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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Ti teased: 7.5GB GDDR6?!
AMD will be fighting the good fight in a few months with Navi, and while NVIDIA has a bunch of graphics cards between its GeForce RTX and GeForce GTX series graphics cards, it'll have to have something to battle Navi.
Well, that new card could be the purported GeForce RTX 2070 Ti which WCCFTech picked up just now from the userbench database and in their words "has RTX 2070 Ti written all over it". The most interesting part of this purported new card is that it has 7.5GB of VRAM, falling in between the RTX 2060 with 6GB and RTX 2070 with 8GB of VRAM.
I don't think we'll see NVIDIA release a new graphics card with 7.5GB of RAM, especially after the 3.5GB VRAM issue it faced a few years ago and the backlash that ensued.
Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Ti teased: 7.5GB GDDR6?! (full post)
Respawn is hardware banning Apex Legends cheaters
We all hate cheaters. They ruin games and in battle royale games it's even worse, which is why it's great to see Respawn tackling cheaters in Apex Legends with a harsh ban stick that hardware bans the pesky cheaters, period.
New reports suggest that people who are caught cheating in Apex Legends are getting their hardware banned which means they can't create a new account for Apex and play again. It's a pretty hardcore ban, but with Apex Legends being the hottest game on the market right now, Respawn need to handle cheaters seriously if they want to keep gamers happy.
Continue reading: Respawn is hardware banning Apex Legends cheaters (full post)
Borderlands 3 could support cross-play on PS4, Xbox One, PC
Borderlands 3 could support cross-play at some point, which would open up new doorways to engagement opportunities.
Only a handful of games support full cross-play between all systems. Games like Rocket League and Fortnite are truly platform agnostic and PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC gamers can play together all at once. Sony has been the stringent gatekeeper to cross-play but they're starting to relent...if not a bit slowly. There's a chance that Borderlands 3 could be among the biggest games to support the feature when it launches in September.
Right now all we have to go on is a vague affirmation from an unnamed 2K Games rep, who told Gamespot, "Cross-play is something we're looking at closely, but we don't have anything to confirm or announce at this time." Normally this would be generic PR-speak that doesn't mean very much, but this time they could actually mean it.
Continue reading: Borderlands 3 could support cross-play on PS4, Xbox One, PC (full post)
The Outer Worlds won't have tedious crafting
The Outer Worlds isn't an open-world Ubisoft or EA game built around artificially-elongated playtime, and won't feature meticulous mechanics.
Not every game in the universe needs to have 100+ hour playtimes, nor do they need crafting. The amount of time that crafting and material gathering soaks up is ridiculous--looking at you, Dragon Age: Inquisition--and it's often just plain tedious. And in some games, like Fallout 76, it can be outright hell. Thankfully Obsidian isn't taking this approach with their new Fallout-meets-BioShock singleplayer RPG.
Despite having frustrated PC gamers by skipping Steam, The Outer Worlds is a breath of fresh air. It's a kind of AA experience that wants to re-kindle the fire of singleplayer gaming with choice-driven RPG mechanics and a meaningful if not quirky story. Take-Two usually loves engagement, but its Private Division label is all about games doing more with less, and that often means cutting out unnecessary features like crafting.
Continue reading: The Outer Worlds won't have tedious crafting (full post)
Epic Store is fixing PC gaming, says ex-Valve employee
By disrupting Steam's kingly reign, the Epic Games Store is fixing the PC games market...at least that's what an ex-Valve dev says.
Valve has enjoyed monopolistic hold over PC gaming for a long time now. But now Epic Games is using its Fortnite billions to challenge Steam where it hurts most: its pocketbook. Armed with the might of an established launcher used by millions of Fortnite gamers, tons of cash, and an engine the powers lots of big AAA games, Epic created a storefront that lets devs keep 88% of all revenues of games sold on the store, compared to Steam's 70%. This split is creating real competition, says ex-Valve dev Richard Gledreich, and some of gaming's biggest titles are jumping to the Epic Store with exclusivity deals as a result.
Gledreich, who worked on the inside lines and saw Steam's earnings behind the curtain, says the store was basically stifling PC gaming and holding it back.
Continue reading: Epic Store is fixing PC gaming, says ex-Valve employee (full post)
Intel secures more AMD staff, ex-Radeon marketing lead
Intel has been slowly building out the Justice League of GPU marketing teams leading into its future graphics card launches, with yet another member of Team Red joining Team Blue.
I can exclusively report that Heather Lennon, who built the awesome AMD social and community strategy for the company over 10 years has now joined the ranks of Intel. Heather build up the Team Red community and won herself PR Week honors for Campaign of the Year, as well as Top 30 Under 30 from PR News in 2014.
Lennon secured a huge 40 awards for marketing and digital marketing for AMD before leading their North American marketing for AMD's own Best Buy account which handled both Radeon and Ryzen products for the company.
Continue reading: Intel secures more AMD staff, ex-Radeon marketing lead (full post)
Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan tease Rush Hour 4 on Instagram
One of the most staple comedies out there has to be the Rush Hour franchise, gaining quite a lot of support over the years many fans have requested for a fourth movie to made. Nothing has been officially confirmed as of yet, but we do have a teaser from quite a reliable source.
The tease has comes from Rush Hour actor, Chris Tuckers official Instagram page. The image shows Tucker with other Rush Hour star Jackie Chan holding up both of their hands with four out-stretched fingers. Back in 2017, Chan revealed that for seven years he had been declining scripts for Rush Hour 4 but was then finally presented one that met the franchises standards.
While this isn't a confirmation of any sort, this certainly is a big hint that Rush Hour 4 could be on its way to becoming a reality. The first question that came to mind would be while else would these certain actors be posing like this if Rush Hour 4 wasn't a possibility?Hopefully sometime this year we get an official confirmation for a new movie, as I'm sure many fans - including myself - would be very excited to see what it would be have in-store.
Continue reading: Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan tease Rush Hour 4 on Instagram (full post)
Game of Thrones changes the 'medium of television' forever
As we are moving closer to the release of the final season Game of Thrones the actors of the show have begun doing the interviews about the coming season.
Collider did an interview with John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly in the show has explained how he believes Game of Thrones has changed the landscape of television forever. He says that Game of Thrones stands as an example of how televison can rival cinema in terms of ambition, visuals and more. Here is what he had to say; "A lot of the TV that comes after [Game of Thrones] is taking lessons from it and using it as a springboard in terms of what can be achieved through the medium of television and how, given the right set of people and the right circumstances, it can rival cinema, and it's got a right to be ambitious."
Bradley continued and said; "It's created a whole new sense of ambition in TV that wasn't really there before. There has never been anything on this visual scale before. And I think TV is no longer seen as a kind of poor cousin of cinema. I hope that TV going forward feels that we've empowered it to be as ambitious as we've been." If you have been keeping up with Game of Thrones and are amongst the communities that have been created around the show, I think you'd agree with Bradley's statements. Game of Thrones seems like the biggest TV show yet universe size wise, it stands as a staple example that fantasy can be a massive success on TV when done correctly.
Continue reading: Game of Thrones changes the 'medium of television' forever (full post)
Watch Dogs 3 reportedly confirmed to base a 'London' setting
Ubisoft has had quite the amount of teaser 'leaks' for quite a few of their franchise as of late, with Assassin's Creed reportedly starring Vikings and now an alleged confirmation that Watch Dogs 3 features a London setting.
Back in early February, we reported on a shaky rumor that said that both a new Assassin's Creed game would arrive in 2019 and feature Vikings and the new Watch Dogs 3 would arrive alongside it. The rumor suggested that the Watch Dogs 3 game would be set in London and now Kotaku's Jason Schreier says he can confirm that this news, and the Assassin's Creed news is true.
The new Assassin's Creed game is expected to launch sometime during 2020, and Watch Dogs 3 is expected to launch by the end of the year. It is very possible that Ubisoft are holding off on both of these official announcements until E3 2019, which is why Kotaku said that Ubisoft declined to comment on both of these rumors. As always these types of 'leaks' and 'rumors', the news is not 100% confirmed until an announcement is made by Ubisoft, so I guess we will wait and see what happens.
Continue reading: Watch Dogs 3 reportedly confirmed to base a 'London' setting (full post)
Mortal Kombat 11's new character 'Kollector' is BRUTAL
NetherRealm Studios have announced a brand new character for Mortal Kombat 11, introducing the Kollector and his brutal moveset.
I have been doing my best to cover everything that has come out about the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11, and this week has already started off strongly with a brand new character release. Introducing, the Kollector who is - according to the video description - "A proud servant of the Outworld Empire, the Kollector cares only for his wealth and status and will kill anyone to keep it."
Judging from the above video, Kollector is truly a vicious and brutal fighter. He uses his four arms to tear his opponent apart while also combining attacks with his chain whip and lantern. Mortal Kombat 11 is planned for release on April 23rd for the Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. In other news about Mortal Kombat 11, the Nintendo Switch version is going to be running at 60FPS, more on that story here.
Continue reading: Mortal Kombat 11's new character 'Kollector' is BRUTAL (full post)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's 'Joker' will be 'coming soon'
Famous Director of the Super Smash Bros. series is Masahiro Sakurai, and during a recent awards ceremony Sakurai has dropped a hint towards the inclusion of Joker in Smash Ultimate.
The hint has been sourced from a Famitsu Awards celebration, where Sakurai accepted the MVP award for development and spoke about his troubles while trying to create Smash Ultimate. If you didn't know, Sakurai is very well known for his dedication in development even to the extent where his work ethic is detrimental to his health.
The development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was no different in this regard, and Sakurai spoke out saying "I will forget the troubles I had, but the game remains." What would probably be a more accurate representation of what Sakurai means has been summed up by DualShockers, saying "The problems are temporary, but the game is forever." Throughout his acceptance speech Sakurai spoke about 'Joker' the first DLC character for Ultimate, he said that 'Joker' would be "coming soon".
Continue reading: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's 'Joker' will be 'coming soon' (full post)
Valve defuses Borderlands 2 review bombs on Steam
Valve adds a new measure to counter review bombing on Steam in an effort to quell the raging PC Game Store Wars.
PC gamers are review bombing Borderlands 2 on Steam to protest Borderlands 3's Epic Store exclusivity deal. The process sees gamers deliberately giving bad user reviews to lower Borderlands 2's overall aggregated score on the platform in an attempt to get the publisher's attention and punish them with bad user-generated press. This has happened with Metro games, and other games that've jumped over to the Epic Store. But this process actually hurts Steam, and Valve is fighting back.
Valve defused the review bomb with a new tool that thwarts review score bombing. The method essentially scans user reviews for "off-topic activity" like one-sentence complaints about publishers or Epic Games, and negates any influence they have on the score. The reviews can still be seen but don't actually bring down the game's rating.
Continue reading: Valve defuses Borderlands 2 review bombs on Steam (full post)
Enter our positively perfect 'Mary Poppins' Blu-ray giveaway
To celebrate the home entertainment release of 'Mary Poppins Returns', we have five Blu-ray copies of the film to give away thanks to our friends at Walt Disney Home Entertainment!
Now an adult with three children, bank teller Michael Banks learns that his house will be repossessed in five days unless he can pay back a loan. His only hope is to find a missing certificate that shows proof of valuable shares that his father left him years earlier. Just as all seems lost, Michael and his sister receive the surprise of a lifetime when Mary Poppins -- the beloved nanny from their childhood -- arrives to save the day and take the Banks family on a magical, fun-filled adventure.
To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, correctly answer the following question and send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com before the competition closes on April 12.
Continue reading: Enter our positively perfect 'Mary Poppins' Blu-ray giveaway (full post)
Fallout 76 isn't just a game, it's a 'Fallout platform'
Fallout 76 could be the future of Fallout games, at least for the foreseeable future.
Fallout doesn't exactly work too well as an online-only live game. So when will it return to its singleplayer-driven roots with a tangible story arc, modding, console commands, and narrative-driven NPCs? Maybe not for a long time. We know Bethesda is making two next-gen projects that will not only push its tech to new heights, but promise to deliver "big and crazy" experiences: its brand new space epic IP Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls VI. At this stage, Fallout 76 could be the last Fallout game we get for a while.
This makes sense given the tremendous investment Bethesda has put into Fallout 76, and what it could mean for the future. We've long outlined the path of live games here at TweakTown, and if successful, these games often live on for years and years. Bethesda hopes Fallout 76 will do the same. In fact, studio exec Todd Howard says the game is the start of a kind of Fallout platform. It's possible Fallout 76 is just the beginning of an expansive ecosystem that ties into an online framework for continued content, releases, and engagement (aka what all live games are).
Continue reading: Fallout 76 isn't just a game, it's a 'Fallout platform' (full post)
If Fallout 76 did so well, why add more microtransactions?
Bethesda's Todd Howard says Fallout 76 did quite well and has a strong playerbase to this day. So why add more microtransactions to the mix? Fallout 76 might've done well with retail sales, but that doesn't mean it's still doing well.
With Fallout 76, Bethesda bit off more than it could chew. In a quest to make more money and join the likes of EA, Activision, and Take-Two with monstrous live revenues, Bethesda released an experimental online-only adaptation of one of its biggest properties. It didn't work very well. Instead of a multiplayer Fallout that brings new freedoms, the game is a tedious web of grindy, frustrating mechanics that strip away some of the best things about the series. And worse: it monetized basic things like outfits and house decorations, which created an artificially elongated grind to unlock them without paying. It bombed with reviews, it bombed with player sentiment, and it seemed to just bomb in general.
Bethesda seems to be happy with the game, though. At the studio's Game Days event at PAX East, studio exec Todd Howard said Fallout 76 did quite well: "We're really excited. The game actually did very, very well we have a huge playerbase of millions of players that're giving us tons of feedback."
Continue reading: If Fallout 76 did so well, why add more microtransactions? (full post)
Wolfenstein: Youngblood comes in an empty box on Switch
In an effort to save money, Bethesda is shipping Wolfenstein: Youngblood's retail Switch version without a cartridge.
Unlike most console games on the planet, when you go into the store to buy Wolfenstein: Youngblood you'll get an empty box. There's no actual game cartridge included with MachineGames' new co-op centered shooter on Switch. Instead buyers get a download code in a box, PC game style. Amazon confirms the news with a warning: "Contains digital download code. No cartridge included." Even the more expensive $40 deluxe edition comes in an empty box. The PS4 and Xbox One flavors should come with discs, though.
So what gives? Bethesda's been pulling some strange moves lately, and this latest one falls in line with its shift towards adapting all of its core IPs into monetized live games. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is basically a live version of the franchise that'll include online multiplayer and microtransactions.
Continue reading: Wolfenstein: Youngblood comes in an empty box on Switch (full post)
TSMC makes progress on 5nm, should have 5nm chips in 2020
The world of 5nm is one step closer to reality with TSMC announcing it has completed the infrastructure design of its upcoming 5nm node.
TSMC's new 5nm node will roll out with the second generation of its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) as well as deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography. The new 5nm node will see chips made for next-gen SoC designs, 5G devices, AI, and high-performance computing.
We are told to expect, from early numbers on an ARM Cortex-A72 core that TSMC's new 5nm process will have 1.8x the density of 7nm, and a nice 15% increase in clock speeds. Not bad at all.
Continue reading: TSMC makes progress on 5nm, should have 5nm chips in 2020 (full post)
Red Dead Redemption 2 = Epic Games Store EXCLUSIVE?!
There has been some rather big news break over the weekend thanks to a new leak on 4chan, with an anonymous leaker teasing that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be announced for the PC as an Epic Games Store exclusive.
The announcement will reportedly happen on April 22 at 9AM PST, with RDR2 releasing onto the Epic Games Store on July 9. The post claims that Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of GTA/RDR inked a deal with Epic that would see them take 100% of the profits from any additional content for RDR2, compared to the 30% cut that Steam takes. This is reportedly enough for Take-Two to ink the deal.
The problem is that this is 4chan and an anonymous leaker who can say anything really, as the rumor ends just like this. As soon as more is posted, we'll update you on this story. For now, cross your fingers and hope RDR2 is coming to the PC, but not as an Epic Games Store exclusive.
Continue reading: Red Dead Redemption 2 = Epic Games Store EXCLUSIVE?! (full post)
Prince Harry thinks Fortnite should be banned
In a recent visit to the YMCA in South Ealing, London, earlier this week for an event on mental health issues that young people face in society today, Prince Harry had some fighting words for gamers.
Harry had some harsh words for gamers and specifically Fortnite where he said: "That game shouldn't be allowed. Where is the benefit of having it in your household? It's created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It's so irresponsible".
He added: "It's like waiting for the damage to be done and kids turning up on your doorsteps and families being broken down".
Continue reading: Prince Harry thinks Fortnite should be banned (full post)
Game Pass, Xbox LIVE Gold bundled in $14.99 a month sub
Ahead of its big Project xCloud launch in 2019, Microsoft is readying a combined plan for its growing catalog of gaming subscriptions.
Microsoft is all about services. Gaming is no different: we've seen Xbox go from a console to a huge cross-platform service that brings monetization, games, and engagement to Xbox One consoles, Windows 10 PCs, and mobiles. That strategy has grown tremendously with the introduction of Xbox Game Pass, a self-described "Netflix for games" that offers access to over 100 Xbox titles. But with Xbox LIVE, Game Pass, and Project xCloud on the way, Microsoft's subscriptions are getting congested and could deter consumers.
Now the company wants to solve this problem before it happens. According to Twitter user h0x0d, who's been reliable with leaks and info in the past, Microsoft will combine Xbox LIVE and Xbox Game Pass into a single $14.99 a month subscription. It's called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and shaves the total month-to-month cost of the two subs by $5.
Continue reading: Game Pass, Xbox LIVE Gold bundled in $14.99 a month sub (full post)






















