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This should've been No Man's Sky's reveal trailer
You might be tired of hearing about No Man's Sky, although it's been weeks since we talked about it last. But we've just stumbled upon a trailer that could've saved Hello Games a lot of heartache.
The real problem with No Man's Sky is a huge portion of what Hello Games promised simply wasn't in the game. The VGX 2013 reveal video was a huge mistake, showing us content that we never saw in the final release three years later. But what if Hello Games showed off a more truthful video instead? Something like the footage you'll see above?
YouTuber Zagisa made a rather surreal--but extremely truthful--video that exposes what No Man's Sky is all about. Zagisa's video should've been the kind of thing Hello Games showed off, instead of promising things it couldn't possibly deliver, even with 3 years of dev time.
Continue reading: This should've been No Man's Sky's reveal trailer (full post)
Scalebound Xbox One exclusive has been cancelled
Microsoft and Platinum Games have confirmed Scalebound, a high profile Xbox One exclusive, has been cancelled and the two companies have pulled out of the project entirely.
With Microsoft's "monster" Project Scorpio console on the way, the company is in dire need of new exclusive games--right now Sony is absolutely thrashing the competition with its huge array of PlayStation exclusives. But instead of gaining new all star titles, Microsoft has just lost one of its biggest exclusives: Platinum Games' action RPG Scalebound.
"After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for "Scalebound." We're working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including "Halo Wars 2," "Crackdown 3," "State of Decay 2," "Sea of Thieves" and other great experiences," Microsoft confirmed to Windows Central.
Continue reading: Scalebound Xbox One exclusive has been cancelled (full post)
Fitbit planning a smartwatch future
While market leading fitness wearable producer Fitbit has resisted calls to produce a smartwatch for a number of years, CEO James Park has revealed that functionality is indeed coming - and sooner rather than later.
Speaking to Engadget from CES, Park confirmed that the company will actively pursue an app store "as soon as possible". Despite launching the Fitbit Blaze in 2016 with a colour touchscreen, the company hasn't yet launched a model which allows for the loading of third party applications. Instead, users have become accustomed to incremental updates via Fitbit.
Late last year, Fitbit purchased the start-up company Pebble, which launched with a bang on Kickstarter in 2012 but which struggled against competition in recent times. No doubt this acquisition will prove very important to Fitbit as it moves from a stationary fitness wearable to a fully fledged smartwatch.
Continue reading: Fitbit planning a smartwatch future (full post)
Alcatel announces 6-inch phone priced at $200
CES 2017 - Alcatel has announced a new smartphone - A3 XL. The phone has a pretty big 6-inch display with a low 720x1280 resolution.
The device is powered by a MediaTek quad-core 1.1GHz processor and comes with only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, expandable to 32GB with a microSD card.
The main camera is 8MP and the selfie cam 5MP. Other features include a fingerprint sensor and 3000mAh battery.
Continue reading: Alcatel announces 6-inch phone priced at $200 (full post)
AMD Radeon RX 570 spotted, features up to 8GB of VRAM
CES 2017 - AMD hasn't talked about its upcoming Radeon RX 500 series graphics cards just yet, but that doesn't mean its partners aren't putting the new GPUs in their products yet - like Samsung, during CES.
Samsung was teasing its Odyssey series of notebooks at CES, with options of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 and AMD Radeon RX 570. There is an option for the RX 570 with 4GB or 8GB and follows up with Lenovo's recent Y520 featuring the Radeon RX 500 series mobility graphics.
It looks the Radeon RX 500 series is a rebranding of the Radeon RX 400 series cards, with someone visiting AMD's booth at CES and writing on Reddit: "The card IS an OEM version of the 470. I asked an AMD rep at their booth about it. The 500 series is an OEM rebadge of the 400 series, like how the 8000 series was to the 7000 series".
Continue reading: AMD Radeon RX 570 spotted, features up to 8GB of VRAM (full post)
Razer offers $25,000 reward for stolen prototypes
Razer has confirmed to Polygon that the two stolen prototypes from CES 2017 were indeed Project Valerie prototypes as we had suspected they would be.
They also confirmed that they are offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that would lead to the identification, arrest, and conviction of a criminal suspect.
According to a statement provided to Polygon:
Continue reading: Razer offers $25,000 reward for stolen prototypes (full post)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti rumored for early March
Some expected it during CES, some expected it before - but AMD stole the GPU show at CES with its big Vega unveiling event - but the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti was nowhere to be seen.
The current rumor has NVIDIA revealing the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti on March 10, at PAX East. I've had my own sources say something similar, with "it's coming very soon". The source of the PAX East rumor is an NVIDIA AIB partner employee, and with a release of the GTX 1080 Ti at PAX East, it could be a big deal with an event for gamers, about gaming.
You should be able to buy GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards from all major AIB partners at launch, so don't worry about it being a limited launch with only Founders Edition cards. NVIDIA knows the GTX 1080 Ti is going to be a popular card no matter the cost, and gamers will be throwing down their hard earned cash instantly.
Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti rumored for early March (full post)
Nintendo Switch will blow us away, says NVIDIA
Given Nintendo's new handheld-and-console Switch hybrid is powered by NVIDIA's custom Tegra chip, it stands to reason the company would hype the product up, but it looks like NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is genuinely impressed by Nintendo's new hardware.
In a recent interview with VentureBeat, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang once again affirmed that the Nintendo Switch will blow us away. While Huang didn't reveal any specs or answer the Switch's million dollar question (Tegra X1 or Pascal Tegra?), he did make a comment that's consistent with his standing about the device.
"Nintendo Switch is a game console. It's very Nintendo. That entire experience is going to be very Nintendo," the NVIDIA CEO said during the interview.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch will blow us away, says NVIDIA (full post)
Intel's 10nm Cannon Lake CPUs coming in 2017
CES 2017 - Although Qualcomm has just created the world's first 10nm chip with its Snapdragon 835 SoC, and TSMC is working on 7nm chips, Intel affirms that its own 10nm processor will still release in 2017 despite original delays.
Intel's eight-generation 10nm Cannon Lake CPUs were originally supposed to release in 2016, but the chips were delayed when Intel had some troubles shrinking down the chip's transistors. Now we're right at the beginning of 2017 and Intel has only just launched its seventh-generation Kaby Lake CPUs on the new 200-series Z270 chipset, leading many to believe Cannon Lake would be pushed into 2018--but Intel has set the record straight.
At CES 2017 Intel CEO Brian Krzanich demoed a prototype 2-in-1 device running an eight-gen 10nm Cannon Lake CPU that displayed a promo video. "For those who are wondering if Moore's Law is alive, if 10 nanometers going to be here, the answer is absolutely yes," Krzanich said on stage.
Continue reading: Intel's 10nm Cannon Lake CPUs coming in 2017 (full post)
Halo dev: Project Scorpio is beefier than I expected
When it ships in Holiday 2017, Microsoft's "monster" Project Scorpio will be the world's most powerful games console. The "beast" has been lauded by developers at its E3 2016 announcement, and now that AMD is putting the finishing touches on its new high-performance Ryzen (Zen) CPU and enthusiast Vega GPU architectures, Project Scorpio is likely being shown off to key developers--and these devs are quite surprised with what they're seeing.
Microsoft's first-party developers will be privy to Project Scorpio's full unrestrained power, and we expect first-party titles to leverage the most out of the console itself. Frank O'Connor, longtime Halo dev and Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries, one of Microsoft's key first-party studios, said that the new 4K-ready console is "beefier than I expected." Is this even more evidence that Project Scorpio will leverage AMD's new Ryzen CPU and high-performance Vega GPU architecture?
"Haha, although I probably "know" in that I might have seen it in a slide or something, it's literally not something I have time to think about now and I actually couldn't remember whatever specs I've been exposed to even if I was tortured. I literally couldn't leak or answer a question that went beyond "Can I do this? Does it support that? How many of these could it render?" What I do remember is that it's beefier than I expected," O'Connor said in a recent NeoGAF post.
Continue reading: Halo dev: Project Scorpio is beefier than I expected (full post)
HMD unveils their first Nokia-branded Android smartphone
HMD Global recently launched their first Nokia phone - Nokia 150. The Finnish company signed an agreement with Nokia that enabled them to create a new generation of Nokia-branded mobile phones, and they are keen to make Nokia phones competitive in the market.
They have now unveiled their first Nokia-branded Android smartphone - the Nokia 6. Unfortunately, the phone will be available only in China. In their official announcement, HMD Global explained their strategic move:
The Nokia 6 has a 5.5-inch full HD display wrapped in 2.5D Gorilla Glass. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with X6 LTE modem. The phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
Continue reading: HMD unveils their first Nokia-branded Android smartphone (full post)
Nintendo Switch to launch March 17, according to leaks
A copy of the Nintendo Switch Presentation's schedule sheet has apparently been leaked onto the internet, revealing that Nintendo's new handheld-and-console Switch hybrid may release on March 17--and that Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be a launch game.
If authentic, the presentation sheet also shows off which games will be available on the Switch's launch, and throughout 2017. We have no way of confirming this information, so take it with a grain of salt.
While the sheet doesn't explicitly say the Switch will launch on March 17, 2017, it does have many games listed for said date, and I highly doubt the games would release before the actual system. It's likely that the games listed for March 17 will compliment the system's official launch, and include games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a special port of Mario Kart 8, a Splatoon port called "Counterattack," and a new Super Mario RPRG spliced with Ubisoft's Rabbids.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch to launch March 17, according to leaks (full post)
Nintendo Switch launch games lineup leaked
The launch games lineup for Nintendo's new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid has apparently been leaked onto the internet.
Thanks to a reported slip-up by IGN France, the Switch's launch games lineup has been showcased prematurely ahead of Nintendo's official presentation event planned on Jan 12. The list is pretty interesting, confirming recent reports, but also showing off some new games we haven't heard about yet including Ubisoft's newest Assassin's Creed: Egypt game, a new Pikmin game, and the latest Super Mario adventure.
The games include Super Mario Frost Land, a special Switch version of Mario Kart 8, a Switch port of Splatoon called "Counterattack," a new Piikmin game, Zelda Breath of the Wild (releases March 17!), Skyrim: Special Edition, Dragon Quest, and more.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch launch games lineup leaked (full post)
Razer's prototypes stolen at CES 2017
CES 2017 - As this year's CES wraps up, some bad news came from the CEO of Razer, Min-Liang Tan. He posted on Facebook that two of their prototypes were stolen from their booth at CES 2017.
While it is extremely difficult to steal a prototype, if they were tearing down the booth it's entirely possible those prototypes could have been stolen. It wouldn't be the first time someone copied a Razer product.
At the show, Razer showed off two new prototypes, the Project Ariana and Project Valerie. Ariana is a projection system that is designed to make gaming more immersive by projecting lower resolution game content over the high-resolution TV or monitor. Project Valerie was the most ambitious project where Razer's engineers managed to squeeze three 4K G-Sync monitors into a single laptop, quite the engineering feat.
Continue reading: Razer's prototypes stolen at CES 2017 (full post)
Red Dead Redemption 2 release date possibly leaked
Rockstar Games has promised that the sequel to its open-world Western would arrive in Autumn 2017, but no official release date has been given. In sheer industry fashion, an overseas retailer might have prematurely unveiled the game's launch date, and we could be waiting until October to jump into the game.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is slated for a release on October 2, 2017, according to UK retailer Littlewoods. The retailer recently posted up a pre-order listing for the game which outright shows a 10/2/2017 release date.
So what do we know about Red Dead Redemption 2 so far? We know it'll have a bigger open world than its predecessor, and we've heard it may have three protagonists just like GTA V that are memebers of John Marston's old gang. I personally think that Rockstar will tie in old infamous Old West gunslingers into the game, and the preview trailer shows seven men riding on horseback, possibly hinting at the Magnificent Seven. There's also reports it'll be set in a prequel timeline, and we have evidence to back that up.
Continue reading: Red Dead Redemption 2 release date possibly leaked (full post)
Core i7-7700K hits 7GHz with all cores enabled this time
CES 2017 - When we first reported about Intel's new Kaby Lake-based Core i7-7700K hitting 7GHz, it was only with 2 cores enabled - so impressive to see 7GHz, but not so impressive without all 8 cores enabled.
During CES 2017 - overclockers were able to hit 7GHz on the 7700K with all of the CPU cores enabled - using LN2 of course. They hit 7026MHz specifically, with a CPU multiplier of 70, and an FSB of 100.
The new Core i7-7700K has a base clock of 4.2GHz and boost of 4.5GHz, with most people able to hit 5GHz without a problem. The CPU retails for $305 in the US, and obviously changes throughout the world - so for me in Australia, it'll cost $1500 or something ridiculous (jokes, jokes - probably $1200).
Continue reading: Core i7-7700K hits 7GHz with all cores enabled this time (full post)
Qualcomm shows 5G leadership at CES 2017
In addition to their Snapdragon 835 announcement earlier in the week, Qualcomm had a CES 2017 keynote where they delivered their 5G vision for the future. Qualcomm says that they see 5G changing the world as we know it and that it will change the economy in ways that the internet did.
In fact, Qualcomm did an in-depth economic study to estimate the value of 5G. They said that they expect the impact of 5G on the global economy by 2035 to be $12 trillion. That includes 89% increased productivity, 88% industries to emerge, 85% small business growth and 91% new products and services.
Qualcomm also announced that they had 5G trials with partners like AT&T, Ericsson and SK Telecom, some of the world's biggest infrastructure providers and carriers. Speaking of smartphones, Qualcomm expects that there will be 8.3 billion smartphones that will ship globally from 2016 to 2020 which amounts to 50 smartphones per second. Qualcomm plans to enable these new smartphones with technologies like their new Snapdragon 835 which is the first 10nm mobile processor.
Continue reading: Qualcomm shows 5G leadership at CES 2017 (full post)
AMD's next-gen Vega graphics card spotted at CES 2017
CES 2017 - We had a few meetings, discussions, drinks and amazing chats with AMD and both their Ryzen and Radeon teams at CES 2017 - but LinusTechTips actually had some hands-on time with their next-gen Vega graphics card. Check out the video below.
We don't get any new information from the video, but it's great to see it in person for once. AMD's prototype has a USB 3.0 connector on it so that hardware and software developers can take a bunch of data directly from the card.
During AMD's recent Tech Summit 2016 in Sonoma, CA - I was the first in the world to put my hand behind the card to see the heat being pushed out... and it's a lot. Like, a damn lot. But, as I've said previously - this is a pre-production, super beyond early version of the card.
Continue reading: AMD's next-gen Vega graphics card spotted at CES 2017 (full post)
Final Fantasy XV glitch unveils tons of scrapped content
Every big-budget game has a cutting room floor filled with amazing and expansive things that just didn't make it into the final game--especially Final Fantasy 15. I recently talked about some of the major game-changing things found on Fallout 4's cutting room floor, and now thanks to a new glitch we've uncovered a massive portion of Final Fantasy 15's scrapped content.
YouTuber Fotm Hero recently glitched through the game's barriers to uncover an absolutely massive in-game environment that wasn't explicitly used in the main game. The area is so big that the user spends a full hour running through the environment, which isn't fully fleshed out with items or anything, but it has towns and buildings and is still very far from unfinished.
Considering Final Fantasy 15's troubled development, finding an unused area this big isn't necessarily surprising: lots of Square Enix's plans never manifested into the final game, especially story content. That's one of the major reasons why the story seems so awkward. Pre-development leaks suggest that the devs wanted to have a second open world in Niflheim, but the plans were scrapped because of the strict deadline.
Continue reading: Final Fantasy XV glitch unveils tons of scrapped content (full post)
More than 64,000 people reserved Faraday Future's FF 91
Earlier this week Faraday Future unveiled their highly anticipated electric vehicle - the FF 91. At the launch, the company gave some pretty interesting numbers about the car including the fact that it has 1,050 horsepower and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.39 seconds, which is faster than Tesla's Model S 9100D.
Production of the FF 91 is planned to start in 2018, but reservations have already opened. During their event, Faraday Future stated that everyone interested in the car could make the reservations by depositing $5,000, which are fully refundable.
And it seems that there are a lot of people interested in Faraday Future's first production car. In only 36 hours, the company collected 64,124 reservations. Although the numbers aren't as impressive as Tesla's whose Model 3 got 232,000 reservations in 24 hours, it's a huge success for the company.
Continue reading: More than 64,000 people reserved Faraday Future's FF 91 (full post)











