Latest News - Page 514

Sea of Thieves has sold over 1 million copies since it launched on PlayStation 5, sources have told Windows Central's Jez Corden.

Microsoft's bet on Sony's platform is paying off in spades. A bit ago, Microsoft made the controversial decision to launch four Xbox exclusives on PlayStation 5, including Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush. Two of these games are live service titles with a premium price tag alongside in-game microtransactions.

While Microsoft has been vague on the performance of these games, and the overall results of its experiment, things are apparently going well. Our own findings here at TweakTown show that Sea of Thieves and Grounded were among the top 25 best-sellers on the PlayStation Store for multple weeks, culminating in an interesting trend of Microsoft having more best-sellers on the PS Store than Sony did (the Fallout TV show also helped catalyze Fallout game sales).

Black Myth: Wukong is the hottest game out right now, quickly attracting millions of players to a new single-player story that has already broken the record for highest concurrent-player title on Steam, beating the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 and only falling short to battle-royale sensation PUBG.

The new title is from Chinese developer Game Science who has set out to give a fresh take on the iconic story of Son Wukong, a very popular piece of Chinese mythology that has previously been adapted many times into various forms of media, particularly film.

The popularity behind the Wukong character combined with the intense graphics showcased in trailers caused Black Myth: Wukong to have a meteoric rise in Steam's most-played charts, clocking more than 2 million players in 24 hours, making it the most-played singleplayer game in the history of Steam. Notably, Steam's numbers don't include players enjoying the title on other platforms.

A team of researchers from the University of Arizona have penned a new study detailing the creation of a microscope capable of capturing the speed of a electron.

The new research has been published in the Science Advances journal and details the creation of an attosecond electron microscope, or a microscope that instead of using typical camera sensors that capture visible light use direct beams of electrons that pass through whatever the target object is. Researchers transmit these electrons in pulses and the faster a pulse moves through an object, the greater the resolution. Additionally, camera sensors capture the interaction between the electrons and the target sample.

All of the aforementioned data is used to create the end result images. However, ultrafast electron microscopes work by releasing a train of electrons in at a few attoseconds, which is one quintillionth of a second. It's best to think of each of these electron pulses as frames per second (FPS) in a movie or a video game. Until now, researchers were unable to capture the reaction of the electron when passing through the sample when its between each of the FPS, which restricted the total possible resolution.

Black Myth: Wukong has catalyzed PlayStation 5 console sales in China, new reports from Bloomberg indicate.

Game Science's legend-infused action RPG Black Myth: Wukong is taking the world by storm, especially in China, where it has become a smash hit. The game is now the second most-played Steam game of all time in terms of peak concurrent users, with over 2.3 million users logged in and playing on Valve's PC storefront client. The Monkey King has also conquered the top-selling and most-played charts, as per official data from Valve. Note that this does not include sales made on Tencent's domestic WeGame store.

Black Myth: Wukong's meteoric rise isn't just limited to PC, however. The game is also significantly boosting PlayStation 5 sales in China, which bodes well for Sony Interactive Entertainment. Bloomberg reports that PS5 sales have more than doubled on Alibaba's Tabao e-commerce storefront in the week of the game's launch. This apparently is a rare occurrence for the PS5 in the overseas region, which is typically dominated by free-to-play mobile games.

The new Budokai Tenkaichi game will let players create customized matches and up characters to make their own saga battles.

Dragonball: Sparking! ZERO, aka Budokai Tenkaichi 4, will delve into the core spirit of Dragonball Super's hijinks. Have you ever wanted to have SS2 Goku face off against Majin Buu, or maybe SSG Goku take on an ultra-powerful Frieza? The game's new Custom Battle mode will let you do just that.

The mode was detailed in a Gamescom 2024 livestream, offering a glimpse of some pretty awesome-sounding mechanics. Not only will players be able to customize their battles, but they can share them with others online.

Elden Ring's latest Shadow of the Erdtree expansion has been a mega-hit for Bandai Namco, accounting for over half of the company's Q1 game sales volume.

This month, Bandai Namco released its Q1 FY25 results with flat operating profits, namely due to the amortization of development costs associated with specific games. But Elden Ring's new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has done wonders for the publisher, selling more than 5 million copies in just 3 days' time.

"Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree got off to a good start and contributed greatly to our business performance," Bandai Namco said in a Q&A with investors.

AMD has just published a new blog explaining that a new Windows update will boost gaming performance on its Zen 5 processors, and talks about the discrepancy in performance between its internal gaming benchmarks, and reviewers' data.

In the blog post, AMD kinda dodges the entire thing... but it tries to explain why its new Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" CPUs aren't performing as well with tech reviewers and gamers compared to its internal benchmarks.

Some of the reasons that AMD said including the different test configurations of reviewers, which definitely makes sense, but we didn't have these defensive blog posts when Zen 4 launched, or Zen 3, or Zen 2, or Zen 1. AMD also said it's using a specific configuration of hardware for its Intel system that it uses in-house for benchmarking comparison, with DDR5-6000 memory and Intel's new Default Settings (Baseline) which wouldn't align with how most reviewers have their Intel setups configured.

President Donald Trump said he would have Elon Musk on his cabinet or in an advisory role if he won the 2024 US elections, to which SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X saying: "I am willing to serve".

Better yet, Musk posted a picture on X of himself (AI-generated, probably using Grok) with "DOGE" or Department of Government Efficiency, which if you know Elon, he's referring to one of his favorite cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin (DOGE).

Musk talked to President Trump recently on an X space, where they two discussed government overspending, and that there should be someone in a government efficiency role, taking care of the finances of the US to not see hundreds of billions of dollars wasted year after year.

Intel's next-gen Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop CPUs were rumored for an October 10 release, but new information points to a retail launch on October 17.

The company has been struggling big time over the last couple of months especially, but its next-gen Arrow Lake CPU is nearly here, with Chinese social media site QQ had a poster called "ChannelGate" explain (machine translated):

"The sales of AMD platform solutions have been relatively active recently, and there are more and more inquiries from consumers. Unfortunately, the supply of AMD 9000 CPU is insufficient. INTEL has no choice but to work hard to deal with the problems of I7I9. The upstream end is still solving the problem. The CPU warranty is extended for 2 to 5 years, and it is negotiating with motherboard manufacturers to jointly solve the instability problem of 13th and 14th generation CPUs".

It's no surprise AMD is cooking up its upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D processors, but ASUS has provided some spoilers on its own website, teasing the new 3D V-Cache powered CPUs.

A post from leaker "momomo_us" on X teased the ASUS website covering its new motherboard releases and new chipsets: with AMD's new X870E, X870, B850, and B840 chipsets. The website doesn't directly mention the Ryzen 9000X3D processors by name, but the microsite's source code is chock full of references to Zen 5-based X3D processors.

We don't know the specifications of AMD's upcoming Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000X3D processors, but we should expect the following 3 processors at first: the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, Ryzen 9 9900X3D, and Ryzen 7 9800X3D to succeed the Zen 4-based Ryzen 9 7950X3D, Ryzen 9 7900X3D, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D processors.

The second patient of Neuralink's new brain-computer interface (BCI) chip otherwise known as a "Link" has been playing Counter-Strike 2 on his laptop using just his thoughts.

Elon Musk's exciting startup had his Neuralink implant (Link) installed last month, with the surgery taking place at the Barrow Neurological Institute, with Alex discharged the following day, and Neuralink saying "his recovery has been smooth".

With the Link installed, Alex has been improving his ability to play video games, and has started learning how to use computer-aided design (CAD) software to design 3D objects using his thoughts. Neuralink says that this "marks another significant step" towards providing a high-performance interface that will enhance the control of digital devices for people with quadriplegia to help restore their autonomy.

ASUS has just introduced its new NitroPath DDR5 DRAM technology, which it called as "revolutionary DRAM slot design for high-end gaming motherboards" with its new Zen 5-ready X870E and X870 motherboards.

The company took to its website to explain the benefits of DDR5 over DDR4, with better scaling for the multi-threaded CPU workloads of today, huge bandwidth, and massive efficiency boosts, DDR5 is the "preferred choice for today's PC builders".

ASUS says that we're seeing DDR5 memory kits hitting DDR5-8000 speeds and higher, and that in order to give you the best experience with the fastest RAM, they're introducing an all-new slot design that's built from the ground up for enhanced performance and durability: introducing NitroPath DRAM Technology.

A new Mafia game was announced at Gamescom 2024, and it takes place in Sicily during the early 20th century.

2K Games and Hangar 13 made a surprise reveal at Gamescom with Mafia: The Old Country, a prequel to the best-selling trilogy of games set in San Celeste, Sicily, that will chronicle the origins of organized crime.

The Old Country was highlighted with a breathtaking in-engine cinematic trailer that reflected Hangar 13's impressive attention to detail and high quality visuals, and while the footage was pre-rendered, it gives us a tantalizing first look at what to expect from the final game's cutscenes.

Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer reiterates that Microsoft expects big returns on the company's investments into gaming, which have reached $77.5 billion worth of acquisitions in the last 4 years.

The FTC v Microsoft trial in 2023 revealed a lot of interesting information about Xbox. One of the things that stood out the most was a frank explanation from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer about his responsibility to deliver continued gains and profits to Microsoft. "There's no part of our business where I get to lose money over time. The overall part of our business of gaming has to be a profitable, growing part of our business," Spencer said during the June 2023 evidentiary hearing.

Over the past 4 years, Microsoft has made incredible investments into gaming, first with its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media in 2021, and then with the $70 billion buyout of service titan Activision Blizzard King in 2023. Microsoft's CFO Amy Hood, CEO Satya Nadella, and the board of directors have high expectations for Xbox as a result.

Genshin Impact, one of the most popular free-to-play games on the market today, is finally coming to Xbox.

miHoYo's highly profitable live service game Genshin Impact is making its way to Xbox platforms this November, Microsoft announced at Gamescom 2024. The F2P sensation will cross over to Xbox Series X/S consoles, complete with cloud streaming availability across consoles, PC, and mobile, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get some extra bonuses and rewards along the way.

"I was especially excited to announce that Genshin Impact is coming to Xbox. There's some pretty cool Game Pass rewards that are going to be part of that, there's going to be full cross-progression, and it's also going to be on cloud," Xbox president Sarah Bond said during an interview at Gamescom.

Windows 11's Recall feature was put on ice following a whole lot of controversy after it was revealed, but Microsoft is ready to thaw out the ability for Copilot+ PCs, it seems.

Pavan Davuluri, who is Corporate VP of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, updated a previous blog post on Recall - where the news of the feature being pulled was given - to say that it's set to go live, at least in testing, in Windows 11 preview builds in October.

Davuluri explained:

Did Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer lie about Indiana Jones coming to PlayStation 5? No, not technically.

Back in February 2024, Xbox made a controversial decision to bring four of its first-party Xbox games over to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. It was the first time Microsoft had broken exclusivity with key first-party games that were specifically designed to launch on Microsoft platforms (Xbox consoles and Windows PCs). But as time as proven, it wouldn't be the last.

Xbox management made the announcement through a roundtable interview with executives Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty. In that video, Xbox's CEO Phil Spencer was asked point blank if Starfield and the new Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were among those four games that were breaking exclusivity. Spencer said that no, Starfield and Indiana Jones were not among them.

ASUS has just unveiled its fleet of next-generation X870E and X870 motherboards, with the AMD AM5 socket and ready to rock and roll (and overclock) AMD's new family of Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop CPUs.

We have new X870E and X870 motherboards from ASUS and all of its families: ROG, ROG Strix, TUF, PRIME, and ProArt series all get new Zen 5-ready motherboards with a total of 9 new motherboards launched by ASUS during Gamescom 2024 this week.

ASUS includes some new exclusive tweaking features, especially for AMD's new Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series CPUs with features like Dynamic OC Switcher that will turn on AMD PBO (Precision Based Overclocking) or user-preferred settings depending on varying factors. This could provide higher multi-threaded support with manual OC when temperature headrooms are available, or boosted single-threaded performance when PBO is turned on and the headroom is there.

An exclusive report posted earlier this month by CSO detailed a deal between CrowdStrike and Action1 to purchase the cloud-based patch management and vulnerability remediation company for nearly $1 billion.

Now, a new report has claimed that deal has fallen a part following Action1 declining the acquisition offer by CrowdStrike. The new report by CSO states Action1 has decided to stay independent to keep full control of the company in an effort to not let dilution impact the brand's "ability to innovate."

Mike Walters, president and CEO of Action1 comment on the collapse of the deal, saying that one of the main reasons why Action1 declined the offer was over "customer trust", which presented itself after emails leaked about a potential acquisition by CrowdStrike was in the works.

Razer and Wooting have certainly stirred up the competitive shooter sector of gaming with new keyboard technology that has now been banned by Valve.

For those that don't know, the above video is a great short explanation of the new technology called Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions (SOCD). Razer added the new feature to its range of Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards last month, which was followed by an update by Wooting. Razer calls its technology Snap Tap, while Wooting calls its technology Snappy Tappy. Use of either of these technologies in Counter-Strike 2 will result in the player being kicked from the match.

At the moment, no account ban appears to be place for violating the rules. It's simply just a match kick. So what does SOCD do? In short, the feature enables players to automate switching strafe directions, which circumvents the skill that is learned by FPS players where switching strafe directions takes skill. For example, to switch strafe directions a player must fully release one key before pressing the other. If both keys are pressed the movement inputs cancel each other out, resulting the character standing still.