Latest News - Page 2145

With Dota 2's new competitive season about to commence, much of the discussion has been about Valve's new Minor-Major system that begins with StarLadder October 11. In somewhat of a slight novelty, MoonduckTV has announced a new concept entitled "Midas Mode", with the tournament commencing November 18. Midas Mode pits eight teams (4 North America and 4 European) against each other in somewhat of a Fantasy Football meets Dota 2.

Each team is given a set amount of virtual currency, or "Moonbucks", this currency is then used to purchase actions in every aspect of the game. This includes picking and banning heroes, playing as Radiant or Dire and pausing in game will all cost you Moonbucks. This adds an extra level of strategy to the game as popular heroes will cost more, in fact hero prices will fluctuate depending on their win-rate and popularity. Do you spend Moonbucks picking popular heroes? Or do you spend your Moonbucks banning opposition comfort picks? It is up to the team's captain, he just has to make sure there's enough Moonbucks to pause for toilet breaks!

What happens when the bank runs dry? When a team is out of Moonbucks, penalties will occur. They will be forced to pick from a hero-pool of the worst performing heroes, they won't be able to ban, choose sides or even pause. Teams do have a chance to make their Moonbucks back via the Bounty System. The Bounty System is where the viewers can suggest challenges for the pros to attempt so they can earn Moonbucks. Simple right? The harder the challenge, the more Moonbucks to be earnt. A challenge may consist of something simple like winning a game as Techies, or a little more challenging like drafting a lineup consisting entirely of flying heroes, it's up to viewers to set the bounty.

MSI have introduced an all-new series of gaming controllers specifically designed for multiple platforms. MSI's new Force range introduces the Force GC20 and Force GC30.

Compatible with Windows, Android and consoles, both the GC20 and GC30 controllers feature an 8-way D-pad with a replaceable metal cover kept in place by a premium magnetic design that allows the user to adapt their controller to the genre of game they're playing. These controllers feature rubber side grips on both handles that assists grip during those long gaming sessions and also feature haptic feedback that is able to enhance gaming experience.

The difference between the two controllers is due to the GC20 being a wired model, while the GC30 supports both wired and wireless modes. Set for Q4 2017 release with pricing not yet announced.

Microsoft has surprised with the announcement of Halo Recruit, a new Halo experience that uses mixed reality technology inside of the Windows Mixed Reality platform.

Microsoft's Mixed Reality boss Alex Kipman explains Halo Recruit as "It's a fun, brief introduction into the world of Halo. You'll see a variety of iconic characters in mixed reality for the first time". 343 Industries worked on Halo Recruit, but other than that we have no idea what to expect from Halo Recruit just yet.

Halo Recruit will be available on October 17, with Microsoft explaining on their own Windows blog that Halo Recruit is a "fun, brief introduction into the world of Halo - where you'll see several iconic characters in mixed reality for the very first time".

Western Digital have announced the world's first 14TB harddrive, the HGST-branded Ultrastar Hs14. Perfect for cloud-storage and hyperscale data centers, the HGST Ultrastar Hs14 combines HelioSeal and host-managed shingled magnetic recording (SMR) technology to offers 40 percent more capacity and more than twice the sequential write performance of its SMR predecessor and features a 2.5million hours MTBF rating.

This 3.5-inch HDD helps address Big Data challenges and the emerging sequential write workload segment in data centers by focusing on total cost of ownership (TCO). Prioritizing key factors including capacity per rack, power consumption, cooling, maintenance, and acquisition cost, the combination of SMR and HelioSeal Technology is able to deliver impressive watt/TB power efficiency, resulting in a low TCO. These mature, field-proven technologies provide the foundation for delivering efficient, quality and reliable performance required by cloud-storage and hyperscale environments.

"Over 70 percent of the exabytes Western Digital ships into the capacity enterprise segment are on helium-based high-capacity drives and continue to support customers with outstanding reliability, performance and value Quality of Service (QoS)," said Mark Grace, senior vice president of devices at Western Digital. "The TCO and reliability benefits of our HelioSeal platform are the foundation of our leadership in high-capacity enterprise storage."

Patriot have today added a new mouse to its Viper V570 gaming mouse range, introducing the Viper V570 RGB Blackout Edition Laser Gaming Mouse. Featuring an innovative MMO+FPS hybrid design, this high-performance mouse accounts for gamers who demand versatility and customization across a vast array of games.

"We are excited to announce the launch of the new addition to our innovative and bestselling Viper V570 RGB laser gaming mouse series."said Roger Shinmoto, Patriot's Vice President of Product Development. "The unique FPS and MMO hybrid design allows gamers to dominate a wide array of games."

The Viper V570 RGB Blackout Edition is equipped with an Xtreme precision laser sensor and Omron switches for reliability and speed, the Blackout Edition also includes a dedicated sniper button for those FPS gamers. The Viper Software allows the user to program four sensitivity levels up to 12,000DPI that can be changed on-the-fly during gaming and to also set custom RGB lighting profiles. The customization doesn't end there, users can add up to 34.2 grams of weights that allow the user to fine-tune every aspect of their mouse.

ASUS hasn't yet announced the purported ROG STRIX B350-I-Gaming motherboard, but Swedish online retailer Inet has, with plenty of details and photos to look at.

The new ROG STRIX B350-I-Gaming motherboard uses the B350 chipset, with support for up to 32GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and any Ryzen 3/5/7 processor. ASUS will be including a single PCIe 3.0 x16 port with 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, and 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports.

Storage wise, we have 2 x M.2 slots and 4 x SATA 6Gbps ports, and considering this is a mini-ATX there is an awesome amount of storage capabilities provided by ASUS. There's also GbE and built-in Wi-Fi as well as SupremeFX 8-channel High Definition Audio on-board.

Microsoft will have the fastest console in the world when it launches its new Xbox One X next month, but just how many consoles will Microsoft ship in 2018?

According to Lewis Ward, IDC Research Director for Gaming and VR/AR: "No, the XB1X won't be enough for Microsoft to catch up. It should give PlayStation 4 Pro a run for its money in 2018 in the United States and the United Kingdom, however. I'm projecting about four million XB1X consoles shipped from Q4 2017 through the end of 2018, and about five million PlayStation 4 Pro consoles shipped in the same timeframe".

Ward continued: "The way shipments break down globally, however, that implies a very tight race in the United States and the United Kingdom".

The massive breach of Yahoo looks like it was worse than the original stories, which were already bad, but now Yahoo has said that all 3 billion users had their accounts breached.

Yahoo first reported 1.5 billion accounts had been breached in 2013, something that was announced just days before Verizon acquired the search giant. Verizon, which now owns Yahoo, has said that the attack had breached every Yahoo account... which means 3 billion accounts were attacked.

Verizon disclosed the new findings after an internal investigation into the 3 billion account breach, working with the SEC. The filing reads: "Subsequent to Yahoo's acquisition by Verizon, and during integration, the company recently obtained new intelligence and now believes, following an investigation with the assistance of outside forensic experts, that all Yahoo user accounts were affected by the August 2013 theft".

ASUS has secured the #1 spot for motherboard market share, with DigiTimes reporting that the Taiwanese PC component giant has 45% of the motherboard market in their hands.

ASUS still has plenty of next-gen motherboards on the horizon with Intel launching their new Coffee Lake CPU architecture and Z370 chipset, with ASUS preparing a new arsenal of Z300-series motherboards. Not only that, but we also have AMD's current-gen Ryzen and Ryzen Threadripper-ready motherboards from ASUS in the form of X370 and X399 chipsets, and AMD's upcoming Ryzen 2 processors and next-gen chipset with new motherboards again in early 2018.

ASUS should only continue to at least keep that lead, or push it harder with next-gen boards, something I'm sure we'll see in 2018 and beyond. The main question is: what motherboard do you have? Comment below so that we can see how many people reading this story actually have ASUS motherboards or not.

TSMC is running directly into the arms of 3nm fabrication, with the Taiwanese semiconductor company announcing the locaiton of their first 3nm fab, which will be build in Tainan Science Park, in southern Taiwan.

The decision to build it in Taiwan versus the rumors of a US production plant is so that TSMC can use their assets and supply chain for the production and support of many customers like AMD, NVIDIA, who will want 3nm designs made. The Taiwanese government also provided a lending hand, with land, water, electricity and environmental protection offered to TSMC for their latest manufacturing plant. Some of the new 3nm manufacturing machines will be supplied by ASML, a Netherlands-based company.

As for when we can expect 3nm production to kick off... 2022 at the earliest. TSMC has teased that the 7nm yields are currently ahead of schedule, so we should expect 7nm-based products released in 2018. The 5nm roadmap is still on track, expected to launch in Q1 2019.

Can you believe we're at the front steps of the Star Wars Battlefront II official beta? I can't either, but EA and DICE are celebrating the fact with a new trailer to the game which should hype you in all the right ways, even teasing split-screen coop gameplay.

The new trailer teases everything you need to see in terms of space battles, beautiful Frostbite engine graphics, and so much more. If you're gaming on the PC, Xbox, or PlayStation then the beta is open to everyone through to Sunday. The official game launches on November 17, with pre-orders including the usual bonuses if you're into that thing - like the "Lightsaver Mastery" upgrade for Yoda if you pre-order by October 9.

Microsoft isn't too much further away from the release of its flagship Xbox One X console, the first true 4K-capable console ever. Our friends over at Linus Tech Tips have had some hands-on time with Xbox One X, with Luke giving the new console a teardown in the video below.

Inside, the Xbox One X rocks an 8-core CPU @ 2.3GHz alongside 12GB of GDDR5 RAM and a GPU clocked at 1172MHz that's capable of 6 TFLOPs of compute power. AMD helped Microsoft design the refreshed APU inside of Xbox One X, so when it's compared against Sony's beefed up PS4 Pro, Microsoft comes out ahead in a big way with Xbox One X. More so when you consider Xbox One X also features a 4K Blu-ray player, while Sony gives gamers no options whatsoever for 4K Blu-ray playback... not even with an external drive.

Microsoft has engineered Xbox One X with a single 120mm radial fan that keeps the elaborate console nice and cool, with an easy-to-repair console that repairers should be breathing a side of relief at. Not bad, Microsoft - you continue to impress me with your engineering abilities on Xbox One X.

Scorn seeps into our mind and ignites the strange, hallowed depths of our imaginations--and I love every minute of it.

As a fan of weird body horror the likes you find in David Cronenberg or Clive Barker films, I love it when games get weird. I've openly praised Madmind Studio's new hellishly grotesque game Agony every chance I get, and I always want to see video game adaptations of this blasphemously dark and plain exotic style. And through the magic of indies, my wish is being fulfilled.

Scorn is the type of game I've always wanted to see in the video game world. In a sense, the developers at Ebb Software are making my dreams come true--well, maybe "nightmares" is more apt. The game, which takes stark visual queues from the unnerving phantasms of H.R. Giger's art or Zdzislaw Beksinski's otherworldly visions, is a first-person horror title that's been successfully funded on Kickstarter. At the time of publication Scorn has raised $196,003, more than $20,000 over their initial goal.

After more than 20 years with Sony, PlayStation boss Andrew House is relinquishing his position and will leave the company at the end of this year.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment since 2011, Andrew House revitalized the PlayStation brand after the PS3 console's sales dip and steered the tech titan towards billion-dollar growth with the massively successful PlayStation 4. Following the PS4's reveal in 2013, Mr. House presided over a period of explosive growth during the last five years, with 63.3 million PS4s shipped globally to date and Sony's Games and Network Services rocketing into the lucrative billions-earning segment it is today. (For example, the games segment pulled in $14.730 billion last fiscal year, making up 21.69% of Sony's total FY16 revenues.)

Now Mr. House has decided to leave the company on a high note. "I"m tremendously proud of what we've built with PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment," the corporate executive said in a PR statement. "PlayStation has been a huge part of my life for more than 20 years but with the business having achieved record-breaking success, now seemed to be the right time for me to pursue new challenges."

Team Ninja's gruelingly challenging and amazingly executed samurai "Soulsborne" masterpiece is coming to PC, but not everyone will be able to play.

NiOh is a great game that stands as a shining example of Team Ninja's development prowess, and the game's incoming arrival on PC in November fills a very real void left by Dark Souls' discontinuation. But there's an entry cost this time, and the PC spec requirements to run NiOh aren't super lenient; gamers will need a moderately decent graphics card on top of the huge 100GB file size.

According to NiOh's official Steam Page, the game will require at least an Intel i5-3550 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon R9 280 with at least 3GB of VRAM. This is somewhat surprising given NiOh ran quite well on PlayStation 4 consoles that notoriously feature older graphics hardware and components.

Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians has been on a rollercoaster ride since reaching their funding goal via Kickstarter way back in 2014. If you're a backer (myself included) then you're probably aware of the path that Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardian has taken. There's good news however for the tactical-RPG, in August 2017 it was recently announced that Unsung Story has been picked up by new developer Little Orbit who has since shared their vision of the game and this weekend announced Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians will be released on consoles including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

"For me, I remember playing Final Fantasy Tactics from the couch on my PS1, and that format was quintessential to my experience enjoying that game,"Little Orbit CEO Matthew Scott said. Backers will also be able to update their platform preference via a survey.

In Little Orbit's Kickstarter update, Scott mentioned that they would be cancelling or modifying some backer rewards as it was "financially wasteful to produce" due to limited amount of backers. No need to worry though, partial refunds will be allocated for those tier backers.

SteelSeries have added three new colors to their award-winning Arctis 3 gaming headset range, solar red, boreal blue and slate grey. SteelSeries are celebrating this launch a little differently than most brands, with a great and selfless initiative. SteelSeries have partnered up with anti-bullying non-profit organization, Ditch the Label, by donating 10 percent of all Arctis Colors web shop sales, with their goal to raise $10,000.

"We questioned everything about gaming headsets when we designed the Arctis line - and because of that, it has driven the gaming audio industry forward to become the most sought after gaming headsets on the market with its beautiful, powerful features," said Ehtisham Rabbani, SteelSeries CEO. "With the new, trending colors of Arctis, we celebrate vibrant personalities and passionate gamers that help drive this culture forward, as well as support a worthy cause benefiting youth and gamers."

Featuring 7.1 surround sound, the Arctis 3 is able to deliver incredible sound via a range of devices including PC, consoles and mobile devices. The Arctis 3 also includes the SteeSeries ClearCast microphone, a retractable bi-directional system that delivers clear voice communication that is unmatched in gaming headsets.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is one of the biggest releases of 2017, and has smashed all sorts of records in the gaming industry since it hit Steam Early Access in March earlier this year.

PUBG developer Bluehole has signed a timed exclusive with Microsoft for Xbox One X, which will definitely boost sales of Microsoft's new flagship console with the hottest game right now as a console exclusive. Bloomberg is now reporting that Bluehole "has had talks with all of the major console companies", and then being very specific that the developer was "in talks with Sony" about a PS4 release of Battlegrounds.

Sony might not see a release of Battlegrounds on the PS4, but Bluehole even talking to them in the first place is promising. Microsoft might only have a timed exclusive on Battlegrounds for Xbox, and I'm sure Sony wants to make sure it's ready as soon as it possibly can with a PS4 version of PUBG. If we're seeing 1.5 million concurrent users on the PC right now, where would those numbers be if Battlegrounds was on both Xbox and PlayStation consoles?

ECS is hitting the Z370 motherboard game with their upcoming lets-throw-all-the-cool-words-in ECS Leet Gaming Z370-Lightsaber, a new motherboard ready for Intel's eighth-gen Coffee Lake CPU architecture.

The new Leet Gaming Z370-Lightsaber rocks a pretty plain look given its burst-in-your-face name, but inside still supports 4 x DIMMs capable of memory at up to 3200MT/s, 3 x PCIe x16 ports, and 2 x M.2 ports that are connected to a PCIe 3.0 x4. We also have 6 x SATA ports, and 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports that are backed up by Realtek's ALC1150 codec and Killer E2500 Ethernet.

ECS is aiming the Leet Gaming Z370-Lightsaver at overclockers, with some beefy VRM heat sinks, and on-board power and reset buttons. Next to the power and reset buttons, ECS has placed diagnostic LEDs that will help you know what's happening to your motherboard when your overclock fails. There are three other buttons that provide you with an update BIOS, reset CMOS settings, or a "quick OS" button.

Call of Duty: WWII's beta has wrapped up, with developer Raven putting in the extra mile for the PC version of the game. You don't need a supercomputer to run the game, either.

Raven Software worked on the PC port of the game, with Raven CTO Dwight Luetscher talking with PCGamer recently where he said: "The World War 2 setting, and this game in particular I think, is very well suited for the PC community, in the way some of the recent releases haven't (been)". He continued: "We really believe this is the year where the PC is going to excel. This is the year that we're going to give it our best shot to win the hearts and minds of the PC community".

I don't believe a word about "this game" being "very well suited for the PC community", but I see it as more that PUBG is doing so well it's going to drag the entire PC gaming market out of the slump that Raven thinks it was in, and into the limelight. Not another Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V development job on the latest COD because it has some additional PC features that gamers have been complaining were missing from the series for YEARS.