Latest News - Page 2378

Much to the frustration of the collective gaming world, Nintendo still hasn't announced their new NX console/handheld hybrid, instead taking time to show some new 3DS games. Here's the gist of what today's new 3DS-centric Nintendo Direct was all about.

Rather than pull a fast one and surprise everyone with a NX reveal, Nintendo showed off some new games coming to its 3DS handheld via a Nintendo Direct newsblast.

3DS game announcements include Mario Maker, a new 3DS Pikmin game, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword releasing on Wii U, Yoshi's Wooly World coming to 3DS, some Pokemon Sun and Moon tidbits, new Amiibos including special 30th anniversary Zelda figures (8-bit Zelda!) and seven new Amiibos to be used with Mario Party Star Rush, a new Nindies Summer Jam promo starting with 3DS indie Axiom Verge, and a ton of trailers on 2017 games like Dragon Quest VIII and Square Enix's interesting looking new RPG Ever Oasis.

Acer unveiled two new Predator gaming displays at IFA 2016, with the Predator Z271T and Predator XB271HUT both being gaming displays with 144Hz refresh rates and NVIDIA G-Sync technology.

Starting with the Predator Z271T, we have a curved 27-inch, VA-based panel with a native resolution of 1920x1080. The Z271T has a 144Hz refresh rate and 4ms response time, with 8-bit color depth, 3000:1 contrast ratio, and 2 x 7W built-in speakers. We have DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity, too.

Acer's new Predator XXB271HUT kicks things up a notch, with a 27-inch flat TN-based panel and a native resolution of 2560x1440. We have a 1ms response time and 144Hz refresh rate, with 8-bit color depth and 1000:1 contrast ratio. Acer also includes 2 x 2W built-in speakers, you know - just in case.

New research reveals the average child in recent years is spared 150 hours of commercials by virtue of using streaming services like Netflix. As Exstreamist's investigation illustrates, children now watch approximately 1.8 hours of streaming content per day; extrapolated over a year, that represents 650 hours, and in turn, 150 hours of commercials.

The potential results of this shift are intriguing to ponder: perhaps we'll see less kids stamping their feet in the grocery store, demanding that toy or treat. And perhaps as adults, said children will less materialistic. Either way, it's hard to imagine parents aren't happier (and richer) for it.

Xiaomi isn't known as well as Samsung, Apple, LG or other mobile giants, but the Chinese manufacturing giant has just unveiled something that might catch the eye of people wanting to buy a new smartwatch.

Huami is a brand you would not have heard of, but it is a sub-brand of Xiaomi that has just unveiled a new Android-powered smartwatch, the Huami Amazfit. Amazfit is priced at just $120, which will have instant attraction because of its low price, but it rocks a 1.34-inch display with a 300x300 resolution and a 1.2GHz processor inside. We'll also see 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory, with a 200mAh battery inside.

The new Amazfit smartwatch will have around 5 days of battery life, which is not too bad at all, considering competing smartwatches need daily charging. If you want to keep the GPS enabled, the battery life will dive to 35 hours, which is still not too bad - especially considering its $120 price point.

Konami has officially unveiled Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, which includes both Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and all of their associated DLC content. Not only that, but Metal Gear Online and its expansion, Cloaked in Silence are included, but the legendary Chapter 3 isn't, unfortunately.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience will include a bunch of content, and will launch on the PC, PS4 and Xbox One on October 11 for $49.99. There will also be a Steam version of the game, but there's no word on pricing or a release date just yet.

As for what comes in Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, here's what to expect:

The same Foxconn worker who sketched out Sony's new upgraded 4K-ready PlayStation 4 "Neo" is back with even more alleged designs of Sony's new console.

An anonymous Foxconn worker's PS4 "Neo" sketches have gone viral, with just about every media outlet under the sun reporting on the leaks. The sketches prompted a number of console mock-ups, and now the Foxconn employee has stepped in to correct the diagrams and give us even more info on the new PlayStation 4's design. For reference, Foxconn is a Taiwanese manufacturer that creates games consoles, handhelds and smartphones--it's made Sony's PlayStation consoles and is currently making the PS4 Neo and Nintendo's new NX, so it's highly likely these reports are correct.

According to the employee, the PlayStation 4 "Neo" is much heavier than the original PS4 (about 4.5kg or 10 pounds) and "stacked in three tiers" like a sandwich, likely to help with heat dissipation.

You might be too busy enjoying the Battlefield 1 open beta right now to realize AMD has released new Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers that are ready for both Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Battlefield 1. You can grab the new drivers right here.

AMD says it has also added new DX11 CrossFire profiles for both games, with the new 16.8.3 hotfix solving some of the issues with random blank or colored screens when gaming on Radeon RX 400 series cards. AMD is also working on various other issues, noting that there are a list of things the company is working on as we speak:

Download the new Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.8.3 drivers here.

Sony's new higher-end 4K-ready PlayStation 4 "Neo" will cost $450 says a source inside the console's manufacturing facility.

Remember that Foxconn worker who sketched what Sony's PS4 "Neo" console looks like? After the sketches went viral, that same source is now back with even more potential info on one of the PS4K's most important aspects: cost. The employee says that the new upgraded PS4 will run 3,000 Chinese Yeun which equates to $450 USD, falling in line with accidentally-revealed Amazon console price listings.

Atul Goyal, managing director at investment banking firm Jefferies & Company, predicts that Sony's new PS4 "Neo" will cost $399. In Sony's official PS4K confirmation interview, Sony Interactive Entertainment President Andrew House said that the new "hardcore" PS4 would be "more expensive than the current $350 version."

Eurocom is always pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible with laptops, and with the introduction of NVIDIA's incredible GeForce 10 series GPUs inside of notebooks, Eurocom is here with their new Sky E9E2 laptop.

The new Eurocom Sky E9E2 is a 17.3-inch gaming laptop that can be configured with a single GeForce GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, and if you've got the money to spend, you can get it configured with a second GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 for some SLI gaming laptop goodness. Not only that, but the 17.3-inch display comes in two variants: 1920x1080 with a 120Hz refresh rate (yes, please) or the higher-end 4K panel. NVIDIA G-Sync can be included, but it'll cost extra.

It can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM, and it's not like you'll need that with games like Halo 5: Forge requiring 16GB of RAM for 4K 60FPS gameplay, but for video editors on the go (like my good YouTuber friends, such as Dimitry from HWC), 64GB of RAM in a laptop is a big freakin' deal.

A PlayStation France blog post seems to hint that Sony's new 4K-ready PlayStation 4 "Neo" console will launch sometime in 2016.

(Photo: A mock-up of Sony's PS4 Neo by Peter Segura based on leaked sketches)

We know that Sony will almost certainly unveil its new upgraded and high-end PS4 model (PS4 Neo, PS4K, PS4.5) during its special PlayStation Meeting just six days away, but there's still some doubt whether or not the PS4 "Neo," which reportedly offers 4K game upscaling and native 1080p 60FPS thanks to GPU upgrades, will arrive this year. PlayStation France might've just inadvertently spilled the beans with its new blog post, which promises that everyone will see the "future of games" during the event.

Just recently Mojang have announced developer 4J Studio, will be offering another free mini-game for Minecraft users. The freebie is for PlayStation 3 & 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Tumble, is available now for gamers to play, with the download set to see Wii U owners later this week. The addition of a new Battle Map will also be amongst the changes as the free download is for console editions only.

For those unfamilar with the game, the idea of Tumble is to challenge other opponents (up to eight players), with the intention to knock one another into the lava by destroying the blocks from underneath their feet. The new Minecraft mini-game levels are generated randomly, some players will have multiple levels to battle on and others will have the exhilarating thrill of hazardous features, such as Slime and TNT blocks.

Mojang have created two variants of Tumble available for Minecraft enthusiasts. One style equips players with the standard snowballs to throw at enemy blocks, whilst the other provides players with the famous shovel to dig at opponents. Scoring is simple, the winner left standing after the best of 3 rounds claims the title.

BioWare is working on a new unannounced IP outside of existing franchises and series, and it will be revealed soon according to EA.

Although everyone in the gaming sphere is looking forward to BioWare's new Mass Effect: Andromeda RPG, the studio is also working on something completely brand new. We've gleaned lots of evidence from EA financials and past coverage suggesting that BioWare's new IP might be an action game instead of an RPG, and we also know that it will have extensive online capabilities.

"We've been very open about the fact that Bioware is working on a new IP, and we'll get to talk about that in the not too distant future," EA studios exec Patrick Soderlund said in an interview with Games Industry Biz.

IFA 2016 - Today at a special separate press conference at IFA 2016 Samsung announced and launched their new Galaxy Gear S3 smart watch. This smart watch is supposed to be a culmination of all of Samsung's learnings over the last 7 generations of making smart watches and as a result comes in two models.

The classic model is more geared towards fashion, style and looks while the Frontier is more aimed at active individuals with a more rugged look, style and features. The Frontier is the most capable of the two watches with built-in GPS capability and even LTE connectivity for a truly untethered wearable experience.

Both watches are noticeably thick and that is because Samsung has opted to integrate a mic and a speaker into the new watch. Additionally, Samsung has claimed to beef up the battery life of the Gear S3 from 1-2 days with the Gear S2 to 3-4 days with the Gear S3. This may also account for the surprisingly thick housing of the Gear S3 because the battery capacity of the S3 is now 380 mA or 50% more than the 250 mAh of the Gear S2.

IFA - Today at IFA, ASUS announced their newest products, and without any doubt, ZenWatch 3 was the most popular.

Their new Android smartwatch looks better than the last two and it should have better performance. Unlike ZenWatch 2, the new watch is round shaped and has three buttons, which is according to ASUS a first for Android smartwatches. It is available in three finishes - metal, silver and rose gold and it comes with a straps available in dark brown and beige color.

The ZenWatch 3 has a 1.39-inch AMOLED display with 400 x 400 resolution covered with Gorilla Glass. Customers can choose between 50 watch faces but if that's not enough for you, ASUS lets you create your own unique watch face.

Earlier this year Tesla showed their intent to beef up their chip expertise with the hiring of former AMD and Apple CPU designer Jim Keller. That move indicated that Tesla might be considering building their own chips for their cars which previously seemed far-fetched since they had stuck with NVIDIA and Mobileye for so long.

Then, following a high-profile accident which resulted in a death of a customer Tesla dropped Mobileye as a chip supplier which seemed sudden but may have made more sense since they were acquiring chip experts like Jim Keller.

Now, Tesla appears to be expanding their hiring to GPU engineers with the hiring of Anand Mandapati who was most recently employed by Apple according to his LinkedIn. Prior to that, he was employed by AMD for quite some time and helped them with their Nintendo console design wins. This puts him in similar company to Jim Keller who is also an alum of both AMD and Apple. It will be interesting to see how Tesla utilizes his expertise in GPUs, much like Jim's in CPUs.

With the world not that interested in the advancement in the hardware and physical side of the new iPhone, after rumors and reports that it won't be all that different from the current iPhone 6S, there isn't much to drive the hype of the new iPhone to a new level... until now.

Today, Apple was awarded with a patent for what will eventually be a wireless VR headset for the iPhone, with a patent for a "Head-Mounted Display Apparatus For Retaining A Portable Electronic Device With Display". You can read up on Apple's patent on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

No Man's Sky has been an utter mess since its launch, and things aren't getting better - even with the various patches that Hello Games have been putting out, they can't put the fires out surrounding the game fast enough.

We previously reported that Valve were allowing refunds on No Man's Sky for gamers that had pumped over 40 hours into it, even though Steam refunds are only applicable for games that have had less than 2 hours of play time, and refunded within 14 days of purchase.

Well, Valve has released a new statement, saying that there will be "no special exemptions available" for No Man's Sky refunds. It seems that Valve has received so many refund requests,m that it has had to put a notice on the Steam page for No Man's Sky, explaining that there are no special exemptions for Hello Games' failure of a game.

While not a surprise, the confirmation of a second season for Netflix's breakout success 'Stranger Things' has given fans something to look forward to next year. But what form will it take? The Duffer Brothers have spoken to Entertainment Weekl to elaborate on where the series will go next.

While creators initially thought about jumping into the future, the second series will follow up a year after the events of the first. "I think we talked like a larger time jump where the kids are older now and it's a different decade. That's something we batted around from the very beginning. But for us, there's still more story here, there's still things that are unresolved.... There's going to be a lot of new and interesting dynamics that we didn't see in season one".

Unsurprisingly, the upcoming season is set to expand on the upside down - the alternate dimension which is still shrouded is much mystery. "We definitely want to explore a little bit more. There's a lot we don't know about the Upside Down at the end of season one... We obviously have this gate to another dimension, which is still very much open in the town of Hawkins. And a lot of questions there in terms of, if the Monster is dead, was it a singular monster? What else could be out there? We really don't go in there much until they go in to find Will at the end. So we've opened up this doorway, and to us it's exciting to talk about, like, what else is behind there? There's a lot more mystery there to be solved."

An anonymous developer potentially leaks new Nintendo NX details, this time allegedly revealing the dimensions and overall look of the handheld's devkit.

On the heels of the NX share button reports, an anonymous developer has told Let's Play Video Games some fresh info regarding the NX's devkits, more specifically the overall size of the handheld and its detachable controllers as well as a rough schematic of how it looks. Note that this design isn't exactly surprising as it can be seen in Nintendo's initial patents.

"As others already said, it's a hybrid console with detachable controllers that have a split D-Pad, A, B, X, Y, and a camera / share button. However, something I believe none of them have mentioned is the size of the current dev kit.

Acer debuts a powerhouse gaming laptop with a 21:9 curved ultra-wide display, dual NVIDIA GTX 1080s, and Intel's new 7th generation Kaby Lake processors.

Acer revealed its new flagship Predator 21 X gaming laptop at IDF 2016 in Berlin, and boy does this notebook pack a serious punch. The Predator 21 X features the world's first curved display on a laptop, with the panel clocking in at a 21-inch ultra-wide IPS display (2560 x 1080) with NVIDIA G-Sync support and Tobii eye tracking for good measure.

Under the hood the Acer Predator 21 X is outfitted with dual NVIDIA GTX 1080's in SLI for some serious gaming power. Remember that the mobile GTX 1080 GPUs feature 2560 CUDA cores and a 1733MHz boost clock with 8GB of GDDR5X at 10GHz. The enthusiasts laptop will also tap Intel's new 7th generation Kaby Lake processors for maximum CPU performance.