Latest News - Page 986

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers are growing steadily and have now broken 36 million paid subscribers.

In a recent Q2 earnings Q&A with investors, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa gave updated numbers for the Switch Online service. According to Furukawa, total Switch Online has surpassed 36 million subscribers, up 4 million subscribers in the last three quarters.

"As of the end of September 2022, Nintendo Switch Online has more than 36 million paying members," Furukawa said in the brief.

Back in 2019, I said that backwards compatibility is the most important feature for new consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The same is true for Nintendo's rumored Switch 4K model.

In a recent Q&A with investors, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto delivered an ambiguous answer on whether or not the next Nintendo hardware will be backwards compatible with Switch games. Multiple Japanese-speaking users are having trouble deciphering Miyamoto's comments, but Nintendo's official English translated Q&A will clear things up.

For the time being, we have to stress the importance of backwards compatibility for any kind of new Switch hardware. Rumors of a new 4K-ready next-gen Switch have been circulating for years now. The Switch 4K is expected to utilize a new NVIDIA SoC, likely the new 8-core Tegra239 chip that's been codenamed "Drake," and the new upgraded Switch is also to utilize DLSS to achieve 4K gaming. Nintendo gave credence to these rumors by including a big dock upgrade with the Switch OLED that is capable of outputting to 4K 60FPS.

Sony is taking its new live service games very seriously and is working some of the best talent in the business to bring its billion-dollar plans to reality.

Sony is going all-in on live service games. First Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Bungie for $3.7 billion, sweeping up Destiny while also securing critical expertise in a big power buy. While Bungie will still retain creative independence under Sony, the Halo- and Destiny-maker will advise, consult, and help guide Sony's new fledgling live game ambitions.

More recently there are reports that Sony and Guerrilla Games are working closely with the online game experts at NC Soft on a new MMORPG set in the Horizon universe. Having developed games like the classic Lineage from the late 90s, NC Soft's know-how stretches across decades and the South Korean company's expertise has brought in nearly $14 billion in lifetime revenues across its five biggest games.

German automaker Audi has refreshed the 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron electric SUV, promising better battery range and efficiency. The US auto market will be able to choose from two different configurations, the Audi Q8 e-tron and Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron, which can be selected based on driving style and range expectations.

The fully electric vehicle will feature two different versions of the Q8 e-tron - the Q8 55 e-tron and the SQ8 e-tron. The 55 e-tron has two motors and generates 402 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque - with a 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds. The SQ8 has one front axle motor and two on the rear, generating 496 hp with 718 lb-ft of torque - and can tackle the 0-60mph in just 4.5 seconds.

Although the power output remains unchanged, a redesigned electric motor coupled with improved aerodynamics greatly aids the battery. Certain versions of the new model will have more than 300 miles in drive range, which is a drastic increase over the current 222-mile capacity.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise has generated nearly $8 billion in net revenues since GTA V's release way back in 2013, data from Take-Two Interactive confirms.

Every quarter, Take-Two Interactive publishes SEC filings that outline the company's quarterly performance, including revenues, profit, cash flow, debt, risk factors, etc. Hidden in the filings is mention of how much net revenue that Grand Theft Auto products generate for that particular quarter. We've cataloged and charted these numbers to get a better picture of how the franchise is performing.

Based on data published by Take-Two and collected by us, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has made $7.84 billion cumulatively since Grand Theft Auto V's release in September 2013. The franchise made $152 million in Q2'23, aligning with early coronavirus earnings. While this is not the lowest quarter for GTA revenues, it is the lowest period the past 13 quarters (or 52 months).

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card has been in the headlines for many reasons over the last few months, but one of the more controversial reasons is it uses the new 12VHPWR power connector... which has been melting and destroying products that should never have this issue.

But now, the organization behind the PCI-Express standard itself -- PCI-SIG -- is issued an engineering change notification for the 12VHPWR connector. This isn't exactly public yet, but the internet being the internet we have the latest leaks... with revision updates for the 12VHPWR connector posted by organization members including Amphenol.

PCI-SIG's proposed changes to the 12VHPWR connector would include more shroud, and a gripping feature for the additional 4 data pins (the 16-pin connector has 12 pins for power, and 4 pins for data). These proposed changes wouldn't be a solution to the issues surrounding NVIDIA's new flagship GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card seeing their 12VHPWR connector melting... because the additional 4 pins aren't carrying high amounts of electrical load.

Aehra might not be a recognizable name, but that doesn't matter now, as the luxury Italian electric automaker has introduced its first vehicle. Simply called the Aehra SUV currently, the vehicle designers wanted to find ways to build an efficient EV with a bold design and character to match.

The car's aerodynamic design was made with the help of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which molded the SUV's shape. Since we're early on in the process, Aehra didn't disclose a lot of details, including its first model's wind tunnel results.

Drivers can expect to drive an SUV made with well-researched, light, sustainable materials - including forged carbon fiber - with a monocoque construction.

The Subaru WRX has maintained a long success as a quality all-wheel drive high-performance sedan but faces some real competition. Can the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N outpace the 2022 Subaru WRX? Here are the general specs of both cars, compared head-to-head, courtesy of Car and Driver:

Judging from early comparisons, actual road tests, and head-to-head racing competition, it looks like the Elantra N is highly successful. Subaru will finally be forced to innovate to get back ahead, which wasn't necessary as of late. Hyundai's car is better on paper - and on the road - according to reviewers.

Here is what Car and Driver thought after comparing the two:

In one of the more perplexing vehicle builds at SEMA Show 2022, a new BMW M4 Competition xDrive was converted into a pickup truck. The "M4 Maloo" includes a truck-style bed still fed by the twin-turbo 3.0-liter engine, controlled with an automatic eight-speed gearbox. The six-cylinder engine cranks out 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque.

There was no vinyl wrap on the model shown off - a scratch-resistant polyurethane paint protection film was used. The DYNOchrome can include a color to result in a chrome-like finish that absolutely pops when it's seen.

Intel has unleashed its next-gen NUC 13 Extreme system, which features the company's new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs as well as support for huge triple-slot, 12-inch-long graphics cards for the ultimate in performance in a small package.

The company is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of launching the NUC (Next Unit of Computing) with the new Intel NUC 13 Extreme Kit and Intel NUC 13 Extreme Compute Element, with their powers combined, making for the most powerful Intel NUC ever built.

Intel has optimized the thermal design inside of the new NUC 13 Extreme PC, with "off-the-charts" performance and never-before-seen features. We have a redesigned chassis that optimizes airflow in order to reduce noise and throttling during heavy workloads (gaming, creative content, and more). All of this, is within the tiny package that the NUC 13 Extreme arrives in.

COLORFUL has just unveiled its new iGame GeForce RTX 4080 Advanced graphics card, a new custom design that packs up to 400W of power.

The new COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 4080 Advanced graphics card was teased back in September, with the company unleashing the iGame GeForce RTX 4090 Advanced OC-V (which I reviewed at launch) but the iGame GeForce RTX 4090 Advanced hasn't been released so far.

However, COLORFUL isn't launching one, but rather two iGame GeForce RTX 4080 Advanced graphics cards... the first is at stock, and the second is factory overclocked. COLORFUL teases up to 2625MHz GPU boost clocks on the factory overclocked iGame GeForce RTX 4080 Advanced through hits OC BIOS... chewing down up to 400W of power, too.

GIGABYTE has just announced a rather large fleet of GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards, with the AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE series, AORUS WINDFORCE series, AORUS MASTER, AERO, EAGLE, and GAMING series GeForce RTX 4080 16GB graphics cards.

Starting with the flagship AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 XTREME WATERFORCE WB graphics card, for users who have an existing open-loop liquid cooling PC. GIGABYTE has improved the thermal system on its new AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 XTREME WATERFORCE WB graphics card, with optimal channel spacing between the micro fins for improved heat transfer from the AD104 GPU through stable water flows.

The company has sunk-designed copper micro fins that shorten the heat conduction path from the GPU, so that heat can be transferred into the water channel area quickly. GIGABYTE is using its patented "Leak Detection" technology here, which in reality is a built-in detection circuit that covers the entire fitting and water block and will alert users by flashing lights if there is any leak. This means you can jump to it, fixing the leak and stopping further damage from occurring to your system.

NVIDIA has unleashed its new GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card and is barely a week away from the release of its second Ada Lovelace GPU, the upcoming GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card.

But we all know the story... NVIDIA had not one but two GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards -- the GeForce RTX 4080 16GB and GeForce RTX 4080 12GB -- but then NVIDIA "unlaunched" the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB variant. The GeForce RTX 4080 16GB is still marching ahead for release on November 16, but now we've got some more information on what NVIDIA will be doing with the Ada Lovelace GPU release after that.

We've now got leaker "kopite7kimi" that tweeted that the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB will "become" the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which could be cut down on the original GeForce RTX 4080 12GB specs that we were hearing about months ago.

CD PROJEKT RED has just pushed out a new update for Cyberpunk 2077 which adds something new for both PC gamers and console gamers alike.

Cyberpunk 2077's new v1.61 update has added AMD FSR 2.1 upscaling technology support for PC and "next-gen" which are really current-gen consoles now: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. CD PROJEKT RED already has NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 support for Cyberpunk 2077, but with the new FSR 2.1 support it means temporal upscaling technology can be used across a bigger range of graphics cards (and consoles).

In the update notes for the v1.61 patch for Cyberpunk 2077, CD PROJEKT RED explains that there's added support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.1 (for "PC and next-gen consoles only") but there are plenty of other changes in the new Cyberpunk 2077 update.

EK Water Blocks has just unveiled its new EK-Quantum Vector² water blocks for AMD's just-announced Radeon RX 7900 XTX reference graphics card.

The water cooling giant makes note that because AMD's new Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards include special memory cache dies (MCDs) next to the main chip -- or the Graphics Compute Die (GCD) -- EK had to make some modifications to the cooling engine to keep the MCDs, as well as the regular GPU components, cool (the VRMs, VRAM, Voltage Controllers, and the chip die).

EK points out that AMD is tapping TSMC's new 5nm process node for its GCD, which pushes for up to 54% more performance per watt, and that even if the GPU is efficient the power consumption is higher than the previous-gen RDNA 2-based GPUs. AMD is sucking up to 355W of total board power for its flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card and has put it into its smallest package ever: 300mm² GCD that contains 165% more transistors per mm² than the previous generation.

Take-Two Interactive stock is down 18% after yesterday's earnings call, but company CEO Strauss Zelnick is still optimistic about the company's trajectory.

Yesterday Take-Two Interactive upset investors with downward revisions for its Fiscal Year 2023 earnings forecast that shaved off roughly $320 million on both the low and high-end; Take-Two previously forecasted $5.73 - $5.83 billion in net bookings for FY23, and the new revision is at $5.41 - $5.510 billion. This downgrade coupled with lower-than-expected monetization revenues and key statements that in-game purchases are "under pressure" led to a significant drop in stock price.

At the time of writing, Take-Two stock is trading at $93.57 USD, down 18.68% in the past 5 days. Now company CEO Strauss Zelnick gives a response on the share drop:

Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive pledges more support for the Microsoft-Activision merger.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick gives a frank response to the Microsoft-Activision merger: "We have no concerns."

Zelnick says that Take-Two Interactive was contacted by worldwide regulators concerning the megaton $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger, and that the company itself didn't have any issues with the combination.

Sony is reportedly working with NCSoft to develop a new online game based on the Horizon franchise, sources have told Korean news network MTN.

Sony is shifting its focus to live service games and is currently working alongside some of the best online developers in the business, including Bungie, who it recently acquired for $3.7 billion, and external worldwide partners. One of these partners is reportedly NCSoft, one of the best live operators in the business.

According to Korean news media, Sony has entrusted the development of a new MMORPG set in the world of one if its best-selling PlayStation 4 franchises, Guerrilla Games' Horizon series. The game is codenamed Project H and is currently in active recruitment phases. It is unknown when the game will be ready, but this is likely the co-op project that was previously rumored.

The European Commission today announced that it would not outright approve the Microsoft-Activision merger, and the regulatory body has expressed its concerns about the merger.

Microsoft's proposed $70 billion buyout of Activision-Blizzard is being closely scrutinized by worldwide regulators. The merger has entered in investigation phases across multiple regulators including the FTC in the United States, the CMA in the United Kingdom, and now the European Commission in Europe.

The European Commission is prepared to closely examine the deal, but preliminary findings suggest that the Microsoft-Activision merger could significantly reduce competition across multiple gaming segments including PC and console game distribution, multi-game subscription services, and the nascent cloud streaming market. The EU regulators make similar arguments as the CMA, who has been the most vocal regarding the merger.

Today Nintendo announced that it is forming an official joint venture with DeNA in order to help bolster its network and services integration for its games.

After 7 years of collaboration, Nintendo is entering into a joint venture agreement with DeNA. The two companies will share resources (and more importantly, risk) as they work together to build things like Nintendo Account integration into online titles across mobile devices.

The purpose of the deal is: "Research and development, as well as operations to strengthen the digitalization of Nintendo's business, in addition to the creation of value-added services." Nintendo Systems Co. Limited will retain 80% of the capital structure whereas DeNA will have 20%, and the joint venture is expected to be approved in April 2023.