Latest News - Page 410

A new Nintendo job listing may give clues on what to expect from the Switch 2's storage speeds.

Nintendo's new Switch successor could use high-end micro SD storage tech to deliver better gameplay experiences. As spotted by YouTuber SuperMetalDave64, Nintendo of America is currently hiring a PCB layout engineer and they'd like the candidate to have experience with SD Express flash storage.

What's SD Express? It's a relatively new spec that allows Micro SD cards to deliver up to 985 MB/sec speeds. That's a much higher rate than the current-gen Switch, and better speeds will be instrumental in delivering the higher-resolution assets in new Switch 2 games. In February of this year, Samsung announced its line of SD Express cards that are capable of up to 800MB/sec speeds.

After a string of sales misses from its recent games lineup, it looks like Square Enix has hit it big with its latest Dragon Quest RPG.

Instead of just re-releasing older games in their original formats ad infinitum, Square Enix had the unique idea to supercharge classic RPGs with a mix of both old-school and new-school graphics. The result is a charming visual style that appeals to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, the kind of warm and magical style found in Octopath Traveller. Square has turned this new reinvigorated lens to one of its best-selling franchises of all time: Dragon Quest.

Fans have showed up for the new Dragon Quest III HD-2D release en masse. The game has sold more than 2 million copies combined across PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC, which bodes well for Square Enix. Typically, these HD-2D projects cost less to produce and ship than big AAA projects like Final Fantasy XVI.

iFixit's storefront gets new additions and now sells OEM replacement parts for Xbox consoles.

If your Xbox console goes on the fritz, iFixit has you covered. Well that's typically the case regardless thanks to their amazing tear-down guides. But it goes double now that iFixit's store is starting to sell replacement console hardware components.

The repair gurus have added official genuine Microsoft replacement parts for Xbox Series consoles to their digital store, including the base Xbox Series S and the all-digital and disc-based Xbox Series X models.

Fortnite is expanding with a new dedicated FPS mode aimed at taking on first-person live service giants.

Fortnite, a game that has earned over $20 billion in less than 10 years, regularly tops the charts on both PC and console. It already competes with live service giants like Call of Duty, but now Fortnite is directly taking on the competition with a new FPS mode.

Fortnite's new FPS mode is called Ballistic, and it's a 5v5 team-based tactical shooter launching in early access on December 11. Ballistic is basically Epic's take on its rival's decade-spanning mega-hit, Counter-Strike--gamers are on defense or offense, and one team has to plant a "Rift Point Device" in a designated location while the other tries to stop them. Sound familiar?

The Wiiboy gets updated with a thinner design and will soon be open sourced so DIY enthusiasts can build their own.

Modders have done some amazing things with gaming tech over the years, including cramming an entire Wii console into an on-the-go handheld. We've seen a fe iterations of mini Wii systems, including the G-Boy handheld and ShankMods' PiiWii. Now we have the Wiiboy from YouTube tinkerer Ginger of Oz.

The new Wiiboy 2.0 features some upgrades over the original model, with a 480p IPS panel with bezel and a chassis that's half a millimeter thinner than the original Wiiby Color 1.0, but overall it's just another clear example as to the innovations being made in the modding and custom PCB scenes.

After a string of disappointing games, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reiterates plans to focus on more profitable projects.

Ubisoft is under a lot of pressure right now. In a bid to stay competitive and capture more of the best-earning segments on the market, the French games-maker has spent multitudes of millions on failed game projects including XDefiant, a live service Call of Duty contender that was recently sunset by the group, who already operates the successful Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft has also missed the mark on other high-profile AAA game productions, including Star Wars Outlaws, a game that delivered soft sales and went under a radical re-work in an attempt to appease spurned fans.

Faced with growing costs and fiduciary duty to deliver growth to shareholders, Ubisoft has made all the usual cuts to reduce spending: Division-based layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations like the ill-fated XDefiant. One reaction to the Outlaws reception, and the current games industry market trends, was to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows outside of the critical holiday season and into February 2025. This delay was a major hit to Ubisoft's projected earnings--the company simply expected to sell a lot of copies of AC Shadows during Christmas.

Path of Exile 2 releases into early access as a verified hit on PC, breaking more than 450,000 peak concurrent players on Steam.

The year of RPGs just keeps on giving as Grinding Gear Games today kicked of Path of Exile 2's long journey into early access. The game has been received well so far, but it's not free-to-play just yet: Users can buy early access to the game starting at $30, giving them a more direct stake in helping shape Path of Exile 2 over time.

Despite the high numbers, the launch hasn't been perfect. Massive popularity means massive strain on the servers. Path of Exile's online infrastructure buckled under the weight of interested gamers and the servers crashed throughout the day.

NetEase's new Marvel game proves there's plenty of room for competition in the hero shooter genre.

Today, Marvel Rivals enjoyed a successful global launch onto consoles and PC. The free-to-play hero shooter has exploded onto the PC market and could be a contender for another top live service game. At launch, Rivals managed to break over 440,000 concurrent users on Steam. The game is currently not loaded into the PS Store best-seller tracker so we don't know how popular the game is on PlayStation. After this major milestone is reached, one big question remains: Can NetEase and Marvel keep up this momentum with seasonal updates?

The F2P PVP hero shooter has gained significant attention for its multiverse character designs and overall monetization strategy. Rivals packs in an eclectic variety of 33 different comic heroes across a wide range of series, all of which are wrapped up in an evolving narrative-driven storyline that will expand with new seasonal updates. If done right, Marvel could have its own Overwatch-Fortnite hybrid.

ASUS has either intentionally covertly teased an impressive upcoming gaming monitor or accidentally revealed what it plans to showcase at CES 2025 in January next year.

Gaming monitor names, while being very unattractive and difficult to remember, do typically reveal some information about the monitor. For example, the ROG Swift OLED PG32UDCM is ASUS's 4K 32-inch OLED gaming monitor. This is a good rule of thumb when shopping for monitors, as the number in the model name typically represents the size of the display. Why is that relevant? Well, reports indicate that ASUS teased the launch of new OLED gaming monitors with a post on Instagram that has since been removed.

The post poked some fun at the company's monitor naming choices and then showcased the following text: "What're we calling our newest monitor?" - "ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM." Notably, the PG27UCDM doesn't currently exist, and if the naming is anything to go by, it will be a smaller version of the PG32UCDM, which means it will be a 4K OLED gaming monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time. The difference between the two displays will be pixel density, as the PG27UCDM will have a 166 PPI, ushering in incredibly crisp and sharp visual fidelity.

A new report from Reuters has claimed Ubisoft Entertainment SA is currently engaging in close discussions with Tencent on organizing a possible buyout of Ubisoft, the development studio behind popular video game franchise Assassin's Creed.

Reuters cites two people familiar with the matter who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity, and according to these sources, Ubisoft is attempting to initiate a buyout but keep the majority of control in the hands of the Guillemot family, currently the largest and founding shareholder. According to Reuters, the Guillemot family has been in talks with Tencent about the buyout, which currently owns a 10% stake in Ubisoft.

Reuters reports Tencent has yet to decide on if it will greenlight the buyout, as Tencent reportedly wants a greater say in future decisions made by Ubisoft's board, along with a cash flow distribution in return for financing the deal. The publication notes that discussions between Ubisoft and Tencent are ongoing as both parties want to prevent Ubisoft from suffering from a hostile takeover by outside investors. One of the sources told Reuters that Tencent's plan is to wait for the Guillemot family to agree to the terms of its current deal.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has warned that a Chinese government espionage hacking group is targeting critical US infrastructure, such as telecommunications networks, financial and legal services industries, and government and non-government agencies.

Sherrod DeGrippo, the director of threat intelligence strategy at Microsoft, spoke with The Register, saying the new group Microsoft is tracking under the moniker "Storm-0227" began targeting critical US infrastructure as soon as yesterday. DeGrippo says the group has been active since January but didn't say its total number of victims. Notably, DeGrippo said the group's members have some overlap with Silk Typhoon, a notorious Chinese government-affiliated hacking group known for healthcare, law firms, higher education, defense contractors, and non-governmental organizations.

Furthermore, over the past 12 months, Microsoft has seen a significant increase in the frequency of attacks by Chinese hacking groups. As for how the hacking is done, The Register reports Storm-0227 typically infiltrates a system by exploiting security vulnerabilities in public-facing applications and spear-fishing emails that contain contaminated links or attachments. The objective of Storm-0227 is to get a victim to click on a document that automatically downloads SparkRAT, an open-source remote administration tool that enables the controller administrative access to a machine.

Anker has taken to its website to announce the recall of thousands of its Soundcore and PowerConf Bluetooth speakers, with the company citing a fault in the manufacturing process that has led to incidents related to affected devices batteries.

Anker wrote in a new announcement that a "small number" number of the affected speakers were manufactured between March and April 2023 and that Anker will be reaching out to customers who purchased one of the affected products between March 1, 2023, and June 6, 2024. According to reports, the affected products could be as many as 69,000 across the US, with an additional 9,764 sold in Canada. As for what products are affected, Anker highlights the following models as potentially being faulty: A3102016, A3302011, and A3302031.

So far 33 reports of problems with the aforementioned models have surfaced, with some of the reports claiming the device began smoking, started a small fire, and even one report cited a minor burn. It's advised to try to find the serial number on your speaker and then navigate to Anker's website to check if it is included in the recall. If you own an affected device, you are advised to immediately turn it off and contact Anker customer support, who will instruct you on how to dispose of it correctly.

Microsoft has taken to its blog to announce the availability of Copilot Vision, a new Copilot Pro feature that is designed to provide a helpful AI companion for internet browsing.

Microsoft has detailed the new feature in its blog post where it states Copilot Vision will require permission of the user and, if enabled, will be able to see what webpage a user is on, digest the information on the webpage, and provide helpful answers and information about what the user is searching. The new feature is currently only available in the US to a small group of Copilot Pro subscribers, which is a $20 per month subscription that unlocks Copilot across Office applications, priority access to Copilot during peak times, and now Copilot Vision.

The Windows maker explains that Copilot will be able to "understand the full context of what you're doing online," and when Copilot Vision is enabled, it "sees the page you're on, it reads along with you, and you can talk through the problem you're facing together. Browsing no longer needs to be a lonely experience with just you and all your tabs." For those worried about security, Microsoft has emphasized that Copilot VIsion is an entirely optional feature that needs to be manually switched on by a user for it to be enabled.

NASA has wrapped up a two-year-long investigation into the cracked heatshield on the Artemis I Orion module that landed back on Earth after being sent on a journey around the Moon.

The space agency took to its website to announce the re-entry method of the Orion module during the Artemis I mission was the cause of the cracks. The re-entry method, known as a skip guidance technique, entails the spacecraft "skipping" across the atmospheric layers, analogous to how a thrown stone skips across the surface of water. NASA wrote that Orion dipped into the upper atmosphere and used atmospheric drag to reduce its speed. The spacecraft then initiated aerodynamic lift to skip the capsule back out of the atmosphere, then it re-entered for its final descent into parachutes and splashdown.

After performing more than 100 tests, NASA determined that between skips, Orion's heat shield didn't allow enough of the gasses generated inside a material called Avcoat to escape. This caused some of the material to crack and break off from the heat shield. Avcoat is designed to erode away from the heat shield as the module descends through the atmosphere, increasing in temperature due to friction.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brain Thompson was killed in Midtown Manhattan earlier this week, and with the suspect currently on the run, the public has begun digging into a potential motive for the grim assassination.

With police having yet to make an arrest, publications have begun looking into UnitedHealthcare, and one of the points leading to a possible motive that has gained some attention is a lawsuit filed against UnitedHealthcare in November 2023. The lawsuit filed by two now-deceased individuals, but still ongoing and yet to reach a final conclusion, alleges UnitedHealthcare pressed employees to use an algorithm designed to evaluate how long a patient would be staying based on their condition and issue denials for coverage. Moreover, the suit alleges internally, UnitedHealthcare knew the algorithm had an error rate of approximately 90%.

Notably, the lawsuit specifically states that UnitedHealth and its subsidiary, NaviHealth, are using a computer algorithm reportedly called nH Predict to "systematically deny claims" for coverage for beneficiaries struggling to recover from illnesses while in nursing homes. A UnitedHealth spokesperson responded to the suit, stating the company doesn't use its NaviHealth predict tool to make coverage determinations and that the "lawsuit has no merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously."

NASA has selected giant Martian "spiderwebs" as the next target for the famed Mars rover named Curiosity, which will be traveling to a location known as "boxwork".

NASA has taken to its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) blog to announce that it will be sending the Mars rover named Curiosity on the next leg of its journey across the plains of the Red Planet. The journey will take Curiosity approximately a month, and the rover will be heading to a location known as "boxwork," which is a set of weblike patterns on the surface of Mars.

These weblike patterns stretch for miles, and Curiosity will soon be departing its current location in the Gediz Vallis, with the rover signing off in the area with a 360-degree panoramic image. Boxwork is a patch of zigzagging rocks, or boxwork deposits, and NASA plans to send Curiosity there to investigate the location for any signs of ancient microbial life, along with documenting the area so NASA researchers can attempt to understand how the land formation came to be. Notably, boxwork deposits aren't exclusive to Mars, as the geological formation can be found on Earth in caves.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.12.1 WHQL driver for Radeon owners is here, and it seems Team Red is playing a little catch-up as it includes new game support for several high-profile releases that have been out for weeks - including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

New game support often means performance optimizations and stability tweaks, which is why major driver updates arrive in time for new releases. In addition to the games mentioned above, Adrenalin Edition 24.12.1 also adds support for Marvel Rivals, Slitterhead, and Detal Force.

Outside of game-specific support, the latest driver is good news for AI developers as it brings official support for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2), which allows AMD ROCm software development on Windows systems. Hit the jump for the full AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.12.1 Release Notes.

NVIDIA has released GeForce Game Ready Driver 566.36, which adds day-one support to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - which is available to play right now in early access for those who have bought the Digital Premium Edition. It also adds day support to the highly anticipated action RPG Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals' official launch.

Marvel Rivals is a new free-to-play hero shooter with a cast of some of the most iconic superheroes ever created, and it features support for DLSS 3 Frame Generation as seen in the trailer above. The latest driver also adds support to some major updates for existing titles. There's Forza Motorsport, which is getting immersive in-race Ray-Traced Global lumination in its next update. Also, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is adding DLSS 3 Frame Generation in its next update, which will help boost performance for GeForce RTX 40 Series owners.

Outside of game support, the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver 566.36 is also the first to include the new NVIDIA App, which has exited beta and replaced GeForce Experience as the main software tool for GeForce customization.

Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, the creator of PUBG, has announced multiple new projects, with his main new title being a survival game called Prologue: Go Wayback! which launches into early access on Steam in 2025.

Prologue: Go Wayback! is explained as a "single-player open world emergent game within the survival genre" that will be available on Steam in early access form in Q2 2025, however, the developer teases that a "series of playtests" will begin before the early access launch.

Greene describes Prologue as a survival experience, and a "prototype of an idea" that will use the early access version to build upon, turning it into a full product. Prologue: Go Wayback! will see gamers playing on a new map, each and every time they play the game. Greene added: "We have a simple survival loop. Get from one side of the map to the other side of the map with some difficult weather on the way".

This week, Intel officially announced the first Xe2 'Battlemage' desktop graphics card, the Intel Arc B580, which will launch on December 13, 2024. With a wallet-friendly price point of $249 USD, 12GB of VRAM, and 1440p performance that outclasses the GeForce RTX 4060, it will be an interesting addition to the GPU landscape when it debuts.

In a new hourlong interview on PCWorld's The Full Nerd Podcast, Intel's Tom Petersen confirmed that even though the first second-gen Xe2 desktop GPU product is a week away from launch, the Arc team has already finalized the Xe3 'Celestial' architecture and is already working on Xe4. Now, it's up to the software team to ensure that drivers are ready for Xe3's launch.

"Our architects are way ahead of us and they are already working on not the next thing but the next thing after the next thing," Tom Petersen confirms.