Latest News - Page 389

Sony is dropping the price of its second-gen VR headset for the PlayStation, and it's a major price cut coming into effect in March.

In a blog post, Sony announced that the PlayStation VR2 is going to be reduced to $399.99. Previously, the asking price was $549.99, so this represents a drop of closing on 30%.

That's for the standard bundle of the PS VR2 headset, Sense controller, and headphones.

WB Games recently announced the closure of several studios under its umbrella, and now Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has given the full backstory on what led to Monolith Productions being closed down.

The events that led up to Monolith being closed down a few days ago began back in 2017 following the release of Shadow of War, which wasn't as successful as the critically acclaimed Shadow of Mordor that earned Monolith it's stars and stripes. Following the release of Shadow of War, Monolith wasn't interested in developing another Middle-Earth game and went on to develop a new IP codenamed Legacy. However, WB Games wasn't and still isn't interested in developing new IP and wants its studios to concentrate on making games around already established IP.

Monolith continued work on Legacy for several years with the thought it would have enough sway due to the success it has generated in the past that it would be able to convince WB to pursue the new IP. However, that dream died in 2021 when WB Games canceled the project, which resulted in Monolith's entire leadership, including many other developers, leaving the studio to go and form what is now Cliffhanger Games with EA. That team is now developing the Black Panther game.

A spacecraft preparing for its ambitious landing on the surface of the Moon has beamed back incredible footage showcasing the surface of our desolate neighbor.

Firefly Aerospace has shared some incredible footage captured by its Blue Ghost lander that is currently preparing for its landing on the surface of the Moon. The Full High Definition (FHD) footage was captured during the spacecraft's third lunar orbit maneuver on February 24, reducing the spacecraft's altitude and bringing it into a near-circular low lunar orbit. The above footage is sped up by 10X and was captured approximately 100 km (62.14 miles) above the surface of the Moon.

The robotic Blue Ghost spacecraft is scheduled to land in the Mare Crisium, a lava-covered basin on the near-side of the Moon, on March 2. The lander measures just 6.6 feet tall and carries an array of valuable scientific instruments and experiments that include testing methods for lunar regolith, or lunar soil.

As reported by Eurogamer, almost 40% of all playtime across console gamers in January was spent on the top 10 live-service games. These figures highlight a clear challenge for the industry - when free live-service games are absorbing so much attention, it's increasingly difficult for new releases to break through and compete for player engagement.

However, the figures on PC tell a different story. Mat Piscatella, the executive director of Circana, took to Bluesky to discuss some of these figures. While providing the aforementioned stats on player engagement on consoles, he also shared the top 15 titles in the US between PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The top rankings paint an interesting picture.

On console, the usual suspects - Call of Duty, Fortnite, GTA V, Roblox, NBA 2K25, and Minecraft - remain dominant. But on PC, the distribution shifts significantly. Helldivers 2, Monster Hunter: Wilds, and Balatro occupy the top five, alongside the recently released Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Other notable placements include Warframe, Civilization VII, and Baldur's Gate 3.

In a recent X post, Perplexity announced their plans to release Comet, a new agentic browser that aims to revolutionize web browsing. Waitlists have been opened, and while specific dates haven't been provided, Comet is 'coming soon'.

The upcoming browser is engineered around the concept of agentic search, allowing for autonomous task execution, complex queries, and decision-making autonomously within the browser experience. Naturally, AI integration will be front and center for the new browser, with all the bells and whistles you'd find in modern AI tools.

Marvel Rivals has been out for less than two months and is already a major success story, arguably breathing new life in the hero-shooter genre, and now it appears the developers are preparing to add none other than Deadpool.

It was only earlier this week that Marvel Rivals players received new heroes such as the Human Torch, and The Thing, but now the attention has shifted over to who else is coming. According to some leaked voice lines, it appears fan-favorite Deadpool is on the cards for release, as the voice lines loosely hint at the character. The leak comes from X user X0X_LEAK, who posted the voice lines that show superheroes such as Spider-Man, Punisher, and Captain America addressing a selection of unknown characters.

Spider-Man's voice line says, "Great, we are saving the world, and here comes the loosest cannon". It isn't that far of a stretch to describe Deadpool as the "loosest cannon," as the character is renowned for his unpredictability and proclivity to violent outbursts without the slightest provocation. The other voice lines are much more straightforward in their reference to the unannounced characters with the Punisher saying, "So long, monkey," which appears to reference Hit-Monkey, and Captain America saying, "Sometimes a big brain doesn't do much good".

Warner Bros. Games announced the closure of several studios, including Monolith Productions, the developers of the Shadow of Mordor/War games, which has thrown the famous Nemesis System into question.

However, despite the closure of Monolith WB Games will retain ownership over the Nemesis System due to it being patented by the publisher back in 2021. The patent states WB Games will retain exclusive rights to the Nemesis System until 2036. For those who don't know, the Nemesis System debuted in Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and gives enemy NPCs the ability to learn from player encounters, particularly in battles.

For example, if a player encountered an enemy chief orc in Shadow of Mordor and the player lost the battle, the orc would level up, remember the past fight with the player, and comment on it to the player. The same principle can be applied to player victories, where enemy NPCs would remember player exploits as if they were passed among the ranks as rumors sparking fear.

Update (27/02/25): CD Projekt Red Game Director Sebastian Kalemba has confirmed on X that Ciri's character model has not been modified between the reveal trailer and the behind-the-scenes footage. He explained that the differences stem from raw, in-engine footage without cinematic effects like lighting or animation, noting the propensity for visual variation across trailers, 3D models, and in-game footage.

Original Article:

CD Projekt Red unveiled the first cinematic trailer for The Witcher 4 two months ago. One of the key talking points following the release was the face model for Ciri, which featured an older, more grizzled version of the character compared to her look in The Witcher 3. Following the latest behind-the-scenes breakdown, discussions are circulating around whether CD Projekt Red adjusted Ciri's face model in response to the mixed reception.

EA's Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be available to claim from March 4 for PlayStation Plus subscribers, according to a new post on the PlayStation Blog.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was released less than four months ago, and according to EA, the title's launch was "high-quality," and the game was "well-reviewed by critics and those who played," however, it "did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market." EA's chief financial officer, Stuart Canfield, also stated the game "underperformed."

Looking at the SteamDB charts, we can see that "underperformed" may be a slight understatement, as Dragon Age: The Veilguard's all-time peak was 89,418 players on November 3, 2024. Now, the title's 24-hour peak has just 2,381 players.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was hacked on Friday last week, resulting in $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum being stolen, marking what is being reported as the largest cryptocurrency heist in history.

Bybit officials confirmed more than 400,000 Ethereum, along with staked Ethereum coins, were stolen from the cryptocurrency exchange on Friday last week, and now Bybit has announced a new bounty program to incentivize the public to track down the stolen funds.

According to the announcement, every time someone traces and freezes some of the stolen funds, 5% of the amount is transferred to the person who discovered the funds, and 5% goes to the "entity" that froze the funds, for a total of 10%. The program has already paid out $4.23 million in bounties to five bounty hunters.

NVIDIA has officially released developer plugins for DLSS 4, now compatible with Unreal Engine 5 versions 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5.

Listed on NVIDIA's developer page, the plugin grants access to Multi Frame Generation, Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, Super Resolution, DLAA, Reflex Low Latency, and NVIDIA Image Scaling. This expanded support follows the recent launch of DLSS 4 in Marvel Rivals and now enables more Unreal Engine developers to integrate NVIDIA's AI-driven upscaling and frame generation technology into their games.

Unreal Engine continues to be a key focus for NVIDIA, given its growing role in modern game development. Recent reports show that 28% of Steam games released in 2024 were built in Unreal Engine, while Unity still leads with 51%. However, revenue figures tell a different story - Unreal Engine titles accounted for 31% of total 2024 Steam revenue, while Unity-based games generated just 26%. Despite Unity's dominance in sheer game volume, its lower revenue share reflects its heavier presence in indie and mobile markets, whereas Unreal Engine is the go-to for large-scale projects.

The first look at the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 7 has surfaced online ahead of Samsung's official launch, which is expected to occur in July.

The first look at the device comes from AndroidHeadlines, which obtained an official CAD render video of the Galaxy Z Flip 7, giving us a look into some of the specifications of the upcoming device. According to the publication, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will have a 3.6-inch display that opens up to an internal 6.8-inch display, making the new Z Flip 7 slightly bigger than its predecessor at 3.4 inches and 6.7 inches on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Additionally, the Z Flip 7 has grown in overall dimensions, not by much, but still, something as it measures 166.6 x 75.2 x 6.9mm, or 9.1mm thick when including the camera bump.

As for the cameras, the Z Flip 7 is slated to continue using the dual camera setup that was present on the Z Flip 6, with a 50-megapixel primary camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. AndroidHealines reports that Samsung could upgrade the sensors for these cameras while maintaining the same megapixels. However, that can't be ascertained from the renders. Moreover, Samsung hasn't confirmed which processor it will be going with for the Z Flip 7, but the outlet states it will have the same 12GB of RAM and be offered in 256GB or 512GB storage variants.

Ahead of the official deep dive into the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, a known leaker has released new images of the dock showcasing the differences between the new dock and the original.

The new pictures were shared on the Famiboards forums by the same Xiahongshu forums user who leaked the CAD model of the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, which gave us the very first now proven to be an accurate look at Nintendo's successor to the Switch. The user has now shared more images of the Switch 2 dock, showcasing some changes over the original model, such as the inclusion of a grid pattern on the base of the dock that may be a result of changes to the cooling system, such as air intake holes.

The CAD renders also show the aesthetics have been switched to a more rounded design with smoother edges, which was briefly showcased in the official First-look trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2. The CAD renders also showcase some slits in the back of the console, presumably for airflow, along with what appears to be a USB hub on the left-hand side of the console if you were looking at it face-on. Judging by the renders, when the Nintendo Switch 2 is docked, it appears to need quite a lot of cooling, especially compared to the original Switch.

Phison has teamed up with Lonestar to support today's successful lunar mission launch, the Lonestar Freedom Mission, which has a payload that utilizes SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, and will land on the surface of the moon on March 4.

Phison and Lonestar collaborated to ensure that the Freedom Mission moves beyond technical innovation to "unlock the future of interplanetary operations". Through a strategic mix of the Freedom's 3D-printed exterior, provided to Lonestar by SpaceBilt and designed by visionary architects Bjarke Ingels and Martin Voelkle of BIG, alongside Phison's new Pascari enterprise-grade SSDs and their durability in extreme conditions provides perfect for the unforgiving environment in space.

Freedom's upcoming state-of-the-art lunar-based data center design aims to have peak operational performance with minimum resource dependency. Up until the launch today, Phison worked closely with Lonestar to provide them with their Pascari SSD: its new enterprise-grade storage solution that has been pressure-tested to withstand cosmic radiation, harsh temperature variation, vibrations and disturbances from lunar launches and landings.

Thermal Grizzly is now selling delidded AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D processors, tested to hit far higher overclocked frequencies, with its heatspreader removed and ready for exotic cooling tech.

Overclocker Roman "Der8auer" Hartung is the owner of Thermal Grizzly, with the new TG Delidded CPU series starting with the AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D, but the company will soon offer other models including the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D "at a later date". Each of the chips are delidded and thoroughly cleaned, with each processor undergoing a functionality test.

The results of this tested are documented by TG, with a screenshot of the test saved on a USB stick, included with each TG Delidded CPU. Not only that, but the USB stick also packs a microscope image of your delidded processor. Thermal Grizzly is also providing a 2-year warranty on its TG Delidded CPU series, starting with the new 9800X3D.

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5070 will have reviews go live on March 4, with retail availability on March 5... right in the middle of AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 series reviews and launch.

The review embargo for NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5070 is set for March 4 according to VideoCardz, with retail availability and non-MSRP reviews on March 5, with AMD to unveil its new Radeon RX 9070 series on February 28, with reviews on March 5 and a retail release on March 6.

VideoCardz goes as far as saying there are not one but two review embargoes for the GeForce RTX 5070: review embargo is set for March 4, which has the cheapest $549 MSRP. For non-MSRP reviews of the RTX 5070, that's 24 hours later on March 5. This is the same playbook that NVIDIA did for both the GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards.

SK hynix has reportedly reached a 70% yield rate on its next-gen HBM4 12-Hi memory, ready to rock and roll on NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin R100 AI GPUs.

In a new report from ETNews, we're learning that SK hynix has reached 70% yield on its HBM4 memory, with the yield good enough for the semiconductor industry to get excited for the South Korean memory giant's new AI memory. An industry insider told the outlet: "The HBM4 test yield exceeded 60% at the end of last year and I understand that it has recently increased it further. The test yield is increasing at a fairly fast rate".

The test yield is an indicator that can be used to make estimations on the actual future yield rate, where if the test yield is high, productivity can be secured when actual mass production begins. The industry insider added: "In terms of being able to increase the yield further after mass production, a test yield of 70% is a very good result".

NVIDIA's next-gen B300 AI GPU is expected to launch in Q4 2025 with mass production expected in Q4 2025 according to the latest reports.

In a new article published by DigiTimes, we're to expect NVIDIA's unveiling of its new Blackwell B300 AI GPU at GTC 2025 (its in-house GPU Technology Conference) in March. NVIDIA will reportedly mention the first CPO technology-based InfiniBand switch that will debut in Q3 2025, supporting 36 x 3.2T CPO optical modules and 4 x 28.8T application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that will reach a blistering 115.2T signal transmission.

NVIDIA's new B300 AI GPU will reportedly chow down on up to 1400W of power, with 1.5x the performance in FP4 performance on a single AI GPU over the B200 AI GPU. We can expect the HBM capacity of each GPU to increase from the max of 192GB HBM3E on the B200, to a much bigger 288GB of HBM3E on B300.

The handheld PC market could hit cumulative shipments of nearly 8 million by the end of the year, analyst firm IDC predicts.

The nascent handheld gaming PC segment has grown considerably over the years; led technically by the Switch's mega success, Valve rolled out the pioneering Steam Deck, prompting other OEMs to also try their hands at handhelds. Now the market is filled with contenders like the MSI Claw, the Lenovo Legion Go, and the ROG Ally. Sony also got into the mix, albeit in a very limited streaming-only device (just don't expect it to be a new wave PS Vita).

It's hard to put exact numbers on it, but The Verge has acquired some interesting figures. While Valve had said that the Steam Deck has sold "multiple millions" of units as of the end of 2023, analysts have a more comprehensive estimate for the entire handheld PC market.

Those who've been pulling out their hair over black screen crashes with NVIDIA's new Blackwell GPUs can breathe a sigh of relief - the fix is imminent, or indeed has actually already arrived for some.

VideoCardz noticed that the owner of an RTX 5090 (MSI Gaming Trio) suffering at the hands of black screen aggro posted in the NVIDIA subreddit to advise others that a BIOS update had been provided by MSI packing the fix.

So, the solution requires patching the BIOS after all, you may be thinking? As NVIDIA wasn't sure about that previously, but it turns out that actually, you may - or may not - need a BIOS update.