Latest News - Page 2436

To celebrate this week's release of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Cut' on 4K UltraHD Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD, we have ten Blu-ray copies to give away thanks to our friends at Roadshow Home Entertainment.

From director Zack Snyder comes 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice', starring Oscar winner Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent in the characters' first big-screen pairing. Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City's own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis's most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with each other, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it has ever known before.

To go into the running to win a prize, simply answer the following question:

Google is expected to unveil their next-gen Nexus smartphones very soon, but now we have some 3D video renderings of the new Nexus, which is being made by HTC.

Inside of the new Nexus we should see a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, while it's expected that the new Nexus will feature a 5.1-inch 1080p display. We should expect 4GB of RAM, a 2770mAh battery, 32GB of on-board storage, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera backed by an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

HTC will have a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C port, bottom-firing speaker/s, top-mounted headphone jack and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity. Google should unveil the new Nexus smartphone in the coming months.

Microsoft has claimed that its Edge browser is the only one out of the four big browsers on the market that can handle 1080p playback of Netflix content, and according to PCWorld, the claims are true.

The three other browsers - Chrome, Firefox, and Opera - are all capped at 720p. Using the "secret Netflix menus" (press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D) will display the resolution and bitrate of the Netflix content on your PC, and Microsoft is right - the others are capped at 720p while Edge ramps up to 1080p. The Windows 10 Netflix app renders Netflix at 1080p as well.

Considering that the PC is one of the most powerful platforms in the world, it's a strange thing to see that the PC doesn't support 1080p playback of Netflix, let alone 4K playback. Le sigh.

Console gaming has changed forever: the rythym and pace of games console generations has evolved. Microsoft and Sony are no longer interested in resetting their PlayStation and Xbox generations every eight years or so; instead, consoles new consoles will release every 2-3 years with upgraded hardware, thus becoming even more like PCs. According to Epic Games CEO and longtime dev Tim Sweeney, this is a hugely beneficial branching point for the games industry as a whole.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, Epic's Tim Sweeney did an excellent job in articulating the merits of the new console evolution, and how Sony's PlayStation Neo and Microsoft's new 4K-ready Project Scorpio will open new doors for developers and gamers alike. "Upgrading consoles midlife is a great step forward for the industry. The most difficult part of the entire console industry has always been resetting the user base to zero every seven years or so, whereas if we incrementally upgrade the hardware, then we can bring more performance to gamers without wiping the slate clean. That's incredibly valuable."

Sweeney goes on to highlight how Sony and Microsoft no longer have to set the reset switch; by adding in incremental hardware upgrades within the same family of consoles--ie how the PS4 Neo shares its games with the original PS4 and is still technically a PS4--console-makers ensure they keep the existing games library and level of engagement.

TSMC has been hitting its stride this year, with the delivery of the 16nm FinFET process for NVIDIA's current GeForce GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and the soon-to-be-released GTX 1060. But what about the future?

Samsung has been pushing its Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography (EUV) for the 7nm node, but TSMC isn't far behind, with the Taiwanese giant set to start 7nm node trials by the end of 2017. TSMC's co-CEO, Mark Liu, said that the company plans to push into EUV for 5nm by the end of 2020. Liu added that the company will simplify the process, improve density and cut down on the overall costs of the new node.

TSMC has also said that it has made more than one improvement to its existing EUV infrastructure, while it claims to have implemented 125W EUV source into its ASML NXE:3350 equipment. TSMC also says it now has in-house EUV technologies for inspection, masking and repair for lithography. When it comes to 7nm, TSMC has hit integration for scanners, masks and photoresist, while they'll be adding two more EUV scanners in 2017.

I still remember feeling so crushed and betrayed when Watch Dogs had its graphics downgraded and watered down because of the lackluster 'next-gen consoles' in the Xbox One and PS4 at the time, and now it seems Ubisoft is close to admitting it.

Ubisoft Montreal's Dominic Guay sat down with Evening Standard recently, where he was asked his thoughts on the downgraded graphics of the original Watch Dogs game. He said that Watch Dogs was revealed in summer 2012, before anyone knew the detailed specifications of the Xbox One and PS4.

Guay said: "One thing to remember is that the first showing of Watch Dogs came in summer 2012, before anyone knew what the Next Gen of consoles and hardware would be. We did our best at the time to predict what that would be and always were forward that this first showing was running on a very powerful PC".

The rush towards photo-realistic games is, in my opinion, held back so much by consoles. Well, with the PS4 Neo and Xbox Scorpio expected out in 2017 with 4 TFLOPS and 6 TFLOPS of performance, respectively - can we expect a large jump in graphics?

According to Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney, we're getting to the point where we have photo-realistic static scenes without humans with static lighting. During an interview with GameSpot, Sweeney said: "You know, we're getting to the point now where we can render photo-realistic static scenes without humans with static lighting. Today's hardware can do that, so part of that problem is solved. Getting to the point of photo-realistic dynamic environments, especially with very advanced shading models like wet scenes, or reflective scenes, or anisotropic paint, though...maybe forty Teraflops is the level where we can achieve all of that".

Sweeney continued, saying that we're going to need an algorithm to work it all out - as throwing more computing power behind it isn't the only solution. He added: "Not with humans. Humans are the harder part, but that's just ...We know exactly how real-world physics of lighting work, and so that's just a matter of brute force computing power. Give us enough computing power, and we can do that. We could do that today with algorithms that we know. Humans are a much harder problem, because rendering faces and skin is hard enough, but you quickly realize that the challenge with rendering humans is having realistic human motion to display".

XFX will soon launch its new Radeon RX 480 graphics card, which has been spotted online courtesy of Quasarzone. The new card features an awesome looking XFX logo at the top and a dual-fan cooler.

We will see a single 8-pin PCIe power connector on the XFX Radeon RX 480, while it will rock a factory overclocked GPU. There are four large copper heat pipes keeping the Polaris 10 GPU nice and cool, while we have a rectangular thermal pad solution that looks like it's keeping the VRMs cool. The reference AMD Radeon RX 480 was a great card, but the XFX variant should be an interesting take on the RX 480.

Author Timothy Zahn almost single handedly rejuvenated the 'Star Wars' saga in 1991 with the book 'Heir To The Empire' which introduced the big bad Grand Admiral Thrawn. Despite being a hit with fans and spawning multiple sequels, the Thrawn saga was excised in the great expanded universe purge when Disney took over the franchise in 2012. Now, the character is set to officially return to canon in the newest season of 'Star Wars: Rebels'.

Thrawn is set to be voiced by 'House of Cards' star Lars Mikkelsen when the season premiers later in the year, and Zahn is set to pen a new book featuring the character which will go on sale next year.

At the Star Wars Celebration in Europe, Visceral Games' Amy Hennig revealed some more tidbits about the studio's upcoming Star Wars action game set for 2018, including the studio's process in adapting the magic of the old films into their new game.

Amy Hennig has made it clear that Visceral Games' new action-based Star Wars game will have its own unique storyline. In fact, everything about the game will be brand new, but it'll still be deep-rooted and authentic to the existing Star Wars universe. Visceral's new creative director (Hennig) delivered a meaty speech on her methods to ensuring the game not only lives up to the films, but also delivers completely fresh gameplay.

Hennig starts off by telling us this game will be completely unique and new: "We're writing an original Star Wars story, with new characters, new locations, new tech, new creatures...you name it." Although everything will be new, the game still has to fit into the established motifs and themes of the franchise, so Visceral has to work very very closely with the loremasters at Lucasarts...but they've been digging deep into the font of knowledge the team has to offer. "Our game is a long ways out, we don't have a name yet, but we've been working hard on it and digging in with our partners at Lucasfilm. It's critical to have this collaborative relationship with our partners at Lucasfilm. All of it has to sit authentically alongside the stuff people know now."

At the Star Wars Celebration in Europe, EA has revealed that Battlefront's anticipated offline mode will drop quite soon--in fact, it's dropping next week.

Battlefront's new free Skirmish mode, which allows gamers to play offline, is coming to all platforms on July 21. Skirmish mode is more of an offline setting than a mode, and allows users to enjoy the game's "most popular modes" like Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron without needing to be online. PS4 and Xbox One players can take Skirmish's offline play a step further with split-screen co-op play on the same system.

"Skirmish will offer players the ability to play across two of Star Wars Battlefront's most popular modes on a difficulty level of your choosing. While offline, you can take to the battlefront in Walker Assault, or to the skies in Fighter Squadron. With multiple locations that span the Star Wars universe, Skirmish brings a new way to enjoy Star Wars Battlefront and there is even an option for coop split screen. (Console only)"

EA has revealed the final expansion pack for Star Wars: Battlefront will tie into the upcoming Rogue One film slated later this year.

Battlefront's fourth and final expansion pack will be called Rogue One: Scarif, and will be set on the film's paradise planet of Scarif. The expansion will drop in December, and promises to "continue the battle with heroes from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and explores a new planet from the upcoming film," according to the announcement page. Scarif's playable heroes will be Director Orson Krennic and Jyn Erso. Season Pass owners will get two weeks early access to Rogue One: Scarif.

EA also revealed that the upcoming Death Star expansion will drop in September, bringing a bunch of new combat to the game including new vehicles, blasters, and Star Cards. The Death Star expansion also two new heroes like Chewbacca and Bossk, and all-new maps set in interstellar space outside of the Death Star and its turret-filled trenches to ultimately recreate Luke Skywalker's death-defying run.

Activision released a new in-game campaign trailer for Modern Warfare Remastered, showing off the mission Crew Expendable rendered in the enhanced new graphics. Naturally the remaster looks quite impressive, with improvements across the board, but gamers are eager to just see how big of a leap the new version is over the beloved 2007 original. The results show there's a world of difference between the two games.

YouTuber Candyland has just posted up a video that compares the new Modern Warfare Remastered side-by-side against the original Modern Warfare. Even though the original is running on PC with max graphics settings, MW: Remastered gives it quite a thrashing in every way possible with eye-popping upgrades to lighting/shadows, water effects, atmospheric fog/smoke effects, character facial details, depth of field, particles--and pretty much everything else.

It's also worth noting that most of the video compares still screenshots against one another rather than actual video, but the last minute and a half is side-by-side gameplay footage. Modern Warfare Remastered is looking absolutely amazing, and Call of Duty fans are still pretty mad about having to buy the new CoD: Infinite Warfare to get it.

Pokemon GO is spreading further than Nintendo could've ever wished for, with Virgin Active now jumping into the hype wave announcing the world's first ever Pokerun.

Virgin Active's upcoming Pokemon GO 5K workout is a free guided 5K run along key London PokeStops, with a qualified personal trainer starting and finishing at Virgin Active's Walbrook Club. There will be a section of the run that will take place alongside the river Thames, which will allow Pokemon GO players to catch water Pokemon.

Pokemon GO players will be challenged with interval outdoor bodyweight training, with a workout that will consist of press ups, tricep dips and lunches, reports VR Focus. The Pokemon GO 5K workout is perfect for Pokemon GO players, as your eggs will need 2K of travel, while some need 5K - so if you participate in the run, you can put your egg into an incubator, and by the end of the 5K workout, you will have a new Pokemon.

Oculus has provided support for multiple tracking cameras in its new Oculus Home v1.6 update, with the new firmware supporting up to four tracking cameras - but why are four tracking cameras needed? For the upcoming Touch controllers from Oculus, that's why.

Multiple tracking cameras will provide better hand-tracking for the Touch controllers in the VR world, providing much more immersive and realistic experiences compared to the Xbox One controller included with the Rift. You don't need to buy three more cameras, you can use a two camera setup that would provide the same room-scale VR experience that HTC offers with the Vive, by default.

Oculus Rift owners can now grab another camera or three, and have room-scale VR ready for the Touch controllers to be released later this year.

Oculus has no firm release date for its Touch controller for the Rift headset, with a Q4 release window, but now we know the company is shipping over 5000 Oculus Touch developer kits to any developers.

The "unexpected component shortage" which affected the first waves of Rift headsets saw months of delay for Rift consumers, has the company now "on track to launch Touch and introduce true hand presence along with an amazing lineup of games and experiences later this year", reports Road to VR.

Oculus Touch developer kits won't be available to the public like the first DK1 and DK2 headsets were, with Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe tweeting earlier this week that "thousands of Touch dev kits are going to developers now". One suspicious Twitter user asked Iribe in a tweet: "Thousands, you certain its not hundreds? This sounds very unrealistic considering you mentioned developers", to which Iribe replied "well over 5,000 will be sent to developers before the consumer version ships".

Valve and HTC released the Vive headset just a few months ago, and have quickly become the favorite VR headset amongst VR enthusiasts and gamers. To add fuel to the fire, rumors are suggesting Valve and HTC are getting ready to announce a next-gen Vive headset, with an updated "HTC Vive 2.0" in the works.

It would be foolish to think HTC and Valve aren't working on a successor to the Vive, but another generation ahead of Oculus before Oculus has its Touch controllers in consumers' hands? That's a new reality, and according to suppliers of HTC, it's going to happen in the next 6-8 months with a new sleeker design, and upgraded components.

Reports are suggesting a new Vive 2.0 headset will be released late this year, or early 2017. If the rumors are true, HTC and Valve could really begin to dominate the VR market since the Oculus Rift isn't room scale, and the Touch controllers aren't out yet. The company has been facing consumer backlash over its various DRM efforts, with the company rewinding on promises it made before the Rift manifested into reality.

NVIDIA has just released its new GeForce 368.81 WHQL drivers, which are Game Ready for a bunch of new VR titles that NVIDIA has just released - including VR Funhouse. You can download the new GeForce 368.81 WHQL drivers here.

There's also support for Everest VR, Obduction (from the makers of Myst), Raw Data, and The Assembly. As for the changelog on NVIDIA's new GeForce 368.81 WHQL drivers, here's what you'll need to know:

Game Ready

Battlefield 1 is already looking like one of the best-looking games to be released in 2016, but it looks washed out - unfortunately, that's what war probably looked like back 100 years ago, and that's the look DICE went for.

YouTuber 'jackfrags' has released a new video from the Battlefield 1 closed alpha phase, with some color correction applied using the BF1 Cinematic Tools released by Hatti Watti. Color correction was used, and the HUD was completely removed - providing an amazing look at a custom Battlefield 1.

Let's hope that DICE have seen this, and provide an option for the more colorful, HUD-less Battlefield 1 when it launches later this year. Remember to watch the video in 4K 60FPS, as it's truly glorious.

We're not far away from the launch of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060, and we're already hearing about the mobile variant, which is reportedly not going to have much of a performance difference between the desktop and notebook parts.

Polish website Purepc is reporting that the only difference between the GeForce GTX 1060 on the notebook and desktop is the clock speeds, where they said: "The only difference between the GeForce GTX 1060, for laptops and desktop version, will be reduced core speed. 1405 MHz instead of 1506 MHz in the basic mode, and 1671 MHz instead of 1709 MHz GPU Boost 3.0".

If this turns out to be true, the GTX 1060 will usher in a new performance standard for gaming notebooks, where 1080p 60FPS shouldn't a problem. Now we need to know the pricing on GTX 1060-powered gaming notebooks, which should be revealed in the very near future.