Latest News - Page 2533

Some new evidence has surfaced that points towards the release of Nintendo's NX and even the next Legend of Zelda game sometime by the end of this year. A user on NeoGAF that goes by the username Trevelyan9999 spoke about having heard from someone reliable who's close to the information that we'll be seeing those soon.

The information stems from an internal US marketing budget and scheduling overview that has listed on dates of the projected release for both the NX and the new Zelda game, which will apparently be released on both consoles very close to the same date.

Such information would be dismissed at first glance if it weren't for a few key, yet slight details that they're also able to provide. The report by Trevelyan9999 which showed up at the beginning of the week also mentioned a 20th anniversary Pokemon game, which was indeed revealed. The codename mentioned in their post was Niji, which also happened to be the initial filename for the logo images released by Nintendo, as uncovered by Gematsu. The codename for these anniversary games has never been discussed or mentioned before, giving credence to the information at hand. It's unlikely that anyone that isn't close to Nintendo would have known that.

Gabe Newell has fired the production company and host of the $3 million DOTA 2 Shanghai Major competition, with host James "2G" Harding taking to Twitter announcing he'd been dismissed of his hosting duties, and that it was "Valve's decision".

The reason? There were several major technical issues, and questions raised over the dismissal of Harding for the English-language coverage of its group stages. This forced Valve boss Gabe Newell to step in and address it directly. As for the issues, it included major technical issues both on-set, and in-game. The hosts had mic levels that were either too quiet to hear or were cut completely. Harding was reportedly looking awkwardly at the wrong camera, and speaking to the on-set director to get the camera pointed where he wanted.

Harding "rambled self-deprecatingly about how little he knew or understood about Dota 2's current balance and accepted strategies, or meta, and sometimes insulted teams participating in the major or the players on them", reports Polygon. It gets worse, though. During the live match coverage, it was interrupted for various reasons. Medical reasons caused delays, with others going for hours at a time without explanation. The competition had multiple complete connection failures for the English-language streams, on both Twitch and DOTA 2's official website.

We've been waiting for AMD to show off its Radeon R9 Fury X2 in the flesh, and now we seem to have seen the first real photo of AMD's dual-GPU based on the Fiji architecture, powered by HBM.

AMD's Roy Taylor posted a picture of the Tiki PC, built by Falcon Northwest, to his Facebook page. Taylor teased "another peak at the world's best developer box for VR and DX12". We can see the R9 Fury X2 (if that's what AMD names it, Gemini has also been teased) is a much longer card than the R9 Fury X, with the cooler built-in like the R9 Nano.

It looks like the R9 Fury X2 is just a super-long R9 Nano - but with twice the horsepower. We should expect the R9 Fury X2 to have a 300W TDP, but with Fiji's thermal throttling, we shouldn't expect the card to be running too hot - hence why we're seeing AMD not use a watercooler like they did on the R9 Fury X.

I've already reported that NVIDIA would unveil its new Pascal-based Titan X successor at its GPU Technology Conference in early April, but we should expect a "surprise" Pascal demo at GTC according to the new rumors.

NVIDIA co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang will be kicking off his usual opening keynote on April 5 at 9AM PST, where we should be greeted by the next-gen GeForce GTX Titan X, based on the Pascal architecture. Now, NVIDIA is set to hit the 16nm process with Pascal, as well as using HBM2 - so we might see the Titan X successor unveiled, but not launched at GTC. When will NVIDIA launch the Pascal-based Titan X successor? According to the rumors, sometime around June - just like it did with the GTX 980 Ti last year.

The Game Developers Conference kicks off on March 14, with Valve announcing it will be hosting a programming session called "Advanced VR Rendering Performance". In this session, Valve will talk about maintaining 90FPS in VR applications, without resorting to reprojection techniques.

The session teases: "Reliably hitting 90 fps in VR is a significant challenge. This talk will present a method for adaptively scaling fidelity to consistently maintain VR framerate without using reprojection techniques, even on very low-end GPUs, while also having the ability to increase fidelity for high-end GPUs and multi-GPU installations. Valve's Aperture Robot Repair VR experience that was shown at GDC 2015 required an NVIDIA 980 to maintain framerate, but this talk will use that same experience as an example of how we now adaptively scale fidelity to maintain 90 fps on an NVIDIA 680, a 4-year-old GPU. The end result is an engine that appears higher fidelity throughout the experience, a lower GPU min spec, increased art asset limits, and a system that allows developers to stop focusing on framerate and instead spend their time increasing the quality and performance of their renderer while consistently maintaining framerate".

Developers will walk away from the Advanced VR Rendering Performance session with "several methods for adaptively scaling fidelity to keep their VR applications in framerate without using reprojection techniques". the Advanced VR Rendering Performance session with "several methods for adaptively scaling fidelity to keep their VR applications in framerate without using reprojection techniques".

Apple and Samsung have been battling it out over mobile technology patents for years now, with Apple winning more often than not. Today marks a victory for Samsung, who recently appealed a ruling that would've seen it pay $120 million for infringing on Apple's quick links (the functionality that allows one to make phone calls from numbers seen on screen, among other things), slide-to-unlock, and auto-correct patents.

The court ruled the quick links patent was not infringed upon, and that the latter two patents were invalid. More, Apple was found to infringe on a Samsung patent, although it's not clear which.

The decision was unanimous among three judges of the Federal Circuit, the country's top court specializing in patent cases. Nearly $99 million of the damages related to the quick links infringement.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a long way towards being finished, but the CD PROJEKT Red has already decided to bring back the composer who made the great soundtrack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Speaking to Gamepressure, Marcin Przybylowicz revealed that he's already been playing around with ideas for the music for Cyberpunk 2077, because well, that's apparently his in his job description and being the house sound designer, he's just the man to do it. "My superiors already force me to do it, because I spend most of my time with Geralt; however, some first attempts with Cyberpunk were already made."

Aside from being "forced" by his superiors, he's incredibly talented and his unique style and methods will probably make for a great soundscape in the upcoming game. He was not, however, the only composer to work on The Witcher 3 though. Pedro Macedo Camacho composed the main theme, and is also the Star Citizen soundtrack composer as well.

You probably have a mechanical keyboard (if not, get on that), but we'll do you one better with an analog mechanical keyboard boasting what is undoubtedly the weirdest name around: Wooting One.

Currently in development and seemingly nearing launch, the main draw of the Wooting One is its pressure sensitive keys, allowing you to dictate exactly how fast a character moves in a game like The Witcher 3, or how precisely you turn in a racing game like Burnout Paradise. If you've used the Dualshock 3 controller before, it's basically that except with keys instead of sticks. Likewise, game support isn't a worry, as it comes at the hardware level. Lastly, if you dislike the feature or just want it off sometimes, you can disable it at any time.

The keys are described as "similar to CherryMX reds but not as light and not too heavy as [with] blacks", so by the sounds of it, you can expect custom keys.

A new cinematic trailer for The Descendant was just released and it shows how horrifying and terribly difficult life could be in the future should we seal our own fate with a man-made extinction-level event.

But never fear, because we're put people in stasis so they can live on and sustain the human race once everything boils over. This narrative-driven point-and-click adventure is rife with a story and a vast mystery that has to be solved. You're one of the Descendants, supposedly chosen to carry the torch for humanity in the future, and when you awake to explore the Ark you've been placed in cryogenic storage in, there's a lot of unanswered questions to seek the truth to.

The first of five total episodes is set to go live on March 24th with the rest being released gradually throughout the year. So you'll be exploring Ark-01, where you wake up, with plenty of puzzles to solve and try to rescue survivors as Donnie. You'll get to experience events in the past as well as "current" day events while you investigate. An incredibly fascinating concept, to be sure.

EA's Vault in their Origin Access program has just grown by one as they added Torchlight II to the family. That makes 16 games in total that can be played as part of the monthly subscription service.

Last month EA brought their Origin Access subscription service to the PC, something that was previously exclusive only to the Xbox One. You can pay $4.99 and get the privilege of being able to play all 16 of the games in the vault and you also get early access to EA games a few days before they're available to anyone else.

The full list of games that're now available in their EA Access program.

Apple today asked a judge to throw out the order requiring it to hack the phone of an attacker in the San Bernardino case and followed it up with a request of its own: that its peers stand behind it to fight for privacy.

That's happened with Microsoft, whose President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith declared in a congressional hearing yesterday his company's "wholehearted" support of Apple's position, and that it would file an amicus brief next week to that end. (An amicus brief is a filing that allows those not directly involved in a case to have their say in it.)

Twitter has confirmed to us they "expect to be on a brief supporting Apple" and that the "filing deadline is Wednesday."

Armored Warfare lets you take command of a number of modern Main Battle Tanks and duke it out amongst your friends. The newest update puts in a number of great new features, a new intricate close-quarters map and new Chinese tanks, like the feared Type-98.

To sell you the new tanks there's a new Arms Dealer known as Zhang Feng who has some of the best deals on Chinese tanks around. His inventory is available to everyone who wishes to try out something new. A new Tier 5 premium tank has also been added, the WZ-1224, a 44-ton masterpiece with a 120mm smoothbore main gun.

The new Coastal Threat Map is a 1.2K square map with a mixture of open-spaces that allow for huge arcs of fire and a small city with its tight quarters to test your skills appropriately. For those that prefer PvE, the reward system has been modified so that it's almost as lucrative as playing strictly PvP. That way you'll be able to get some of the better loot while you practice and improve.

It's the weekend, there's a good chance that it'll be cold and dreadful outside in the majority of the world, so you might be looking for something new to play. And even though Call of Duty tends to get its fair share of criticism, Call of Duty: Black Ops III is having a free weekend. You can play the multiplayerr-centric Starter Pack for free until the 29th of February.

If you happen to get sucked in and enjoy the experience, Activision is selling the standard edition for 33% off the regular price, and the deluxe edition for 20% off. That's not a bad deal considering it unlocks the max level, which is capped at 55 in the starter pack, and gives access to the weapon paintshop, the gunsmith, emblem editor, arena, freerun mode, theater and the ubiquitous black market.

But you have only until the 29th at 1PM PST to try it out for yourself. Call of Duty has evolved considerably, making turns into new paths that some didn't quite like after Call of Duty 4, but Black Ops 3 might surprise you with the agile, fast-paced gameplay. Then again, you might completely hate it. But it's free.

You can already pre-order Battlefield 5, among other unreleased games, from an online retailer based in Switzerland already. On their site they've placed details that seem to presume what the game will be about, with no actual evidence to back up their claims.

While we know that that another Battlefield is coming this year, as sure as the wind blows in a storm, no details have been released and it's likely that this particular retailer doesn't actually have any real information from EA. Any details are assumptions based off of previous games. It's a safe bet to think that it's going to be an online, multiplayer shooter, and it's not a stretch to think that it could be set in an era we haven't visited in awhile, or at all, to keep it fresh.

Apparently the description has been changed since it was first reported by PCGamesN, and it no longer says anything about WW1. Though it would be quite refreshing to have something new, even if it isn't true to the actual combat style. Trench warfare, while deadly, frightful and not fun in real-life, probably wouldn't translate to a game very well. Verdun is a fascinating game, but it also takes some creative liberty to make it more interesting for gamers to play.

Ubisoft might be in financial danger, and in their weakest moment the French multimedia powerhouse, Vivendi, is attempting a hostile takeover to acquire the game company and add it to their extensive portfolio.

To stop the buyout from happening, Ubisoft is trying to appeal to the Quebec provincial government and even the national Canadian government to help keep from being absorbed. They're calling for investors around the world to help them in their endeavor.

"We want to increase the number of Canadian shareholders in Ubisoft to have better control over the capital. ... We feel it's a good defense." Yves Guillemot said in a statement about the current attempt by Vivendi to buyout their company.

DLC can be a precarious thing for all types of games, but it can be utterly terrible for those that focus on multiplayer and sharing the experience, tearing a rift in the community and causing a host of problems and issues that might push people away from the game, instead of drawing them in.

Major Nelson is no stranger to speaking his mind as part of his duties at Microsoft. DLC is a point of contention with many gamers, and he happens to agree that it isn't always a good idea. Particularly when it's paid. DLC, and Season Passes can be "really dangerous when it comes to multiplayer, because what happens is it fractures the community," he said during the latest Podcast Unlocked episode. "You have the maps, I don't have the maps, I didn't buy that map but you bought that map,' so when we all get together, 'Oh, you couldn't play the map."

It makes it difficult to have a coherent community that can actually enjoy the game together. And prohibiting those that already own the game from playing with their friends that own other parts that you don't have can potentially have the effect of diminishing the player-base completely. Free DLC, even if the content is small, can add significant value. A new map occasionally, new weapons, new skins. Those can bring people into the fold and keep them there, but making people pay for what might be considered (even though development time and cost of the items might be significant) trivial items can alienate users.

Although the recent leaks spoiled the surprise, The Pokemon Company proudly revealed the next generation of pocket monster action: Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon.

The latest Pokemon-centric Nintendo Direct didn't exactly reveal many details about Pokemon Sun and Moon, but we do know that the duo is slated to arrive in Holiday 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS. The reveal trailer (seen above) shows a few tidbits at the end, but we didn't get any new screens or actual in-game footage teases. Pokemon Sun and Moon will also feature online components across the 3DS like Pokemon X & Y.

Both games will be playable in nine different languages including English, Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, German, Japanese and Traditional and Simplified Chinese. "We hope that, through Pokemon, players can overcome langauge barriers and interact with other players from around the world," said Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO president of the Pokemon Company.

In its current state, Microsoft's Windows Store is terrible for PC gaming. The spirit of PC gaming has always been about freedom--the freedom to push your hardware to its limits, to mod games, customize settings, etc. By restricting major features, the Windows Store isn't just jeopardizing the platform's core tenants, but it feels like Redmond is trying to console-ize PC gaming.

The Windows Store peddles "apps" that are designed to work across all Windows platforms--but there's a huge difference between, say, a consumer laptop and a high-end gaming rig. Storefronts like Steam sell games as traditional Windows desktop applications; the .exe files that can be modified with third-party tools and the like. The Windows Store, however, only sells universal apps designed for cross-platform use.

Universal apps have limited functionality. As all games on the Windows Store are universal apps, that means they're extremely limited. Windows Store flavors of Rise of the Tomb Raider, for example, don't support multi-GPUs via Crossfire or SLI. That's a huge blow for enthusiast gamers who want to flex the power of their gaming hardware, especially for demanding new games. We're also starting to see Windows Store exclusives: if you want to play Quantum Break, you'll have to buy it from Microsoft's hampered storefront. It's not coming to Steam.

Microsoft's latest timed-exclusivity deal has backfired. Despite having a month-long head start, Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox One has been outpaced by its bigger PC sibling in the sales department by a pretty hefty margin.

According to Superdata's latest research, Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC tripled the sales of its Xbox One counterpart in its first month of availability. "The game sold almost three times as many units on PC than it did on console during its first month," reads the report.

Although this is a pretty staggering loss for Microsoft, the company says it's happy with Rise of the Tomb Raider's performance, affirming the Xbox One game sold "over 1 million units" over the holidays. But why where sales so low? Microsoft released the game alongside Bethesda's open-world juggernaut, Fallout 4. Not exactly a good idea, was it, Redmond?

Virtual Reality is quickly becoming a mainstay in our future, something that's inevitable that we can't ignore. This isn't the 3DTV revolution that tried so unsuccessfully hard to make the screen pop-out and touch us. This is an immersive experience that can actually be done, with the right hardware and the right games that actually make use of the novel ways in which we can now interact with the environment.

The HTC Vive seems to have the leg-up in interactivity at the moment with the ability to define a specific space to play in. Legend Studio is taking that and making a true room-scale first-person game inspired by some of the innate exploration and the hallmark rogue-like aspects of The Legend of Zelda. A Legend of Luca is what the new era of VR is made for.

Seriously. It uses the HTC Vive to its fullest, being almost the perfect example of how to integrate room-scale gaming into your life. Haven't you ever wanted to be somebody else? And not just vicariously through a 1-dimensional screen in front of you, but instead nearly being able to feel what it's like to be Link (or Luca in this guise) and actually take a romp through dangerous dungeons? That's what A Legend of Luca is aiming to do, and it's one of the first of its kind by an indie developer. And we had a chance to sit down and speak with them about their hopes, dreams and where they wish to take this grand idea of theirs in the future.