Latest News - Page 319

A free NVIDIA RTX 5080 from MSI sounds like a too-good-to-be-true offer, but while it does seem to be genuine - as far as we can tell from the reports - it's certainly one of the strangest promotions we've ever seen, and not one you'll likely to be able to avail yourself of.

For starters, you'll need to live in Taiwan to be eligible, as MSI's offer is exclusive to that country.

If you live there, all you need to do is collect a set of MSI Dragon 'Lucky Around The World' figurines - there are 9 in total (well, actually 10, as there's a bonus 'secret edition' model). Sounds easy? Well, it very much isn't.

We're more used to Windows 11 patches clattering through the door and causing strife thanks to various bugs - including some very odd glitches - and now the latest Windows 10 update appears to be following suit.

Windows 10's patch for March (KB5053606) came with a problem that's already been widely reported, namely the Copilot app being accidentally deleted (a really weird glitch that also affected Windows 11, and Microsoft swiftly resolved).

Aside from that, there's a known issue with some USB printers that Microsoft has admitted, but that's a bug affecting enterprise users, not consumers.

Sony's PlayStation 5 has outsold the PlayStation 4 by some margin going by fresh stats that provide a head-to-head comparison of the sales performance of both consoles.

Specifically, Mat Piscatella, who is executive director and game industry analyst at Circana, provided a tally of sales on Bluesky (see above) for the first 52 months on the shelves for both of Sony's consoles, showing the PS5 has outperformed the PS4 by 7%. (Hat tip to TechRadar for the spot here).

The opposite is true for Microsoft, mind, with the Xbox Series consoles trailing behind the Xbox One, and by a long way - some 19%. These stats are for the US market.

Former NASA engineer and popular YouTuber Mark Rober pitted a Tesla's object detection system against Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system to determine which was better at recognizing objects impeding the path of a vehicle.

Rober tested the Tesla's detection system and the LiDAR system in various scenarios, such as a mannequin child running out onto the road at the last minute, fog, direct sunlight/truck lights, rain, and a wall that was painted to look like the road behind it. The idea with the last test was to see if he could trick the Tesla into thinking the wall was just more of the road, therefore bypassing the detection system. To spoil the video below, LiDAR was able to easily detect the wall due to the fundamentals of the technology, and Tesla's detection system failed, resulting in the famed electric vehicle smashing through.

However, the tests by Rober were called into question by some, and now others are attempting to replicate the results with their own Tesla. Kyle Paul has posted a video on YouTube and X where he attempted to replicate the result by Rober, and he found that even with Full Self-Driving (FSD) he had to slam on the breaks to stop his Model Y from going through the wall. It should be noted that Rober's tests didn't include FSD, which is the much better version of Autopilot. So, even at the most expensive tier of Tesla's automatic driving detection system, the car failed to detect the wall painted to look like a road.

Apple is expected to be making some pretty big changes this years iPhone line-up, with rumors been flying for some months now about physical design changes, a different aesthetic, and now a color change.

It has been rumored for quite some time that Apple will be releasing an iPhone 17 Air, which is slated to replace the current iPhone Plus model. This new Air model is much more than just a name change as the device will be much thinner, feature fewer cameras, but ultimately retain some of the best features in the Pro model iPhones: 120Hz 6.6-inch display, battery life, USB-C charging - for about $900. This significant change in design represents Apple testing the waters, and if proven popular, the company will pivot future iPhone designs toward thinness.

Another big rumor for the iPhone 17 line up is the following devices will feature horizontal camera modules that are reminiscent of the Google Pixel phones. Those models are: the iPhone 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max. Another rumor is the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will arrive in a two-tone rear panel, which will be made of glass and metal. If this becomes true it would be a first for iPhone.

Google is continuing its push into artificial intelligence being injected into as many of its apps and services as possible, and the latest piece of Google software to get a touch of AI is Gmail.

The search engine giant has announced via a new blog post that Gmail is being upgraded with a "smarter search feature powered by AI." The blog post explains the new and improved Gmail will show users the "most relevant results faster," through what is called "smarter search." This upgrade is intended to help users find information buried in their inbox much faster, and with the power of AI users will now be presented with emails that aren't just based on keywords.

According to the blog post, up until now, Gmail has been showing searched for emails based on keywords and chronological order, but now the search feature will factor in elements such as recency, most-clicked emails and frequent contacts. With the inclusion of these new factors, emails users are looking for are more likely to appear at the top of your search, which will, in turn, save users significant time.

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows is not available on PC and consoles, and based on reviews and feedback, the game is a lot better than the negative press surrounding it for months would have you believe. Our own Jak Connor is currently playing it (check out his impressions on the first few hours), and although it's not perfect, it does sound like a worthy follow-up to previous entries like Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

And with a million people playing the game on its first day of release, odds are that quite a few PC gamers jumping into the Japanese action and stealth will be rocking AMD Radeon GPUs - including the new Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT. If that's you, you'll probably want to grab the latest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.3.2 Optional Update driver, which adds support for the game, alongside The Last of Us Part II Remastered.

As a beta release, you won't get an official "update your driver notification," so be sure to go through the following Release Notes to see if it fixes any issues you've been encountering. There are fixes for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Counter-Strike 2, and other titles. Plus, fixes for crashes relating to high-refresh-rate displays and pressing Alt-Tab during gameplay.

Since Elon Musk moved closer to the Trump administration and took up the reigns of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new regulatory body designed to reduce fraud, waste, and operating costs in the US government, Musk's businesses have taken a sharp hit, notably Tesla.

Musk's political leanings have resulted in him becoming much more divisive, and that is being reflected in Tesla's stock price, which has seen a dramatic drop in value since December 2024, when its stock was priced at approximately $462 per share. Now, Tesla shares are valued at $236 per share, bringing them back down to September 2024 levels. However, that isn't all of Tesla's problems.

A new report from the Financial Times revealed that Tesla is missing approximately $1.4 billion from its books. The report cites an investigation into Tesla's cash flow statements and capital expenditures over the last six months of 2024. According to the FT report, the investigation found holes in the books totaling the reported missing $1.4 billion. Tesla's cashflow statements reveal the company spent $6.3 billion on "purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales" throughout the second half of 2024.

With NVIDIA launching four GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs this year, the company has yet to formally announce its mainstream RTX Blackwell offerings - the GeForce RTX 5060 and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. Based on leaks from reputable sources, we have quite a few specs on these cards (see below), alongside word that NVIDIA plans to launch both 8GB and 16GB variants for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti.

When we can expect these cards to hit retail shelves is up in the air - the rumored late-March launch for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti has come and gone. Although NVIDIA doesn't usually announce new gaming hardware at GDC or its GTC events, many expected an RTX 5060 Series reveal in the past week.

According to information from Board Channels (via Videocardz), a forum where NVIDIA partners offer information on things like supply, the current word is that the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti's launch has been delayed to mid-April, with the GeForce RTX 5060 arriving in mid-May.

The two NASA astronauts who were initially going up to the International Space Station (ISS) for nine days but ended up staying there for 286 days weren't paid any overtime.

In a recent article by The New York Times, a NASA spokesperson revealed the two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, received a regular 40-hour-per-week salary, with no additional pay for holidays or weekends, despite the obvious egregious overtime they both ensued. Additionally, Mike Massimino, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, said, "[There's] no hazard pay, there's no overtime, there's no comp time," and ultimately, "there's no incentive to stay in space longer."

However, astronauts do receive incidental amounts for reach they're in space, but since Suni and Butch were on a long-term stay, it only equated to about $5 per day, which totals out to just $1,430 for the entire duration of the trip - 286 days.

God of War fans should mark their calendars as a new DLC is arriving for God of War Ragnarok on March 20, which has been announced in celebration of the franchise turning 20 years old.

The first God of War game was released in 2005, and since then, it has become a staple franchise in PlayStation's portfolio of titles. However, the franchise really locked itself in when Kratos was rebooted in 2018 with the release of the God of War, which went on to win Game of the Year. In 2022, the rebooted character received a sequel, God of War Ragnarok, which won Best Narrative, Best Action/Adventure, but fell short of Game of the Year to Elden Ring.

In celebration of how far the franchise has come, PlayStation and developer Santa Monica Studios are releasing a new DLC for Ragnarok - the Dark Odyssey Collection. The new DLC will be released on March 20 and will be free for all players who own a copy of God of War Ragnarok. The DLC contains Dark Odyssey Armor and an appearance change for Kratos, along with companion armor to match.

The NVIDIA App has been updated to version 11.0.3, which brings several new features to the table, including Optimal Settings support for seven titles. The most notable update is the new ability to customize the DLSS Override settings when enabling DLSS 4, which allows "precise tuning of the new transformer model to optimize performance or enhance image quality." You can set the render resolution percentage to find the right sweet spot between Ultra Performance (33%) and DLAA (100%).

Control over the input resolution is an excellent feature, as DLSS 4's new transformer model significantly improves image quality at all resolutions - adding another level of control beyond choosing Performance (50%), Balanced (58%), or Quality (67%). This NVIDIA App update also adds legacy Control Panel features, namely "Display Scaling Settings," which let you choose from "different scaling modes, including integer scaling" and "Display Color Settings" - another highly requested feature.

Optimal Settings, NVIDIA's custom in-game graphics settings tuned for various GeForce RTX GPUs that offer the best balance of performance and image quality, are now available for Avowed, DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS, FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, and SUPERVIVE.

"The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here." The latest Drop + The Lord of the Rings collaboration sees the arrival of a pair of new keyboards inspired by "Mordor's Eye and its tongue," the Dark Lord Sauron. We reviewed the excellent DROP CSTM80 Mechanical Keyboard last year, praising its next-level customization build quality and excellent type-feel. So, if you're keen on putting this level of cool-looking evil on your desk, it's worth picking up.

In addition to the Drop + The Lord of the Rings Black Speech CSTM80 keyboard (which is currently available for a discount price of $199 USD), there's also the more compact Drop + The Lord of the Rings Black Speech CSTM65 keyboard (available for $179 USD). Both feature a custom MT3 Black Speech Keycap Set and a Decorative Case inspired by the darker side of The Lord of the Rings.

As the DROP CSTM boards are fully customizable regarding the top plate/case, keycaps, and switches, you still have that freedom here. The CSTM80 and CSTM65 'Black Speech' keyboards ship with Gateron KS-3 Milky Yellow Pro Switches and Gateron PCBA-Mounted stabilizers, which DROP says "rival Sauron's own."

Lenovo isn't as well known as other GeForce RTX GPU makers because its custom designs are built for the company's prebuilt Legion gaming PCs. Lenovo Legion is the company's premiere gaming brand. With custom pre-built gaming rigs on offer, Lenovo China has updated its 2025 line-up with new machines with custom Lenovo Legion GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090D GPUs.

The RTX 5090D represents the cutdown variant built for the Chinese market that adheres to specific standards. Both RTX 5080 and RTX 5090D models sport three 10cm fans and a shiny metal look with RGB lighting on the sides and the rear vents. Any quad-slot GPU will always be massive, and these look like futuristic bricks that wouldn't look out of place in Cyberpunk 2077's Night City.

These Lenovo Legion machines also have Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPUs, custom Legion AIO coolers, and a 360mm radiator. The flagship RTX 5090D configuration has 64GB of DDR5 memory and 2TB of storage - with a hefty price tag of around $5,800 USD.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was the second best-earning game of February 2025 in the United States, new reports from analyst firm Circana show.

Another month has gone by, and that means a new update on the US games market. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella recently shared the latest findings on Bluesky and confirmed some breakout software hits for February 2025. Capcom's astronomical Monster Hunter: Wilds led the charge as the #1 best-seller for February, which makes sense as the game broke 8 million sales in 3 days. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II also had incredible success in the United States, especially when compared to the first game.

Remedy's latest game FBC: Firebreak is an interesting breath of fresh air from the developer, taking on a multiplayer co-op design centered around Control's outrageous and unhinged cursed relics and items.

Ask anyone who's played Control and they'll tell you that Twilight Zone-y/Needful Things-esque cursed items are one of the best parts of the game. These objects are called Altered Items, and are often innocuous, innocent-looking things like refrigerators, jukeboxes, and even a rubber duck. Everything is cursed and does something radical, volatile, and unpredictable, often bending reality to comedic effect.

Remedy built an entire co-op shooter around this premise. It's called FBC: Firebreak, and it's something that should be on your radar if you like Control. In Firebreak, gamers play as a kind of supernatural MIB-meets-X-Files cleanup force that wipes out hordes of enemies in bouts of co-op survival. The big selling point is the chaos that ensues during gameplay. You can attach those cursed Altered Items to your guns to create goofy makeshift weapons straight out of Dead Island, including attaching haunted piggy banks to giant poles that create a "paranatural coin tornado" on striking, or a garden gnome that "summons lightning storms."

Epic Games makes good on its promise to expand its freebies lineup to its mobile storefront.

On the heels of a landmark ruling against Google, and favorable outcomes from the European Union's Digital Markets Act, the Epic Games Store on mobile continues to grow and expand throughout 2025. The store was introduced in 2024 and has expanded slowly over time as Epic adds new content to library. The games lineup now includes 47 titles on Android and 31 games on iOS, Epic notes.

The next major update was about the free mobile games that the EGS will offer. Epic has confirmed they will give out free mobile games on the Epic Games Store every week, and users can check in every Thursday for the lineup. With such a slim offering of games, this implies that Epic will either subsidize most of the content library or add new content over time (perhaps also while subsidizing costs through freebies).

PlayStation's indie liaison believes that Grand Theft Auto 6's theoretical megaton success will help the entire video games industry grow, and that GTA 6 will not necessarily compete with indie games--there's room for both on the market.

For all intents and purposes, it's been half-joked that GTA 6 will save the games industry. The mantra "survive till '25" had been thrown around internally among game developers for a reason--it was believed GTA 6 would spark platform sales of all kinds, and new users would be keen to buy a bunch of new games to fill out their libraries. If you could hold on until GTA 6 launched, you might have a better shot in absorbing some earnings from GTA 6's staggering industry-spanning network effects.

Industry analysts have made their predictions on GTA 6's success, but now we've heard some quick words from someone who works inside PlayStation's indie department. At GDC 2025, PlayStation's head of creators Greg Rice told GamesRadar that GTA 6's launch offers an opportunity to developers to attract spending from a new wave of users who bought in to play Rockstar's latest game.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered is coming to the PC with its system requirements revealed: you'll need a GeForce RTX 4080 or Radeon RX 7900 XT for 4K 60FPS goodness.

At a bare minimum for 720p at 30FPS, Naughty Dog recommends an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X processor, as well as an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT. 16GB of RAM and 150GB of SSD are required across the board from minimum to very high PC requirements.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered at 1080p 60FPS on the Medium preset has a recommended Core i5-8600 or Ryzen 5 3600 processor, with the GPU requirements increasing to an RTX 3060 or RX 5700. For 1440p 60FPS on the High preset, you're looking at a Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 7 3700X for the CPU, and the RTX 3070 or RX 6800 for the GPU.

Microsoft shared an image of a new Xbox UI in a GDC 2025 blog post, then removed it. The interface in question had a Steam tab.

What's going on with Xbox? Microsoft will still make consoles. That's been confirmed. There's also plans to make a universal storefront that combines consoles, Windows, and mobile gaming in one. One critical part of this store idea, an easy-to-use way to actually browse, buy, and curate games across three different platforms--is now starting to take shape.

So what is Microsoft up to exactly? This time, it's nothing super dramatic. Don't expect Steam games to start showing up on your Xbox console any time soon. The image looks to be an internal mock-up and not a finalized design (the "console" UI is just a bigger version of the mobile UI, and the "action-adventure" genre is listed twice).