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PlayStation 5 will respect your time thanks to ultra-fast SSD and OS
One of the PlayStation 5's biggest goals is not to waste player's time, and the console's ultra-fast SSD and OS are the keys to making this happen.
Sony isn't just targeting speed with the PS5. It's also targeting access through control. Users will have more control than ever before to plot out their gameplay sessions on-the-fly rather than having to reserve a whole weekend to a specific game. The PS5 will be transparent about how long specific levels, activities, and more take to complete. The console's OS will apparently have on-screen interfaces that calculate average play times for certain in-game levels based on real-time data from players connected online. The idea is to let consumers jump into a game instantly, play a few levels, and then save their sessions without any headache.
This feature was outlined in a recent Sony patent, which effectively revolutionizes save states with a new instant access feature. This feature also includes on-screen estimates on playtime require for completing activities.
Continue reading: PlayStation 5 will respect your time thanks to ultra-fast SSD and OS (full post)
Experts say coronavirus could force large scale 'internet rationing'
It appears the havoc that COVID-19 coronavirus is causing on the world is not limited to just forcing us all inside in a global lockdown, but it is wrecking havoc on the internet, too.
Major internet services like Netflix and YouTube are having to reduce the quality of their streaming resolutions to keep up with the massive uptick in demand, with hundreds of millions of people stuck inside their homes. But now, experts in European countries are predicting we'll see large-scale "internet rationing" that would prioritize things like health and emergency services, as well as online education over everything else.
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly, told The Telegraph: "If we end up in a situation where worldwide, 850m children start to receive lessons virtually for an extended period of time, then networks might want to start prioritizing video traffic over gaming traffic".
Continue reading: Experts say coronavirus could force large scale 'internet rationing' (full post)
Doom Eternal's photo mode makes for epic screenshot captures
Doom Eternal has a built-in photo mode that lets you capture your ultra-grisly mayhem in a nice little scrapbook for later viewing.
Every game should have a photo mode, and damn are we glad Doom Eternal has one. I honestly didn't mess around with the photo mode too much before our review went live, but there's a big reason for that. You can't actually use the photo mode on a level until you've beaten it all the way through. This is pretty frustrating but I guess it's understandable. id probably wants your attention focused squarely on the business at hand--the brutal, bloody, and ultra-violent business of ripping apart demons.
The photo mode lets you change Doom Slayer's pose, his cosmetic skins, lets you adjust FOV and roll the camera while pulling out in a third-person view (you can actually force the game to run in third-person natively with console commands, but more on that later) and doing various zooms. You can access the photo mode by pressing the Right ALT button, but remember, you have to beat the level first before you can use it.
Continue reading: Doom Eternal's photo mode makes for epic screenshot captures (full post)
Exploring Doom Eternal's hidden noclip mode
Classic console commands return in Doom Eternal, but they're not unlocked right away. We take a closer look at noclip to explore the glitchy otherworld of textures, lighting effects, and developer tricks found in Doom Eternal.
Like every Doom game, Doom Eternal lets gamers access a console prompt on PC. The difference is that most of Doom Eternal's commands are locked and require a workaround to access. We'll have a tutorial on that soon, but for now, let's take a look at one of best commands of all time: Noclip.
In our video we took a look at seven of the game's campaign levels including Nekravol, Urdak, Teras Nabad, Sentinel Prime, Doom Hunter Base, Super Gore Nest, and Icon of Sin. We stuck mostly to the beginning parts of the levels so there's a lot left out, but it's still a fascinating look at how games are held together. There's flat two-dimensional textures posted up in the far distance to simulate hulking statues, global illumination effects that shift as you roam through different cells, lots of half-loaded textures and visuals, and generally glitchy areas.
Continue reading: Exploring Doom Eternal's hidden noclip mode (full post)
If you break your Switch during quarantine, Nintendo won't repair it
As stores, malls, stadiums, and pretty much everything else closes down across the globe to curb coronavirus spread, so too are Nintendo's hardware repair centers.
If your Switch gets broken during quarantine, then it'll stay broken unless you fix it yourself (don't try this unless you're really sure what you're doing). Nintendo announces that it's temporarily shut down its repair facilities in North America to protect its workers from the dire COVID-19 health crisis.
So what if you've already sent your Switch or JoyCons in to get repaired? Nintendo outlines one of two options. Either you'll get your hardware sent back to you, or Nintendo will store it in their warehouse facilities for safe keeping until the quarantine blows over. No one knows when that'll be, so you could be out of a Switch for a while.
Continue reading: If you break your Switch during quarantine, Nintendo won't repair it (full post)
AFL Evolution 2 releases early to combat coronavirus woes
AFL Evolution 2 is coming sooner than expected, and will now arrive a week early on April 16 on PS4 and Xbox One, Developer Wicked Witch confirms.
The Australian Football League needs a win right now. Like other sports leagues around the world, the AFL has suspended seasons amid the coronavirus outbreak. But we have some good news: Aussies will soon be able to make their own leagues when AFL Evolution 2 launches in April.
"As you know, the current COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on everyone and we all have to play a part in helping containment. We have been listening to your pleas for an earlier release for AFL Evolution 2 to help fill the current sporting void and have worked hard to try and make that happen," the developer said in a statement.
Continue reading: AFL Evolution 2 releases early to combat coronavirus woes (full post)
Fallout 76's Steam launch delayed a week due to coronavirus disruption
Fallout 76's massively ambitious new NPC-adding Wastelanders expansion won't release on April 7, and has been pushed back a week to April 14. This is the second time Wastelanders has been delayed.
Fallout 76's much-needed game-changing facelift is coming later than expected. Wastelanders, a free mega-expansion that adds human NPCs, factions, and singleplayer-like instanced areas, has been delayed seven days due to coronavirus disruption. The Steam release has also been delayed to April 14, too.
The issue is devs have to work from home and don't have direct access to each other, or certain tech in the offices. The health crisis has made it harder for Bethesda to not only develop the expansion, but also to test it out before it goes live. As we've seen from Fallout 76's rather drab launch in 2018, the game always needs as much testing as it can get.
Continue reading: Fallout 76's Steam launch delayed a week due to coronavirus disruption (full post)
Crazy 90s SEGA mascot Segata Sanshiro passes torch to his son
Remember Segata Sanshiro? If you don't check this out. We'll wait. Back with us? The legendary ass-kicker is back to heckle you into playing SEGA 24/7. Well, kind of. In spirit anyway. Segata Sanshiro's real-life son is taking over the gi and is now SEGA Japan's new mascot.
There was nothing like Segata Sanshiro, and there's been nothing like him since. He was a total byproduct of the times, an extreme 90s mascot that'd just as soon Judo throw your 12 year old kid for not playing SEGA all day long. But Hiroshi Fujioka, the Kamen Rider actor who played Segata, is getting old these days. That's why his son, Maito Fujioka, is taking the lead.
SEGA revealed the new Segata Sanshiro successor as part of its huge 60th anniversary celebration. Maito Fujioka is a lot more...tame than his father and there's a lot of awkward weirdness in the reveal footage. But hey, it's Japan, and it's SEGA, so things are bound to get weird.
Continue reading: Crazy 90s SEGA mascot Segata Sanshiro passes torch to his son (full post)
Remedy teases HUGE next-gen PS5, Xbox Series X games
Remedy is working on something big for next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles, as well as PC.
Control, our favorite game of 2019, was just the beginning. Remedy has just signed a huge multi-year deal with Epic Games to publish two new multiplatform titles on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC: a smaller-scale game that's like related to its new live service Vanguard team, and a substantially ambitious new AAA game set in a fresh IP. The studio now owns both publishing and IP rights for the Alan Wake franchise (hint hint).
"We're working on something exciting, something big. With Epic Games as our publisher, we have incredible resources and full creative freedom. Thrilled about this opportunity. That said, for now that's all I can tell you," Remedy's Sam Lake said.
Continue reading: Remedy teases HUGE next-gen PS5, Xbox Series X games (full post)
US Space Force launched its first national security mission
The US Space Force is about to launch its first National Security Mission. The mission will put a next-gen military communications satellite in orbit.
The satellite is a Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-6), and will be launching into orbit on the back of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. According to Lockheed Martin, the satellite will provide "vastly improved global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms."
The AEHF-6 satellite will orbit Earth at about 22,200 miles above the planet and will be providing vital information to the US military force, as well as international partners such as Canada, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The AEHF-6 is one of six satellites that are currently circling Earth; the first five were launched in August 2010, May 2012, September 2013, October 2018 and August 2019. If you are interested in more information regarding the satellite, check out this link here.
Continue reading: US Space Force launched its first national security mission (full post)
Folding@Home hits ExaFLOP: one quintillion plus operations per second
The Folding@Home project has now reached a new power level, as both the public and companies have given their spare compute power to the project in an attempt to combat the coronavirus COVID-19.
If you don't know what Folding@Home is, it's a project run by Stanford University that allows the public to donate spare GPU/CPU compute power into a single force to be reckoned with. Just last week, Folding@Home received donated compute power from more than 400,000 volunteers, bringing its power level to an astonishing 470 petaFLOPS of computing performance.
To put that number into context, the world's most powerful supercomputer, IBM's 'Summit' has a peak compute of 200 petaFLOPS. Now, a recent announcement from the Folding@Home Twitter page has revealed that the project has hit another milestone - "Thanks to our AMAZING community, we've crossed the exaFLOP barrier! That's over a 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second making us ~10x faster than the IBM Summit!" In fact, according to the stat page for Folding@Home, the project has crossed over to 1.5 ExaFLOPS, or 1,500,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second. The power of Folding@Home is being aimed directly at uncovering the mysteries of the coronavirus COVID-19.
Continue reading: Folding@Home hits ExaFLOP: one quintillion plus operations per second (full post)
2K to bring 3 beloved franchises over to the Nintendo Switch this May
Nintendo has just closed out its Nintendo Direct Mini, and throughout the presentation, it was revealed that Nintendo Switch users would be getting some classic 2K franchises to enjoy.
Nintendo has confirmed that they will be bringing three massive franchises from 2K games over to the Nintendo Switch. Those franchises are none other than all three of the remastered BioShock games; BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered all apart of BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition. This marks the first time BioShock has been playable on the handheld console, and it is no doubt a welcomed surprise for Nintendo Switch users.
2K and Nintendo have also confirmed that XCOM 2 Collection, which contains XCOM 2, four DLC packs, and the War of the Chosen expansion, will also be arriving on the Nintendo Switch. The final franchise might be the one everyone is excited for - Borderlands Legendary Collection. Yep, that's right. Borderlands is heading over to the Nintendo Switch. The Legendary Collection contains the following titles; Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. All three 2K franchises will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch on May 29th.
Continue reading: 2K to bring 3 beloved franchises over to the Nintendo Switch this May (full post)
AMD: someone stole our graphics IP, demands $100 million in ransom
AMD has announced that a hacker has stolen some of its graphics IP, and is demanding that the company pay them $100 million for its return.
Back in December 2019, the company says it was contacted by someone who said they had access to "test files" for AMD's current, and future graphics products. A handful of these GPU "test files" were then uploaded to the graphics forum GitHub, but AMD quickly reacted and slapped it with a DCMA takedown notice.
No, the AMD GPU IP leak cannot be used as a source code to build, and deisgn some custom RDNA graphics solution -- don't go expecting that at all. It can't be used to build products, it can't be used to reverse engineer a Radeon GPU design, or anything close to that.
Continue reading: AMD: someone stole our graphics IP, demands $100 million in ransom (full post)
Epic Games' new publishing arm transforms the games industry
Not content with challenging Steam's reign, Epic Games is now taking on titans like EA and Take-Two with its own games publishing division.
Epic Games today made a megaton announcement: The Fortnite giant will start publishing games from indie studios. And no, they won't be exclusive to the Epic Store on PC--they'll be multi-platform games.
The initiative begins with new projects from Remedy Entertainment, Playdead, and Gen Design. These new games will be 100% funded by Epic's Fortnite billions, and the company isn't making devs surrender rights to their IPs. Epic wants to shake-up the industry and disrupt the status quo on games publishing, and has a radical idea of giving developers 50% of the earnings. For contrast, Remedy only earns 45% of every copy of Control sold.
Continue reading: Epic Games' new publishing arm transforms the games industry (full post)
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland to release new series May 8
The creator behind Rick and Morty have teased a brand new show 'Solar Opposites', which will be released on Hulu on the 8th of May.
The above teaser has been released on the official Hulu YouTube channel and introduces viewers to a family of aliens who is attempting to integrate onto a strange new world called 'Earth'. The new Hulu series is from co-creator of Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, and judging from the trailer, if you like Rick and Morty, you will definitely like Solar Opposites when it releases.
The comedy seems extremely similar, and even some of the characters remind me of Rick, Morty, Summer, Jerry, and Beth. The teaser trailer says that Solar Opposites will include the following; man caves, recreational drugs, bullying, animal rights, zombie teenagers, magicians, black holes, gooblers, and the pupa. All of what was just mentioned feels like its a random channel on inter-dimensional cable in an episode of Rick and Morty. All episodes of Solar Opposites will release on Hulu on the 8th of May.
Continue reading: Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland to release new series May 8 (full post)
Half-Life: Alyx update: many fixes, and new 'Continuous Turn' option
Valve unleashed Half-Life: Alyx on March 23 and it quickly became the best gaming experience I've ever had, it also became the #1 most-played game on VR on its launch day.
But now Valve has pushed out the first update to Half-Life: Alyx with v1.1, which fixes a bunch of stuff in the game and adds a new "Continuous Turn" option. The new Continuous Turn option is closer to how Boneworks reacts to turning, which is what some people prefer over Half-Life: Alyx and its 3 options of movement in VR.
Valve has now renamed Quick Turn to Snap Turn, which the developer says "to make its functionality clearer". There are some other fixes that Valve has done to Half-Life: Alyx with its v1.1 patch, which I've got listed below:
Continue reading: Half-Life: Alyx update: many fixes, and new 'Continuous Turn' option (full post)
Plague Inc. updated: new mode lets you STOP the virus from spreading
Ndemic Creations has been enjoying the explosive popularity of its disease outbreak management simulation Plague Inc., where you design a disease and try to infect, and kill, as many people on the planet as possible.
Yeah well, that's not going down so well right now with the current coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and its worldwide hysteria. So, the developer has pushed out an update that adds a new mode that lets you do the opposite: save the world. Ndemic Creations is working hand-in-hand (from a safe social distance I hope) with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, and other groups on creating an "informative experience".
The developer is also donating $250,000 towards fighting the coronavirus outbreak, where the money will be split between the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Continue reading: Plague Inc. updated: new mode lets you STOP the virus from spreading (full post)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080: August 2020 reveal, launch at Computex 2020
NVIDIA was all systems go for its Ampere GPU architecture (which I exclusively unveiled all the way back in April 2018) unveiling at its own GPU Technology Conference (GTC) last week, but it was canceled over the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. This meant the Ampere announcement was also delayed.
But now Bloomberg's Tai Kim has written a new article titled 'NVIDIA's Biggest Pleasant Surprise May Be Yet to Come', where he goes into the fact that NVIDIA is kinda flourishing over the coronavirus outbreak. In positive news about coronavirus, more gamers are at home, and more games are being played right now than pretty much ever before in the history of gaming.
NVIDIA's gaming segment (GeForce graphics cards) represents close to half of its revenue, so with more gamers playing games at home that is only a good thing for NVIDIA. Kim writes that NVIDIA management said they've seen a 50% surge in "total gaming hours from its installed base as many students and workers were staying-at-home".
Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080: August 2020 reveal, launch at Computex 2020 (full post)
NVIDIA sees 50% surge in total gaming hours from its GeForce owners
There are more gamers sitting at home right now than ever before in the history of gaming, and NVIDIA is noticing that trend -- and benefiting from it now, and will do so even more in the future.
But now Bloomberg's Tai Kim has written a new article titled 'NVIDIA's Biggest Pleasant Surprise May Be Yet to Come', where he goes into the fact that NVIDIA is kinda flourishing over the coronavirus outbreak. In positive news about coronavirus, more gamers are at home, and more games are being played right now than pretty much ever before in the history of gaming.
NVIDIA's gaming segment (GeForce graphics cards) represents close to half of its revenue, so with more gamers playing games at home that is only a good thing for NVIDIA. Kim writes that NVIDIA management said they've seen a 50% surge in "total gaming hours from its installed base as many students and workers were staying-at-home".
Continue reading: NVIDIA sees 50% surge in total gaming hours from its GeForce owners (full post)
Valve talks Left 4 Dead 3 in the middle of Half-Life: Alyx launch hype
I've taken a short break from Half-Life: Alyx to interact with the real-world again, as I have two kids staying home from school right now, and a job to do -- and that job, is to write more news about Valve stuff. Check out my Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide right here.
Now that Half-Life: Alyx is in the wild, Valve is returning to talking to the media in a big way, where Chris Remo and Robin Walker from Valve sat down with IGN. They talked about all things Half-Life: Alyx, Portal VR, Left 4 Dead 3, and more. Left 4 Dead is another game close to my heart, as it was just pure 4-player mayhem in an amazing setting when it was released.
Fun fact: Left 4 Dead was the first game I played with NVIDIA's 3D Vision glasses at the time, and utterly loved it. This was in the days before VR, and it was one of the driving forces of making me believe VR would take off eventually -- and now it has, with Half-Life: Alyx.
Continue reading: Valve talks Left 4 Dead 3 in the middle of Half-Life: Alyx launch hype (full post)






















