Gaming - Page 223

Sony executive Hiroki Totoki briefly discusses the company's lack of carefully-curated and nurtured intellectual property across its full portfolio of multimedia.

Sony, unlike Microsoft or Nintendo, is somewhat lacking in the IP department. That is, across the full spectrum of anime, TV, film, and video games. To its credit, Sony is making substantial strides to find efficiencies and synergies among these different branches, e.g. using its gaming IP to create a swath of television shows like The Last of Us on HBO and the Uncharted film starring Tom Holland.

In a recent interview with The Financial Times, company CFO and SIE CEO Hiroki Totoki said something interesting about Sony's IP: "Whether it's for games, films or anime, we don't have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning," he said.

NVIDIA demoed me an updated version of its impressive ACE technology, which offers developers a suite of technologies designed to bring digital humans to life with generative AI models.

One of the biggest problems in gaming is the lackluster dialogue options, particularly in open-world or sandbox experiences that could significantly benefit from players being able to interact with NPCs more dynamically. NVIDIA ACE makes this possible, and while the technology is still in development what NVIDIA showcased to be was truly eye-opening at what is on the horizon for game's of the future.

NVIDIA ACE is designed to create digital humans in various forms, leveraging the following generative AI technologies: NVIDIA Riva ASR, TTS and NMT, which enables automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech conversation, and translation, NVIDIA Nemotron LLM for language understanding and contextual responses, NVIDIA Audio2Face for realistic facial animation based on audio tracks, and NVIDIA Omniverse RTX for real-time, path-traced realistic skin and hair.

Black Myth: Wukong quickly became one of the best-selling games of all time, with its release on PlayStation and PC fueling more than 18 million unit sales in just two weeks.

With the incredible success of the new single-player title, many gamers are left begging the question as to where the Xbox version is. Unfortunately, the answer has a lot of ambiguity around it as conflicting reports mention a possible Sony deal with Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science for some sort of exclusivity that involved Sony assisting in the development of the game but didn't have Sony attached as an exclusivity disclaimer.

However, other reports indicated there was no such exclusivity deal in place and that Black Myth: Wukong was suffering from some sort of development problem related to Xbox console hardware specifications, particularly the weaker variant, the Xbox Series S. Now, Outrageous Dong Chai has posted a video showcasing evidence of what appears to be scrapped online multiplayer mode for Black Myth: Wukong as the evidence of the long lost mode can be found within the title's game code.

Unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto VI is still quite far away. Take-Two Interactive only recently confirmed that the highly anticipated title's release window is currently slated for late 2025, and with still only one trailer out, there isn't much new to chew on about GTA 6.

Despite the one trailer, the upcoming release from Rockstar Games has experienced a significant amount of leaked information that has now, for the first time, been aggregated and presented in a clean, uniform PDF titled "The GTA VI Document (v1.5)." Obviously, if any more new information about the upcoming title is released, the document will be updated, and presumably, a new one will be published for the community of fans to dive into.

But, for those that haven't been following any of the leaked information about GTA 6 v1.5 the document is a great spot to start as it outlines the tumultuous timeline of GTA 6 information surfacing in various ways. Additionally, the document outlines all of the known information about the game such as mentioned characters, items and tools seen, weapons, leaked UI, multiplayer evidence, collectibles, vehicles, locations and much more.

Phillips Hue colored lights can really change the feel of a room once a few globes have been obtained, but what if you wanted to combine the power of Phillips Hue with gaming?

Signify, formerly known as Phillips Lighting, has launched a better version of the Phillips Hue Sync Box, a device that can be plugged into a TV and then synced with the content playing on the screen. The Sync Box will then change the surrounding Phillips Hue lights to whatever color the content is on the screen of the television, creating a more immersive or arguably distracting viewing experience.

The original model of this device was released back in 2019, but now Phillips is launching an upgraded version that comes with support up to 8K at 60Hz for video content, which includes 4K at 120Hz for gaming. Additionally, the new model comes with support for HDMI 2.1, meaning it's compatible with current-gen gaming consoles. Gamers with a collection of Phillips Hue globes can now sync their globes to their games at higher refresh rates. The Sync Box 8K is able to sync up to 10 globes.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the biggest first-party Xbox releases scheduled to release in 2024, and now we have learned more about how the whip-carrying hero will be played by gamers in the upcoming release by MachineGames.

In a recent interview with Edge Magazine, MachineGames creative director Axel Torvenius revealed the Great Circle won't be pushing players to take up gunplay, and rather developers have designed the game to force players to view guns as a "fallback solution". Torvenius further explained the gunplay won't be the primary "way forward" and that players will be encouraged to "use your wits and your whip."

On a personal note, this decision to steer away from gunplay opens up the game to an interesting form of gameplay that would complement the character of Indiana Jones. While he does use guns, Indiana Jones typically overcomes his opponents by outsmarting them with some clever and unorthodox method.

After seeing Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project in person, it's quickly become one of my most anticipated games currently in development. Developed by Orbifold Studios, a global team of modders, coders, and artists, Half-Life 2 RTX looks and feels like a built-from-the-ground-up remake, even though it's a mod.

Like Capcom's recent Resident Evil 4 Remake or the brilliant Dead Space remake from EA and Motive Studios, it's new and familiar all at the same time. With new textures, new highly detailed models for objects and characters in the world, shiny new weapons, and full path-raced lighting, Half-Life 2 RTX breathes new life into one of the greatest games ever.

There's no denying that Valve's Half-Life 2 is one of the most celebrated and beloved first-person shooters. Initially released in 2004, Half-Life 2 RTX presents a modern 2024 spin on the all-time classic with incredible visual fidelity.

After Concord's highly publicized failure, and that's the last time we'll reference it in this article, one 'hero shooter' multiplayer game is on track to be a massive hit. And that's Valve's third-person multiplayer shooter Deadlock, which blends DOTA 2-style MOBA mechanics with Overwatch and Team Fortress action.

Deadlock has been in development for some time, with Valve not so much announcing it as a thing as simply making its store page live for the thousands (or millions) of players gaining access to the current closed alpha test. Gaining access to play Deadlock on Steam is a case of friends sharing codes or copies with the knowledge of playing a brand-new Valve shooter and positive word of mouth driving the overall interest.

According to SteamDB, the game has already reached an impressive peak concurrent player count of 171,490, putting it on the list of most popular PC games on Steam. A number that makes it an actual hit, even though it's still in early development.

One of the biggest stories in gaming recently has been the unprecedented failure of Sony's first-party multiplayer game Concord for PlayStation 5 and PC. An Overwatch-style hero shooter that not only failed to find an audience but was taken offline within two weeks of its release, with Sony offering full refunds to all players. After a reported eight years of development and a budget north of $100 million, it's arguably the biggest flop in videogame history.

It's a very different story regarding Sony's next first-party PlayStation 5 release, Astro Bot, which is out this week. From developer Team ASOBI, the Super Mario Odyssey-style platformer has received rave reviews from critics - it currently has a Metacritic score of 94. Be sure to watch the trailer above; it looks great.

That's huge, and it puts this cute platformer in contention for Game of the Year - with over 110 reviews collated so far. There is also genuine excitement for Astro Bot's release among the PlayStation community, something that was utterly absent before Concord's release.

NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud gaming platform continues to grow, with 19 games arriving in September 2024. This week's biggest PC releases are all accounted for: the return of the classic real-time strategy that is Age of Mythology: Retold, Supermassive Games' interactive movie The Casting of Frank Stone, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

These titles will be playable over the cloud for those with access via PC Game Pass, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Age of Mythology: Retold is one that we've covered in detail. It's a remake of the mythology-based Age of Empires spin-off, where Atlantean, Greek, Egyptian, and Norse gods and units battle across an epic campaign and multiplayer skirmishes. You can see it in action in the video above, with gameplay captured in 4K with ray-tracing and RTX features enabled.

GeForce NOW has various subscription tiers, with the highest offering PC gamers direct access to a GeForce RTX 4080-powered rig. So, Age of Mythology: Retold will look and feel the same as what you see above. Here's the complete list of confirmed GeForce NOW games for September 2024, including games due for release later in the month.

Hero Games' Daniel Wu, the largest investor of Game Science, is confident that Black Myth: Wukong can break an astronomical sales milestone.

Chinese gaming sensation Black Myth: Wukong has taken the games industry by storm. According to new reports from Bloomberg, the AAA mega-hit has been in development for 6 years on a $70 million budget.

Wukong topped both Steam and the PlayStation Store for over a week, amassing 10 million sales shortly after launch. And the game has yet to release on Xbox platforms, presumably because of some sort of deal between Game Science and Sony Interactive Entertainment. In current sales, Wukong has managed to break 18 million global sales in just two weeks on PlayStation 5 and PC; that's almost as much as the latest Zelda game.

Sony has officially teased the new PlayStation 5 Pro console, confirming that the leaked design is in fact accurate.

Today, Sony published a PS Blog post discussing the celebration of PlayStation's 30th anniversary. The banner image in that post includes symbols and stylized designs for all previous PlayStation hardware, and right in the middle is a semi-transparent image of a brand new console: The 3-finned PlayStation 5 Pro.

The official teaser leans into the recent leaks that have exposed the PS5 Pro's overall shape. It's clear that the new PS5 Pro will be a part of this event in some way, and there's reports that Sony will unveil the system during a State of Play event later this month.

Sony's upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro console is rumored to be getting its big unveiling event at State of Play next week, running September 19-20.

If we do indeed see the new PS5 Pro unveiled, expect Sony to debut a bunch of first-party PS5 Pro Enhanced games and a potential "world premiere". This could, or could not be the big second trailer to GTA 6, with Sony rumored to have "locked down marketing rights" to GTA 6 for its PS5 Pro and PS5 consoles... this would be a huge State of Play event, and an even bigger launch event for the PS5 Pro.

Leaker "Lunatic Ignus" who was on the money with May's State of Play and Black Myth: Wukong's expansions, said today on their Discord server that the PS5 Pro could be unveiled on Tuesday or Wednesday, with a full reveal during the State of Play event later in the month.

Sony's upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro will release later this year, offering performance levels of the desktop AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT graphics card, according to a leaker.

In a reply on X, leaker "Kepler" said that the PS5 Pro will have the same rasterization performance as the Radeon RX 7700 XT, while having more ray tracing performance (thanks to parts of the RDNA 4 GPU architecture, and some nice trickery AMD is using with the new semi-custom chip for the PS5 Pro).

Funny, I reported that the PS5 Pro would have RX 7700 XT levels of performance back in May 2022, over two years ago now, with TCL hosting a conference saying that the PS5 Pro would be out in 2024 and that the console would be ready for 4K 60-120Hz and 8K 60-120Hz, with performance of the RX 7700 XT GPU.

MSI is already planning to release a follow-up to its Claw PC gaming handheld: the new MSI Claw 8 AI+, powered by the recently announced Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2), aka Lunar Lake. The new architecture and Xe2 GPU (Battlemage) deliver a notable efficiency improvement over the first-gen Core Ultra-powered Claw and a performance boost.

The MSI Claw 8 is named that way because it features a sizeable 8-inch display (1200P, 120 Hz, VRR), and the new Core Ultra 200V processor offers improved AI performance. IFA conference attendees in Germany are currently going hands-on with the MSI Claw 8 AI+, and the company is demonstrating its PC gaming performance with the critically acclaimed Xbox title H-Fi Rush.

In addition to upgraded and 'next-gen' Intel hardware, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ includes several improvements over the original. MSI confirms that it has 'actively listened to user feedback' and used that to implement changes.

Although it might be a little late to the party, Acer is joining the PC gaming handheld market with the new Acer Nitro Blaze 7, which it's calling an 'AI-powered' handheld thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS chip. However, the Ryzen 7 8840HS's 38 TOPS of AI performance falls short of Microsoft's Copilot+ PC minimum of 40 TOPS. Still, it's enough to run rudimentary AI workloads.

The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 will be the latest Windows 11 gaming handheld to feature a Ryzen chip with integrated Radeon 780M graphics, so performance should be on par with the ROG Ally. No pricing has been set for the Acer Nitro Blaze 7, but its specs and features outside the Radeon 780M graphics sound impressive.

The handheld ships with a 7-inch 1080p IPS display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness, 100% sRGB coverage, and AMD FreeSync Premium technology. Although not OLED, the display sports a relatively low 7ms response time and doubles as a 10-point touchscreen.

The portable PC gaming handheld market is rapidly growing thanks to Linux devices like the Steam Deck and Windows handhelds like the ROG Ally, Legion Go, and MSI Claw. So much so that the integrated GPUs inside the Steam Deck and the Radeon 780M found in a range of Windows handhelds are now some of the most popular AMD GPUs, according to the latest Steam hardware survey.

For several years, the Chinese-based Ayaneo has been developing and creating impressive PC gaming handhelds, using the Indiegogo platform to offer its products to a range of international PC gamers. Highly sought after, with stylish designs and powerful hardware, this week we've got some excellent news for US shoppers - Ayaneo handhelds are now being stocked at retailer Best Buy.

However, it's not quite a slam dunk. Only two Ayaneo handhelds are currently available, with the high-end Ayaneo Kun, which features an 8.4-inch 1600p display and AMD Ryzen 7 7840U chip, currently priced higher than its direct competition - a somewhat eye-watering $999.00 USD.

Surprising no one, WB Games is heavily prioritizing the development of Hogwarts Legacy 2.

A follow-up to Hogwarts Legacy is in the works at Warner Bros Discovery's video games division. The news comes a year after the game broke $1 billion in sales shortly after launch, and amassed over 22 million copies sold throughout 2023.

At a recent Bank of America conference, WB Discovery chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels revealed that a Hogwarts Legacy sequel is of utmost importance for its gaming unit, and strongly hinted that the game could have online multiplayer of some sort as well.

Nintendo's R&D spending hit a new record high in Fiscal Year 2024 as the company prepares to launch new Switch console hardware.

Evidence strongly suggests that the new Switch 2 system has entered--or may be entering--mass production. Two of Nintendo's component suppliers (Hosiden and Weltrend) are ramping up spending on production lines. Nintendo, in turn, has also been boosting its R&D spending throughout the years, and in FY24, it reached a new all-time high.

According to Nintendo's financial records, the Japanese games company spend a record 137.7 billion yen (or around $911 million) on research and development throughout the April 2023 - March 2024 period. This represents 8% of its net sales for the fiscal year.

Increased spending at Hosiden, the Japanese component manufacturer that helps make Nintendo's current-gen Switch JoyCons, indicates that Nintendo's new Switch 2 console may be entering (or may have already entered) mass production.

As per MST Financial analyst David Gibson, Japanese electronics firm Hosiden has ramped up capital expenditures on production equipment for its amusement segment. Gibson goes on to say that Nintendo is Hosiden's main buyer in this segment, and apparently the company provides analog sticks for Switch JoyCons and also helped make the Switch's AC adapter. This increased spending could point towards Switch 2 systems entering principal production and assembly at hardware plants.

The news also lines up with previous reports that further indicate Switch 2 consoles are gearing up for mass production for global markets. Chinese electronics company Weltrend is readying power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for "new models" of the Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation consoles.