Gaming - Page 1021

Pokemon GO is next to unstoppable at this point, but we've reached an interesting new peak: some parents are naming their babies after Pokemon GO characters.

BabyCenter says that the names of some of the Pokemon GO characters have spiked in popularity, with names like Evee, Onyx and Roselia jumping 1,394 spots, 2,191 spots and 5,896 spots compared to a year ago, respectively. BabyCenter says that in a recent survey, close to 50% of the moms in the community are active Pokemon GO players.

Pokemon GO isn't new in the way that it has influenced parents by naming their kids after characters they know and love, with shows and movies like Breaking Bad, Frozen, Game of Thrones and countless other shows and movies inspiring parents.

Doom its receiving its second free content update tomorrow, July 29, just in time for the weekend. Aimed at multiplayer fans and content creators, it provides yet more reasons to jump back into the action, or to get into it for the first time if you haven't picked the game up yet (and we recommend you do).

First is up is the introduction of the Exodus game mode, which is described as a "one-flag capture-the-flag mode with an added twist of constantly moving bases and flags." As well, you get to try out Sector, which is effectively King of the Hill but with multiple hills. In it, you capture and attempt to hold multiple points.

Modding suite SnapMap receives some love too in the form of customizable weapon wheel functionality, jump pads, 30 Hell-themed modules, more weapons, a new playable demon known as The Mancubus, and various improvements to the Community HUB, editor, and logic.

Nintendo has successfully patented an external hardware accessory that boosts a console's processing power, meaning Nintendo could be the first to kick off external hardware upgrades for mainstream consoles.

Nintendo's new NX hardware is believed to be a mobile-based handheld hybrid that's lacking in power, but recent patents hint the NX could leverage external hardware to boost performance. The external box is called a Supplemental Computing Device, and hooks up to Nintendo games consoles to provide various improvements like "increased processing and/or storage resources to games consoles to assist in executing a game."

Based on the deluge of information in the patent filings, Nintendo's Supplemental Computing Device (SCD) is a huge game-changer. There's a ton of applications apart from the obvious hardware processing boost, but don't think of this a console version of Razer's external Core GPU enclosure. The SCD likely won't be that dramatic, and apparently won't affect graphics at all, just processing speed, network latency, and storage. It does, however, keep with Nintendo's penchant for uniqueness and incorporates some very interesting applications.

Since reports indicate Nintendo's new NX console is a transforming, mobile-based handheld-console hybrid, it only makes sense that mobile games like Pokemon Go will be compatible.

Nintendo's new 'unique and different' NX games system might not be a console after all--sources say that the NX is entirely mobile-based and won't have a dedicated console element. But what does this mean for its games? While the NX will have its own "full software lineup", Nintendo's mobile games may be supported as well. The NX being a mobile system folds neatly in with Nintendo's new push for mobile games, and it looks like all of them--including the wildly successful Pokemon Go game--will be supported on the NX.

"A person familiar with the matter said NX would be a handheld-console hybrid that would be compatible with its own smartphone games," reports Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki.

Microsoft's new $299 Xbox One S reportedly requires two separate day one updates in order to play 4K UHD video content.

Like any other console on the market, the new 40% slimmer Xbox One S apparently requires an initial system update in order to function properly. It appears that the Xbox One S doesn't support 4K UHD Blu-ray disc playback right out of the box and needs to be connected to the internet to download a day one firmware update to unlock the feature. This is actually nothing new: the Xbox One has to download a specific Media Player app to play Blu-ray discs. Consoles really aren't plug and play like companies lead you to believe--the reality is you have to download updates and install games before you can start playing.

This tidbit comes from a Norwegian gamer named Russian76 who received a 2TB Xbox One S console ahead of schedule, but his elation was short-lived as the console's main selling point has been switched off by default. The owner says that his Xbox One S won't play 4K UHD Blu-rays even after downloading a 4.5GB update, so it looks like Microsoft hasn't rolled out the official Xbox One S firmware update required for 4K playback just yet. So two updates might be required to enable 4K playback on the new slim Xbox.

Dontnod's beloved fan-favorite indie Life is Strange is getting its own episodic live-action series.

Square Enix today announced that it'll be working alongside Legendary Pictures and dj2 Entertainment (who's working on Sony's new Sonic the Hedgehog movie) to make a digital series based around Life is Strange. The series will follow the game's episodic format and will be live-action with real-life actors portraying in-game characters in an adapted Arcadia Bay environment. The roles of Max and Chloe have yet to be cast.

"Life is Strange is one of those rare properties that combines incredibly developed characters and storylines with deeply engaging gameplay," said Greg Siegel, Senior Vice President of Development and Production for Legendary Digital Studios. "It lends itself perfectly to live-action imaginings. We couldn't be more excited to partner with Square Enix, DONTNOD Entertainment and dj2 to bring the world of Arcadia Bay to life in an exciting new way."

Even in an ideal world, Microsoft's Windows Store can't compete with Steam. But Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney predicts that Microsoft will use nefarious tactics to overthrown Valve's reign on the PC games industry.

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney doesn't trust Microsoft's Windows 10 UWP platform. Sweeney has been a vocal opponent of UWP, accusing Microsoft of "monopolizing PC games development", and now he claims that Redmond will slowly chip away at the foundations of Steam on an OS level and ultimately force gamers to use the Windows Store for their PC gaming needs.

"Slowly, over the next five years, they will force-patch Windows 10 to make Steam progressively worse and more broken. They'll never completely break it, but will continue to break it until, in five years, people are so fed up that Steam is buggy that the Windows Store seems like an ideal alternative," Sweeney said in a recent interview with Edge magazine. "That's exactly what they did to their previous competitors in other areas. Now they're doing it to Steam. It's only just starting to become visible. Microsoft might not be competent enough to succeed with their plan, but they're certainly trying."

Microsoft is offering a particularly attractive Halo-themed Xbox One S bundle for $299, and Redmond also reveals when the 500GB and 1TB Xbox One S models will launch.

Although I've questioned Microsoft's coercive tactics regarding the Xbox One S' staggered launch, I have to give the company props for its new Halo bundle. The Halo Collection Xbox One S bundle comes with download keys for Halo 5 and Halo Master Chief Collection, and is priced at $299 for the 500GB model and $349 for the 1TB variant. The 500GB and 1TB Xbox One S models will launch August 23. Sadly it looks like the 1TB bundle has "very limited quantities" and can only be purchased at Microsoft's brick-and-mortar stores or the Microsoft Store website.

Microsoft also has a 1TB Xbox One S bundled with Madden NFL 17 for $349 for sports fans out there. The Madden bundle only comes in 1TB options so you won't enjoy the lower admission cost, but you do get some extra goodies like seven Madden Ultimate Team Pro Packs, a free month of EA Access, and a voucher for 20% off your next NFL order.

Burnout was one of the best racing franchises before it was hollowed out in the end, but now ex-Criterion co-founder Alex Ward has confirmed that "work has begun" on a new racing game.

Ward along with Criterion co-founder Fiona Sperry left the company back in 2014 and created Three Fields Entertainment. Three Fields Entertainment has since made Dangerous Golf, but the new racing game looks like it could be a spiritual successor to Burnout 3.

During an interview with Develop Online, Ward said that the new racing game will have support for both the PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift. Ward said to Develop Online: "Our second project will be a racing game. A spiritual successor to one of the Burnout series for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. We aim to support PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift".

Developer Raven Software's excellent Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its less well-received but still respectable sequel are finally available on PC (via Steam) as of this week. Unfortunately, the games have not been done justice: each is priced at $40 (about double what publisher Activision normally charges for games even younger than these), don't include DLC, and they suffer from serious port issues.

User reviews (currently at 'Mostly Negative' based on 51 reviews) consistently cite control issues (no key rebinding, unresponsive controls, and bad controller support, to name a few), and poor audio. As well, it's been pointed out that 1080p resolutions are not supported, at least for 1440p monitors: resolutions above and below 1080p are, but not 1080p itself. Whether 1080p is supported on 1080p monitors or not is unclear, but either way, this is a concerning matter.

We've asked Activision for comment on this story and will update it should we hear back.

According to insider sources, Nintendo's new NX console is a dedicated mobile handheld that features an interesting transforming hybrid design.

Eurogamer has recently corroborated a lot of my past speculation on the NX, with an added twist: the NX may apparently be a mobile tablet-like gaming handheld like we thought, but it could have detachable controllers and no dedicated "console" nexus. The outlet reports that the NX is transformable: the side "controllers" detach from the tablet screen into halves that can combine into a full controller. The screen can then be placed in a stationary position allowing gamers a mini console-like experience.

Per the reports, it looks like the NX won't have a dedicated "hub" base like the Wii U. This suggests that the NX hardware is entirely mobile-based, and that all of the internal components are housed within the portable tablet-like handheld. If you want to play the NX on your HDTV, you'll have to slot the tablet-like handheld into a docking station, not unlike a 2-in-1's keyboard/charging station. So when its docked the NX is theoretically a "console," but it's also not.

The free August Games With Gold titles have been revealed ahead of schedule, and they're not actually pretty good this time around.

Thankfully it looks like the days of Pool Nation HD repeats are gone forever: August's GwG lineup includes some rather decent titles on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. On the "all-in-one console" we have Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, one of the best Musou games on the market, and WWE 2K16, a semi-competent wrestler that seems to be a big improvement over the broken WWE 2K15.

On Xbox 360 the offerings are lighter fare for GwG August. Sadly we won't be seeing any AAA titles this time around, with the free games limited to XBLA games like Spelunky and Beyond Good & Evil HD. Don't get me wrong, both of these games are pretty good on their own right, but it's not necessarily what Xbox 360 users are used to. Then again a good portion of the Xbox 360's library has already been given away for free.

The latest mod for Grand Theft Auto V is here from modder 'Razed', with his latest NaturalVision mod that has some really impressive photo-realistic graphics for the game.

Razed says that the mod was made from utilizing ReShade and ENB, while mixing in the VisualV mod that makes Grand Theft Auto V better than it's ever looked before. You'll need VisualV to use NaturalVision, which you can download right here, while NaturalVision is available here.

It looks like Nintendo is not far away from revealing its NX console, with reports from major gaming sites to release their articles on NX "soon", according to Nintendo insider Emily Rogers.

Rogers took to Twitter, saying: "Also, I don't know what the price of this thing will be. It sounds expensive, but I hope it's not". Rogers added: "You will see some more NX reports coming out from other sites soon. Major sites. Not Nintendo fan sites".

According to my industry sources, NVIDIA will be powering the Nintendo NX with a Pascal-based Tegra processor. NVIDIA hasn't announced or even teased a Pascal-based Tegra processor yet, but we should find out exactly what NVIDIA has in store for Nintendo's next-gen console very soon.

In a bid to counter Nintendo's NES Mini, Sega is planning to release its own official Mega Drive/Genesis Mini console that one ups its rival.

Sega knows the NES Mini is quite restricted, so its decided to release its own fully-functioning miniaturized Megadrive/Gensis system that not only rocks 80 built-in games from Sega's best-of library (30 more than the NES Mini) but also plays original NTSC and PAL game cartridges. That's a pretty huge advantage--as we know the NES Mini doesn't play NES cartridges and isn't a fully-functioning console. Plus it's listed at $49.99 which is a full $10 cheaper than the NES Mini. But it does have its shortcomings and we'll come to those later.

A listing for the Megadrive Mini was spotted on a UK retailer Smyths for £49.99 and a release in October. Remember that the Megadrive is the UK/Europe version of the Genesis. The weird thing is the Genesis Mini is already being sold in the UK and in the US so perhaps the console listed at Smyths is a re-release?

According to the official No Man's Sky website, the eagerly anticipated procedurally-generated space sim will release three days late on PC. Is it a simple mix up, or has No Man's Sky been pushed back a little bit farther for PC players?

No Man's Sky's about page clearly tells us that the PC version will launch "worldwide on August 12," which is a full three days after the PS4 flavor which launches on August 9. Interestingly enough Steam's marketplace still lists the PC version for August 9, and anyone who's pre-ordered the No Man's Sky Collector's Edition received confirmation of a August 9 PC launch.

"No Man's Sky Explorer's Edition Update on the Explorer's Edition Coming Soon! (PC codes will be sent at least 24 hours before launch of Aug 9)," reads an email blast sent to collector's edition orders. Honestly it looks like Hello Games might've mixed up the release date on the about page, especially when we have two clear instances telling us the PC version indeed releases on August 9.

The current largest flyable ship in Star Citizen is the Starfarer, a standard fuel transporter vessel, and is the feature of the video below by level lead Matthew Trevelyan Johns. Presented in glorious 4K, it represents yet another way to appreciate the superb technical achievement Star Citizen is, as well as the game's ship design.

If the Starfarer looks big to you, it's nothing compared to the Bengal Carrier, a monster of a ship that appears to be roughly 100 times bigger in this chart. Of course, due it's massive size, it'll likely be awhile before the Bengal is playable.

With Gears of War 4, Microsoft's first-party studio The Coalition has made an effort to fix the Windows Store's awkward PC gaming support, enabling features like unlocked frame rates, tighter GPU implementation, ultra-wide support, 4K textures, and more.

"Our focus on PC is to deliver a highly optimized, customizable experience first and foremost," The Coalition's technical director Mike Rayner told Eurogamer. "Support for v-sync tearing has recently come to UWP and we will be able to offer proper unlocked frame-rate support that gamers expect on day one. With Unreal Engine 4 and our own custom modifications, we can take much better advantage of multiple CPU cores, alleviating the game from being CPU-bound and allowing more room for the GPU to shine with enhanced visual quality or higher framerates. Single-player will not be locked to 30fps on PC."

Rayner also says that Gears of War 4 on PC will have 4K resolution textures and sports 28 different tweakable settings that affect in-game graphics and performance, each with its own explicit explanation of how it affects the GPU/CPU and VRAM to optimized gameplay. So the game should play nicely with video cards across the entire spectrum like enthusiast-grade video cards like NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 1080, AMD's mid-grade Radeon RX 480, or older Maxwell-based GTX 970s.

Kojima Productions has released its first footage, with its new mascot in action - on the moon, with a whale behind it. This clip will most likely be the transition to the title menu.

The clip highlights how gamers will begin their Kojima Productions made video game, but there's no gameplay footage here, folks. As for the person in the space suit, it's Ludens - Kojima Productions' mascot. During San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Ludens would be featured with two action figures thanks to 1000 Toys.

We don't know which game engine was used to render the trailer, with Kojima Productions currently considering two engines for its first game, Death Stranding. Death Stranding will be Kojima Productions' first game, after Hideo Kojima and Konami went their separate ways after the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain last year.

Microsoft has dropped the price of its Xbox One 500GB console, with a new limited price of $249. It looks like Microsoft wants to get rid of as many Xbox One consoles ahead of the Xbox One S launch.

The new $249 deal includes your choice of four games: Forza Motorsport 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, or Rare Replay. This is not the first, or even second time that Microsoft has dropped the price of the Xbox One, but now the third price drop on its current-gen Xbox One console.

Microsoft is set to launch the Xbox One S on August 2 in the US, Europe and Australia with 2TB of storage for $399. There will also be a 500GB and 1TB model, with prices of $299 and $349, respectively. There's no ETA on the 500GB and 1TB Xbox One S consoles just yet.