Nintendo announce Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Special Edition

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 28, 2018 1:00 AM CDT

The release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is just around the corner and ahead of the release Nintendo has announced a Special Edition bundle for future fighting gamers.

Nintendo announce Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Special Edition

At the beginning of this month it was revealed that Nintendo would be bringing a Limited Edition bundle to gamers, at the time of the announcement the bundle was only going to be available in European markets. Nintendo has now given North America and Canada the same option but with different contents in the bundle.

The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Special Edition bundle will be slightly different to the one that was announced for Europe, the North American package will contain a copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate within a jet black steel book case. The case will have the Smash symbol encased in fire at the very center and will coincide with the Smash Bros-themed Switch Pro Controller that will also be included within the Special Edition. The bundle is currently priced at $140 and is also available to pre-order from Best-Buy. If you desire to just purchase the Smash Bros.-themed Switch Pro Controller, that will come in at a price of $75, for further details for the bundle/controller, visit the official Super Smash Bros. Ultimate website here.

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AMD taps TSMC to make next-gen CPUs and GPUs on 7nm node

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Aug 27, 2018 11:23 PM CDT

GlobalFoundries has announced it won't be moving forward with its push into 7nm, leaving that work to TSMC who has just secured contracts with AMD for everything Team Red is making on the 7nm node including next-gen CPUs and GPUs.

AMD taps TSMC to make next-gen CPUs and GPUs on 7nm node

AMD had already planned to use TSMC for their upcoming 7nm Vega GPUs, as well as the upcoming EPYC processors, but now everything else is being shifted to TSMC on 7nm thanks to GloFo. AMD's Chief Technology Officer, Mark Papermaster, has announced: "AMD's next major milestone is the introduction of our upcoming 7nm product portfolio, including the initial products with our second generation "Zen2" CPU core and our new 'Navi' GPU architecture".

He continued: "We have already taped out multiple 7nm products at TSMC, including our first 7nm GPU planned to launch later this year and our first 7nm server CPU that we plan to launch in 2019. Our work with TSMC on their 7nm node has gone very well and we have seen excellent results from early silicon. To streamline our development and align our investments closely with each of our foundry partner's investments, today we are announcing we intend to focus the breadth of our 7nm product portfolio on TSMC's industry-leading 7nm process. We also continue to have a broad partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES spanning multiple process nodes and technologies. We will leverage the additional investments GLOBALFOUNDRIES' is making in their robust 14nm and 12nm technologies at their New York fab to support the ongoing ramp of our AMD Ryzen, AMD Radeon, and AMD EPYC processors. We do not expect any changes to our product roadmaps as a result of these changes".

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AMD loses another key player: Jim Anderson has now departed

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Aug 27, 2018 10:32 PM CDT

AMD hasn't stopped bleeding top shelf staff for over a year now with the departures of Raja Koduri, Chris Hook and Jim Keller... but now Jim Anderson is joining the good bye train.

AMD loses another key player: Jim Anderson has now departed

Anderson was the Senior VP of the Computing and Graphics Group, where he leaves AMD to joins Lattice Semiconductor. Saeid Moshkelani will be the replacement Senior VP and GM of AMD's Client Compute Group, which under its roof handles the APU and CPU portfolio for Team Red.

The issue here is that AMD just launched its Ryzen 2000 and Ryzen Threadripper 2000 series CPUs, with Anderson in lead position during those launches. Right after the launches, he leaves... which doesn't really look good for AMD, at least from the outside. Saeid Moshkelani on the other hand was instrumental in securing the semi-custom APU wins for AMD with both the Xbox and PlayStation consoles using AMD technology.

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GeForce Game Ready drivers ready for Battlefield V open beta

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 8:29 PM CDT

If you didn't already know: EA and DICE will be unleashing the Battlefield V open beta on September 4, for those who pre-ordered the game and are an Origin Access Premier member, Origin Access Basic or EA Access member. If you're not, you'll have to wait another 48 hours where it'll unlock on September 6.

GeForce Game Ready drivers ready for Battlefield V open beta

NVIDIA has released a new GeForce Game Ready 399.07 WHQL drivers that are optimized for the Battlefield V open beta, but not just DICE's upcoming first-person shooter. The new 399.07 drivers are also optimized for F1 2018, Immortal: Unchained, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, Strange Brigade, and Switchblade.

Remember that Battlefield V will include NVIDIA's new RTX features in the game, with the new GeForce RTX 20 series providing real-time ray tracing abilities in the game. Ray tracing won't launch with the open beta but with the full game, something that we captured recently in Cologne, Germany during NVIDIA's Editor's Day 2018.

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Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition sold out, no more to be made

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 8:27 PM CDT

If you didn't get the Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition, you won't now... they're all sold out, and the company won't be making anymore.

Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition sold out, no more to be made

Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines has said that the company is ordering "as many as possible", but the Fallout 76 Power Armor Editions are now all sold out on their website. Hines took to Twitter, where he said: "We are making as many as possible and made all of them available. There's no way to make any more".

In a follow up tweet, Hines said: "They're not quick or easy to make. We got as many lines making them as possible in order to get them finished and assembled in time for launch. I'm sorry if you didn't get one".

Continue reading: Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition sold out, no more to be made (full post)

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to adapt Herculean myths

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 7:05 PM CDT

Ubisoft is keen on blurring history and myth together in its latest ancient Greece-set Assassin's Creed game.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to adapt Herculean myths

No game set in 5th century BC Greece would be complete without quests that take players into the heart of exotic myths. The Greek pantheon alone is so diverse and is accompanied by countless legends and stories, and it'd be a sin not to use everything possible to amplify the splendor and suffering of the historical period. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will leverage more than a few of these unique storied monsters like the fearsome gorgon Medusa or creatures straight out of Herakles' tales.

"Over the course of their Odyssey, players will encounter Legendary Animals, inspired by the Herculean myths including the Nemean Lion with impenetrable golden fur, the Lykaon Wolf, an evil beast cursed by the Gods themselves and Kallisto the bear, the angry mother of the Arcadians, to name a few," Ubisoft wrote in a recent Gamescom 2018 press release.

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Cyberpunk 2077 deep in development, still in playtest phase

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 5:42 PM CDT

On the heels of today's big 48 minute Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo, CD Projekt RED is careful to remind gamers that the huge project is still very much in deep stages of development and shouldn't be done any time soon.

Cyberpunk 2077 deep in development, still in playtest phase

While Cyberpunk 2077 is certainly looking stylish, smooth, and decidedly next-gen, CD Projekt RED is far from finished. The studio still has a lot of work ahead before the gritty neon-lit shooter is ready to meet its 2021 deadline, and game director and studio head Adam Badowski says the final product may be quite different than the demo.

"What we're releasing today was recorded from a game deep in development," Mr. Badowski said in a press release comment. "Since many of the assets and mechanics in the current version of Cyberpunk 2077 are most likely to be modified, we initially decided to show this gameplay only to media."

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Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay finally revealed

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 1:06 PM CDT

On the heels of its E3 2018 and Gamescom 2018 closed-doors demos, CD Projekt RED finally shows off gameplay for its massively anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 game..

Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay finally revealed

Ever since I started writing about Cyberpunk 2077 I always imagined what it'd look like. Everything I had read and reported on made CD Projekt RED's newest game out to be something big--much, much bigger than Geralt's legendary adventures, something beyond what series like Deus Ex could achieve. Now that I've seen official gameplay I'm even more excited than ever.

Today CDPR dropped a 48-minute gameplay demo for Cyberpunk 2077 that shows a number of different things, including combat, Night City's living, breathing worldscape and radiant NPCs, as well as some augmentation upgrades and dialog interactions. But mostly it showed off something we haven't seen up until now: the fruits of the developer's long, arduous labors.

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Xbox All Access won't cost the same for everyone

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 12:15 PM CDT

Microsoft today confirmed its new ambitious Xbox All Access program, which combines either an Xbox One S or Xbox One X system alongside online subscriptions for a low monthly rate. But not everyone may qualify or be eligible for the program's lower cost terms.

Xbox All Access won't cost the same for everyone

Microsoft's new program is credit financed via a Dell Preferred Account, whose terms and monthly payments depend on an applicant's creditworthiness. This means the better credit you have the less you'll pay per month. The official Xbox All Access page says the initiative "starts at $21.99 and $34.99 per month" with 0% APR for an Xbox One S and Xbox One X, respectively, but that's for only well-qualified consumers. However, it appears no one will pay any upfront costs.

The 0% APR offer for 24 months is only available until December 31, 2018 and is apparently only available to existing Dell Preferred Account users, according to the program's terms. For new accounts, APR rates are variable and can range from 19.24% to 29.99%, and your particular rate is based on your credit.

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Of course Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will have NewGame+ mode

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 27, 2018 12:05 PM CDT

Like its Hellene predecessor Origins, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will have a new game+ mode that allows users to keep playing long after they've beaten the main story. But then again this really shouldn't be a surprise.

Of course Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will have NewGame+ mode

When Ubisoft creative director Jonathan Dumont told Game Rant that yes, Odyssey will have a new game+ offering, and no, it won't be available at launch, both of these shouldn't be a big shock. It's absolutely welcome news to gamers everywhere, especially given Odyssey's branching RPG mechanics that will allow unique interactions and world-shifting events. Not only can we play Odyssey for longer but we can also take the paths we didn't take the first time around. This folds neatly into Ubisoft's current digital-first plan that ultimately wants gamers playing for as long as possible.

Like other major publishers, Ubisoft is banking strongly on engagement. But the French games-maker has found a unique way to mesh its live services into its singleplayer games by folding online-driven events and rotating quests into its games (look at AC: Origins and more recently Far Cry 5 as examples).

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