Latest News - Page 1693

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and other Square Enix games won't get next-gen re-releases, and will instead rely on backwards compatibility.

Square Enix today confirmed how it will handle existing games playing on next-gen consoles. Instead of releasing two versions of its games--one for PS4 and one for PS5, for example--the publisher will simply use next-gen backwards compatibility to ensure cross-generation play. Gamers won't need to re-buy a PS5 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the PS4 version will be playable on the PlayStation 5.

In a recent Q&A session with investors, the games-maker says it won't embrace full-on next-gen exclusives any time soon. This makes sense on a business perspective given the PS4 and PS5 lifecycles will overlap. Square Enix depends on the flexibility of multi-platform sales and it's not about to simply close the door on the PS4's massive 100 million strong install base.

First there was Viewtiful Joe, then The Wonderful 101. Now there's Project GG, PlatinumGames' next wholly-original IP under director Hideki Kamiya.

PlatinumGames is on a roll. The company just announced Project GG A Go! Go!, a new hero-based game where giant mechs battle monstrous kaijus across a sprawling cityscape. The game will be directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba, and is the last chapter in Kamiya's superhero saga. It's also company's first-ever self-published game. This freedom lets PG live out the indie dream with total control over Project GG's direction--there's no publisher looming over their shoulder and checking every little detail.

Kamiya is careful to say that Project GG is a long ways away and that the team is inheriting lots of new hurdles and responsibilities with self-publishing.

Adult Swim Games pulled a surprise move by announcing a new Samurai Jack video game that stays authentic to the show's vibe, visual flair, and voice actors.

It's been 10 years, but Samurai Jack is returning to the video game realm. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a hack-and-slash beat-em-up that aims to expand the series while keeping it super familiar for die-hard fans. It's a mix of old-school side-scrolling platforming action and 3D battle sequences, both of which seem to switch seamlessly.

We didn't get to see very much gameplay in the announcement trailer, but the game's Steam page gives some more details. Samurai Jack's latest romp has a multitude of skills to level up and weapons to master and you'll also jump to various locations and worlds straight from the show--all while trying to slice and dice your way to Aku.

Patriot might've low-key revealed the PS5's first external SSD solution for high-speed gaming and data transfers.

Patriot Gaming will publicly test out its new external Viper PXD M.2 SSD at PAX East with a PlayStation 4 to see how the drive works with consoles. And the game they're using for the test is Insomniac's Spider-Man, the same game Sony used to showcase the PS5's ultra-fast loading times.

This test could be a tease for the PlayStation 5's external storage solutions and compatibility for the console's customized SSD. Massive speed discrepancies are expected between current external HDDs and the new higher-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs found in the PlayStation 5, and Patriot's compact and lightweight 2TB PXD could be a solution to this problem.

A team of researchers may have just stumbled upon the cure for diabetes by fusing mice with stem cells. The results are extremely promising.

For those that don't know much about diabetes, here's a quick summary of the disease. People who have diabetes find it hard for their bodies to produce a reasonable amount of insulin. The current treatment for this is regular exercise, strict diet, and insulin shots. In the human body, the pancreas produces insulin, but in the case of a diabetic, their pancreas does not produce enough. This means patients have to monitor their blood sugar levels and directly inject insulin into their bloodstream.

In the new study, researchers led by Jeffrey Millman from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, found that using pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which are stem cells that can be manipulated into becoming almost any cell in the body, they can cure diabetes. Unfortunately, when using these stem cells, not all of them convert into the desired cell, in this case, insulin-producing cells. This means that some random cells enter the bloodstream along with converted insulin cells.

If you didn't know, a Tesla driver was recently killed in a fatal crash while using the Tesla Autopilot feature. This disaster sparked an investigation into what the driver was doing right before the crash and driving feature itself.

Firstly, the driver that was killed in Silicon Valley on March 23rd, 2018 was 38-year-old Apple engineer and game developer, Walter Huang. Huang was driving his Tesla Model X in Autopilot mode, collided with a safety barrier, and then was struck by two more cars. Before the crash Huang had reported issues with his Tesla's Autopilot feature to his family and close friend, but it was later discovered that he did not report it to Tesla themselves.

The National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB) conducted an investigation into the crash, as Huang's family are attempting to sue Tesla for a malfunctioning vehicle that they say ultimately killed Huang. The NTSB investigation was extensive, and took quite some time to formulate results. What the NTSB found was that Huang's vehicle was travelling at 70mph when it crashed into the safety barrier, and that Huang experienced the same "glitch" in the same spot on the road with his vehicle multiple times before his death.

If you are yet to play the DOOM series, and own a Nintendo Switch you are in luck. Bethesda is currently wanting to get DOOM out to many gamers as possible, and that means a crazy sale.

Bethesda is working hard on getting all of the DOOM games on the Nintendo Switch, and at the moment we already have the original DOOM, DOOM II and DOOM III. Bethesda will also be releasing DOOM 64, and DOOM Eternal on the Switch. DOOM 64 will be arriving on the handheld console on March 20th this year, the same day that DOOM Eternal releases.

Side-note - If you pre-ordered DOOM Eternal you will get a free copy of DOOM 64. Now, moving onto the current sales of the older DOOM games. Right now, on the Nintendo eShop you can pick up the original DOOM game for just $1.49, the second DOOM game is also $1.49, and finally the third is $2.99. In total, you can spend $5.97 and get all three DOOM games for your handheld console. Then if you pre-ordered Eternal you would have completed the collection!

Ultimate Ears (UE) has just announced its new flagship Bluetooth portable speaker, the "HYPERBOOM". It's got extreme bass and is designed for the party scene.

In a press release, UE details what the HYPERBOOM can do, and for users that want to pick one up for their next party, here's what you need to know. The HYPERBOOM sports four input sources, two Bluetooth connections, one 3.5mm AUX, and one optical audio input. This allows users to play music through the HYPERBOOM on their phone, laptop, or even gaming console.

The HYPERBOOM also has adaptive EQ, as it "reads the environment and automatically adjusts the sound to fill any space". The HYPERBOOM is also what UE calls "party-proof", with an IPX4 rating, it has the capabilities of being able to withstand spilled drinks and being dropped in a pool. It can also charge phone devices, connect to any other BOOM device, and much more. UE's HYPERBOOM comes in at a price of $399.99 and will be available for purchase in early March.

NASA loves jamming probes into holes to examine things, and in this case, Mars was lucky enough to be a candidate.

While you might think this is an over-exaggeration, that's hardly the case. NASA sent it's InSight robot to Mars to examine several aspects of the strange red planet, and since it's been on Mars, it has achieved quite a lot. InSight was able to measure and record some strange martian sounds, that were believed to be Marsquakes and martian wind. Now, NASA has published some of the latest findings from InSight.

InSight is stationed on the Mars surface, and it uses its seismometer instrument that's stuck in a hole to record ground motions. When NASA first detected the Marsquakes, they weren't able to accurately distinguish the sound of quakes in comparison to other potential sounds. Since then, NASA has gotten much better at this and is now able to separate the sound of the wind from the quakes.

After being rumored, Warner Bros. have officially confirmed they're going to be hosting a once-off Friends reunion special that will broadcast on the upcoming streaming platform from the company: HBO Max.

Friends star Matthew Perry first teased the news on Twitter by saying "Big news coming..." and now that news is here officially. The Friends reunion special will see original stars from the massive NBC show returning, with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry.

Not only will the stars of Friends be on the reunion special for HBO Max, but series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman will also be there. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the entire case negotiated the Friends reunion special together, where they will reportedly earn double their usual per-episode fee -- meaning they'll make a nice $2.5 million to $3 million, each, for the special.

It looks like coronavirus could be causing a bigger stir throughout the world than previously thought, with Mobile World Congress (MWC) canceled over it -- people pulling out left, right, and center of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Computex 2020 in Taiwan now possibly in question.

How could it get worse? Seeign the Tokyo 2020 Olympics canceled. This is now a possibility, with International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound talking with the Associated Press recently, where he said that the committee will be making a final decision throughout discussions with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Pound said: "All indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual. So keep focused on your sport and be sure that the IOC is not going to send you into a pandemic situation. It's a big, big, big decision and you just can't take it until you have reliable facts on which to base it. You just don't postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics".

Mobile World Congress was canceled in the end over coronavirus, companies and game developers are slowly pulling out of the Game Developers Conference -- and while I've had fears Computex would be canceled, its organizers have said it won't be.

The President and CEO of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) have come out and said Computex 2020 is safe for now, with the government body responsible for organizing Computex calming the world down. Walter Yeh, the CEO of TAITRA, has said that health authorities in Taiwan and Computex organizers are aware of the fears of coronavirus -- yet there are no plans to cancel Computex 2020 over it just yet.

Yeh does encourage Computex 2020 attendees to wear protective face masks, while staff will be on-hand to monitor Computex 2020 attendees and their temperature. Hygiene and sanitation will be heightened of course, with the same rules applying to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco in March.

UPDATE: A PAX representative informs us that neither CD Projekt RED nor Bluehole had planned to hold panels or show floor presences. The article has been updated to reflect this.

The looming coronavirus threat is disrupting the games industry's biggest annual events, and key players like Sony, CD Projekt RED, Capcom, and many more are skipping major trade shows like PAX East.

Following the CDC's warning to the American public, more games titans have decided to skip PAX East just days before the event. Capcom and Square Enix are no longer attending or limiting attendance at the show as a health precaution, and CD Projekt RED's and PUBG's teams are no longer coming to the event either.

Ubisoft could eventually make a F2P spin-off for cash crop shooter Rainbow Six: Siege to maximize exposure, monetization, and engagement.

Rainbow Six developers are interested in a free-to-play version of Siege to pull in more players--and more importantly, more revenue. In a recent interview with PC Gamer, game director Leroy Athanassoff said he's interested in a F2P Rainbow Six shooter.

But of course it's not up to him. It's up to Ubisoft, and the company has previously said Rainbow Six: Siege will always be a premium product in an effort to curb toxicity. "It's a company decision. I think on the development team we want that at some point. We want the game to be accessible to everyone," he said.

On the heels of a successful teaser, THQ Nordic has officially greenlit a full HD remaster of Piranha Byte's original Gothic game.

A bit ago THQ Nordic (now called The Embracer Group) released a playable teaser for a Gothic remaster. The idea was to determine if gamers were interested in a remake and gauge buying intent. The publisher wanted to know if it was worth it to remaster the old-school RPG and collected valuable feedback in a survey from the people who matter most (Gothic enthusiasts). The results were overwhelmingly positive, and 98% of the total 43,000 gamers said they wanted the remake to continue.

THQ Nordic, who now owns a wealth of IPs including the Gothic series, decided to greenlit the remaster on the strength of the survey results. It's unknown if the original devs at Piranha Bytes will be attached to the project, but it's highly likely given THQ Nordic owns the studio. The announcement post on Steam mentions opening up a new studio in Barcelona, Spain and that development will enter full swing sometime soon.

Emergency dodging returns in the new Resident Evil 3 remake, adding more heart-pumping anxiety to every encounter.

Resident Evil 3 will be a lot harder than the RE2 REmake; enemies are much more dangerous, there's lots of areas to get stuck in, and Nemesis makes Tyrant look like a baby. Luckily Jill Valentine has some serious skills at her disposal to strategically avoid and dispatch foes.

The main ability is emergency dodging, an evasion mechanic from the original game that's been massively overhauled. Jill can perform a quick and nimble over-the-shoulder roll out of harm's way by pressing R1 and the directional stick. The original game just saw you shove an enemy to avoid its grip.

Respawn exec Drew McCoy is leaving the studio after 10 years of giant mechs, battle royale chaos, and Jedi magic.

Apex Legends producer Drew McCoy recently announced he's departing Respawn Entertainment to "find new challenges." The developer has been with Respawn for 10 years, since the early days when Vince Zampella and Jason West founded the studio in 2010.

"Today marks the start of a new adventure for me. I will absolutely cherish the last 10 years I spent helping start Respawn and ship some awesome games alongside amazing people. I'll miss the people the most - the daily arguments, successes, failures, and everything in-between," McCoy said on Twitter.

Disney and Lucasfilm today announced a new sun-lit era of Star Wars set at the pinnacle of the Galactic Republic, and it could be the beginning of a big new multi-year game slate.

Now that the Skywalker saga is wrapped up, Disney is exploring a new frontier for Star Wars. The golden era is called The High Republic (previously known as Project Luminous), a glorious new age set during the height of the Jedi Order's power.

The general theme with the High Republic is optimism and exploration, a kind of revitalization of the franchise driven by multitudes of creators who are tasked with diving deep into the series' high fantasy lore.

At the moment, 3D printing technology has an uncapped potential, and something to reinforce that fact is scientists successfully 3D printing the world's first cornea.

Researchers at Newcastle University, located in the United Kingdom, have recently published a new paper that details that they have successfully 3D printed the world's first cornea. The aim behind this research is to provide patients who are blind or are deteriorating into blindness with a replacement cornea for their eyes. At the moment, there's a huge demand for human cornea transplants, but if researchers can print them and distribute them out to patients accordingly, then those waitlists for transplants would be reduced significantly.

So how does this work? Researchers took corneal stem cells from a healthy donor and added the samples to alginate and collagen. The result of this mixture was what is called "bio-ink". From this stage, scientists were able to perfectly form the ink into the cornea shape using a 3D bio-printer. Of course, with most bleeding-edge level technology, it will be several years before the printed corneas are issued out to patients, as researchers still need to perform numerous levels of testing to ensure safety. Regardless of the wait time for the corneas, it still proves that this idea is completely feasible.

The COVID-19 virus is hitting numerous markets in the technology industry, and one of those markets is the PC market. Analysts are now stating their expectations for how much it will fall by the end of this year.

According to analyst firm, Canalys, the global PC market is expected to shrink by a whole 3.4% in total by the end of the year if shipments continue to be hindered by the outbreak. The analyst firm also says that if the state of the outbreak worsens over time, the global PC market is expected to take a larger hit of around 8.4%.

The country that suffers the most from this outbreak if obviously China, and in the event of the worst possible scenario, Chinese sales will fall by 12.2%. In the best-case scenario, analysts predict it should only be 3.8%. Here are some numbers that make it a bit easier to understand -- in 2019, around 396 million PC's were sold, and in 2020 Canalys predicts it could be anywhere between 362-382 million units.