Latest News - Page 1669

On the heels of Fortnite's big season 2 reveal, analyst firm SuperData notes a marked drop in digital revenues through January 2020.

Still a titan of the industry with $1.8 billion earned in 2019, Epic's battle royale sensation Fortnite kicked off 2020 with reduced revenues. The weight of Fortnite's earnings slide has pulled down the entire free-to-play console segment by 42%, analyst firm SuperData notes.

"Console spending was down a steep 42% in the free-to-play segment (due to lower Fortnite revenue) and down 19% in the premium space," the firm wrote in its recent January 2020 worldwide spending analysis.

Square Enix today confirmed Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be playable at its PAX East booth from February 27 - March 1.

While Sony pulls out of PAX East, other Asian devs like Square Enix are excited to show off their biggest games. Right now, it doesn't get much bigger then the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. A fully-fledged playable FF7R demo will be hosted on-site at PAX East in Boston, giving die-hard fans an opportunity to try out the re-imagined RPG with its new real-time hack-and-slash combat system. This will be the fifth major city to get access to the demo after key events like E3, Gamescom, and Tokyo Game Show.

The news could also strongly hint at Square Enix releasing the public PS4 demo soon. A bit ago, the Final Fantasy 7 demo was leaked out, revealing key info about the game including characters, animations, file size info, and of course the actual gameplay itself. Considering how close we are to release (the Remake is just 7 weeks away) it makes sense to release a demo shortly after PAX East's hands-on event.

Coronavirus scare prompts Sony to skip GDC 2020 and miss a valuable opportunity to court developers for its next-gen PlayStation 5 platform.

Sony has confirmed it won't be at this year's annual Game Developers Conference to protect employees from potential coronavirus exposure. The news comes days after Sony decided to likewise skip PAX East. But missing GDC is a much bigger deal, and could have a more significant impact on Sony's next-gen plans.

GDC is a closed developer-centric event where the biggest names in gaming like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo come together to showcase new tech, talk about platform features, and overall try to inspire developers to make games for their systems.

THQ Nordic now has a whopping 8 dozen games in development, and more than half of them are unannounced.

The Embracer Group (formerly THQ Nordic) is an absolute powerhouse of gaming that has potential to completely revitalize dormant IPs. The company, which has access to a treasure trove of franchises, currently has 96 total projects in its lineup and only 52 of them have been revealed. This is a pretty big jump over the 80 projects that were in development as of May 2019.

The company's recent buyout of World War Z developer Saber Interactive adds tons of opportunity to this games lineup. Saber brings 9 IPs over to Embracer's staggering arsenal, complete with 8 unannounced projects that're currently in development.

Call of Duty's new free-to-play Warzone battle royale will be a playground for 200 players, sources tell Video Game Chronicle.

Activision's new Warzone gametype for Modern Warfare is a big deal. The incoming battle royale mode will support 200 players on a map that's twice as big as Black Ops 4's Blackout BR, complete with free access on console on PC. Warzone will be both a standalone free-to-play download as well as baked right into premium Modern Warfare versions, and is expected to support cross-play on all platforms.

It represents years of planning it could be the biggest mechanism for engagement the publisher has ever seen, with potential to make tremendous revenues from in-game microtransactions.

CD Projekt RED just hit a huge milestone for The Witcher 3 sales on PC's biggest platform, and now gets to keep more revenue from every sale.

The Witcher 3's game sales now meet Steam's new revenue split criteria, allowing CD Projekt RED to keep 80% of every game purchase. The game has made more than $50 million in sales revenue since Valve pass a new earnings model, making the acclaimed RPG an even bigger asset for CDPR.

Back in October 2018, Valve announced a new earnings split that favorite high-selling games. If a game sells $10 million, devs get 75% of revenues, and at $50 million, devs keep 80%. The Witcher 3 is one such game and CD Projekt RED will henceforth retain 80% of every copy of The Witcher 3 sold.

It's always interesting when a company that makes one specific product decides to jump into a new market and manufacture something different. AOC is the company we are looking at today, as they will be diving headfirst into the peripheral market.

Kitguru was invited to check out AOC's latest monitors at an even held in London. Throughout the exhibition, they found a bunch of AOC keyboards and mice. AOC is originally a monitor manufacturer, but they will now be stepping into keyboards and mice. Firstly, we have the AGON GK500. This keyboard sports a detachable plastic wrist rest, RGB lighting, Outemu switches and comes it at the cost of $75 USD.

Moving onto the more higher-end keyboard, the AGON AGK700. This keyboard is much more expensive than the GK500 as it comes with Cheery MX Blue switches (Cherry MX Red coming soon), dedicated macro buttons, a plush leatherette wrist rest, and a dial at the top of the board. Both keyboards support AOC's new G-Tools software for customization purposes. The AGK700 comes it at a price of $161 USD.

Guy "Dr Disrespect" Beahm is expanding into other areas outside of his domination in the streaming game. Now, reports are coming out about the doc signing a deal for a comedic "memoir" to be published.

According to an exclusive report by Hollywood Reporter, the doc has signed a new deal with Gallery Books for a comedic "memoir" titled "Violence. Speed. Momentum. A Memoir by Dr Disrespect". The new book will feature "never-before-told-stories" of the docs incredibly popular character, and "what it's like being the greatest gamer in the history of the universe, and possibly the best overall human being."

Right now, the doc has amassed one of the biggest live streaming followings on the internet, with more than 4 million followers and regular-stream viewers of 20,000+ people, there's no wonder that he wants to branch out into new fields. Back in early December, it was announced that the doc would also be getting a TV show revealing how the doctor became the doctor, more on that story here.

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 icons will be getting a fresh coat of paint in the coming months ahead. Prepare for your Windows 10 icons to be updated!

Windows has taken to its blog to announced that Windows 10 icons will be evolved into some newer and fresh. Microsoft will begin the re-design with some built-in apps like Alarms & Clock, Calculator, Mail, and Calendar. The effort behind this re-design is to bring a new level of consistency and connection across all of Windows' icons.

The first apps that will get the fresh coat of paint will be Calendar and Mail. The updates for them have already rolled out to Windows Insiders, as updates from the Microsoft Store. Windows 10 users can expect the rest of the icon updates to follow over the course of a few months. If you are interested in checking out more information for what Microsoft has planned for Windows 10, check out this link here.

If you can't wait for the next-gen consoles and want to get your hands-on a sweet deal real soon, then Amazon has your back.

Right now, Amazon is running a deal for the most powerful PlayStation console, the PlayStation 4 Pro. At the moment, Amazon is selling the console for $299.98, which is 25% off of its original price of $399.99. If you can't do that math, it means Amazon is discounting the PS4 Pro by $100.01.

Now, if you don't want the full-size PS4 Pro, and would prefer picking up the slim version, Amazon has that discounted as well. The slim PS4 Pro was priced at $299.99 but is now going for $251.95. Amazon has slashed the slim price by 16%, equating to a $48.04 discount.

Modders love adding controversial aspects to the game just to see how far they can push the boundaries. Unfortunately, the games publishers don't really like that, and this is the case for the "Hot Coffee" mod.

Modders added the "Hot Coffee" mod to Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, which added a mini-game that allowed players to engage in animated sexual intercourse. These same modders decided to give Red Dead Redemption 2 the same treatment, enabling players to download and install the mod to have some "fun" in selected in-game locations.

Now, Take-Two Interactive, the publisher for Red Dead Redemption 2, is asking for the modders to take down the mod as it violates the games End User Licence Agreement and Code of Conduct. In response to this request, the modders said that the mod does not contain any nudity or nude models and only uses assets that are already present in the game's files. The full story can be read here.

A study has shined a new light on how traditional Western-style fast-food diets can lead to memory and brain deficiencies.

The new study was published in the Royal Society Open Science and has examined the effects of high-fat, high-sugar, and processed foods and how they affect cognitive ability. Researchers took 110 participants aged 20-33, who were generally healthy and split them into two groups. The first ate their normal healthy diets for a week, and the other was assigned a calorie-heavy Western-style diet filled with fast-foods.

At the start and end of the week, both groups were asked to rate how much they like sugary foods while eating breakfast. The participants were also asked to rate how much they wanted to continue eating them and were also given a memory test. Richard Stevenson, study co-author and psychology professor Macquarie University in Sydney, found that "After a week on a Western-style diet, palatable food such as snacks and chocolate becomes more desirable when you are full. This will make it harder to resist, leading you to eat more, which in turn generates more damage to the hippocampus and a vicious cycle of overeating."

Apple's new iPad Pro 2020 could feature a big improvement that would better align the new tablet against Samsung's Galaxy Note 10 range of smartphones -- as well as the recently-teased Galaxy Note 20 range of smartphones.

The big upgrade would come from the new Apple Pencil stylus for the new iPad Pro, where according to a patent discovered by AppleInsider, would pack haptic feedback, as well as the ability to detect how hard you're gripping the Pencil.

Not only that, but the upgraded Apple Pencil with its gripping detection would also usher in a new notification mode, where it would 'press' against your finger to 'poke' you. This is a cool touch, something I can definitely see being useful -- but seriously, how many people would need to have their Pencil 'poking' them to receive a notification. Weird flex Apple, but OK.

In a world that is now dominated by the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends, the grand daddy of battle royale in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds -- or PUBG, is still alive, and very much kicking.

The developers of PUBG have now announced cross party play functionality, which enables Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gamers to team up for a single party and play together. PC players are unfortunately left out of the loop for now, and can't play with their console friends in PUBG just yet.

PUBG's new cross party play feature is limited to the Public Test Server (PTS) right now, before the developer can iron out issues and insert it into the main game. PlayStation 4 gamers can find it in their "Purchased" section of their Library, while Xbox One gamers will discover it in their "My Games and Apps" menu, or the Microsoft Store.

Epic Games has just unleashed Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 2, introducing a slick new style into the game that feels so much like The Incredibles in its new trailer. Check it out:

The new season of Fortnite has a huge infusion of spies, where gamers will be able to choose a side: Ghost or Shadow, and then complete missions to "earn a battle pass variant" for each of the new characters. There are a bunch of new covert operatives for you to play in Fortnite, something that includes a human-cat hybrid called Meowscles, and a customizable Maya skin that can be morphed to look like any other player in the game.

If you finish the Challenge Table missions and other in-game requirements, Epic says that you'll get 1500 V-Bucks. Not only that, but Deadpool is featured in Fortnite's new chapter, with Epic adding that Deadpool is featured as the "secret" Battle Pass skin, and he will have his own unique set of challenges, too.

So, last night I'm chilling out watching the third season of The Handmaid's Tale (which is really great, I suggest you check it out) when my Samsung Galaxy Fold received a new notification to its Find My Mobile service. I crapped my pants quickly, as it simply said '1' but I ignored it.

But then I checked my Galaxy Note 10+ smartphone and it too said '1' and the same notification had popped up, so the poop in my pants got heavier. I waited 30-40 minutes and checked Twitter to discover that plenty of other people received the same notification, and then Samsung addressed it.

Samsung said that the notifications popped up on Galaxy smartphone users handsets after an internal test that went haywire, with the company taking to its official UK support account on Twitter to say the mistake "sent unintentionally during an internal test". Oops.

Samsung just finished launching its new Galaxy S20 range of smartphones, and while we've already been teased with the Galaxy Note 20 -- and again with a Galaxy Note 20 patent and its waterfall display teased, now we have some delicious new renders to share.

But now we have some renders of not just Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 20 -- but rather, the Galaxy Note 20, the Galaxy Note 20+, and the flagship Galaxy Note 20 Ultra smartphones. Considering that Samsung bakes in a gigantic 6.9-inch 120Hz display on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, I don't know how things could get any bigger at this point -- but that's what makes the Note series of phones awesome: gigantic displays.

WindowsUnited worked with YouTuber 'WazarKhanHD' on some gorgeous new concept renders, on how they think Samsung will design the new Galaxy Note 20 family of smartphones. At surface level, the new Galaxy Note 20 looks identical to the current Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ but when you turn it to the back you'll see they've used the rectangular-shaped camera array that Samsung baked into the Galaxy S20 family of smartphones.

Tesla shook the entire world when it unveiled its electric Cybertruck in late 2019, but since then we don't know how many orders Tesla Motors have received.

But now, according to the latest information from the Cybertruck Owners Club -- with information current to February 18, there are around 535,000 orders for Tesla's exciting new Cybertruck. This breaks down to 5873 orders per day, which is a pretty damn large amount of orders.

How does the Cybertruck Owners Club work out this information? Easy: it plays around with Tesla's own reservation numbering system which is easy to work out as members hare their Cybertruck reservation number. Cybertruck Owners Club explains: "Your order number is just a sequential number, starting at about 112744100 (the number that reservations began). So subtract that from your number for your (approximate) place in line".

AOC has just unveiled its new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor, rocking a huge 35-inch 21:9 panel with a native 3440 x 1440 resolution, super-smooth 200Hz refresh rate and NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultimate certification.

The new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor has the same display size, native resolution, refresh rate, and G-SYNC Ultimate goodness as the flagship ASUS ROG Swift PG35VQ which I reviewed, and loved. AOC's new AGON AG353UCG seems to be using the same panel, right down to the 1000 nits of brightness for HDR content, and 90% of the DCI-P3 color space.

AOC is using the same quantum dot technology as ASUS inside of its ROG Swift PG35VQ gaming monitor, so the differences here are going to be coming down to the price. At the time of writing, ASUS was selling its ROG Swift PG35VQ on Amazon for $2500 -- while the AOC Agon AG353UCG isn't available in the US right now but with a converted price we're looking at $2600.

HTC is on a roll today, unveiling their new prototype Vive Proton headset -- but also detailing 3 new versions of its Vive Cosmos VR family of headsets.

The new VR headsets that HTC unveiled at the Vive Cosmos Play, Vive Cosmos Elite, and Vive Cosmos VR -- each of these headsets will join the Vive Cosmos family. Each of the new Vive Cosmos headsets have the same make up as the original Cosmos, including the flip-up, head-mounted design, 1440 x 1700 resolution LCD displays with hardware IPD adjustment, and more.

Vive Cosmos Play - $500