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Bungie goes all out with the new Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, we play more PS VR2 games for you, and Disney and Xbox Canada have a sweet contest going on.

Lightfall pushes Destiny 2 into an entirely new realm

Destiny 2 has been around for a few years now. More than five years, in fact. And since then, Bungie has continuously kept the game as fresh as the day it released with a series of expansions and the introduction of new multiplayer experiences.

(Here’s a helpful video that recaps the story so far.)

Bungie has been so successful in deploying a “live service game” that the developer was acquired by Sony to be part of the internal studio group.

With the release of Lightfall, the latest major expansion, Destiny 2 leaps into a new world, the futuristic city of Neomuna on the planet, Neptune.

We also get a new power to wield, new weapons to discover, and a new big bad, the Witness, to creep us out.

And the changes to how we manage our Guardians and all the equipment we collect are equally significant. It’s now easier to modify your weapons and armour, and easier to manage the mods that you need to use. Better yet, you can create and save load outs for specific contexts that you can swap with the click of a button. You can have a different set up for each of the different game experiences Destiny 2 provides.

So far, I’m loving the neon shaded Neomuna and the way Bungie has pulled the various supporting characters into this new plot line. I’m not quite sure where we’re going, but as with every other Destiny 2 expansion, this is a game I want to spend all my time in.

PS VR2 games we played this week

My family is slowly getting a chance to try the dozens of virtual reality games that have become part of our library since getting a PS VR2. Here’s what we played since last week:

  • Horizon: Call of the Mountain. There’s nothing better to showcase the vibrant, 4K video that the PS VR2 can deliver. The mechanics of the game are innovative: you swing your arms to walk, you reach over your shoulder to get an arrow, you have to reach out with your arms to grab holds while climbing. This is an utterly convincing representation of one of my favourite video game worlds.
  • Pistol Whip. This arcade-style shooter from B.C.‘s Cloudhead Games with a wide range of tracks and themes. The goal is to shoot the enemies in the environment while dodging the bullets they shoot at you. You also need to move around the obstacles that are in your way. Before long, you’ve worked up a sweat but you won’t want to stop going.
  • Gran Turismo 7. If you wanted to know what it’s like to drive a race car, this is the game for you. The eye tracking feature that is part of the PS VR 2 means that the impeccable graphics can be focused where you’re looking. Anyone who has a copy of GT7 can get the VR2 update for free.

Disney and Xbox Canada giving away a Mandalorian themed Xbox Series prize pack

Get your name in quick for this.

The prize pack from this promotion celebrating the Mandalorian season three includes two consoles, an Xbox Series X and an accompanying Xbox Series S, painted to match each other, along with a Grogu-coloured controller and hoodie, and a three month subscription to Xbox Game Pass.

You’ve got until March 12 to enter the contest.

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A new feature is coming to Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5 and the big news from Tesla’s Investor Day.

Samsung Galaxy Watch5 adds cycle tracking feature

Through an update, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5 (starting at $350; also in a Pro model starting at $560) is adding a feature to allow people who menstruate to track cycles.

The tracking will use body temperature, which is measured using the Watch5’s BioActive sensor, to make the determination.

Cycle Tracking can be used in the Samsung Health app on the Watch5.

Elon Musk reveals more of his “Master Plan” at Tesla Investor Day

At an event Wednesday at the Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk said he intends Tesla to create “a sustainable energy civilization”.

What is needed, said Musk during Investor Day, is “vast energy storage” and a five-part plan to eliminate fossil fuels which involves getting the existing electricity grid on renewable power, switching to electric vehicles, getting building systems on heat pumps, getting industrial companies using hydrogen fuel, and sustainably fueling airplanes and boats.

Drew Baglino, a senior vice president at Tesla who was on stage with Musk, claimed that the Earth can be fully sustainable by 2050.

The Verge created a four-minute edit of the presentation that gets right to the salient points.

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PS VR2 is superior to Playstation’s first virtual reality headset, and the line of limited edition Destiny 2 peripherals from Steelseries are a collector’s dream.

The era of virtual reality gaming takes another step with PS VR2

Today, Playstation’s second generation virtual reality headset was released.

PS VR2 was designed with the Playstation 5 in mind, and the console (CAN$730 with a disc drive, $600 for the digital edition) is required if you want to slip into those beguiling virtual worlds.

And there are such worlds to explore.

One of the launch titles is Horizon Call of the Mountain which has you climbing mountains and shooting arrows at the mechanical beasts that are part of Aloy’s world.

There are dozens more that I still need to try, including Gran Turismo 7 and Tentacular.

First gen PS VR games are not compatible with the new headset because the tech is just too different, but many developers are updating their VR titles to work with the new technology. That includes Pistol Whip, Tetris Effect, Rez, and No Man’s Sky.

Games are all rated for the kind of gameplay they accommodate, and the PS VR2 has presets for sitting, standing, or “roomscale”. So not every game requires the large room area that earlier VR rigs needed.

You do, however, need room to wave your arms around, because whether you’re sitting or standing, you will be moving your arms.

PS VR2 is a dramatic improvement from its predecessor. It’s lighter and more comfortable to wear and it doesn’t need an external camera but relies on four cameras on the outside to track movement in the real world as well as controller position and two cameras that point in and track eye movements.

Inside the headset are two OLED screens, each with a resolution of 2,000 × 2,040 pixels. That means 4K visuals, with support for HDR and a refresh rate of between 90 hz and 120 hz.

There’s a motor in the headset, too, providing haptic feedback that when combined with the haptics in the newly designed Sense controllers enhances the immersive effect.

One thing that may be frustrating is that PS VR2 needs to be connected to your PS5 with a USB-C cable, but having that tether means you won’t have issues with frame rates and lag.

The experiences of PS VR2 are compelling and thrilling and being in the VR worlds is utterly convincing.

The only drawback is the CAN$750 price tag (there’s a bundle including Horizon Call of the Mountain priced at $820). But if you’ve got the disposable income available, the PS VR2 is a stunning technological achievement.

Steelseries has Destiny 2: Lightfall-themed accessories you want to have

Bungie’s latest expansion to Destiny 2 releases next week, but Steelseries has a series of limited edition peripherals available now, and they’ve all been designed to look like they’ve come straight out of the Neptune metropolis of Neomuna.

The Arctis 7+ headset (CAN$230) has a retractable mic and works with computers, consoles, and mobile devices.

The Aerox 5 wireless mouse ($190) has nine buttons that can be programmed and is only 74 grams.

The QcK Prism XL mousepad ($90) is a full-sized desk mat that has built-in lighting.This is a cover for your entire desktop cover, not some sad, tiny piece of foam that your dad used when he was getting his accounting degree thirty years ago.

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Air Canada has put facial recognition terminals into Vancouver and Toronto Pearson airports, Amazon is supporting people who use hearing aids.

Air Canada beginning to use facial recognition to board planes

“Select” Air Canada customers travelling from Vancouver International Airport can board their plane by looking at a camera.”

Amazon Fire TVs can stream audio to hearing aids and implants

Last year, Amazon announced that people who use certain Bluetooth hearing aids could connect to select Fire TVs

Today, that functionality expanded to include Cochlear implants.

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