Latest News - Page 1493

EA could be the new home of Codemasters as the publisher ousted Take-Two's huge $900 million acquisition offer.

A month ago, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive offered to pay $973 million in stock and cash to buy Codemasters, the developer behind racing games like Project Cars, DiRT, annual F1 games, and GRID. Now EA has stepped in and outbid Take-Two's sizable buyout offer.

Sources tell Sky News that EA has made a buyout offer and is currently working with brokers at UBS to layout specific financing terms. The deal hasn't been made public, and EA's SEC filings haven't been updated with any information on the potential buyout.

PlayStation support is reportedly offering full game refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4, so if you're upset you may want to call them.

Cyberpunk 2077 is suffering from terrible performance on base PS4 and Xbox One, strongly indicating the game should've either been delayed or made exclusive to next-gen consoles. The game can drop as low as 15FPS on base PS4 systems, but maintains a somewhat solid 30FPS on PS4 Pro. Cyberpunk 2077 can hit 60FPS on PS5, and on Xbox Series X it benefits from a performance and a quality mode.

PC is the best place play, but even on PC there's tons of bugs. PS4 buyers aren't happy with Cyberpunk 2077's dismal performance on the lower-end hardware and the game has been review-bombed on Metacritic. According to a number of users on Reddit, Sony is stepping in and offering refunds.

Google has released its new Google Trends data for 2020, showing the world what Americans were searching for in the US -- as well as what was the most-searched globally in 2020.

The results reveal that the US election results and coronavirus were the two most-searched for things in not just the US, but globally -- meanwhile the PlayStation 5 was the most-searched for when it comes to 'Where to buy' -- beating out 'where to buy toilet paper' and 'where to buy face masks'.

The fourth highest 'where to buy' search was for the Xbox Series X, while the fifth highest was hand sanitizer. So we're looking at wiping your butt, buying a face mask or hand sanitizer mixed in with next-gen consoles for the most-searched 'where to buy' in Google Trends.

Intel released its Celeron D 347 back in 2006 on the now ancient 65nm node -- with no ridiculous amount of +++ after it, a processor with a base CPU frequency of 3.06GHz.

But in the world of overclocking, everything is up to being pushed to its limits and put on the leaderboards -- and that's exactly what Chinese overclocked ivanqu0208 did with an Intel Celeron D 347 -- pushing it up to a huge 8.36GHz under LN2 cooling.

He used an ASUS P5E64 WS Professional motherboard, a single 2GB stick of DDR3 memory and over-the-top LN2 cooling to keep the Intel Celeron D 347 as cool as possible. Windows XP was used as the operating system, with the 14-year-old Celeron D 347 being overclocked to 8362.21MHz-- but this wasn't enough to beat the world record for the Celeron D 347 which is held by Chinese overclocker wytiwx back in 2013 of 8516.17MHz.

J.J. Abrams' production company has just announced it is launching a new in-house game development studio, with the introduction of Bad Robot Games.

Bad Robot Games will have Michael Booth as the general manager, with Booth previously at Valve, Blizzard, EA/Westwood, and the founder of Turtle Rock Studio. Booth has been the project lead of some big games including being the creator and lead designer behind Left 4 Dead.

Back in September 2019, Abrams signed a $250 million deal with WarnerMedia that would include new movies, digital content, original TV shows and movies, as well as video games. It seems we're seeing the next stages in that, with Bad Robot Games starting to acquire talent.

We know that Cyberpunk 2077 runs like junk on the base PS4 console dropping to 15FPS at times, but how about the Xbox One S? Yep -- the same, check it out:

The side-by-side comparison of Cyberpunk 2077 running on an Xbox One S and Xbox Series S console was made by Wccftech, with a great 5-minute 45-second comparison of the game running on the two consoles. Remember that Cyberpunk 2077 on the Xbox Series S is just running the Xbox One S/X version of the game.

Back in January 2020 we wrote that CD PROJEKT RED was having issues optimizing Cyberpunk 2077 for current-gen consoles, especially the base Xbox One and PS4. It seems nothing improved on that, but that's not surprising given Cyberpunk 2077 is a next-gen game playing on a potato box like the original Xbox One/S and PS4.

Cyberpunk 2077 takes up 101.9GB of space on the PlayStation 4, and if you have a next-gen console, your space is even more limited.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a big game. The physical version comes on two discs and it clocks in at ~70GB at launch, but that quickly skyrockets to 101GB after the day one update. Cyberpunk 2077 joins the ranks of storage-hungry games like Red Dead Redemption 2 (100GB+) and Black Ops Cold War, which requires a staggering 145.8GB on the PS5 without Warzone installed.

CDPR's new FPS-RPG is best played on PC, but if you have to play on console, you want to do it on PS5 to hit 60FPS and not the PS4 or PS4 Pro--the former of which drops as low as 15FPS and the latter is capped out at 30FPS. There's just one problem: The PS5's SSD space is limited. Luckily Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't load tremendously faster on PS5 (about 44% faster with saves loading in 24 seconds) so you can pop CP2077 on an external HDD and play it on the PS5 that way.

Origin PC has a really slick retro gaming PC on its hands with a new limited edition rig called the RestoMod, which is a new PC built into a custom Corsair 4000D case -- but very retro, very 90s styled.

The basic model will cost you just over $2000 and include the custom Corsair 4000D case styled as a retro 90s beige PC tower -- including a fake CD-ROM drive, fake floppy drives, and a fake turbo button. Inside, you have a window panel to let you look into your gaming PC -- so retro on the outside, new school to look inside with your new components... nice.

As for the components inside of the Origin RestoMod you'll get an Intel Core i5-10400 processor, 16GB of RAM, 250GB storage, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card.

Tesla has announced that it will be shutting down of its higher-end EVs in the Model X and Model S for 18 days, with production re-starting on January 11, 2021.

CNBC has the news with an internal Tesla email stating the news, with the company noting in another email that demand for its cars was "quite a bit higher" than supply for the quarter -- with lots of sales of the cheaper Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Tesla workers receive a full week pay, a few paid holidays and "limited paid opportunities" to work in other teams within the company. Once it's all said and done there will be 5 unpaid days for Tesla workers who can't find other work inside the company, or use their own time off.

We all know that the future is going to be space and exploring other planets, with the likes of SpaceX and Elon Musk having lofty goals of settling on Mars. But how do we make that space travel faster? Well, a Solar System "superhighway" network of routes'll do.

Researchers have discovered the new Solar System "superhighway" network of routes that would see future probes and spacecraft getting to their destinations much faster. The scientists found the "superhighway" network of routes by "gathering numerical data about millions of orbits in our Solar System and computing how these orbits fit within already-known space manifolds".

The team continued: "The results need to be studied further, both to determine how they could be used by spacecraft, or how such manifolds behave in the vicinity of the Earth, controlling the asteroid and meteorite encounters, as well as the growing population of artificial man-made objects in the Earth-Moon system".

Cyberpunk 2077 runs poorly on base PlayStation 4 consoles and can drop to as low as 15FPS. Luckily the game is drastically improved on the PlayStation 5.

Cyberpunk 2077 is capped at 30FPS on the base PS4, but can maintain 60FPS on the PS5 along with more favorable dynamic resolution scaling. A new video from Digital Foundry shows how radically different Cyberpunk 2077 can run on the PS5 thanks to the console's built-in boost mode. As is the case for many games, the PS5 automatically adjusts CP2077 to push the PS4 Pro profile settings to the max. Dynamic resolution scaling variables are pushed between 972p - 1188p which are upscaled to fit 1080p and 4K resolution displays. This scaling allows Cyberpunk 2077 to hit 60FPS on the PS5.

The boosted FPS takes away from other parts of the game, though. Population density in Night City is reduced on PS4 Pro/PS5 when running at 60FPS. Heavy use of temporal anti-aliasing and film grain make for blurry graphics, too.

The character of Johnny Silverhand is huge in Cyberpunk 2077, played by The Matrix and John Wick star Keanu Reeves -- who rocks a bionic arm in the game. Well, a Johnny Silverhand-themed arm is being turned into a reality.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD PROJEKT RED teamed with both Xbox and non-profit Limbitless Solutions where Johnny Silverhand-themed prosthetic arms will be donated starting next year. Johnny Silverhand is being dragged into the real-world with the prosthetic arm.

Limbitless Solutions is a small non-profit outfit that used new techniques and technologies, and many, many hours into the Johnny Silverhand-themed prosthetic arm. The arm will be made for adults and children, and will let them grip objects and do some limited gestures. The big takeaway here is that Limbitless Solutions is aiming for the cheaper side of the prosthetic market, making them accessible to a much wider market that is in need.

Cyberpunk 2077 really is the new Crysis in terms of the fact you need some of the world's fastest hardware to dream of running at 4K 60FPS -- but what about a Zen 2-powered AMD Renoir APU?

That's what the Aya Neo is powered by -- the AMD Renoir chip which is powered by a Ryzen 5 4500U APU (Zen 2 silicon on 7nm). The new Aya Neo is a handheld console that packs a 7-inch 1280 x 800 resolution IPS-based panel and a 6C/6T processor (Ryzen 5 4500U) at 4GHz.

GPU wise we have an AMD Radeon Vega 6 at 1.5GHz running the show, with 512GB/1TB of storage and a 650g weight and costs around $600. Not bad considering the Aya Neo console can run a game like Cyberpunk 2077 at 30-35FPS at 1280 x 800 -- that's about the range of the base line PS4 and Xbox One consoles which can barely run the game at 720/900p at 20-30FPS -- the base PS4 drops to 720p at 15FPS running Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 is tough enough as it is to run, with my Core i9-9900K + GeForce RTX 3090 system at 4K with ray tracing maxed and DLSS on 'Performance' sitting at around 50-60FPS.

But what about Linux?

Well, ProtonDB -- a community-driven database that is dedicated to software, says Cyberpunk 2077 is playable on Linux but it has various audio and graphical issues. Valve developers have been working on their Proton software, which acts as a compatibility layer allowing Linux operating systems to run DirectX games through Steam.

PowerColor has just unleashed what could be the Big Daddy of all Big Navi graphics cards, with the introduction of the new Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil Limited Edition graphics card. Check it out:

The new PowerColor Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil Limited Edition is a gigantic, devil-ish looking triple-slot, triple-fan behemoth. It has triple 8-pin PCIe power connectors which PowerColor says are good to draw a huge 480W from the card -- a 900W PSU is recommended.

PowerColor's new Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil Limited Edition includes different packaging than the non-Limited Edition, with some awesome custom PowerColor keycaps included. As for GPU clocks we're looking at 2105/2340MHz game and boost GPU clock while PowerCOLOR has a SILENT setting at 2015/2250MHz (AMD RX 6900 XT reference) clocks.

Facebook is currently battling multiple lawsuits from government officials. The US Federal Trade Commission is going after the social network giant for monopolistic practices. Meanwhile, this week, the German Federal Cartel Office "initiated abuse proceedings" against Facebook for the second time.

The FTC announced on Wednesday that it is going after Facebook for "illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct." The FTC alleges that Facebook's business practices involving the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, which dates to 2012 and 2014, respectively, is illegal. The government is threatening to break up the company as a result.

XFX has just unveiled its new Radeon RX 6900 XT Speedster MERC 319 graphics card, a new custom take on the Biggest Navi in the RX 6900 XT.

It looks virtually identical to the XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster MERC 319 that I just reviewed, but it packs a lower-clocked GPU at 2340MHz versus 2360MHz on the RX 6800 XT Speedster MERC 319. We should expect some great overclocking out of this card, at least I hope -- helping out with the full Navi 21 XTX GPU and its 5120 Stream Processors.

XFX is giving gamers a dual BIOS switch on the card, and something I love to see -- only dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors required, versus the now more traditional (for custom RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT) cards with 3 x 8-pin PCIe connectors.

GIGABYTE has unveiled its new Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING OC graphics card, a new custom RX 6900 XT that features a triple-fan cooler and 3-slot design. Check it out:

We don't know the clock speeds of GIGABYTE's new custom Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING OC graphics card, but we do know that it should be a little better than the reference AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT -- which battles the GeForce RTX 3090 and costs $500 less.

GIGABYTE goes a little different here with its display connectivity on the Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING OC graphics card, offering up 2 x DP 1.4 and 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports.

The Game Awards were huge this year, with trailers for a bunch of new games -- one of which was a sequel to Ark: Survival Evolved. Introducing Ark 2 starring Vin Diesel:

Yeah, Fast & Furious legend Vin Diesel stars in Ark 2 -- but we don't know much about it outside of this trailer. Ark developer Studio Wildcard has said that Vin Diesel stars as Santiago in Ark II, but also announced the new Ark: The Animated Series which stars some gigantic names from Hollywood.

We're talking about The Boys star Karl Urban, a favorite of mine from Man of Steel and fellow Australian with Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, David Tennant, Jeffrey Wright, Alan Tudyk, Malcolm McDowell, and many more. Ark: The Animated Series will explore Helena's story.

Cyberpunk 2077 is being enjoyed by millions of gamers right now -- myself included, with a new appearance of the 2058 Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech in Forza Horizon 4.

The new 2058 Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech entry into Forza Horizon 4 is totally free -- but you've got to earn it. You'll need to compete head-to-head in the "NightCity.exe" race, which is a cool way of giving you the car. The trailer looks delicious in 4K and so does the 2058 Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech.