Latest Technology Content

Death Stranding has lots of gimmicks, and one of them is too humorous not to mention: Sam will punch the camera if you zoom in on his crotch too often.

Hideo Kojima showcased a ton of new Death Stranding content at Tokyo Game Show 2019, revealing story details, game mechanics, and a lot of little extras that give his new IP some serious character. Primarily based around outdoor exploration and survival in a world haunted by terrifying phantoms, the game has a surprising amount of levity and humor. The fetus tank babies (aka Bridge Babies), for one, have a sprightly personality, and for two, you can equip hats and even sunglasses on Sam for extra flair.

But the real fun comes with Death Stranding's recreational home base. It's basically an extremely high-tech futuristic apartment where Sam goes to chill out after carrying 10,000 boxes across the country. In this space you're a floating camera that can zoom around and check stuff out, from inspecting weapons to looking at your little collectibles, making it feel like the Normandy out of Mass Effect. You can even zoom in on Sam's junk...but only if you want to get knocked out.

Death Stranding has a very RPG-esque inventory management system, complete with a loadout framework similar to old Resident Evil games.

Thanks to a recent Tokyo Game Show 2019 info blowout, Death Stranding is getting a lot less mysterious. We've seen two extensive gameplay demos that showcase tons of content including exploration, third-person shooter combat, boss fights, hoverboards, and detailed story primers. Now we get a closer look at how Sam's inventory system works...and it's pretty familiar.

The latest TGS 2019 gameplay trailer shows off how this system works. Basically you have a finite amount of space in a grid-based plot to slap pouches and gear onto. Sam can store a number of things in specific pouches like grenade and ammo, and there's even blood packs to heal when low on health. There's a weight limit of course but this can be mitigated and raised with exo leg upgrades.

AMD is preparing its next-gen RDNA 2 architecture for a slew of new graphics cards next year, with the company using the newer 7nm+ node with new cards launching in 2H 2020.

We know to expect these cards to feature ray tracing support, as well as an industry source of mine telling me they'll be much higher-end cards than the RDNA-based RX 5700 series.

This move will see AMD on equal footing with NVIDIA's current GeForce RTX series in the RTX 2080 SUPER and flagship RTX 2080 Ti, but what about NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPUs expected in 2020? AMD will need RDNA 2 to be something quite special if it doesn't want to be an entire generation behind of NVIDIA's next-gen flagship.

Quick Takeaway:

• New Radeon card on the way
• RDNA 2 architecture
• Navi 10 successor (probably Navi 20)
• Ray tracing support
• Not GDDR6, possibly HBM2E
• HBM2E = revised standard, 8-Hi stack
• 8-Hi stack offers 920GB/sec up to insane 1.64TB/sec memory bandwidth
• Memory bandwidth = GOOD
• Crazy high-end will be server/HPC
• But new high-end Radeon could be a BEAST
• ETA = 2H 2020

A new Death Stranding trailer clearly outlines the game's plot and story arc, complete with little tidbits on specific characters.

Before the latest Death Stranding trailer dropped, we didn't know much about the actual plot. Things seemed nebulous and just plain weird. They definitely still are, but there's a lot more understanding this time. Death Stranding is a story about trying to re-connect a world fractured in two: one on side is the living world, on the other is the beach where the dead are stranded. The black tide rolls over into our world, bringing with it terrible abyssal horrors and imbuing people like the Man in the Golden Mask with bizarre powers.

So the world has been broken and everyone's scattered. As Sam Porter Bridges, players take on the mantle of re-uniting America, and the game will take players in a cross-country trek from East to West. There's a plan for this called the BRIDGES initiative that aims to bind the country back together, hearkening to Kojima's emphasis on connection. Sam has to try to knit the country into one, but some cities are independent still. There's even some snippets about the Homodaemons, a group of terrorists that reign over Edge Knot City and are commanded by the Man in the Golden Mask. There's definitely factions and some are more dangerous than others.

The next mainline Mega Man game is currently in development at Capcom, but we don't know which series it'll follow.

Capcom is working on a lot of things right now including next-gen titles. The company has been belting out hits left and right with games like Monster Hunter World, it's massively successful Iceborne expansion, Devil May Cry 5, and Resident Evil 2 Remake. Even with big sales of its golden hits, Capcom isn't giving up on franchises like Mega Man--far from it actually.

In a recent interview with 4Gamer, Mega Man producer Kazuhiro Tsuchyia confirmed a new blue bomber game is happening. It may not be Mega Man 12 though--the new game could follow any Mega Man series. Nothing's off the table, including older yesteryear games like the X and EXE series.

AMD is having a big show this year at IBC 2019, with their new EPYC 'Rome' CPU demolishing some world records in V-Ray and Cinebench.

The big surprise here would definitely have to be Cinebench R20, with dual AMD EPYC 7742 processors hitting a new world record with 31,913. A single EPYC 7742 has 64C/128T so the dual EPYC 7742 processor pack a huge 128C/256T.

Compared to the Xeon Platinum 8168 processor and its 48C/96T with its 16,536 -- the dual EPYC 7742 rig rips it to shreds with 31,913. Hell, the single AMD EPYC 7742 beats it with 20,645. If you look down the list, right down the list, an Intel Core i7-7700K scores 2420 to give you some perspective.

New Resident Evil: Project Resistance gameplay footage reveals tons of new details about the thrilling 4v1 online survival game.

The new Resident Evil multiplayer game is like a reverse Night Trap. Instead of trying to save people, you're trying to kill them in all sorts of creative ways. It's a 4v1 online PVP game where four survivors team up to take on the evil Mastermind, picking up items, solving puzzles, and generally smashing undead along the way. As the Mastermind you have all kinds of nifty tricks up your sleeve like summoning monsters like lickers or shambling flesh-eaters, setting up traps, locking doors, spawning turrets, and generally causing lots of mischief. The Mastermind is basically a demented D&D Dungeon Master.

Before now we didn't know a lot about the Mastermind. Capcom's Tokyo Game Show 2019 footage shows some awesome highlights. As the Mastermind, you can strategically place baddies across the map, and once they're spawned, you actually control the monsters you summon. That means you can play as zombies (but you can't play as the lickers). There's a balance though and you can't just summon willy-nilly.

Surprising absolutely no one, lootbox placeholders have been discovered in the new Modern Warfare beta test.

We all knew Call of Duty: Modern Warfare would be monetized. Activision makes billions ever year with the help of microtransactions (they made $7.5 billion in 2018, and $800 million from live services last quarter). Modern Warfare is the biggest game for Activison's brand this year, and they're banking hard on live services. And not surprising is the monetization avenue Activision will likely use: lootboxes.

Although the industry is taking a lot of heat from lootbox controversies right now, Activision still uses them to make money from randomized rewards in its biggest games. Now screenshots from the Modern Warfare beta show placeholders for lootboxes, but it's worth noting nothing's been 100% confirmed just yet. Infinity Ward has yet to announce anything and says they'll discuss monetization later down the line. Activision gave lots of clues for strong mTX in the past, though. The company says Modern Warfare will have the most post-launch DLC out of any game in the series' entire history.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has a neat little throwback to the 1997 RPG, but it's still an action game at the end of the day.

Square Enix showed off a bunch of new Final Fantasy 7 Remake footage at the Tokyo Game Show 2019, confirming new additions like the Classic Mode. Websites are treating the mode like it transforms the game into a turn-based RPG...but that's not entirely right. It's more like auto-battle than the original game's ATB system.

Classic Mode basically switches controlled characters over to AI autopilot. It's only half like 1997's Final Fantasy 7 and only lets gamers use commands when the ATB gauge is full. But combat is still in real-time and the AI-controlled party leader will block, dodge, and slash with combo attacks to fill up the ATB gauge. Players can jump in at any time to do special moves, use items, or summon monsters once the ATB gauge is full, but the automatic control won't be interrupted until it's turned off.

Thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Home Entertainment, we have ten Blu-ray copies of the new release action smash 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' to give away!

After gunning down a member of the High Table - the shadowy international assassin's guild - legendary hit man John Wick finds himself stripped of the organization's protective services. Now stuck with a $14 million bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through the streets of New York as he becomes the target of the world's most ruthless killers.

To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com and correctly answer the following question before the competition closes on 21 September.

As seen in the 'John Wick' series, name the fictional hotel chain that functions as a neutral territory for members of the criminal underworld.