The Division's lighting and weather effects showcased in latest video

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 24, 2015 3:23 AM CDT

If there's one game that's on my radar, but I'm ready to be disappointed with, it would have to be The Division. The latest video released on YouTube showcases the incredible lighting and weather effects in the game, so check it out below.

The Division's lighting and weather effects showcased in latest video

As you can see, The Division is running on a Xbox One, and it still looks great. After a tumultuous time of purported graphics downgrades, it's nice to see that it still looks great. We've heard that there could be a post-release graphics upgrade, so we don't know what to expect when it arrives. We do know that The Division will be capped at 30FPS on both the Xbox One and PS4.

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Nintendo teases surprises and twists for Zelda Wii U

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 23, 2015 6:40 PM CDT

While Nintendo disappointed Wii U owners across the globe by delaying the new Zelda Wii U game to 2016, the games maker plans to use that extra time to pepper some hidden surprises that will make the open-world Zelda adventure much more memorable.

Nintendo teases surprises and twists for Zelda Wii U

In a recent interview with IGN, Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that he will adapt his own interpretation of fan's feedback and inject it right into Zelda Wii U's huge open world.

"We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, 'This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.' Unfortunately, I can't go into details but I'm hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you'll look forward to it."

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VR requires experience with 'high-end PC development', says dev

While virtual reality tech requires high-performance hardware to simulate the low-latency mirage-like magic of a virtual space, the other half of the VR puzzle lies in a developer's experience. Devs need to have in-depth knowledge and be familiar not only with professional-grade GPU's and hardware, but also be able to push the tech past its known boundaries--but the VR space is chocked full of inexperienced devs.

VR requires experience with 'high-end PC development', says dev

Everyone wants to get in on VR. As the new gaming platform of the future, VR represents a leap forward in innovation and possibility, attracting a staggering amount of developers across the world. But not all of these developers are actually qualified to create games on the platform, leading to amateur experiences rather than the dazzling and immersion games that fully harness VR's potential.

"What we often find is less experienced teams that we're seeing demos from, they don't have enough experience with graphics optimisation," said Thor Gunnarsson, developer at Solfar Studios, an interview with Games Industry Biz. "Things like shader development, lighting, and so on. Consequently, they often end up with these quite basic, solid-shaded or cartoony style experiences. We think that's a bit of a challenge. You ideally want to have teams that have some background from console or high-end PC development to actually create the richness of the environment."

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Fallout 4 has officially gone gold and is ready to ship

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 23, 2015 3:12 PM CDT

Bethesda Softworks today announced that one of this year's most monumentally anticipated games, Fallout 4, has officially gone gold and is completely finalized.

Fallout 4 is now totally finished and ready to be shipped into the hands of millions of eager, awaiting fans. In less than three weeks time you'll be able to jump into post-apocalyptic Boston for some first-person havoc, tackling a number of quests and leveling up your survivor with a slew of new dynamic perks and customizations.

If you're a PC owner, be sure to check out Fallout 4's official specs to make sure your rig is compatible, but in all honesty it should be considering Bethesda's new Fallout really isn't graphically or performance intensive.

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Sapphire urges public not to pre-order games

Sean Ridgeley | Gaming | Oct 23, 2015 1:42 PM CDT

Graphics card maker Sapphire has a new blog post up on its website detailing all the reasons you shouldn't be pre-ordering games. This is pretty bold, given Sapphire no doubt has relationships with companies very invested in the pre-order system.

Sapphire urges public not to pre-order games

The post, by North America PR and Marketing Manager Edward Crisler, starts with a good point, noting pre-orders made a lot more sense before digital, but now with unlimited copies of everything on both PC and console, they are unnecessary.

Next he gets very direct, saying that pre-order funding is being misused in paying for game development instead of the original purpose. "[This] is not a bad idea," he explains, "Except it has not helped make games better - in fact it has made them worse."

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Sony's done making games for the PlayStation Vita

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 23, 2015 12:53 PM CDT

While PlayStation Vita gamers have long felt that Sony has abandoned them, the Japanese console-maker has now confirmed that it'll be halting all first-perty games development on the yesteryear handheld.

Sony's done making games for the PlayStation Vita

The news comes straight from Sony Computer Entertainment Senior Vice President Masayasu Ito, who confirmed the news in a recent interview with Japanese game site 4Gamer: "Currently, first party studios have no titles in development for PS Vita," Ito said, closing the door on hope of new Sony titles on the handheld. "Since third parties are working very hard on PS Vita, SCE's own strategy is to focus on PS4, which is a new platform."

Sony apparently doesn't realize that one of the main reasons the PlayStation Vita never took off in the U.S. is because of the lack of game support. The disparity between games released in Japan and those released in the West is incredibly skewed to the overseas region, with North American gamers missing out on a huge portion of games and content.

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Activision's new eSports division led by former ESPN CEO, MLG founder

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 23, 2015 4:37 AM CDT

With everyone and their uncle trying to get into eSports, we're now seeing industry juggernaut Activision-Blizzard enter the fold. Activision has just announced it has created an entire new division that is completely dedicated to eSports.

This new division is being led by Steve Bornstein (the former CEO of ESPN) and Mike Sepso (the co-founder of Major League Gaming), which gives some serious credit to eSports, on top of what we've seen from other companies and startups like Unikrn. The Director of Research and Consumer Insights at SuperData, Stephanie Llamas, told GamesIndustry.biz "This is major for eSports since they are the first publicly traded, multi-platform publisher to participate at this level".

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter also chimed in, where he said: "I think it's analogous (on a much smaller scale) to Facebook buying Oculus. Whatever people thought about the opportunity before, they have to consider it much more seriously now that there is a commitment from a well-capitalized firm. Activision clearly sees a ton of potential to profit from eSports, whether from tournament fees/commercial sponsorship fees from events, selling tickets to events, televising events (and collecting ad revenue) or sponsoring skill based wagering on events. They clearly see an opportunity, and are apparently willing to make a large bet on the potential of that opportunity to drive future profits".

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Odessa factory unveils its new Darth Vader monument, includes Wi-Fi

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Oct 22, 2015 11:20 PM CDT

If you ever want to visit Odessa, Ukraine, you might want to check out their latest monument which was erected in the honor of... well, Darth Vadar. Yes, Darth Vadar from Star Wars.

Alexander Milov has previously designed a huge robot statue, which can be found in Yuzhne, outside of Odessa. Milov's awesome-looking statue isn't just good looking, it's practical - as it includes a router inside of Vader's head, delivering Wi-Fi to those around him. Milov created the status by repurposing the existing Lenin statue which was located just outside of the factory.

The status was already scheduled for demolition that stands in line with new Ukranian laws on de-Communization, which requires all landmarks and geographic names dedicated to Lenin and other Communist figures to be eliminated, or removed. Workers at the Odessa factory didn't want the statue to be demolished, and instead requested for it to be redesigned - and what a redesign, we might add.

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AMD's Radeon 400 series 'Ellesmere' and 'Baffin' GPUs taped out

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 22, 2015 10:09 PM CDT

It's getting closer to the end of the year, where we're learning more about what the New Year will bring in terms of new GPU technology. AMD has reportedly taped out two of its next-gen GPUs, with "Ellesmere" and "Baffin" both taping out - and both part of the upcoming Radeon 400 series of video cards.

AMD has also reportedly secured itself a major OEM design win, according to a "source with knowledge" close to rumor site WCCFTech. The Ellesmere and Baffin GPUs aren't high-end parts, but they will fill the shoes of the most important part of AMD's graphics portfolio, the performance, and mainstream markets.

These aren't the successors to the Fury range at all, but more the Radeon 300 series that was rebranded earlier this year from the Radeon 200 series. We should expect more news on AMD's new cards in the coming months.

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Batman v Superman rumored to be the most expensive movie ever made

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Oct 22, 2015 8:35 PM CDT

With all of the hoopla surrounding Star Wars, there's another massive movie that is coming soon - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The second movie in the new DCEU is coming out in March 2016, with a budget that is just as big as the two superheroes in the movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is rumored to have a budget of around $410 million, according to Latino Review, which would make it the most expensive movie in history. Considering the Superman reboot 'Man of Steel' cost $225 million, Warner Bros. must have some confidence that it's all going to pay off.

Securing Ben Affleck wouldn't have been cheap, and neither would a massive movie like this be when you consider all of the practical stunts, CG, and more. Then we have to consider the other superheroes joining Dawn of Justice - Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg - and baddies - Lex Luthor, and the rumored Doomsday - fans of the DC universe should begin to get very, very excited.

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