Gaming - Page 1803

Shader Model 5.0 is old, having come out in 2009 with DirectX 11. It's long overdue for some innovation and a few changes to make it better than it is. Sure, games look great using the underlying model, but wouldn't it be nice to have something a bit more advanced to go along with the improvements made to the lower level graphics API?

Microsoft has been working diligently to get Shader Model 6.0 out the door, but not too quickly, of course. They're quickly putting the finishing touches on the next set of technologies and talked about them at GDC this year. The biggest change that will greatly affect game development is the switch to using Clang as the frontend for compilation of applicable programs. That alone can increase the actual speed and efficiency of programs by a few percentage points, if not more. It does mean that drivers have to be re-worked by AMD and NVIDIA to make it backwards compatible, but that's also actively being worked on as well.

The new shader model is also going to have some very intriguing benefits for VR as well. There's the ability to change the pixel size and use procedural textures, so that anything that's calculated as being on the periphery of your vision can simply be a bit lower resolution, saving precious processing power. Our peripheral vision is blurry anyway, so it likely won't make a difference to the experience aside from increased framerates. And there's even more improvements too.

Dark Souls 3 is the latest game to have underwhelming performance on the Xbox One, once again earning Microsoft the ire of an entire community of gamers.

It looks like Miyazaki's final Dark Souls chapter is riddled with optimization problems on the Xbox One. Digital Foundry's in-depth performance analysis reveals that Dark Souls 3 runs at a native 900p (upscaled to 1080p) on the Xbox One, which isn't so surprising given the console's track record. What is surprising is how awkward and inconsistent the game's frame rates are, dropping well below the targeted 30FPS and leading to stutters.

Frame rate drops are most prevalent during environmental effects such as volumetric fog, and in some demanding sequences the Xbox One port dived down to 20FPS. The site notes that the drops are rather annoying, but aren't game-breaking, but it's still rather worrying given the fact that Dark Souls 3 requires split-second reactions. I doubt Miyazaki originally meant for gamers to fight stuttering frame-rates in order to survive--the games are already hard enough.

Another major source says that Sony's upgraded PlayStation 4.5 console is indeed real, adding even more credence to the validity of past reports.

Eurogamer claims it knows for a fact that Sony's 4K PS4 refresh is happening. "We know PlayStation 4.5 is real," reads the headline of a new article, adding even more assurance on Sony's updated 4K PS4. While the website claims to know the PS4.5 is genuine, it doesn't know any key details about the hardware, and speculates on three different console configurations while tying in AMD's new Polaris GPU tech and 14nm FINFET chips.

We've reported that Sony's PlayStation 4.5 could be powered by a custom new-generation AMD Zen APU, which would harness the power of AMD's Zen CPUs and Polaris graphics architecture baked into the 14nm FINFET node, which provides significant boosts across the board. With this tech under the hood, Sony's PS4.5 would be a competitor right out of the gate and provide native 4K gaming for years to come.

Killer Instinct on the Xbox One, and soon on the PC via the Windows Store, is entering its third season, and with that evolution comes three distinct ways to buy into the iconic fighting game. Naturally.

Depending on how much extra you'd like to tack on, and what kind of extra costumes or experience boosts, the three tiers will differ drastically. $20 is the price of entry, getting you the game and little else. The largest package includes every piece of content from all previous seasons, 18,000 of the in-game currency, Killer Instinct Classic and Killer Instinct Classic 2 that's playable on the Xbox One. All for a mere $60. Not terrible for a game that's had a pretty significant visual upgrade and that provides hours of enjoyment in the fighting genre anyway. Season 3 starts on March 29th, which is the same day that it'll be available on the PC.

Verdun, the FPS game that realistically tackles trench warfare from WW1, is getting its first expansion, and it's completely free. Horrors of War will have new features, weapons, maps, game modes, abilities and even a new gore system. In other words, it's a massive update too.

They've taken the time to add in new German soldiers, and have added American and Belgian squads in for you to take command and take charge the Axis powers. There are 40 new historically accurate weapons to go along with the new soldiers, with the iconic BAR making an appearance.

The new gore system is really stepping it up a notch, with better rag-doll physics to accompany the ability to dismember your enemies. The whole animation system has been redesigned so that things are a bit more smooth on the battlefield. Death animations, too, have now been added in, as has screaming to give it a much more visceral and realistic atmosphere. If the changelog is anything to go by, there's going to be blood everywhere.

A second batch of leaked Nintendo NX controller photographs have been spotted, adding more credence to the NX having bizarre oval-shaped buttonless controllers.

Two new leaked Nintendo NX controller photos have made the rounds on Reddit, offering even more evidence of the console's strange interface design. The new photos perfectly match the initial leaks to a tee, showing a new perspective of hardware we've seen before. If genuine, the design has alienated a core base of Nintendo fans who are up in arms over the design, which has led to plummeting hype.

Game Informer's Andy McNamara delivered a statement on Twitter regarding the NX controller leaks, saying that he had "heard that the NX wouldn't have face buttons, so the leaked pictures match what I was told but was unable to confirm." A Redditor made note of the features revealed in the photo, matching the features we've seen in the first photo leak:

Bethesda's Pete Hines reveals that Fallout 4's upcoming Far Harbor DLC will eclipse Oblivion's rather massive Shivering Isles add-on in size and scope.

"Far Harbor is bigger in size that Shivering Isles. I asked," Pete Hines said in a recent Tweet. We're not sure if Hines is talking about the DLC's landmass or the overall length, but considering Shivering Isles adds in over 30 hours of playtime, Far Harbor could be pretty substantial.

The $25 Far Harbor DLC is the third announced add-on pack for Fallout 4, and is expected to release in May. Based on the official description (check below), the DLC looks promising, and we'll likely see a huge array of new items, quests, characters and companions to keep things fresh. By that time, the official Fallout 4 creation kit will be out, so modders will have some pretty awesome creations available.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is set to become one of the biggest games of 2016, and during this year's Game Developers Conference, some details were revealed on the graphics engine powering it; the Dawn Engine.

It was revealed that Mankind Divided will be using a heavily modified version of IO Interactive's Glacier 2 engine, with global illumination that will use hundreds of thousands of lighting probes, and much more. Here's what to expect from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided:

Microsoft is making great headway when it comes to adding more games to their list of those that are backwards compatible with the Xbox One. The newest two games to join the fun are Dark Souls and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, no surprise given that Bandai Namco did say that they were working diligently to bring their original creation to Microsoft's newest console.

Dark Souls comes just in time for the promotional offer that Bandai Namco is running, where if you purchase Dark Souls III, you'll receive a download code for the original for free. That original is now completely playable, and should be just as smooth and good looking as the original.

The new games join an already large list of Xbox 360 titles that are currently playable on the Xbox One. You can either use the physical disc, or the buy and download them directly from the new Xbox Store that's been pushed to everyone with the new update that released earlier today. Unfortunately, we still don't see any signs of having Red Dead Redemption officially a part of the growing list of games, despite it leaking accidentally earlier last month.

The graphics options for Remedy's Quantum Break have appeared in the wild and while not official, they appear legitimate.

The list is long, including many different lighting and shadow options, as well as the ability to disable the HUD. 4K is supported as promised: you can see the resolution is set at 3840x2160. Notably missing: FOV, V-Sync, and anti-aliasing. No V-Sync makes sense as the game will only support 30FPS; 4x MSAA is being utilized in the console version, so possibly this is automatically implemented in the PC version, or AA options simply aren't implemented yet (just yesterday Remedy stated there was a lot of work to be done on the PC version still). That leaves just FOV unaccounted for. A key option in recent years, FOV has become a staple gamers appreciate greatly, particularly the sensitive types who get headaches from low FOV. Hopefully, it's like AA and is simply yet to be added.

We've contacted Remedy for confirmation that these screenshots are legitimate as well as to the potential inclusion of AA and FOV options and will update this story if we hear back.