular vehicular soccer game to mobile devices. This version of Rocket League is quite different from the traditional experience, with a 2D design and a new control scheme. As players dive into the new experience, they’ll likely want to have some friends by their side. Let’s look at how you can play with friends in Rocket League Sideswipe. How to play with friends - Rocket League Sideswipe To play with friends in Rocket League Sideswipe, select the social icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen. From here, there are two ways to play with friends. Under the Friends tab, you can select and invite a friend to join your game. Under the Request tab, you can accept a game invite from friends. Once you’re in a lobby with a friend, you can ready up and jump into a game. When you first load up Rocket League Sideswipe, you can choose to either sign in with Epic Games or play offline. You’ll need to log in using your Epic Games account in order to play with friends. When you sign in, your Epic Games friends list will be ported over to the game. Rocket League Sideswipe is its own standalone product from traditional Rocket League, so you’ll only be able to see and play with friends that are also using Rocket League Sideswipe. That’s how you can…

News Meta ordered to sell Giphy GIF search engine by United Kingdom antitrust authorities The former Facebook has been ordered to cut ties with Giphy due to the potential to shut out market competitors. Meta (formerly Facebook) has been under the spotlight for quite a few years by antitrust authorities for its acquisition of media sharing companies and platforms, but a recent decision by the United Kingdom authority is taking official action. Meta has been ordered to relinquish its ownership of the Giphy GIF search engine company due to its potential to stifle competition among media search engine and sharing companies. UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a decision on November 30, 2021, as reported by CNN, ordering that Meta cut ties with its acquisition of Giphy, citing that the deal could hurt competitors as the primary reason. Specifically, the CMA stated that Meta’s control over one of the most popular search engines for short, looping animations and videos would entirely remove a potential rival in advertising and threaten competition in the social media industry. Facebook's shift to the Meta name came as the company was already under scrutiny for use of information and arguably anti-competitive business practices, the acquisition of Giphy included. Although Meta stated it would still grant third parties a consistent level of access to Giphy services, the CMA had looked into the matter and was unconvinced of Facebook’s intentions. “After consulting with interested businesses and organizations — and assessing alternative solutions ... put forward by Facebook — the CMA has concluded that its competition concerns…

News Meta's head of Libra crypto project leaves the company David Marcus has announced that he will leave Meta at the end of this year. When Facebook changed its name to Meta, it cited the desire to expand to other fields than just social media as a reason for the rebrand. One of these new endeavors includes an entry into the world of cryptocurrency. Now, Meta’s head of its crypto project, Libra, is leaving the company after seven years. David Marcus, who currently serves as Meta’s lead on Novi, announced via his personal Twitter account that he has decided to step down from his position and leave the company. Marcus will officially leave Meta at the end of December 2021. In a thread of tweets, David Marcus explains what led him to his decision to resign. Personal news: after a fulfilling seven years at Meta, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and leave the company at the end of this year. (1/7) — David Marcus (@davidmarcus) While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi — and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems — my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it. He goes on to give credit to his team members that will continue the work following his departure, and thanks CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the opportunity. Outside of his work with Meta, David Marcus has been responsible for a couple…