Gaming News - Page 1

Far Cry 6 isn't far away from its release, where we're now finding out more information on what makes the game tick underneath -- with the PC version being the standout version of the game.

Ubisoft 3D Team Lead Programmer Stephanie Brenham has detailed a bunch of the technical side of Far Cry 6, with Breaking Bad and Far Cry 6 bad guy Giancarlo Esposito. Check it out above, but we learn all about ray tracing and FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) being exclusive to the PC and that the SSDs inside of next-gen consoles are a big, big deal.

Far Cry 6 will look great on next-gen consoles and PC, where both will have improved level of detail (LOD), longer draw distances, better ocean simulation, and HD textures. 4K 60FPS is an option for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, while the PC has DXR reflections and shadows, FidelityFX (FSR + CAS), uncapped FPS, 21:9 ultrawide monitor support, and adjustable FOV.

Sony's latest PS5 patch slightly improves performance in select games, proving the console can receive firmware-based game boosts over time.

The PlayStation 5's new 21.02-04.00.00 firmware update finally unlocks the console's M.2 expansion bay for additional PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, but the patch apparently has a hidden bonus that boosts in-game performance.

According to Digital Foundry, the PS5's latest update delivered a small 3% jump in hardware speeds while running certain games. These games weren't updated or patched by the developers, however the virtual machines that run them apparently were (Control, for example, runs amazingly well on Series X as a result). "In very select scenarios it does seem the PlayStation 5 is now running faster. All PlayStation 5's are running faster than they were before with this new firmware. It's only a couple of percentage points, about 3%. We can demonstrably prove that this firmware in select scenarios is running faster than the old one," Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter says.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a private investigation into Activision-Blizzard's alleged securities fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The SEC is currently scrutinizing Activision-Blizzard in an attempt to determine whether or not the company has violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC's own investigation was likely prompted by the current class-action securities fraud lawsuit that Activision-Blizzard is facing, which alleges that the company misled investors by not disclosing details of the current ongoing investigation from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing regarding sexual harassments and discrimination at Activision's offices.

Activision-Blizzard shares dropped following the DFEH investigation news, causing material harm to investors. Over a dozen law firms are calling for investors to join the class-action lawsuit and settle the matter in a court trial. Now the SEC is getting involved with their own private investigation.

ADATA's XPG S70 Blade SSD fits into the PlayStation 5's expansion bay for more high-speed storage.

ADATA's XPG Gammix S70 Blade is compatible with the PS5's M.2 expansion slot and brings up to 7.4GB/sec read speeds across PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4. The S70 Blade comes with an optional aluminum heat sink for extra heat dissipation to keep the drive cooler under 4K 60FPS gaming load, matching both speed and reliability to become a good pick for PS5 expansion storage.

The S70 Blade comes in 1TB ($169.99) and 2TB ($329.99) capacities complete with 176-layer Micron TLC flash, a five-year warranty, and a DRAM cache buffer. "Got a PS5 and need more capacity? The GAMMIX S70 BLADE is your answer. Plug one into your PS5 and enjoy better, smoother performance over the built-in storage," ADATA writes on its website.

Gran Turismo 7 will have real-time weather simulations that dynamically change tracks and in-game environments, Polyphony Digital confirms.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi confirms a host of new details about the upcoming cross-platform racer. Some details--like campaign being online-only--are a bit disappointing, but the game promises to push the PlayStation 5 to its limits with high-performance features like real-time weather effects and in-game simulations.

According to Yamauchi, GT7's real-time weather effects will change track conditions based on things like humidity and temperature. Water will have a huge effect on gameplay too, and rain physics can change how cars handle quite a bit with drift and hydroplaning depending on tires, car type, etc. There's also time simulations that tie right into the dynamic weather effects--for example, mid-day sun can quickly evaporate any rainwater on a track.

GTA V's huge 8-year birthday isn't met with celebration but controversy from devout fans.

There's a big issue brewing in the GTA community and Rockstar Games should address it as soon as possible. The controversy stems from the recent GTA V Expanded & Enhanced PS5 trailer, which has been widely criticized by Grand Theft Auto players. The footage promises high-end graphics that many gamers say look similar to the PS4 and Xbox One versions, and the next-gen re-release is being called a "cash grab" as a result.

Fans are using YouTube's dislike feature to send a message to Rockstar Games. Five days ago the trailer had 120,000 dislikes with an 83% dislike ratio. Now the trailer has grown by a colossal 87,000 dislikes and currently sits at 207,000 dislikes, representing an 87.7% dislike ratio. Just yesterday it had 197K dislikes.

343i is slowing down support for Halo Master Chief Collection ahead of Halo Infinite's launch.

Halo MCC's new Season 8 update will be the last big update of 2021, and will be the end of the game's seasonal release cadence. 343i says they will no longer release big updates in a seasonal format and instead launch new content and features when they're ready. This will fee the studio up to focus on Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer which will take precedence over everything else (thanks in part to in-game microtransactions).

"Starting next year, we're targeting pivoting away from our current seasonal model and cadence to instead focus on smaller MCC updates that can land when they're ready based on development status and studio roadmap alignment," Postums said in a new Halo Waypoint update.

Now that the PlayStation 5 supports PC-grade expandable storage, gamers are looking to buy high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs to supercharge their next-gen gaming experiences. With blazing speeds also comes potential for higher temps and a proper heat sink is incredibly important for any internal storage--especially NVMe drives in compact gaming consoles.

If you're a PS5 owner looking to pop in an extra SSD, Be quiet!'s MC1 cooler should be on your radar. The MC1 fits right into the PS5's expansion bay and is a great fit for both single- and dual-sided high-performance drives without heat sinks like the Samsung 980 Pro or Crucial's P5 Plus.

MC1 Highlights

• Lower temperatures for your M.2 SSD
• Allows maximum read/write speed for an extended timespan
• Fits single sided and double sided M.2 2280 modules alike
• Compatible with M.2 SSD slot of Sony PlayStation 5
• All-black design for an elegant look

ASUS launched its ROG gaming furniture earlier this year, but now it is being deployed in the US through IKEA both in-store, and online next month.

The new ASUS ROG gaming furniture includes gaming chairs, gaming desks, cabinets, drawers, ring lights, phone holders, mouse pads, a mouse bungee, an insulated tumbler, a multifunctional blanket (so awesome), a neck pillow, cup holder, and even a wooden arm headphone stand.

That's a pretty extensive ASUS ROG setup there.

Call of Duty: Vanguard will limp onto the market in November, but there is some beta lovin' that people who pre-ordered the game can enjoy now -- meaning we have more information on Vanguard.

It looks like developer Sledgehammer Games will have support for AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology in Call of Duty: Vanguard, which will support both AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its super-popular (and hacker-filled) Warzone have DLSS support.

FSR support in Call of Duty: Vanguard was spotted in the game files, but you can't just enable it in the menu right now -- I'm sure it'll have full support by its launch on November 5, 2021. Interesting that Sledgehammer isn't tapping DLSS, as it was used to great effect in Warzone and helps drag those frames up to 120FPS in a big way at 4K.