Latest News - Page 1355

The new Dead Space remake won't have any loading screens or microtransactions, the developers at EA Motive confirm.

EA Motive is exhuming Dead Space's grave, but instead of resurrecting a zombified corpse, the team is creating a whole new monster. The devs are building the Dead Space remake from the ground up on DICE's new next-gen Frostbite engine, which allows high-end optimizations like ray-traced reflections, 3D spatial audio, and eliminating loading zones via super-fast SSDs.

Motive Studios plans to leverage the engine and hardware to create the ultimate immersive horror experience. The end goal is to create a game you can't pull away and complete it in one sitting. This is a big departure for Electronic Arts, a company that makes billions every year on never-ending monetized online games, and clearly underlines the publisher's shift towards singleplayer games.

EA makes most of its yearly revenues from monetized sports juggernauts like FIFA and Madden NFL, but the publisher is starting to shift back towards singleplayer experiences.

Following the breakout success of games like Jedi: Fallen Order, and with established online anchors like FIFA, Madden, Apex, and Battlefield established, Electronic Arts now seems more open to singleplayer games. While the publisher's billion-dollar live games offerings aren't going anywhere, EA is now diversifying its portfolio across a spectrum of experiences. Live services no longer seem to be required for all of its games.

The publisher has a number of singleplayer-driven games currently in development, including a Dead Space remake. This one is actually a big example of EA's turnaround. EA Motive, the team behind the Dead Space remake, says they want to make a game so immersive that players will complete it in one sitting. EA typically never wants gamers to complete its games this fast--EA's $7-billion business is centered around never-ending play, engagement, and player retention.

It's happening. Dead Space is coming back as a full remake for next-gen console and PC hardware.

Today EA confirmed Dead Space is getting reborn with an ambitious new reboot. The remake has been built from the ground up in DICE's new next-gen Frostbite engine, so expect incredible 4K visuals, high frame rates, impressive lighting and shadow effects, and dramatically improved physics. EA Motive, the team behind Battle

The Dead Space franchise made a huge impact on the survival horror genre when it was released 12 years ago, and I came to Motive as a fan first to specifically work on this game," said Phillippe Ducharme, Senior Producer of Dead Space. "We have a passionate team at Motive who are approaching this remake as a love letter to the franchise. Going back to the original and having the opportunity to do so on next-gen consoles excited everyone on the team. As we look to modernize the game, we've reached out to dedicated fans and invited them to provide us with feedback since the early stages of production to deliver the Dead Space game they want and for new players to enjoy as well."

If you've been expecting GPU prices to come down because you're hearing your favorite TechTubers say prices will fall back down by the end of summer... sorry, but yeah that is "absolute BULLS**T" says Tom from Moore's Law is Dead, and I agree.

In the video at the 9-minute mark, Tom goes into detail that even if AMD were able to launch 500,000+ of its new Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards... and NVIDIA pushed out 1 million+ of its stockpiled GeForce RTX 3060 and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards that this still wouldn't satisfy demand.

According to his sources, there are well over 2 million PC gamers who are still itching to secure themselves a new Ampere or RDNA 2 graphics card. Tom continues that there would be 1/6 of the supply required, at most -- adding: "TechTubers only have 1 part of the picture, and these cards are coming -- and they are -- prices will go down slowly, but don't expect them to crash overnight".

AMD is about to launch its new mid-range RDNA 2-based GPU in the Radeon RX 6600 XT, but NVIDIA has a counter for that... and it's going to be big.

The new Radeon RX 6600 XT is expected to be priced at under $400, with YouTuber Tom from Moore's Law is Dead saying that he expects pricing somewhere between $349 and $379. Btu the thing is, NVIDIA has reportedly been stockpiling supplies of its GA106 GPU, the chip inside of the GeForce RTX 3060 -- for this very day.

NVIDIA knows that AMD is ready to launch the Radeon RX 6600 XT and the company doesn't even need to reply with a GPU launch... given that it reportedly has stockpiles of GA106 GPUs ready to unleash a tsunami of GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards to counter the Radeon RX 6600 XT.

NVIDIA made a big deal about its stance on crypto mining, and then gimped GPU drivers to hurt crypto mining... and then pushed out the LHR (Lite Hash Rate) series... but is it that big of a deal? It seems AIB partners don't give a sh*t.

In his latest video, Tom from Moore's Law is Dead has had sources reach out to him and say: "You know now that you mention it Tom, the overwhelming majority of our arriving [GeForce RTX] 3070 stock is non-LHR. Last week I thought this was just the last remaining stock... but now it's late July, and most of our arriving 3070s remain as non-LHR models. The majority of upcoming deliveries are non-LHR as well".

An anonymous AIB source said: "Keep in mind that we are buying these dies from NVIDIA, and they are different from the LHR dies. So NVIDIA has to be mindful of what is going on, and letting some AIBs drag their feet more than others. LHR might be the standard for every SKU eventually, but we (AIBs) are going to drag this process out if they let us..."

AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 architecture is still a long way away, it'll be interesting to see how AMD deploys its next-gen GPU architecture as it will be offered in MCD format -- or Multi-Compute Die.

MCD is similar to the MCM (Multi-Chip Module) design that NVIDIA will use with its next-gen Hopper GPU, and the chiplet-based technology AMD uses on its various Zen-based CPUs. The latest info on the next-gen RDNA 3 architecture is that Navi 31 will be an MCD (Multi-Compute Die) design and taping out "soon" according to leaker @KittyYYuko, with Navi 32 possibly taping out in Q2 2022.

AMD will be making multiple Navi 3X GPUs going forward, with Navi 31, Navi 32, and Navi 33 all teased. As for performance, we should expect the flagship RDNA 3 GPU in monolithic form -- which should take form with a Navi 33-based GPU -- to be somewhere in the 100%+ increase over the Radeon RX 6900 XT range.

Amazon's new game New World is still killing graphics cards across the planet, but now the problem is much more severe as it's not just exclusive to EVGA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra graphics card.

There are reports all over the place, with YouTuber JayzTwoCents throwing his two cents in -- I had to, I'm sorry -- where he's tweeted that he's had a multitude of GPU owners tell him that they've had shutdowns and failures when playing New World.

The graphics cards that he listed include the AMD Radeon RX 590, Radeon RX 6800, Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 6900 XT, and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. He added at the end that "So once again, the issue definitely is with SOMETHING in the way the game New World is rendering. This ISNT a 3090'exclusive issue! PERIOD!!"

Jade Raymond's new Montreal-based Haven Studios is described as a "well-capitalized startup" that's working on an online game.

A bit ago Sony announced it was partnering with Haven Studios, a new indie team made up of games industry vets like Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond. Haven is working on a new PlayStation-exclusive IP, and while official details are light, new job listings confirm the project will be an online game. This may corroborate recent reports the game will be an online games-as-a-service experience.

"Haven who are currently hard at work on their first new online project - an original, exclusive IP for Sony," the listing reads.

In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Assassin's Creed art director Raphael Lacoste leaves Ubisoft to join the original creator of the AC franchise.

After 16 years with Ubisoft and helping shape eight mainline Assassin's Creed games, artist Raphael Lacoste is leaving the publisher to reunite with Jade Raymond. The two worked together on 2006's original Assassin's Creed game, and while Lacoste stayed at Ubisoft, Raymond pursued other ventures. Now the two are converging at Raymond's new Haven studios--a Montreal-based independent studio that's making a new game for PlayStation.

"It is not without emotions I have to tell you that after 8 assassins, 16 years at Ubisoft I have decided to set sails on new adventures and challenges," Lacoste said on Twitter.

Valve confirms that the Steam Deck's specs will be enough to run the full Steam library at acceptable performance.

While Valve is still working on official Steam Deck compatibility for all Steam games, the company says the handheld-PC's custom AMD SoC and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM should have no issue running the full Steam games library. In a recent interview with IGN, Valve developers say the Steam Deck is running older and current-generation PC games released in 2021 without issues.

"All the games we wanted to be playable, it's really the whole Steam library there. We haven't really found something that this device couldn't handle yet," said Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Battlefield 2042's new mystery mode is a custom games creator with Battlefield 3, Battlefield 1942, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 2042 content.

Today DICE introduced Battlefield Portal, a new online tool that's been 10 years in the making. Portal is basically a playground that converges classic Battlefield games into a custom games platform where gamers can let loose and create some truly wacky experiences. It's custom games on steroids.

With BF Portal, gamers can mix and match weapons, content, modes, and maps from four mainline games, including 128-player carnage. The customization options are pretty crazy--you can have modern Battlefield 2042 guns, vehicles, and classes on classic BF 1942 maps, or old-school weapons in Battlefield 2042's crazy weather-breaking arenas.

Joe Rogan, the host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, has poked some fun at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos over the design of Blue Origin's rocket.

For those that don't know, Bezos recently took Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket to space along with three other crew members. The trip was a success and marked Blue Origin's first crewed trip to space. However, the achievement doesn't come without any jokes, and what better comedian to make the jokes than Joe Rogan.

Rogan posted an image of the Moon onto his Instagram, saying the following, "If you look close you can see the spot where Jeff Bezos plans to land his giant robot space dick and become the first man to jack off on the moon." Rogan is clearly poking some friendly fun at the "phallic" design choice of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. If you are interested in learning more about Blue Origin's trip to space with Bezos, check out this link here.

Researchers have announced that they have discovered multiple ancient viruses after testing a sample from a 15,000-year-old glacier.

According to the study, researchers took samples from the Guliya ice cap, a 15,000-year-old glacier located in China's Tibetan Plateau. The researchers found genetic codes for 33 different viruses, and of those 33 viruses, 28 of them have never been seen before.

Matthew Sullivan, a co-author of the study and a professor of microbiology at Ohio State, as well as the director of Ohio State's Center of Microbiome Science, said, "These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments - just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus is able to survive in extreme conditions."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has discussed if Tesla will ever accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for its electric vehicles.

Musk appeared at a cryptocurrency conference organized by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, where he answered questions regarding cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. Musk was asked if Tesla would accept Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, to which Musk said that if Bitcoin's renewable energy usage was at 50% of above, then Tesla "will most likely resume accepting Bitcoin".

Here's what Musk said, "It looks like bitcoin is shifting a lot more toward renewables and a bunch of heavy-duty coal plants that were being used...have been shut down, especially in China." Not long ago, Beijing started its crackdown on Bitcoin mining, which caused Bitcoin miners to flee to the United States to resume production with renewable energy in mind.

NASA has announced that the change in the Moon's orbit may cause a dramatic increase in the number of floods across the United States.

According to the space agency, over the next decade, it's expected that the Moon's change in orbit will cause an "increase in the number of floods On almost all continental beaches USA, Hawaii and Guam". The "wobble" from the Moon is expected. However, combined with climate change, the space agency says, "coastal cities all around the U.S. to begin a decade of dramatic increases in flood numbers".

The lead author on the study, Phil Thompson, who is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, said that it's the accumulated effect over time that will be what impacts the U.S. Thompson points out that it's hard to see small increases in high tide flood levels as a problem due to how little water it is when compared to something like a hurricane. However, "But if it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business can't keep operating with its parking lot under water. People lose their jobs because they can't get to work. Seeping cesspools become a public health issue." said Thompson.

A gender reveal party sparked a Southern California wildfire that killed a leader of an elite firefighting team.

Authorities announced on Tuesday that the couple has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty. CBS Los Angeles reports that the couple is facing up to 20 years behind bars if the court convicts them of their many charges. The wildfire was sparked on September 5 when the couple decided to have a baby gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa, at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.

According to Cal Fire, the wildfire was ignited by a "smoke generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party." The wildfire raged on for many weeks and was eventually put out on November 16 after it had burned 22,680 acres throughout the Oak Glen/Yucaipa Ridge area. On September 16, firefighters were caught in a remote area where they were cutting fire breaks. Unfortunately, Charlie Morton, the 39-year-old leader of the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Squad, was caught in the blaze and was killed.

NASA landed its new Mars rover named Perseverance in the Jezero Crater on February 18, and since then, the space agency has been preparing the rover to collect its first sample.

The first phase of the rover's mission began on June 1 when it explored a 1.5-square-mile patch of the Martian crater surface. NASA researchers believe this 1.5-square-mile patch may contain the craters' most ancient layers of bedrock. Recovering samples of bedrock from this area will happen within the next two weeks. With the samples, researchers will have the opportunity to learn more about Mars, how it came to be as it is today, and if life was ever present on the Red Planet.

NASA researchers understand that not every sample Perseverance collects will be done with the intention of trying to discover past life on the Red Planet. However, the geological knowledge that will be gained when the martian rocks are studied will assist researchers in developing a thorough understanding of the region, which are things "we'll desperately need to know if we find life once existed on Mars", according to Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley, of Caltech.

Creating an accurate map of Earth is quite a difficult task, but in 1999 a Japanese architect claimed to achieve what was thought to be impossible.

The Japanese architect is named Hajime Narukawa, and in 1999 he created what he claims to be the most accurate map of Earth ever created. The map, which is framed in a 2D rectangle, depicts all of the world's physical components and their relative sizes as accurately as possible. The map shows each of the continents around the world and the oceans separating them as true to their sizes as physically possible.

How was it created? Narukawa divided Earth in 96 triangles to create a tetrahedron, and as a result, the map was awarded the Good Design grand award back in 2016 from the Japanese ministry of international trade and industry that was founded in 1957. If you are interested in purchasing the map for yourself, it's currently available for purchase from Alexcious. If you are interested in reading more on this story, check out this link here.

Warner Bros. might have screwed Zack Snyder, but Netflix is embracing the director and his production company Stone Quarry Productions with a new first-look film deal.

The new two-year deal will see a sequel to Netflix exclusive Army of the Dead, with Army of the Dead 2 heading into production -- with Snyder heading back into the director's chair. Snyder also just signed a new deal with Netflix for his new sci-fi epic Rebel Moon, which falls under this new deal with Netflix.

Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter: "My goal and hope are to bring as much quality content as I can and do it on a giant scale. Big projects and big movies".