Gaming - Page 210

Cloud Imperium Games announced a 2026 release window for Squadron 42 at its recent CitizenCon 2024 event, as well as over an hour of new gameplay footage from Squadron 42 that you can check out below:

Squadron 42 has an incredible star-studded cast including Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, Jon Rhys-Davies, Gillian Anderson, Ben Mendelsohn, Andy Serkis, and more. There are some issues and bugs that you can see occur in the new Squadron 42 footage, with the game being 'feature-complete' earlier this year and in the bug-squashing stage.

Star Citizen has raised over $700 million and counting... with a decade+ in development and a 2026 release window for Squadron 42 (just one part of Star Citizen, the single-player, Hollywood-starring side) is probably a bit disappointing for fans, but with this franchise you're used to it. The game that might eventually be finished, sometime in the future, possibly.

Gordon Freeman had a robotic arm during the development of Half-Life 3 that let you control the elements in the game -- fire, water, etc -- with developer Valve is pushing the boundaries of realism with the game according to the latest leaks.

In a new video by Valve insider Tyler McVickers, we're learning that post-human Gordon Freeman concept art from a version of Half-Life 3 that was in development between 2013-2015, sporting a robotic arm that was attached to his side. What's the robotic arm for? It would allow players to control temperature, fire, water, and more with the first parts of Half-Life 3 levels teaching players how to use Gordon's new abilities.

This would've been the 'rubicon' of Half-Life 3, a truly next-generation physics engine within Source 2 that is essentially simulating basic thermodynamics that would allow for a level of control of the environments and geometry of the levels that had never been seen before in a Half-Life (or any) game.

This modded Xbox gaming handheld uses the original Xbox motherboard, with a 9-inch 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB-PD charge-and-play, Wi-Fi 6 upgrades, and more. Check it out:

Modder "Redherring32" posted on X that he had built a "portable Xbox" noting that this "isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox". Inside, the modded portable Xbox features a 9-inch 480p display, 100W USB-PC charge-and-play support, while Wi-Fi 6 support for wireless Xbox Live functionality is being worked on.

The modder explained: "I built a portable Xbox. This isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9" 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C charge and play, and I'm currently adding Wi-Fi 6 for wireless Xbox Live functionality".

Xbox has officially revealed the release date for Alan Wake 2's upcoming DLC "The Lake House" during the Xbox Partner Event..

Xbox has detailed the announcement in a new blog post. Alan Wake 2: The Lake House DLC will be coming to fans on October 22 and will take players to the Lake House, a research station located in Cauldron Lake. Xbox teases players in the blog post by describing the upcoming DLC is a "true survival horror experience," but will also be opening many more doors into the "wider Remedy Connected Universe." Moreover, Xbox writes that players will likely be left with more questions than answers.

As for Alan Wake 2, Xbox states that if you have finished that game, you will know that the events within it and the story are self-contained, which has left the developers in a unique but challenging position - should the expansion add story before or after the events of the main game? Remedy chose to add to the story in an unexpected way, and according to the blog post, the expansion doesn't impact the story of Alan Wake 2 as the events of the DLC have already occurred by the time the events of Alan Wake 2 take place.

The maker of Pokemon has confirmed it was a victim of a hack that resulted in a substantial data leak that has revealed details about the Nintendo Switch 2, employee personal information, game source code, new games, past projects, Pokemon designs and much more.

This leak isn't small by any means, as it's referred to as the "Teraleak," and with the more time that passes, more details seemingly emerge. Over three years since the last major Nintendo-related link, Game Freak, the developers of Pokemon, confirmed its databases were breached and the data acquired by the hackers include source code, concept art, placeholder assets, extensive write-ups on the series' lore, company meetings about possible multimedia adaptations, codenames for future Pokémon titles, and the codename for the Nintendo Switch successor.

The leak is estimated to be approximately 2TB of data, but at the time of reporting only 3GB has been released. Of that 3GB there are 2,606 items containing the names and email addresses of current, former and contract employees. Game Freak stated the hack occurred in August this year. As for the Nintendo Switch successor, the leak revealed the codename for the mysterious console is "Ounce".

The Analogue 3D is not an official Nintendo product or release; it is a 100% compatible recreation of the classic Nintendo 64 or N64 console engineered in FPGA. This Field-Programmable Gate Array hardware is capable of recreating or emulating retro hardware with improved accuracy without the need for software emulation.

With hardware patents expiring and not actual code being replicated or copied, this is enough to avoid copyright infringement. The Analogue 3D features a custom UI and operating system with 4K VRR output over HDMI and Bluetooth controller support. It even includes Wi-Fi.

It's also region-free, meaning it can play every Nintendo 64 cartridge - no matter its source, with NTSC and PAL support. In addition to pixel-perfect upscaling or rendering N64 games in 4K, the console includes Original Display Modes that provide "meticulously reproduced, virtually indistinguishable recreations of CRT displays." Simply pop in a game like GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, or Super Mario 64, and you're good to go.

Remedy is known for creating engaging and memorable single-player action games, and 2019's Control is right up there as one of the studio's very best. Set in the claustrophobic underground Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) facility known as The Oldest House, the mind-bending story sees players use a shapeshifting gun and force-like powers to stop a mysterious threat.

On PC, Control is still a visually striking release. It incorporates a suite of cutting-edge ray-tracing effects, making it one of the first games to sell RT as the future of real-time graphics. It also debuted with NVIDIA DLSS 2, which kickstarted AI-powered upscaling becoming a mainstay in PC gaming.

Fast forward to 2024, and Remedy has finally lifted the lid on its first multiplayer game. It's called FBC: Firebreak, and it's a three-player co-op first-person shooter set in the Control universe.

Blizzard's Warcraft franchise is one of the most beloved in gaming history, from its roots as a strategy series to the ongoing success of World of Warcraft. Warcraft III: Reforged, the remastered release of the iconic 2002 real-time strategy game, was expected to be an easy win for the studio - instead, it became one of the most criticized releases in the studio's long history.

The game's initial reveal showcased rebuilt and extended cinematics with upgraded visuals, highly detailed character models, and more. The result featured none of this, with fans unhappy with the quality of the remastered 3D assets and multiplayer features that had been around for over a decade disappearing.

Yes, Blizzard chose to replace existing versions of the game with Warcraft III: Reforged, a decision that affected players enjoying a game for nearly 20 years. The good news is that there could be light at the end of the tunnel for Warcraft III, as the game could be getting a major update very soon.

NVIDIA has announced a new promotion for those who sign up for its GeForce NOW cloud gaming service. New and existing members who purchase six months of GeForce NOW Ultimate, the premium tier valued at $99.99, will get a free copy of BioWare's upcoming RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The highly anticipated release is out on October 31. On PC, it will benefit from the full suite of RTX technologies: DLSS, Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and ray tracing. PC gamers with a GeForce NOW Ultimate subscription can access a GeForce RTX 4080 rig in the cloud to play the latest Dragon Age in 4K 120 FPS with max settings and features like G-SYNC.

Alongside the new promotion, available until October 31, NVIDIA announced that ten more titles will be added to the GeForce NOW library this week, bringing the total to over 2,000 games.

Missed out on buying Doom Eternal when it was released? Well, don't miss out on this offer if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, as you can now get the game for absolutely nothing.

Doom Eternal is the latest freebie to be provided by Amazon as part of its Prime Gaming package, which gives Prime subscribers access to a number of free games every month.

In this case, the slight catch with Doom Eternal is that you get a code for a download (of the Standard Edition) from the Microsoft Store, so that's not everyone's first port of call for their gaming platform (or indeed their second, third, or fourth port probably). Indeed, this is a major sticking point for some PC gamers, who apparently would rather have nothing than a game from the Microsoft Store.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is a monstrous success for Pullup Entertainment (formerly Focus Home Entertainment).

Space Marine 2 has become a huge hit for developer Saber Interactive and publisher Pullup Entertainment. The game did so well at launch that Tim Willits, who had previously worked at id Software on games on Quake and Doom, said that Space Marine 2 could actually be the fastest-selling game he's ever worked on. The publisher went on to say Space Marine 2 has sold 4.5 million copies.

"Todd Hollenshead (former CEO of id Software) and I believe that Space Marine 2 is the fastest selling game we've ever worked on, including all the Quake, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and RAGE games over the years," Willits said when the game launched in September.

The latest Dragon Ball fighting game has ignited the industry with a killer kamehameha on the competition.

Interactive entertainment proves once again that nostalgia is one hell of a sales pitch. This time the nostalgia effect has driven up sales of the latest Dragon Ball game to astronomical heights, making this the third quarterly hit for Bandai Namco--Tekken 8 in Q4, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree in Q1, and now Dragon Ball Sparking Zero in Q3.

"Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. today announced DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, the first sequel in more than 15 years in the legendary DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI TENKAICHI series, has surpassed a total of 3 million units sold worldwide in 24 hours after its launch," the company said in a press release.

Halo Infinite's unannounced battle royale game has been mentioned by a former Certain Affinity developer.

343 Industries' original vision for Halo Infinite was an interesting one. Both the F2P multiplayer and premium campaign came to fruition, but the team was also working on a new gametype alongside longtime franchise partner Certain Affinity.

The mode was codenamed Tatanka, and would've been Halo's take on the then-popular battle royale craze (for reference, Call of Duty Warzone, a breakout battle royale hit, achieved 85 million players in less than a year and contributed many millions of mTX revenues).

Discord's co-founder says that the app was created to have a better way to talk about Final Fantasy XI with friends.

Square Enix's 2002 MMORPG Final Fantasy XI is one of the main inspirations for Discord, the world's most popular video games chat platform. In a recent interview with Japanese publication Famitsu, Discord co-creator and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevsky said that the first prototype of the app was made specifically to discuss FFXI with both written and voice chatting.

"When I was a student, I was obsessed with FF11 , and I made something like a prototype of Discord as software that could be used while playing the game. From there, I moved to California and joined a company called GREE, where I met co-founder Jason Citron. I thought it would be nice to make the communication tool we created available to even more people, so I started developing Discord in earnest," Vishnevsky said.

The class-action antitrust lawsuit challenging the $70 billion Microsoft-Activision merger has been dismissed.

One of the last lawsuits opposing Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has been dismissed. The case in question, Dante DeMartini et al v. Microsoft, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:22-cv-08991-JSC, also referred to as the "gamer's lawsuit" by media, alleged that Microsoft's buyout of Activision Blizzard King showed signs of breaking antitrust law. A group of private citizens banded together to sue to challenge the merger, seeking an enjoining ruling that would prevent the two groups from merging.

The case has been dismissed with prejudice by the courts, meaning that the same complaints cannot be refiled. It's believed that Microsoft has settled the lawsuit with the plaintiffs, but exact details remain unclear.

Microsoft just released its new Xbox Series X/S lineup, but the company is also selling refurbished models at a discounted rate.

The new Xbox Series X/S models are currently out and Microsoft is selling its disc-less Xbox Series X for about $450, which is a savings of $50 off the retail price of the main disc-based console. The value proposition here is just upfront savings--paying less to be forever locked out of any kind of physical media being played or read on the console.

But Microsoft is also selling fully-fledged Series X consoles with disc drives on its website for the same price. These are refurbished units and are guaranteed to work and operate, and they also come with the standard one-year hardware warranty. There's also two Xbox Series S variants being sold as refurbished stock--the newer 1TB Series S for $299 and the 512GB Series S for $249.

Ubisoft is experiencing one of its most tumultuous periods in recent memory. Following the controversy surrounding the Assassin's Creed Shadows, which delayed its launch until next year, Ubisoft has found itself in another potential boiling pot of negativity.

Gamerant has reported that Ubisoft is considering ending XDefiant after its fourth season if developers are unable to attract a significant increase in players. Previous rumors suggested XDefiant was suffering from a dwindling player base, which was denied by the game's executive producer, Mark Rubin, a Call of Duty veteran who worked on some of the franchise's biggest releases. However, insiders speaking to Gamerant said that despite Rubin's assurances that XDefiant isn't dying, Ubisoft is ready to put it on the chopping block.

Industry insider and leaker Shaun Weber posted on October 14 that he has learned Ubisoft's research team is actively asking their playtesters to host an in-house test session to gather new feedback on XDefiant and that if player counts aren't increased, support for the title could be severed post Season 4.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is expected to be rolled out in the form of hands-on previews, according to a recent report from Insider Gaming.

Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson penned a new story that states he has learned preview copies of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will get hands-on previews this month and that, as part of these previews, both Microsoft and Bethesda are hosting media events where press and content creators will get to experience the game first-hand. Patrick Maka, the creator behind @Maka91Productions, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share an image of what is clearly Indiana Jones with the caption, "On my way to San Francisco. Hope I picked a good movie for the flight".

Maka also added in a reply to an X user asking what he is doing in San Francisco, "Hopefully learning whip skills and wearing a cool leather jacket" - a clear reference to Indiana Jones. As for what is officially known, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch on December 9, 2024, on the Xbox Series S|X and on PC. Fans of Indy should know the title's developers have designed the game in such a way that makes guns a "fallback solution" and that gunplay won't be the primary "way forward". Instead, gamers will be encouraged to "use your wits and your whip," much like Indy himself.

When it comes to GPU hardware for consumers and professionals, NVIDIA dominates the desktop and laptop PC markets with its GeForce RTX line-up. This is especially true in the AI era, where RTX AI performance and app support are second to none.

However, with the rise of SoC devices running AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm processors with CPUs, NPUs, and GPUs rolled into one, Team Green doesn't have a presence in this market. At all.

So, it makes sense why there have been rumors that NVIDIA is partnering with MediaTek to create a new PC chip incorporating a MediaTek processor, NPU, and NVIDIA GPU for release in 2025. According to the latest report, mass production is apparently on track for late 2025, and the new chip will be built using a cutting-edge 3nm process.

MechWarrior 5: Clans, from developer Piranha Games, is a new single-player and co-op story-driven game in the iconic PC gaming franchise. Built using the latest Unreal Engine 5 technology, the game launches this week - October 17, to be exact - with support for NVIDIA Reflex, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLSS Frame Generation.

Like all great MechWarrior titles, you can customize your BattleMech to support various tactics and battlefield strategies. The fact that it features a dynamic cinematic standalone campaign with support for up to five players to tackle it in co-op as they take control of Clan Smoke Jaguar sounds like a must-play for fans of the series.

Also out this week, on the same day, is Stormind Games and Saber Interactive's A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, a new single-player horror adventure based in the same universe as the A Quiet Place movies. With aliens using sound alone to hunt down and exterminate humanity, it's an excellent premise for a video game adaptation.