Latest News - Page 1855

Ubisoft has just detailed a bunch of stuff for the PC version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, with the first of which seeing full integration of AMD's FidelityFX technology, but there's oh-so-much more. Check out the PC features overview trailer:

We can expect 4K support, 21:9 UltraWide and even multi-monitor support, uncapped FPS, major Discord integration since Ubisoft partnered with the company, full control customization, and even -- drumroll please, a standalone PC benchmark. Best. News. Ever. The full list of PC features:

Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on October 4 -- it'll also be launching on Google Stadia later this year.

Remedy Entertainment has just updated the PC system requirements for its nearly-here Control, with the original specifications much higher, the new specifications will make the game appeal to the mainstream.

In the previous specs, Remedy said gamers would need a GeForce RTX 1080 Ti or AMD Radeon VII or better as "recommended" specs, alongside an Intel Core i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. The new system requiremetns see the CPUs bumped down to the Core i5-7600K and Ryzen 5 1600X, while the GPUs get knocked down severely to a GTX 1060/1660 or RX 580.

These changes are absolutely huge, but the ray tracing requirements have also been dropped heavily down from a GeForce RTX 2080 (!!) down to a RTX 2060 (!!!). There's no explanation for these changes, but I'm hoping we aren't getting a heavily watered down version just before launch -- that would end Remedy at this point.

We're getting our first look at the new designs of the ROG STRIX and TUF cards coming in the custom Radeon RX 5700 series from ASUS, with Hardware.info behind the new leaks.

ASUS is expected to launch its new ROG STRIX RX 5700 on August 16, with samples already hitting the media.

We can expect the ASUS ROG STRIX RX 5700 (and RX 5700 XT) to rock dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors and a thick 2.5-slot design.

ASUS has one of the best gaming monitors launching soon, something that I fell head over heels in love with at Computex this year: the ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q.

The upcoming ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q is a huge 43-inch gaming monitor with a native 4K resolution, huge 120Hz refresh rate, and AMD FreeSync 2 HDR technology. Now that AMD's new Navi-based Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 are here, ASUS will have you ready with its upcoming ROG Strix XG438Q.

ASUS' new ROG Strix XG438Q has AMD FreeSync 2 HDR support with a variable refresh range of 48FPS to 120FPS, as well as 3 x HDMI 2.0 inputs and a single DP 1.4 input. So no matter what you're plugging into the ASUS ROG Strix XG438Q, you'll be covered.

Bungie is delaying its new horror-themed Destiny 2 expansion to October, where it can best be enjoyed during the hallowed month.

Right now Bungie has a lot on its plate. Not only is it crafting Shadowkeep, a big new expansion taking us back to the haunted depths of the moon, but it's also working on a free-to-play version of Destiny 2. Dubbed New Light, the F2P version includes the base game and two lesser expansions (Curse of Osiris and Warmind), plus a handful of Forsaken content (the Forsaken story arc, raids, dungeons, and exotic quests aren't in). It's a pretty big deal. It'll also have cross-saves on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

To get all of these spinning plates to land safely without crashing, Bungie decided to delay Shadowkeep and New Light into the year's spookiest month. Both the expansion and F2P version will now launch on October 1 instead of their original September 17 date. This gives the studio enough time to refine the experiences, which isn't something they're necessarily used to.

The new $199 handheld-only Switch Lite appears to have a revised 16nm Tegra X1 chip for slightly better battery life and thermals.

The FCC recently published some internal teardown photos of Nintendo's Switch Lite that strongly indicate a die shrink. The SoC itself is obscured with thermal paste, but it looks smaller than the 20nm Maxwell Tegra X1 chip used in the original 2017 Switch. In 2016 we exclusively reported the Switch would be powered by NVIDIA, not AMD. It's likely the Switch Lite houses a Maxwell Tegra refreshed on 16nm, but all of the other specs and performance power should be the same. We won't see the beefier Pascal-based Parker Tegra X2 SoC in the Switch Lite. This isn't a boosted chip--just a shrunken one.

Nintendo's reasons for this refresh are two-fold. One, smaller chips are more power efficient and typically produce less heat, which is critical for a handheld system that'll play huge games like The Witcher 3 on its 720p screen; and two, a new Tegra revision will close an on-chip vulnerability that's being exploited to add homebrews and ROMs onto the Switch.

EK Water Blocks or EKWB for short has a long history of making excellent liquid cooling gear. One thing that worries any enthusiast user is the possibility of their new liquid cooling system leaking.

Users now have a way to test their liquid cooling loop for leaks via a unique tool EKWB has recently released.

The tool allows users to connect the gauge to a G1/4 fitting whether that be direct to the block or to a drain fitting which can then be used to pressurize the system. The great part is you can use this new tool to even test individual blocks part by part if a leak is found. You would only need to install G1/4 plugs into any open port and have the gauge hooked to another.

Windows 10 always seems to have a new bug lurking around, and today is no different. Many users whose systems come out of the box in Windows 10 in S mode (formally named Windows 10 S) usually can switch out of S mode within the Microsoft Store.

Unfortunately, many users are found in a loop of sorts as the store option to switch it is a blank page.

You may not be familiar with Windows 10 in S mode or formerly "Windows 10 S". Windows 10 S is and was a Windows 10 version based strictly around the locked-down control of only installing Windows 10 store apps. It enables some pretty strict security as there is no capability to run EXE on a Windows 10 in S mode device. This allows for a much more secure OS environment, but is not conducive to getting work done for most users as they are locked to only store apps.

The Halo TV show is now slated for early 2021 and a bunch of new characters have been cast, Showtime today announced.

(Emile Portrait by Joshua Ezzell)

From the sounds of it, Showtime, 343i, and Microsoft are all heeding my advice about the Halo TV show. In an open letter to the companies, I asked to see some pivotal, dramatic moments from the Halo franchise reborn on the small screen. Halo is and always has been a story about hope against an indomitable foe from the stars, and it's imperative viewers see that. Showtime execs assured us the Halo series would deliver personal, human stories grounded around strong character development.

On the heels of its disappointing NEO GEO Mini, SNK promises to launch a new console with beefier power.

SNK is making a next-gen NEO GEO console that aims to keep the brand name alive and well into the modern age. Mostly known for its excellent arcade games like Metal Slug, King of Fighters, and Samurai Showdown, the NEO GEO was a rare-ish 90's console with a hefty price tag. This new system should be a celebration of SNK's past glories and make these games more accessible to the masses.

So what should we expect from the so-called next-gen console? Basically SNK is probably making their own Atari VCS counterpart. The idea here is to recreate the old arcade experience. Here are my predictions. SNK will provide a machine with adequate specs that connects to a TV for home play, complete with optional high-cost fight sticks. The console will connect online to a digital storefront ecosystem where gamers can buy classic NEO GEO games. The box could even come pre-loaded with old-school titles, too.

G.SKILL has been pushing the limits with memory for a long time now. With Ryzen, the memory frequency and related performance have always been a bit limited.

With AMD's Ryzen 3000 series, the memory speed has been unlocked in a significant way. G.SKILL has released a kit with 3800MHz speed and CL14-16-16-36 in a 16GB kit.

Tested on an MSI X570 Godlike, we can see the sticks running at their full potential achieving AIDA64 bandwidth numbers of 56-58GB/s, respectively. This is accomplished by G.SKILL testing the limitation of the Ryzen 3000 platform and finding where the Infinity Fabric (FCLK) and memory speed can run 1:1 with full stability. Officially, AMD states that past 3600-3733 the boards will drop from 1:1 to 1:2. This means the FCLK runs at half of your memory speed, which can severely impact performance or at the very least, inducing a latency penalty.

NVIDIA's SHIELD TV is looking like it may be one of the longest supported Android devices to date.

NVIDIA has started to push the new Android Experience 8.0 which is powered by Android 9 Pie and pushes the aging SHIELD TV device to yet another Google Android version upgrade.

NVIDIA initially released the SHIELD TV with Android 5.1 over four years ago and has seen frequent updates over the past four years. This does bring to questions, as we reported a short while ago, that NVIDIA has new FCC filings for new SHIELD TV gear and accessories. Will NVIDIA pull the plug on updates to the first-generation Shield TV with the potential introduction of a new unit at CES 2020?

Anthem, one of EA's biggest new IPs and most costly gambles in the last decade, was barely mentioned in the publisher's quarterly report. Is EA starting to pretend Anthem doesn't exist?

EA talked a lot about Apex Legends in its Fiscal Year Q1'2020 earnings report. Anthem, which was set up to be a big new service shooter, was only mentioned twice--once as a throwaway comment on new IP and the other to describe the game's impressive digital numbers. But apart from that EA pretty much ignored the game (buyers are ignoring it too). So what gives? Is Anthem doomed? Has EA shelved the product into maintenance mode after the initial sales spurt? Hopefully yes...and I say that with the best intentions.

Right now BioWare has a lot on its plate. The studio is endemic with depression, anxiety, and has become a hostile work environment. Team members are crunching themselves into dust. Anthem's dev cycle was disastrous for studio morale and was responsible for Dragon Age 4 being rebooted. Now a big portion of BioWare is looking forward and crafting Dragon Age 4 and even laying the framework for a new Mass Effect game.

There's more than meets the eye with Ninja's recent jump to Microsoft's Mixer platform. It's a perfect indicator in what Xbox is and what it will become: a business built around engagement.

Microsoft loves engagement. The whole idea is to pull consumers into a rich digital ecosystem of services, community content, multiplayer, online storefronts, and recurring microtransactions. And so far it's working quite well.

This gameplan transforms consoles into portals to services, and one-off game purchases into long-winded experiences that rake in money over time. These days, one of the most critical avenues to engage an audience is streaming; it's kind of like an interactive advertisement for a specific game built around "influencers" with millions of viewers. It's a potent force, and it's the exact reason why Microsoft is courting the world's most popular streamer.

No Man's Sky's big new Beyond update drops in less than two weeks, bringing full VR support and a new online experience.

Ever since I started working at TweakTown my profile highlighted one of my gaming dreams: to see the weird sci-fi splendor of No Man's Sky in VR. That's going to happen very, very soon. Today Hello Games announced No Man's Sky Beyond will drop August 14 as a free update on all platforms, and will support VR on PSVR and Steam VR compatible headsets.

Beyond is the biggest thing Hello Games has ever done. It'll adapt the entire No Man's Sky experience into an interactive, galactic VR exploration extravaganza, and packs in No Man's Sky Online, a new kind of seamless multiplayer where gamers can join up and take on the cosmos. I have to admire Hello Games for making No Man's Sky into a live game that's literally not monetized with microtransactions. Not only that, but the team rolled out a ton of expansion-sized content packs and didn't charge for them.

GameStop is one of the biggest video game retailers on the market at the moment, and unfortunately the retailer has suffered another blow as the company is preparing to lay off numerous workers.

A memo which was leaked onto Twitter states that more than 50 "field leaders" are in preparation of loosing their jobs. The positions that are queued up to be lost are: regional managers, district mangers, loss prevention managers and HR staff. According to the memo, GameStop is cutting their losses and are looking to "reduce our cost structure and build efficiencies into our field leadership organization so that we can reinvest in the business."

The memo continues and says "These decisions are not easy, but necessary to help us reduce costs to enable revenue-driving initiatives that will help grow the business once again." It seems GameStop are looking at re-structuring their entire business, perhaps this decision has been influenced by the gaming market prominently now purchasing games online rather than physical media. I would think that GameStop would be conceiving a business idea that coincides with both physical media purchasing as well as online purchasing.

Gearbox Software has released another brand new character trailer for the newest installment in the Borderlands franchise, Borderlands 3. Introducing Moze and her trusty best-friend mech Iron Bear.

Moze became attached to her mech suit after a deathtrap battle that she was thrown into, only Iron Bear and her were standing after the fight ended and ever since then they have become best-friends. Moze seems to have her very own D. Va suit and while it might seem that Iron Bear takes care of most of the fighting, Moze repays the favors by keeping Iron Bear running smoothly and soundly with constant repairs.

Players will be able to customize Iron Bears guns that are mounted onto the suit, so depending on your playstyle, players will be able to outfit Iron Bear with a satisfying variety of different chaos reigning weapons. Alongside the character trailer, Gearbox has released a breakdown of Moze and her abilities, visit the official Borderlands website here if you are interested in reading a more in-depth review of the character. Borderlands 3 will be released on September 13th on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. If you happened to miss the Zane character trailer reveal, visit this link here to watch the trailer.

Nintendo has now officially revealed their Gamescom 2019 lineup, fans can expect numerous popular titles to be showcased at the event.

The announcement has been found on the official Nintendo UK website and reveals that Nintendo will be showcasing several already-announced titles. These titles include: Luigi's Mansion 3, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, ASTRAL CHAIN, DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Editon, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition.

The announcement also says that for anyone visiting the Nintendo booth at the event will be able to go hands-on with Luigi's Mansion 3, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield, DAEMON X MACHINA, DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Nintendo will also be hosting a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Gamescom 2019 Invitational on Thursday, August 22nd. Winners of this event will be flown over to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Challenge Cup held at the Nintendo Live event in Kyoto. This event will be livestreamed for anyone who cannot attend it locally.

Sony really wants all PS4 gamers to join the competitive gaming scene with their recently announced PS4 Tournaments: Challenger Series.

The PS4 Tournaments: Challenger Series invites all PS4 gamers to participate in some extremely competitive online gaming, which offer not only rewards but cash prizes as well. The tournaments will revolve around select games, starting off first with Mortal Kombat 11 and it will run over the duration of a couple of weeks.

Each of the tournaments will be broken up into stages, and players will have to win three out of four matches to advance to the next stage. Mortal Kombat 11 will be first title to get a free-to-join tournament, after that FIFA 20 will take its place and then Battlefield V and Warface. More titles will be follow after these tournaments have been played out. It should be noted that PS Plus will be required for most tournaments, as well as the prizes for winners of these tournaments haven't been disclosed as of yet.

Researchers have announced that they have formed a brand new 3D model of our Milky Way galaxy, giving us a much better understanding of the surrounding stars.

Researchers Dorota M. Skowron, Jan Skowron, Przemek Mroz and more published an article in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, revealing a new large-scale model of our Milky Way galaxy and the thousands of Cepheid stars. Cepheid stars are a type of star that pulsates radially and are found scattered across galaxies.

The new scale that has been devised by the researchers enables us to gain a better understanding of the S-like structure inside the Milky Way's warped stellar disc. Co-author, Przemek Mroz said "Our map shows the Milky Way disk is not flat. It is warped and twisted. This is the first time we can use individual objects to show this in three dimensions." Traditional maps of the Milky Way are built upon indirect measurements to celestial landmarks and interference's of other galaxies in the universe.