Gaming - Page 151

Extremely well-established industry insider and Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has suggested Grand Theft Auto 6 could be delayed again, as nothing is set in stone.

It's been well known that developers and publishers other than Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive are concerned about the release date of Grand Theft Auto 6, as many of these publishers/developers are having to make sure their titles don't release alongside Rockstar's behemoth title to avoid being swallowed up in what will be a monsoon of attention directly solely at GTA 6. Publishers don't want the release of their titles to be overshadowed by the release of GTA 6, which means they have to time the release of their game accordingly.

Schreier has commented on this problem developers and publishers are currently facing, with the Bloomberg reporter writing that the delay of GTA 6 was enough cause for some of these companies to panic. Schreier said that he spoke to one developer of a big multiplayer game, and they said they previously delayed the release of the title from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026 in order to allow developers more time to work on the game, but also to get as far away as possible from the release of GTA 6. But now GTA 6 is releasing in Spring 2026.

One of the fastest ways to kill a battery is to overcharge it, which, unfortunately, many people tend to do with their smartphones and other devices. It's common practice to put your phone, or any other necessary device you need, on charge before you go to sleep, so when you wake up, they are fully charged and ready to go for the day.

Unfortunately, this isn't the way to maintain battery health, as overcharging a battery causes cells within the battery to slowly deteriorate and eventually die off, resulting in the total capacity for the battery to reduce and the user to experience the device losing charge a lot faster.

Judging by the lifespan of the original Switch, Nintendo wants owners to have the Switch 2 for many years to come, and to keep users happy with the amount of use time with the console, the company is implementing a new feature to reduce the inevitable deterioration rate of the battery.

It was recently we got confirmation on when Nintendo began working on the Switch 2, and now we are starting to hear about when the company finalized the hardware chip that's within the upcoming console.

Findings by Geekerwan and Kurnal, who managed to get their hands on a Switch 2 motherboard, sourced from an online retailer in China, put the board and the chip under the microscope, revealing that the hardware Nintendo decided on was finalized at least four years ago. The chip powering the incredible performance of the Switch 2 is the T239, which closely resembles NVIDIA's T234 but comes with a number of changes. Analysis by the tech experts over at Digital Foundry indicates the chip is running on an 8nm processor, which features that stretch up to a 10nm.

As for comparisons, the Switch 2 chip measures 40mm2 larger than the Steam Deck's. The size of the chip is the main factor as to why the Switch 2 has increased in size so significantly compared to the original Switch, with the Switch 2 being 75% bigger than the current-gen console. So, if the hardware was finalized four years ago, does that mean Nintendo could have revealed the console four years ago? Well, technically it could have, but simply it didn't need to.

Nintendo announced GameChat when it officially unveiled the Switch 2 in a dedicated Nintendo Direct. GameChat is one of the many features coming with the new console, enabling players to speak to each other over Nintendo's Switch Online service.

GameChat is such a prominent feature on the Switch 2 that it has received its own dedicated button on the face of the console, located under the home button and labeled "C." Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently spoke to investors about the new feature and said that it will "inspire consumers to play games in new ways that we never imagined."

While we can't say for certain if gamers will be playing games in ways that Nintendo has "never imagined" until the Switch 2 launches on June 5th, what we can say is that Discord has been around for many years now, and has become such a prominent piece of software that the company behind it has been valued at an estimated $15 billion.

With Valve's Steam Deck gaming handheld running SteamOS, the company introduced a Deck Verified rating for games on the platform that confirms two things. The first is that the game runs as intended on Valve's Linux-based SteamOS gaming-optimized operating system, and the second is that Steam Deck's custom AMD APU with integrated RDNA 2 graphics is powerful enough to run the game at a playable frame rate.

With the arrival of the Legion Go S, the first non-Steam Deck portable gaming handheld to be powered by SteamOS, and rumors pointing to a wide release for both SteamOS and potential powerful mini gaming PCs shipping with the operating system, Valve is expanding its ratings. Per a Steamworks community post, Steam game listings are also set to receive a SteamOS Compatibility rating.

This feature is rolling out as we speak, with Valve noting that it's designed to show "whether a game and all of its middleware are supported on SteamOS." This includes things like launchers and anti-cheat support.

The National Museum of Play in New York has announced the latest additions to the World Video Game Hall of Fame, with two iconic shooters joining the lineup - Rare's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 from 1997 and id Software's Quake from 1996.

Although both games are considered classics in the FPS genre, GoldenEye 007 proved that the genre could work on consoles thanks to its streamlined controls, objective-based mission design, advanced enemy AI, and mix of stealth and gadgets. On the other hand, Quake evolved the gameplay popularized by id's Doom by moving to a fully 3D world with fast-paced keyboard-and-mouse controls that added a big dose of verticality.

These two iconic shooters are joined by Atari's Defender, an arcade and home console game from the early 1980s, and Tamagotchi, the portable pet in your pocket gadget from the 1990s.

Codemasters and EA Sports have unveiled the PC system requirements for F1 25, which include requirements for VR, the uber-high-end 8K resolution, and with path tracing enabled.

The PC system requirements are a little odd with the 8K resolution on the Ultra High preset with ray tracing enabled (no path tracing) requiring only a mid-range Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 5 7600X for the CPU, only 16GB of RAM, and only NVIDIA for the GPU with its high-end GeForce RTX 4090 and new RTX 5090.

F1 25 is VR ready with mild PC system requirements for 2K per-eye @ 90FPS having t he developer recommend no Intel CPU, but rather an AMD Ryzen 5 2600X paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 5080, or alternatively, an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card.

Nintendo's latest Q&A with investors reveals an interesting tidbit about how the company prices its games.

Nintendo was the first in the games industry to raise game prices to $80. With the Switch 2 launching at $450, and the first big platform exclusive Mario Kart World priced at $80, gamers have been processing sticker shock for the past few weeks. Now Nintendo management is stepping in to better explain the rationale behind the price jumps.

In a newly-published Q&A with investors, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed some details about the Switch 2 generation. The Switch 2 has a lower profit margin than the Switch 1, which means Nintendo will make less profit on each console sold. The software price increase from $60 -> 70 and $70 -> $80 helps offset this profit hit. While Furukawa does say that the Switch 2 will be sold at less of a profit, it's implied that the Switch 2 will still be profitable at launch like the original Switch.

Fresh images from the new Snake Eyes game have stalked out of the shadows, giving fans an idea of what the action-adventure project will look like on release.

Atomic Arcade has released two new in-engine renders of the famous GI Joe assassin, showing off a blood-soaked katana and Snake Eyes holding a rifle. There's not a whole lot to go on--these are just teasers after all--but Snake Eyes does have a rope and it's likely we'll be using a grappling hook to traverse in-game areas.

"We are hard at work on our game centered on Snake Eyes, the legendary ninja/commando from G.I. Joe, and we wanted to share a glimpse of the awesome work our team is doing. Here is a peek at our Snake Eyes character model rendered in-engine," the devs shared on Twitter.

Nintendo will make less profit on each Switch 2 console sold, the company has officially confirmed.

With premium features like a 7.9-inch 1080p 120Hz display, a new chip that enables 4K gaming, and even a new fan-cooled dock, it's no surprise that the Switch 2 costs more to produce than the original Switch. It's also no surprise then that the Switch 2 would be less profitable than the original Switch, especially the 2017 launch version and the handheld-only Lite.

While we don't know the Switch 2's exact bill of sale, nor do we know what kind of prices that Nintendo would pay on a bulk multi-million wholesale level, the company has at least told investors that the Switch 2 will be less profitable when it comes to hardware sales. The question arose when Nintendo published its full-year FY26 forecast, which showed a significant discrepancy in expected sales (1.9 trillion yen, or about $13 billion USD) and expected profit (300 billion yen, about $2 billion). Nintendo's president had said that tariffs are expected to impact Nintendo's profits by a reduction of tens of billions of yen.

Nintendo doesn't expect the Switch 2 to outsell the Switch 1 at launch due to the system's higher price tag.

Nintendo recently published its Switch 2 sales forecast for the first year, and the official estimate sees Nintendo expecting to ship 15 million systems in year 1. If Nintendo meets this target, the Switch 2 will technically be the fastest-selling video games console in history, beating out all other consoles throughout the decades. But some analysts think this forecast is conservative, and investors recently asked Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa why the number is so low.

In a recent Q&A with investors, the Nintendo president clarified that the ongoing tariffs (which have now been adjusted) didn't influence the 15 million Switch 2 sales target, nor did production lines. The Switch 2's $450 MSRP was the main reason for the lower-than-expected shipment estimate. Instead of far exceeding the Switch 1, Nintendo simply wants the Switch 2's launch to match the pace set by the original console.

Doom: The Dark Ages is busily being played - at least by those who pre-ordered - and a fair number of known issues have already been aired, including some buggy behavior with NVIDIA's Blackwell graphics cards.

SK-HYJINX on X (hat tip to CapFrameX) picked up the known issues on PC which have been shared via the support document on Steam.

So, what do you need to be aware of if you're playing Doom: The Dark Ages with an RTX 5000 GPU?

DOOM: The Dark Ages has entered early access, and for those wanting to complete the game at the notorious Nightmare-level difficulty, I have a few tips and tricks to make the adventure a little easier, or at the very least make the learning curve for you a lot shorter.

The Dark Ages has taken a step back from Eternal and introduced several new mechanics that you will need to familiarize yourself with to fully take advantage of the combat loop, which is completely necessary if you are intending to complete the game on Nightmare as you will not be able to take a lot of damage before dying.

Everything in DOOM: The Dark Ages revolves around being able to fully utilize the mechanics of the shield. There are three key mechanics with the shield you will need to pick up on to stay alive at Nightmare, and they are: shield dashing, blocking, and most importantly, parrying any green attacks. Shield dashing and parrying are the two main mechanics, and you will want to use the dash to get in quickly to deal a lot of damage to a stronger enemy and then use the dash to get out.

Amidst rumours of a Fallout 3 remaster, and a confirmed season 3 for the Fallout TV series, there's plenty to be excited about as a Fallout fan. In the latest leaked trailer, viewers can get a closer look at New Vegas, which appears to have been recreated 1:1 for its live-action debut.

As shared on Reddit, the first teaser features Lucy and the Ghoul, played by Ella Purnell and David Goggins, making their way through the Mojave Wasteland. After a shot of a pre-war Las Vegas road sign, the camera pans to a wide shot of New Vegas, just as you remembered it in 2010.

The second teaser hints at one of New Vegas' iconic landmarks. During a flashback to the Ghoul's pre-war life in film and advertising, he reads lines for a Nuka-Cola commercial-followed by pitches for Atomic Sunscreen (to block those irradiated UV rays).

DOOM: The Dark Ages has officially entered early access, and after the game has received extremely high praise from reviewers and publications alike, including myself, I wanted to share my thoughts on the gameplay changes versus the previous game, DOOM: Eternal.

The Dark Ages has taken a step back from Eternal and taken a page out of classic DOOM games, where players encounter a more bullet-hell environment with many more enemies on-screen, rather than multiple stronger individual enemies as seen in Eternal. Additionally, The Dark Ages introduces a parry system through the use of the Slayer's shield. There was no parry system in Eternal, only openings for the Marauder enemy.

In short, the parry system has made The Dark Ages a complete breeze at Nightmare, and after only a few hours with the game, I quickly noticed how the entire game revolves around the use of the shield and parries. Since The Dark Ages has removed glory kills, which provided invincibility frames and were constantly used to maintain survival in Eternal, players are now required to move around the much larger level more frequently in search of armor/health packs or to quickly dispose of fodder demons for slithers of health.

To ease the pain of GTA VI being delayed to May 2026, reputable Rockstar leaker, Tez2, has hinted that a modern Grand Theft Auto IV port could arrive as early as this year, with Max Payne 3 to potentially follow suit.

Per the GTA Forums, Tez wrote that "someone at [Rockstar] hinted at the IV port, and by now it should've gone up a year in development." He highlighted that we could see the project drop as early as this year, and that if Rockstar's previous plans are any indication, Max Payne 3 will be next in line.

According to Tez, Rockstar had plans since the pandemic days to see both GTA IV and Max Payne 3 brought to modern systems. With Max Payne 1 & 2 Remakes currently in development, he also hints at the opportunity to do a "definitive edition" or a trilogy bundle for the Max Payne series.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tati Gabriella, the lead actress playing Jordan Mun, the star of Naughty Dog's next big title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, touched on how the developer and more specifically, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, is anticipating gamers to lash out about the new title.

Gabriella said during the interview that she is undergoing "bootcamp-ing" in preparation for the release of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The lead actress and Naughty Dog are anticipating a tirade of "hate" from gamers criticising the design choices for the lead character, as gamers have already begun criticizing the game following the reveal of the title in December 2024 at The Game Awards.

Since the title's reveal, along with gamers' criticisms of The Last of Us Part 2 and the current Last of Us TV show, Druckmann, the creative director of Intergalactic and The Last of Us, has been preparing Gabriella for the worst.

Nintendo has quietly changed its user agreement to give it the right to permanently disable a Nintendo Switch 2 console if it detects it has been modded or hacked. Yes, Nintendo can and will brick your console if you try to mod it.

In a new update to its user agreement, Nintendo has stated that by agreeing to its policies, a user acknowledges that if they fail to comply with stated restrictions, Nintendo can respond by making the "applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part," along with the "Nintendo Account Services". Notably, this is the first time since 2021 Nintendo has updated its user agreement, which previously warned users against "reverse-engineer or modify[ing]" their console or account.

It's hardly surprising that Nintendo is cracking down on modding or privacy now, as the company is preparing for the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, which is scheduled to become available on June 5. Moreover, the Switch 2 marks a significant step away from physical cartridges, as the company is debuting Game Card Keys with the new console - physical cartridges that don't contain any game data, but instead a key that enables a user to download the game when slotted inside the console.

NVIDIA has released a new graphics driver which comes with support for Doom: The Dark Ages, and more besides.

The hotly anticipated shooter gets full support in the GeForce Game Ready Driver version 576.40, and Doom: The Dark Ages boasts support for DLSS 4 with MFG (Multi Frame Generation) as well as NVIDIA Reflex for latency reduction.

NVIDIA is bundling this fresh take on Doom with its RTX 5000 graphics cards, so you get the Premium Edition of The Dark Ages (normal cost $100) with a GeForce RTX 5090, 5080, 5070 Ti, or 5070 desktop graphics card (from a qualifying retailer). This also applies to certain laptops with those same Blackwell GPUs.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 has been making headlines, with Bam Margera confirmed to be returning after a campaign led by Hawk himself. However, that's not the only project Hawk has in mind - with reports suggesting he's also pushing for a remaster of the Tony Hawk's Underground series.

In a discussion with Screen Rant, Hawk was asked about his hopes for a THUG remaster:

When asked about talks surrounding an Underground remaster, he clarified that the main focus is on the upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4.