Learn about how TweakTown tests and reviews hardware. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.
Stay Updated
Follow TweakTown for breaking tech news, reviews, and daily updates.
Panic Button will announce a Nintendo Switch port next month
Adam Creighton, the director of the development studio Panic Button, has discussed how long the developers have been working with the Nintendo Switch hardware and hinted towards an announcement next month.
According to Creighton in a recent interview with Variety, Panic Button has been working with the Nintendo Switch hardware for " almost six years" which is "more than almost any third party."
Panic Button is the studio that brought AAA titles such as Rocket League, Doom and Wolfenstein II to the Switch. The developers have clearly proven that they are more than capable to tackle large games so what is next on the menu? According to Variety, Creighton said that the company is currently working on another project that will be announced next month, until then there has been no official reveal. We will be sure to follow up on whatever Panic Button has in store for us.
Continue reading: Panic Button will announce a Nintendo Switch port next month (full post)
Take Fox for the entirety of Starlink: Battle for Atlas
E3 2018 - Those awaiting the new Starlink: Battle for Atlas on the Nintendo Switch will be glad to know that players will be able to use Fox McCloud for the entirety of their play-through.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas will be coming to Nintendo Switch owners this October with an exclusive character, introducing Fox McCloud and his famous Arwing. Questions have been raised about how much of Fox players will be able to enjoy, luckily the suspense has already been subsided with a confirmation that players will be able to enjoy Fox for the entirety of their play-through.
During the Nintendo Treehouse stream at this years E3 it was confirmed that not only will players get Fox for the whole campaign but there will also be exclusive Fox missions as well. If you are interested in more information regarding Starlink: Battle for Atlas visit the official Ubisoft website here.
Continue reading: Take Fox for the entirety of Starlink: Battle for Atlas (full post)
Fortnite for the Nintendo Switch hits 2 million downloads
It has been announced that after one day of being available to download, Fortnite for the Nintendo Switch has already been downloaded over 2 million times.
This announcement comes from Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, which he said to Bloomberg in an interview that Nintendo focuses on "surprising the fans" with content. An example of this would be Epic Games' Fortnite coming to the Nintendo Switch, according to Fils-Aime "Fortnite already has 2 million downloads specifically on the Nintendo Switch."
During this interview, Fils-Aime also revealed some information regarding Nintendo's stance on the loot box system that seems to be plaguing games. Fils-Aime said "What we believe, for example, at Nintendo is that a gameplay mechanic that offers to consumer something to buy that they're not sure what's inside can be interesting, as long as that's not the only way you can get those items."
Continue reading: Fortnite for the Nintendo Switch hits 2 million downloads (full post)
Superman game developer Rocksteady replys to E3 2018 absence
The disappearance from Rocksteady Studios at this years E3 caused quite a bit of a ruckus for players that were patiently awaiting more information regarding the upcoming Superman game. The developer has issued a statement comforting their fans disappointment.
The statement says that the developer is working very hard on their next project and will be revealing details as soon as its ready for the limelight.
The statement comes from Game Director and Co-founder of Rocksteady Studios, Sefton Hill, has posted the following "We know some of you were disappointed that we were not at E3 this year. The whole team has been reading your comments, and all of us here at Rocksteady really appreciate your passion for our next project. Knowing how much it means to you keep us inspired and energized to deliver a game that you will be proud of. We'll share it with you as soon as it's ready. "
Continue reading: Superman game developer Rocksteady replys to E3 2018 absence (full post)
Sony replies to share price drop after Fortnite hits Switch
After the release of Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch, both Sony's and Nintendo's share prices have dipped. Sony has allowed Fortnite players to share progress from their PS4 account to their Nintendo Switch.
After the Nintendo presentation at this years E3, both of Sony's and Nintendo's share prices took a small hit. This was a direct result of Sony not allowing PS4 owners that happen to own a Switch as well to transfer their account to the Nintendo Switch. Sony has blocked players from doing this as they believe they are protecting their players from potential security risks.
Sony issued a statement in reply to the share value drop of 2%, here is what they had to say "We're always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience. Fortnite is already a huge hit with PS4 fans, offering a true free-to-play experience so gamers can jump in and play online. With 79 million PS4s sold around the world and more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we've built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles. We also offer Fortnite cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for Fortnite fans on PS4 to play with even more gamers on other platforms."
Continue reading: Sony replies to share price drop after Fortnite hits Switch (full post)
The Witcher 3's Ciri describes the world of Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt RED fans are going to be astounded to know this juicy detail. Throughout The Witcher 3 Ciri describes to Geralt what seems like the world of Cyberpunk 2077, as if it is a place she as has been before throughout her travels to distant worlds.
YouTuber Tolkfan remembered this detail and did everyone else the courtesy of overlapping the conversation Ciri has with Geralt about her travels with the newly released E3 trailer. The trailer almost matches perfectly with the voice over and everything that Ciri describes such as "houses of glass" or "flying ships" seems to be featured throughout Cyberpunk 2077.
It is good to note that Cyberpunk 2077 was announced back in 2012 and The Witcher 3 was released in 2015 so this theory could entirely be 100% possible. CD Projekt RED is yet to confirm anything as of yet but fans seem to think this is not just a developing coincidence.
Continue reading: The Witcher 3's Ciri describes the world of Cyberpunk 2077 (full post)
AMD Radeon PRO V340: dual Vega 10 on 7nm with 32GB of HBM2
AMD's latest and greatest graphics card looks to be the new Radeon PRO V340, which is a multi-user computing solution for virtualized environments... you know, so not for gaming.
What makes AMD's new Radeon PRO V340 so special is that it features dual Vega 10 GPUs on 7nm, with a huge 32GB of HBM2 on-board. This seems to be the card that was teased at Computex 2018, and now it is becoming a reality.
The new Radeon PRO V340 features shared hardware encoding for H.265 and H.264 codecs, with something that AMD teases as a "built-in security processor" that we have no idea about just yet. This card is made for design and manufacturing, oil and gas research as well as the media and entertainment industry.
Continue reading: AMD Radeon PRO V340: dual Vega 10 on 7nm with 32GB of HBM2 (full post)
ARK: Survival Evolved is now FREE on iOS and Android
ARK: Survival Evolved was a mega success on the PC through Steam Early Access, and now it will spread its wings into iOS and Android... completely free.
ARK sees you dropped onto an island where you're tasked with surviving the elements, other players, and dinosaurs. You'll need to hunt down materials, craft items, and survive. You'll level up, learn new skills, and explore the world of ARK as a full free-to-play game on iOS and Android, compared to the PC and consoles where the game costs money.
A single ARK server hosts 60 players, with more than 80 dinosaurs across the lands that you can either fight, or tame and use yourself. If you want an ad-free experience, you can buy the Primal Pass subscription which includes free gifts, and a reserved server slot.
Continue reading: ARK: Survival Evolved is now FREE on iOS and Android (full post)
AMD powers The Division 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, and more
AMD has announced a new partnership with both Capcom and Ubisoft, with Scott Herkelman, the VP and GM of Radeon Gaming announcing the news during the E3 2018 Coliseum.
The new partnership sees AMD teaming with Ubisoft for The Division 2 in 2019, and Capcom for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Remember that the original The Division was optimized for NVIDIA, but its sequel will be optimized for Radeon which is similar to Far Cry 5 (also an Ubisoft game) that was optimized for AMD.
AMD has also teamed with Rebellion Developments for Strange Brigade, with the company teaming with the developer previously on Sniper Elite 3 in the last. One of the surprises from this news is that Capcom producer Peter Fabiano announced on-stage that the Resident Evil 2 remake will support both DX12 and FreeSync 2.
Continue reading: AMD powers The Division 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, and more (full post)
AMD not ready for MCM on Radeon, will skip Navi GPU arch
The story of AMD collaborating with Sony on the Navi GPU architeceture for the next-gen PS5 console has really spread throughout the internet like wildfire, but one of the saving graces of AMD's future with Radeon against GeForce was MCM, or multi-chip modules.
But according to a new interview between PCGamesN and RTG's new SVP of Engineering, David Wang, we could be waiting a while. Wang said AMD is "looking at the MCM type of approach, but we've yet to conclude that this is something that can be used for traditional gaming graphics type of application". So no MCM for Navi, makes sense.
This is not surprising at all, as Navi has seen two-thirds of RTG engineers working with Sony, while AMD plans its next-gen GCN architecture for post-Navi. No MCM for Navi, at least in its first-gen iteration, makes total sense. It's a departure to ex-RTG boss Raja Koduri, who wanted to take full advantage of the Infinity Fabric interconnect to throw copious amounts of GPUs onto a single ASIC design.
Continue reading: AMD not ready for MCM on Radeon, will skip Navi GPU arch (full post)
GIGABYTE teases its 28-core Intel superboard
GIGABYTE teased all with their huge motherboard capable of overclocking Intel's 28-core monster CPU to 5GHz, let's see what was hiding under the heat sinks and find out more about the CPU and motherboard.
There has been a lot of chatter about Intel's debut of their 5GHz 28-core beast, and while that CPU is probably a modified Xeon Platinum 8180, Intel nor the vendors would give us any information on the CPU or even motherboard. However, we can learn a lot from the motherboard used to demo the chip to the world. For starters, let's get this out of the way; yes, that chip was without a doubt overclocked. The VRM on the motherboard is a monster, and designed to support much more than Intel's "300W" TDP number (the Platinum 8180 is rated for 205W TDP).
For reference, Intel's 18-core 7980XE can easily pull 500W when overclocked to 4.5GHz. So add the increased leakage from taking more than 50% more cores all 500MHz higher, and add to that the decrease in VRM efficiency due to increased phase count, and we think the VRM could be pulling 1.2-1.8 KW. We heard rumors of the 7980XE pulling up to 1000W under LN2, so we don't think our numbers are too far off. We also heard that Intel was hitting the limits of physics, and we aren't just talking about upgrading their circuit breakers.
Continue reading: GIGABYTE teases its 28-core Intel superboard (full post)
Fallout 76 has cosmetic microtransactions
Fallout 76, being an online service game, will be monetized with optional cosmetic-based microtransactions--something that really shouldn't be a surprise.
Bethesda's big new experimental Fallout 76 game will follow a familiar formula we've seen across the industry: online live-based titles that make recurring revenue via optional in-game purchases. Gamers will be able to purchase cosmetic items in Fallout 76 (paintjobs, outfits, etc) to add flavor to their characters, the studio confirmed, but everything offered on the game's digital storefront can be earned through regular play--paying outright is just a shortcut. Users will not be able to buy items that have a direct affect on gameplay.
Read Also: Fallout 76 is over four times bigger than Fallout 4
Continue reading: Fallout 76 has cosmetic microtransactions (full post)
Arcade Archives Donkey Kong debuts to Switch tomorrow
Nintendo will be adding to their Arcade Archieves series tomorrow with a new release, the original Donkey Kong will be coming to the Nintendo Switch as a surprise.
Back in September of last year it was announced that Hamster formed a partnership with Nintendo to bring classic arcades titles to the Nintendo Switch. According to Nintendo Everything, they have confirmation through a Nintendo Download press release for Europe that the next title on the list is Donkey Kong.
The post continues by saying that Arcade Archives Donkey Kong will be costing $7.99 and will come with both early versions of the title and later ones.
Continue reading: Arcade Archives Donkey Kong debuts to Switch tomorrow (full post)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Simon Belmont + more characters?
With the recent release of gameplay for the new upcoming Super Smash Bros. game from Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate speculation has begun to increase at who else we are going to see revealed for the rest of the roster.
Many people believe that since Masahiro Sakurai said we shouldn't expect many new fighters, that the only ones revealed so far (Inkling and Ridley) are the only brand new characters we are going to get. Not counting the returning characters from the previously released Super Smash Bros. games there is also a larger number of people that believe that was simply a way of diverting attention for big reveals.
Just looking at the previous Smash titles and the total playable characters from each of the respective games. We can see the increase at which the roster has grown throughout the progression of the games, statistically speaking only releasing two brand new characters would be abnormal for Nintendo. The original Super Smash Bros released back in 1999 only had 8 playable characters, that number was soon increased to 26 when Super Smash Bros. Melee debuted in 2001. When Super Smash Bros. Brawl released in 2008 that number increased to 39 characters, then was further increased to 58 characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014.
Continue reading: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Simon Belmont + more characters? (full post)
Call of Cthulhu trailer debuts at E3 2018, walk into madness
E3 2018 - Focus Home Interactive has shined a light on their title Call of Cthulhu at this years E3 by releasing a new trailer for fans following the title.
The trailer has revealed the titles absolute mystery into diving into madness, revealing that players will be indulging into monsters of the Lovecraftian horror.
Players will be taking control of Edward Pierce who is an investigator sent to figure out the mystery of Hawklings family depth, located on a island title Darkwater. A description has been provided for the title, it reads as follows "In this world, nothing is as it seems. Sanity is an irregular bedfellow, all too often replaced by the whisperings in the dark. Strange creatures, weird science, and shadowy cults dominate the Cthulhu Mythos, intent on realizing their mad schemes to bring about the end of everything. Your mind will suffer - balancing a razor-thin line between sanity and madness, your senses will be disrupted until you question the reality of everything around you. Trust no one. Creeping shadows hide lurking figures... and all the while, the Great Dreamer prepares for his awakening."
Continue reading: Call of Cthulhu trailer debuts at E3 2018, walk into madness (full post)
Nintendo's Freedom Planet comes to Switch, E3 2018 trailer
E3 2018 - Nintendo has announced at E3 2018 that GalaxyTrail Games will be bringing Freedom Planet is coming to the Nintendo Switch.
If you have a Nintendo Switch and enjoy some indie games look no further than Freedom Planet. After the title being teased to be coming to the Nintendo Switch it is finally happening, for those that don't know what Freedom Planet, the title is a "fast-paced combat-driven platform adventure that pits a spunky dragon girl and her friends against hostile foreign powers and alien attack forces."
Freedom Planet will be coming to the Nintendo Switch sometime during "this fall."
Continue reading: Nintendo's Freedom Planet comes to Switch, E3 2018 trailer (full post)
Justin Roiland details Trover Saves the Universes 4th wall
Justin Roiland has sat down with Gamespot and detailed his upcoming game release of Trover Saves the Universe through his development studio Squanch Games.
Players will be embarking on an adventure with Trover, who is very aware of the player that is controllering him, he is going on an adventure to save his dogs from an evil powerful overlord and needs some help on along the way. Justin details that when players talk to NPC's they are "very aware of what you are doing", in direct reference to the player and not Trover the character. This means that throughout the entire game the 4th wall is broken, Justin says this has opened up a great scope of jokes that have been sprinkled throughout the experience.
The great thing that Roiland has done here is that players that choose to play in VR will have different jokes to those that don't. If you so choose to, playing through the game twice will give a great comparison that Roiland is talking about here, also I doubt it would be waste of time if you really enjoy Roilands type of comedy. If you are interested in Trover Saves the Universe check out the Squanch Games website here.
Continue reading: Justin Roiland details Trover Saves the Universes 4th wall (full post)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon character breakdown
E3 2018 - During the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal by Nintendo we are introduced to the new character Inkling, originating from the Splatoon series we get a great display of the characters abilities and moveset.
Starting off with the Inklings neutral B we have what is called "splatter shot", this ability covers your opponent in ink which results in more overall damage dealt. Moving on we have the roller, it is not actually said what button action this move is but if I was to give a guess I would say it would be the down B. This ability causes opponents to be stuck in the ground while also being covered in ink, if the opponent isn't hit by the roller but is still in the ink he/she is slowed and ink is applied.
Recovery wise, aspiring Inkling players should look towards the standard up B which launches the character up in the form of squid, this move is slightly directional based as well. Inklings also can throw bombs, the longer the button press for the bomb is held the longer the distance is covered. Inklings transform into their squid form when they dodge which appears to cause them to move quite fast. For further information regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, visit the website here.
Continue reading: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon character breakdown (full post)
NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce features 'new video output' tech
We are so close to the launch of NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce GTX 11 series graphics cards I can almost smell the PCB, especially with the fresh rumors popping up today about a "new video output" on the new cards.
The new rumors come from Igor Wallosek who has talked with NVIDIA's AIB partners R&D teams, who said: "You can already look forward to a new way of a very specific video output and NV has also fundamentally changed the tact and its handling". This is an interesting rumor, and something that has weight to it.
NVIDIA's update to the video output makes sense if they are going to offer HDMI 2.1 that will usher in 4K 120Hz HDR support... perfect for those Big Format Gaming Displays (BFGDs) that NVIDIA has coming out in the coming months.
Continue reading: NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce features 'new video output' tech (full post)
Microsoft's next-gen Xbox codenamed 'Scarlett' arrives 2020
TweakTown exclusively reported a couple of days ago now that Sony is co-developing AMD's next-gen Navi GPU architecture for its upcoming PlayStation 5 console... but what about Microsoft's next-gen Xbox?
Today is a new day, with fresh rumors about the new Xbox that Microsoft teased was in development at E3 2018 earlier in the week, and now we have a codename: Scarlett. Microsoft is working on a "family of devices" under the Scarlett codename, which should be similar to the three Xbox consoles Microsoft has this generation: Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X.
Microsoft is interesting in a game streaming service, which could change the Xbox family of consoles forever. Imagine a world where game streaming is an integral part of the Xbox experience, while the top-tier flagship Xbox handles 4K 60FPS and beyond.
Continue reading: Microsoft's next-gen Xbox codenamed 'Scarlett' arrives 2020 (full post)






















