Gaming
All the latest gaming news, with everything related to PlayStation releases (PS4 & PS5), Xbox, PC Games, Nintendo Switch & plenty more.
NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver for Indiana Jones, Path of Exiles 2, and Marvel Rivals is here
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.
PUBG creator Brendan Greene's new game on Steam: 'an Earth-scale world generated in real-time'
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".
Lenovo Legion Go S is an affordable Ryzen Z2G handheld that could retail for $399
The Lenovo Legion Go was designed as a premium PC gaming handheld with detachable controllers, a sizeable high-refresh-rate display, the latest AMD hardware, and fast storage and memory. With new renders of a new Lenovo Legion Go S gaming handheld surfacing at Windows Central, Lenovo plans to release a more affordable refresh very soon.
According to Videocardz, the handheld uses AMD's new Ryzen Z2 platform. However, the more entry-level Ryzen Z2G will pair 8 Zen 3+ CPU Cores with 12 RDNA2 Compute Units via integrated Radeon 680M graphics. It won't be a Hawk Point or Strix Point device; it'll be a blast from the part - Rembrandt. This decision looks to have been made to help keep the cost down.
In fact, with a rumored price point as low as $399, it could give Valve's Steam Deck a run for its money as one of the most affordable PC gaming handhelds on the market.
Amazon is giving away free games to celebrate its new video game TV show
Amazon is set to launch its video game-inspired anthology series on Prime Video on December 10, and to increase hype for the show, the company is handing out free games.
Secret Level, the new 15-episode-long anthology series from the team behind Love, Death and Robots, will cover legendary video game characters that have been pulled from popular franchises. Notably, the series will feature original stories set in within the worlds of the characters, and it will include adaptations from popular franchises such as God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Dungeons and Dragons, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Concord, and others.
The new anthology features a star-studded cast, with some of the names attached to the project including "Arnold Schwarzenegger ("The Terminator" Franchise), Kevin Hart ("Jumanji"), and Keanu Reeves ("John Wick"), among others. As for the free games, Amazon is offering a selection of free games for Prime members, with many of the games inspired by episodes in the TV show. Below is a full list of all the free games, along with a code for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II in the Amazon Games App, becoming available on December 12.
Nintendo Switch 2 release window confirmed by at least six developers
Almost every week there is a new Nintendo Switch 2 rumor as fans of the extremely popular Nintendo Switch wait patiently for any news of the successor console.
The latest in the Nintendo Switch 2 rumor mill comes from Juan A. Fonesca at Nintenduo, who claims that members of at least six development studios have confirmed to him that titles currently in development are scheduled to launch for Nintendo's next-generation platform between June and July next year. If this is true, that means Nintendo's next-generation console, presumably called the Nintendo Switch 2, will have already been released, or these games will be released alongside it.
Additionally, Nintenduo commented on the price for the rumored console, stating it would be anywhere between 400 and 500 Euros, making it around $419 to $524 US. As for what is officially known about Switch 2, Nintendo confirmed during its financial report that it will continue with the current Nintendo Switch until the end of the financial year, April 2025. This means that it's extremely unlikely Nintendo will launch a new console before March next year. However, that doesn't mean Nintendo won't announce a new console this fiscal year.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch 2 release window confirmed by at least six developers (full post)
Elden Ring creator confirms 'multiple projects' underway, with 'new FromSoftware' coming
Famed video game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has sat down for an interview with Game Watch, where he revealed FromSoftware is currently working on multiple projects.
The interview was translated, and it revealed the studio is handling "multiple projects" that cover a "wide range of genres". Miyazaki revealed that not all of the titles are under his direction, and that some are "handled by other people". Additionally, the video game director teased that a new future is ahead of FromSoftware through these titles, so much so that Miyazaki believes, "I think we'll be able to show you a new FromSoftware in many different ways".
Miyazaki didn't reveal what the studio is working on specifically or any details about any of the titles currently in development. However, fans speculate the next game to come out of FromSoftware will be an Armored Core title, which would be helmed by Miyazaki. Unfortunately, that is just wishful speculation at the moment, as nothing has been confirmed. As for FromSoftware, the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree was nominated for Game of the Year 2024 by the Game Awards, making it the first DLC for a game to be in the running for Game of the Year.
Former PlayStation boss warns consoles are close to their peak in power
A former boss of PlayStation has given a small bleak detail into the future of gaming consoles, with the former PlayStation boss saying consoles may have reached their peak when it comes to performance.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Shawn Layden was asked about the current state of the gaming industry, along with what he thinks the future will look like for consoles and how the war between PlayStation and Xbox will continue. According to Layden, to properly evaluate the future, we must look at the past. The jump between the PS1 and PS2 was dramatic in terms of graphics fidelity.
The same goes for the jump between the PS2 and the PS3. However, from PS3 to PS4, the performance increase wasn't as noticeable as previous generations. Layden says we are reaching the end specifications for a console, and we will never see a jump in performance equivalent to the PS1 to the PS2. Additionally, Layden points out that there is very little difference between the hardware in both PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as AMD powers both. Layden suggests this could be the end of the console war between both platforms and provides the example of Betamax vs the VHS format, where Sony eventually caved to the VHS format as the industry standard.
Ubisoft to shut down two global game studios, one in San Francisco and the other in Osaka
Ubisoft is making more deep cuts to reduce spending, this time leading to layoffs of over 200 people.
Yesterday, Ubisoft announced it was sunsetting its failed first-person shooter XDefiant. The game is effectively locked off from access, and will be taken offline in June 2025. The decision was a simple one to make: XDefiant wasn't profitable, and showed no signs of becoming profitable as soon as Ubisoft would've hoped. Rather than keep paying for upkeep, maintenance, and further content production, Ubisoft decided to freeze XDefiant and essentially start winding it down.
The game cancellation wasn't the only bad news from yesterday's announcement. Ubisoft is also closing down two studios in this cost-cutting pass. Production groups in San Francisco, USA and Osaka, Japan have been closed and the layoffs are expected to affect around 277, Game File's Stephen Totilo reports.
As Blizzard delists the original Warcraft games, GOG announces it will save and preserve them
Recently, Blizzard launched Warcraft I: Remastered and Warcraft II: Remastered, which updates the visuals of these iconic real-time strategy games alongside other improvements as part of the Warcraft franchise's 30th anniversary celebrations. With that, the original versions of these games are being delisted from services like GOG.
GOG, a division of CD Projekt Red, is committed to game preservation and ensuring classic games are not only available to purchase but also run on modern hardware. For Warcraft I and Warcraft II, the team at GOG enhanced these titles with multiplayer LAN support and improved graphics features like antialiasing and anisotropic filtering.
At Blizzard's request, both titles will be delisted from GOG on December 13. However, they will live on thanks to the GOG Preservation Program. If you want to pick these DRM-free versions, you can do so with the 'MakeWarcraftLiveForever' discount code.
MSI's new Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ gaming handhelds have launched
MSI has officially launched its second-generation PC gaming handhelds, the new MSI Claw 8 AI+ and MSI Claw 7 AI+ (a refresh of the first-gen Claw 7 with the latest Intel Lunar Lake APU). MSI is touting outstanding gaming performance and efficiency, and the flagship Claw 8's look is inspired by 'wind-sculpted desert rocks.'
The MSI Claw 7 AI+ sports an all-black design with the same overall shape and button layout. The naming refers to the screen sizes of each mode, with the MSI Claw 8 AI+ sporting an 8-inch 1080p 120 Hz VRR IPS display and the MSI Claw 7 AI+ featuring a 7-inch 1080p 120 Hz VRR IPS display.
The big difference between these and other PC gaming handhelds running Windows 11 is that both Claw devices are powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor with integrated Arc 'Battlemage' graphics. MSI says you're looking at 20% more performance than the competition, which we assume is the ROG Ally X from ASUS. Both also feature 32GB of memory, which is impressive.
Continue reading: MSI's new Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ gaming handhelds have launched (full post)