Latest News - Page 2412

For the first time in nearly four years, League of Legends is not number one in the Korean PC bang (LAN center) rankings, according to League analyst Monte Cristo. As of this week, it stands high above the competition at 27.86%, but is topped by Overwatch at 30.36%.

The remaining games on the list are (roughly translated) Sudden Attack, Fifa Online 3, Dungeon Fighter, Starcraft, Lineage, Blade & Soul, Diablo 3, and Aion.

Overwatch has become a bonafide hit worldwide with 10 million total sales at last count, and excellent communication and patches from developer Blizzard has further encouraged its success. Meanwhile, League remains a juggernaut, but a significant portion of its player base has grown discontent with Riot's gameplay changes and lack of reception to feedback in recent times.

While Windows 10 is a fine operating system, it's drawn a lot of ire from those not yet ready to upgrade to it (and even some from those who have) in light of Microsoft's aggressive tactics. Late last week, there was a win for the people when California resident Teri Goldstein sued Microsoft when her failed Windows 10 upgrade reportedly rendered her system unusable and customer service couldn't help her. Goldstein won the case and was granted $10,000 for lost time and the cost of a new system.

While $10,000 is chump change to Microsoft, the win provides a precedent for potential future cases.

The software giant appealed the initial judgment but later dropped it, which it claims was to avoid the expense of further litigation (no doubt increased exposure was a concern as well).

Update: It appears this post from WCCFTech has to be taken with a rather large grain of salt, as @null1ng on Twitter tweeted us, directing us to these images - showing that the photos used in the article aren't right. Ugh.

AMD's next-gen AM4 socket is still on its way, with a new look at a high-end AM4 motherboard from ASUS and their ROG brand. The ROG Crosshair VI Impact motherboard supports the AM4 socket, bringing support for the upcoming Summit Ridge and Bristol Ridge processors, which will be released later this year.

ASUS is set to add all of the features that AMD's next-gen processors will offer, with the Bristol Ridge-based range of APUs to hit the next few months, and the new Summit Ridge-based FX processors in Q4 2016 - both of which will be powered by AMD's new Zen architecture. What will the ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Impact motherboard bring to the table? Not only will the AM4 socket appear, but we will be able to use existing AM3+ coolers on the board, as well an external VRM PCB that connects to the motherboard.

Tesla Motors is eyeing off China as its new production hub, with the company signing a non-binding agreement with Jinqiao Group, which is a Chinese government-owned company.

Jinqiao Group will be constructing the production plant for Tesla, where it will be built-in Shanghai. Tesla has reportedly signed a $9 billion on the deal after company CEO Elon Musk teasing six months ago that Tesla would choose China as a production facility site by the middle of 2016.

According to Bloomberg's report, both companies will invest $4.5 billion into the production plant, making it a much larger investment than Walt Disney Co.'s Shanghai-based theme park, which cost them $5.5 billion. How will Tesla benefit with a production plant in China? The electric car maker is paying 25% import tax it pays for each and every electric vehicle is ships to the country.

EA is currently holding a closed multiplayer alpha test for Battlefield 1, and gamers are already testing out specific interactions and experimenting with all of the weapons, vehicles, and explosive WW1 mayhem.

Ever wonder who whens when two players bayonet charge one another in Battlefield 1? What's the deal with mustard gas? Can you kill players with medic syringes? How close do you have to be to a grenade for it to kill you? YouTuber jackfrags goes mythbusting in the closed Battlefield 1 alpha test to answer a bunch of these questions and generally play around with the game, seeing what works and what doesn't.

Check below for a quick bullet list of everything we've learned from the footage, including the full list of grenade types, gasmask/gas interactions, bayonet charges, and much, much more. Also remember that the game is still in its alpha state, so a lot could change from now until release. The info below is based on the current unfinished alpha build.

There's Fallout 4 settlements, and then there's this absolutely incredible cityscape that brings to mind Blade Runner's sci-fi neon flair.

As someone who's spent a good chunk of time building in Fallout 4's settlement editor, I always love looking at the amazing things that other survivors have built. Quite often it's a fascinating experience, especially when the would-be architects employ the use of dozens of mods to fabricate whole post-apocalyptic cities that utterly smash Bethesda's vanilla flair. Fallout 4 user grod4L's amazing Sanctuary City is one of these creations.

Amazing post-apocalyptic architect grod4L didn't use the GECK to build his brilliantly-lit Blade Runner-esque Sanctuary City; he only used existing Fallout 4 PC mods and the in-game editor. The best part is that grod4L plans to release the huge Blade Runner-style city as a save file on Nexus Mods, but only when all of Fallout 4's DLC are available. This will happen probably in September, the modder affirms.

Resident Evil 7 was one of the larger reveals at E3 2016, with Capcom taking in influences from current horror games, and even the surprising P.T. and other similar games.

But during an interview with Capcom Unity, Producer Masachika Kawata and director Kōshi Nakanishi talked about some of the changes that Resident Evil 7 will offer. Starting off, Resident Evil 7 is not a reboot, with Nakanishi explaining: "It's not a reboot and we're not throwing away the series' canonical storyline. It's the new numbered title in the series and it's a sequel to the existing mainline series titles. After I say that and you try the demo, you may say "Really?", because it looks nothing like any of that, but trust me. We need to have a bit of mystery in survival horror, so we're trying to make you wonder when you play it how could this possibly be connected? That's part of the appeal".

The first-person perspective is going to be interesting, with Kawata continuing: "Both myself and the director, Mr. Nakanishi, felt if we want people to experience horror and experience it in the most direct, visceral way possible, then literally putting yourself in the position of seeing what the character sees is the best way to do that and so it was our motivation for the first-person camera change". Nakanishi chimed in with the big change with Resident Evil 7's first-person perspective, adding: "Of course it's a big change, so first we got a prototype working and we put first-person in place and we wanted to see if we could make Resident Evil work in first person. As soon as we had it up and running we were really confident that this was the way to move forward. We were really happy with the way that Resident Evil feels in first person".

If there was a way to make your KFC meal more unique, KFC stores in Delhi and Mumbai have achieved that - with these two stores offering KFC's new "Watt a Box". What is the Watt a Box?

KFC's new Watt a Box is a meal box that features a built-in battery, microUSB and Lightning cables, so that you can charge your smartphone while you enjoy some of the Colonel's infamous chicken. It's a marketing gimmick of course, but inside it rocks a decently sized 6100mAh battery, which isn't too bad at all. As BGR reports: "The power bank claims to have a 6,100mAh battery but the claims fell short during our brief test. We put an iPhone 5s to charge, which gained 17 percent battery after charging for half-an-hour".

BGR continued: "But the downside was that the power bank was drained during this process. We recharged the power bank to 100 percent and tried to charge a Redmi Note 3. But the power bank ran out of juice again with the phone gaining just 7 percent of charge... KFC is not the only one to toy with such marketing campaigns. Pizza Hut came up with a limited edition box in Hong Kong that converted into a projector for smartphones. McDonald's had launched a special edition of its Happy Meal boxes in Sweden that could be converted into cardboard VR headsets. Coca Cola too had a similar cardboard VR headset one could make from its 12-pack cartons".

To celebrate this week's release of 'Gods of Egypt' on Blu-ray 3D , Blu-ray and DVD, we have ten 3D Blu-ray copies to give away thanks to our friends at eOne Home Entertainment.

In this spectacular action-adventure inspired by the classic mythology of Egypt, the survival of mankind hangs in the balance as an unexpected mortal hero Bek (Brenton Thwaites) undertakes a thrilling journey to save the world and rescue his true love. In order to succeed, he must enlist the help of the powerful god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in an unlikely alliance against Set (Gerard Butler), the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt's throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. As their breathtaking battle against Set and his henchmen takes them into the afterlife and across the heavens, both god and mortal must pass tests of courage and sacrifice if they hope to prevail in the epic final confrontation.

To go into the running to win a prize, simply answer the following question in 50 words or less:

Titan Books is publishing a four-part Mass Effect novel series that sheds light on the mysterious events between Commander Shepard's original adventures and the new Mass Effect: Andromeda.

BioWare has made it clear that Mass Effect: Andromeda isn't directly connected to the original trilogy, despite being set in the same universe. The sequel is a brand new game set after the original trilogy, complete with its own new cast of characters, a new protagonist named Ryder, and a completely overhauled tone. But that doesn't mean there's not a ton of events to explore in between the two games--and as tradition dictates, this story will be told in book form. Renowned sci-fi writer N. K. Jemisin will pen the four-part Mass Effect: Andromeda novels, with the first one, ME: Andromeda - Initiative, releasing this August.

"Titan will publish four unmissable Mass Effect novels, sure to appeal to the game's huge number of fans. The novels will act as prequel and sequels to the events in the games and will become part of the overarching Mass Effect saga. They will focus on key characters and answer the many questions fans have been asking," reads the announcement from Titan Books.

During Sonic's official 25 year anniversary celebration, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka announced a new Sonic the Hedgehog game is coming in 2017.

Over the last few years, Sonic has fallen from grace with a batch of truly awkward and terrible games--releases like Sonic Boom alienated the fanbase and pushed gamers away from the once-might franchise. Now Sega promises to turn everything around and put a "huge emphasis on quality" on new Sonic games, starting with Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice and the new 2017 Sonic game.

"Sega is really - as of this last year - putting a huge emphasis on quality. One of the things about Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is that we held the title for a year, which is not something Sega has traditionally done, but this focus on quality is really about trying to take Sonic back to where it used to be," said Sega Chief brand officer Ivo Gerscovich.

Last night I shot a few rounds of pool with Falcon Northwest president Kelt Reeves. We talked some shop, wore silly hats, chucked wooden chairs across the bar, heckled the other patrons, and tried to jump the cue ball over beer bottles. We weren't physically in the same space, mind you, but rather inside virtual reality playing Pool Nation VR on the HTC Vive. But it sure as hell felt lifelike, and was in fact one of the most immersive VR experiences I've had to date...and I've had at least 50 of them.

Pool Nation VR is simple, as most Vive games currently are. Grab a cue stick, select some rules, play solo, or invite a friend to your billiards table. The developers have done a fantastic job creating an atmospheric setting, from believable lighting to a jukebox blasting blues, to a slew of props like giant dominos, haphazardly placed beer bottles, and of course books with titles like "Kitten Juggling."

The only criticism I have is that everyone else in the bar is huddled in groups, just swaying and staring at the floor. I suspect this is because the framerate would take a hit if multiple games were happening simultaneously within your field of vision.

A new trademark for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild adds even more credence that the Nintendo NX's games are on cartridges instead of discs.

Some time ago we reported that the Nintendo NX might use game cartridges instead of discs, almost akin to a 3DS handheld. This info was gleaned from a patent, but patents don't always reflect final products. Thanks to the clever sleuthing of NeoGAF user Aetheerios, Nintendo might have inadvertently confirmed the patent information.

A new trademark for Zelda Breath of the Wild, which is releasing simultaneously on the NX and the Wii U, clearly lists "video game cartridges" as a game distribution medium. Now this is actually pretty interesting, given how Nintendo's classified its games thus far. For reference, Nintendo only marks its 3DS games as cartridges games, whereas Wii U-only games are only listed as disc-based. Since Zelda Breath of the Wild is launching on both the NX and Wii U, it lists both cartridges and discs: disc for Wii U, leaving cartridges for the NX.

AMD just debuted the first commercial for its "Radeon Rebellion" campaign, and just like Chris Hook and Raja Koduri promised during my interview with them, it takes quite a different tone than the standard video card ads we're used to.

Watch that again. Did you see any actual video cards? Any gameplay or screenshots? Any statistics or bullet points or specs? Nope. AMD is doubling down on the concept of change, of introducing premium VR for the other 99%, and bringing mainstream PC gamers affordable eyecandy. That's the promise of the RX 480, and indeed for AMD's entire Polaris lineup.

Stay tuned, gang. We'll have exhaustive coverage of the RX 480 very soon including standard benchmarks, VR impressions, and a full review.

In a sign that Oculus might be listening to their critics and responding positively to the VR community's frustrations, the creators of the Rift have removed an element of their restrictive DRM from Oculus Home that prevented HTC Vive users from playing games that were intended as exclusives to the Rift. In addition, the company has pledged that they "won't use hardware checks as part of DRM on PC in the future."

This has been one hell of a roller coaster ride. Let me briefly catch you up. A programmer known as CrossVR developed software called ReVive which aimed to make games purchased on Oculus Home playable on the HTC Vive. Oculus responded by updating their Oculus Home software (essentially a portal for Rift content that anyone can download, with or without owning the headset) to include a hardware check that blocked non-Rift headsets from running the games from Oculus Home.

Whether or not you believe this is within Oculus' rights, it's worth mentioning here that Rift creator and Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey once stated that "If customers buy a game from us, I don't care if they mod it to run on whatever they want." This move by Oculus blatantly contradicted what Luckey said, and is one of the many reasons I urged Oculus to silence Palmer Luckey and replace him with a more professional spokesperson. I don't want Luckey gone obviously -- I just want him to do what he does best without making promises and then breaking them.

No Man's Sky creator and developer Sean Murray gives an update on the progress of the game, promising that the cogs of the intergalactic universe-making machine that is Hello Games is running smoothly.

Ever since No Man's Sky got delayed to August 9, gamers have been avidly looking forward to scraps and snippets from the massive star-hopping sim. After all, it's not everyday that a small team of less than 10 developers attempts to peel back the rim of the universe for millions of gamers. No Man's Sky wasn't at E3 2016, but Sean Murray has delivered a new update on what's happening with the game, and affirms that this universe is pretty special. In fact, it's bigger than you ever imagined.

"I've said it before, but No Man's Sky is the hardest thing I've ever worked on. It's even bigger than you can imagine. This is a type of game that hasn't been attempted before, by a smaller team than anyone would expect, under an intense amount of expectation," Murray said.

Epic sends word that their venerable Unreal Engine was the graphics engine powering 80 games at this year's E3. I only saw about 25 games at E3 2016. Hell, I probably won't have time to play 80 games over the next 2 years, so this stands out as an impressive number.

There are the AAA behemoths you'd expect, such as Gears of War 4 and Tekken 7, but there are also VR games like Batman: Arkham VR, Everest VR, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, and VR Sports Challenge. There's indie games like the excellent Absolver from new studio SloClap (comprised of Ubisoft Montreal vets), or the stunning, beautiful Obduction from the team behind Myst.

But what has been most interesting to watch is Unreal Engine's increasing presence in media other than games. There are excellent short VR films like The Rose and & I and Henry for Oculus Rift. NASA is using it. Hollywood is using it. And in February Epic reported 1.4 million registered developers using the creation tool. Clearly they've seen quite an uptick in developer interest since making Unreal Engine free, and it's starting to show.

With 10 million players, Blizzard's Overwatch is unquestionably a resounding success. There's just one thing that's been keeping certain PC gaming enthusiasts from enjoying the shooter to its fullest capacity: lack of ultrawide monitor support. Thankfully, Blizzard has confirmed they're already working on it and the update is targeted for July.

A very heated forum thread over at the Battle.net forums has been persuading Blizzard to add 21:9 resolutions, and Blizzard veteran Jeff Kaplan responded just a few hours ago with the good news: "We're working on this now. ETA late July -- give or take," Kaplan replied.

There's been an outpouring of complaints toward Blizzard over the lack of Ultrawide support -- probably due to the sheer number of players and the fact that it was present in at least one of the Betas -- and it's great to see the developers listening and responding proactively to the community. I just dove into the word of curved Ultrawides myself, with Acer's Predator Z35 G-Sync monitor, and there's no going back for me!

There's been tons of rumors about Nintendo's new NX console flying around the last few months, and the Japanese games titan has opted for a course of devout secrecy when it comes to the NX. Thanks to industry insiders we've been able to piece together speculations about the console--but one renowned insider says gamers might be in for quite a shock when the NX hits, and it might not be a good one.

Noteworthy games industry insider lherre has it on good authority the NX might not live up to the hype. "I'm sure a lot of people will be shocked by the new Nintendo NX, and I think not in a good way. But we will see," Iherre wrote in a recent NeoGAF post. But what exactly does this mean? How will the NX fall short? TweakTown was exclusively told by our reputable sources that the Nintendo NX is powered by NVIDIA's 16nm Pascal-based Tegra chip, so it shouldn't lack for power. Reports also say devs can easily port Xbox One and PS4 games to the NX, so it should be flexible.

Iherre goes on to iterate his point, saying that sources told him "almost nobody" was working with the NX console outside of Japan. Essentially Western devs might not have access to the NX yet, meaning third-party launch games might be slim. "No specifics but different sources told me a different scenario about it. I think the main concern about it or my impression is that 'almost nobody' is working with it outside japan. I imagine there will be a good support there. Well, that's not shocking. And I heard a lot of crazy rumors, you won't believe some of them."

Like pretty much any game released today, Ubisoft's new brutal dark fantasy game For Honor is getting a season pass that promises an entire year's worth of additional content and even some "exclusive" features.

According to a recent Xbox Store listing, For Honor's season pass will include "a year's worth of expansions, exclusive content, and more." No pricing info was shown on the listing, but Ubisoft has a For Honor Gold Edition that comes with the base game and season pass for $99 so I'm guessing it's priced at $40.

Now I'm a bit dubious about the "exclusive content" part as it hints a portion of the game's extra tidbits will be walled off behind a paygate, unable to be purchased a la carte. But the $40 price tag tells me that the pass will offer a substantial amount of content (hopefully at least!) so it could be worth it. You can't actually buy the pass just yet, and we have no clue what's exactly included, so be sure to wait before you pick up the Gold Edition.