Gaming - Page 256

At CES 2024, NVIDIA has announced that DLSS and RTX technologies are coming to a whole bunch of PC games set to launch in the coming months. One of the biggest is Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition from Sony, PlayStation Studios, and Guerilla Games. The PC version includes the Burning Shores story expansion, improved visuals, and more.

What's more is DLSS 3 Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and DLAA. At its CES 2024 presentation, NVIDIA mentioned that Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is coming to PC early this year, which puts a tighter release window on the previous '2024' one. And with that, we've got a new trailer for the game running on a GeForce RTX-powered PC with DLSS 3 - and it looks stunning.

Horizon Forbidden West looks incredible on PS5, so we can only imagine what it will look like on one of the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series GPUs launching this month. The DLSS and RTX gaming news from CES 2024 doesn't stop there, as more titles like Pax Dei and Dragon's Dogma 2 are also going RTX On.

Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project is a community-developed remaster of one of the most celebrated PC games of all time, with the global development team of modders at Orbifold Studios using the powerful RTX Remix platform to present a fully path traced and rar traced version of the game.

The latest trailer, which debuted during NVIDIA's CES 2024 presentation, showcases the memorable survival horror and zombie-inspired location of Ravenholm with full ray-traced lighting, DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, RTX IO, Reflex, and remastered assets, models, and in-game materials. It looks incredible, like a full-blown remake.

Orbifold Studios is a team of 65 modders, so this is a pretty big project (the team is hand-building enhanced assets), but thanks to RTX Remix, the speed of progress has been remarkable. With RTX Remix, anyone can "remix" a classic game with the power of ray-tracing and generative AI - and the NVIDIA RTX Remix Open Beta begins January 22.

ASUS has made its new ROG NUC official, with its first Mini-PC packing up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" CPU and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card inside. Check it out:

The new ASUS ROG NUC system finds itself inside of a tool-less 2.5-liter chassis, where it can be configured with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" processor that offers up 16 cores and 22 threads of CPU power boosting up to 5.1GHz. The Core Ultra 9 processor features an Arc Xe-LPG-based GPU with Xe-Cores, but it can be configured with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU for more gaming power.

Both of these GPU designs have a TGP (Total Graphics Power) of 115W, with Dynamic Boost supporting up to 140W of power flowing through the RTX 4060 or RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. The Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" CPU inside has a TDP of up to 65W.

Xbox gamers can play Final Fantasy XIV starting this February.

At the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest in Tokyo, Japan, director Yoshi-P confirmed launch timing for the MMORPG's available on Xbox platforms. Square Enix's strategy is to release an open beta test for FF14 on Xbox in February, possibly around February 21st or thereabouts.

"As far as Xbox goes, we will be beginning the open beta test in February. Our current plan is to begin the open beta around the 21st, plans could change for a few days in any direction, but that's our current plan," Naoki Yoshi-P Yoshida said during the event.

Mobile revenues dipped in 2023, but the $100 billion segment is expected to bounce back in 2024.

Much to the dismay of publishers like Take-Two Interactive, who recently purchased Zynga for $12.7 billion, mobile gaming saw a decline throughout 2023. Analyst firm Newzoo estimates that mobile gaming dropped 16% year-over-year to $90.4 billion, excluding advertising.

These trends are set to change in 2024. Analyst firm Data.ai forecasts that mobile gaming will boost some 4% in 2024 to $111.4 billion revenues. The group also predicts that the United States will be the largest driver for spending growth throughout 2024. This seems to be consistent with Newzoo's data which trends towards North America as having the largest spend-to-population ratio in the world.

PC gaming is off to a big start in 2024 as Valve sets a new all-time record for Steam gamers online at the same time.

Yesterday on January 7, Steam has set a new concurrent user record of 33.67 million gamers simultaneously active and connected to the service. The previous record had been set in March 2023 and saw some 33.59 million Steam concurrent users--the exact numbers are 33,675,229 and 33,598,520 for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Alongside the concurrent user milestone, Valve also set a new record for the number of in-game Steam users. There were over 10.83 million users playing games when the new concurrent record was set.

Netflix could be the first to bring advertisements to premium games within a subscription service.

In 2021, Netflix announced that it would start offering free mobile games for subscribers to enjoy. All active Netflix users could play a growing lineup of mobile games for no extra charge--a carefully strategized value-add that's aimed at subscriber retention. From the get-go, the company has proudly boasted that its games don't feature ads or optional in-game purchases.

The lineup of games typically included smaller-scale titles at first, but has since ramped up to include some heavy-hitters like Rockstar Games' mega-popular Grand Theft Auto series. Now the service features more than 80 games, with mobile hits like Too Hot to Handle, Football Manager 2024 and GTA: San Andreas among the most-played titles. In fact, Netflix briefly took the #1 top gaming spot on both the Google Play Store and the App Store with its version of GTA: San Andreas.

Final Fantasy XIV Online has broken 30 million registered users, making it one of the most-played MMORPGs in gaming.

10 years after the launch of A Realm Reborn, Final Fantasy XIV is still going strong. The landmark high fantasy MMO has gained tremendous momentum over the years by achieving 30 million players worldwide on PC and PlayStation platforms.

The news was confirmed by the game's official Twitter account, and the online player count is likely to jump by many millions of players once Final Fantasy XIV rolls out on Xbox platforms in 2024. Square Enix has planned an open beta test for next month in February.

NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud gaming service continues to grow from strength to strength. At CES 2024, the company is announcing a whole suite of new goodies coming to the service - from games to membership options and even VRR technology in the form of G-Sync.

First up, some games. As 2023 drew to a close, the first Activision title joined the service - the juggernaut that is Call of Duty. The next two Activision Blizzard games set to join GeForce NOW are Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 (support for the Steam versions is coming first), which are "coming soon" thanks to the 10-year NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership.

Also coming soon are Capcom's Exoprimal, HoYoverse's Honkai: Star Rail, and the highly anticipated everything medieval sim Pax Dei. Coming in February is a cool initiative for those looking to check out Ultimate and Priority memberships that take advantage of GeForce RTX 4080 hardware for 4K, DLSS, and RT-powered gaming. Day Passes will offer full benefits 'one day at a time.'

NVIDIA first showcased its new NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology created in partnership with Convai back at Computex 2023, with a Cyberpunk-style diner showcasing a fully realized AI character you can interact with (via voice) who will then dynamically respond and react depending on what's happening in the game world.

At CES 2024, NVIDIA is presenting an updated version of the diner demo with an additional character in the scene and confirmation that a broad list of developers are now using the technology for game development. Charisma.AI, Convai, Inworld, miHoYo, NetEase, Games, Ourpalm, Tencent, Ubisoft and UneeQ.

Tencent calls NVIDIA ACE a "milestone moment for AI in games" and will use the tech in upcoming projects. NVIDIA notes that the latest version gives AI NPCs awareness of objects so they can pick them up and drop them off. In addition, NPCs can lead players.

The total installed base for Sony's PlayStation 5 console could break 80 million+ by March 2025, analysts have predicted.

Sony Interactive Entertainment expects to ship 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles throughout Fiscal Year 2023, which is the current period that ends on March 31, 2024. This target is the largest and most ambitious hardware shipment in PlayStation history, and results from the first half of the year (Q1-Q2 FY23) show that Sony is still 16 million consoles away from this goal.

This might not be the only big shipment fusillade that Sony is planning. According to a Games Industry.biz article, Japanese analyst firm Toyo Securities believes that Sony will ship 18.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the next Fiscal Year 2024 timeline.

Rumors are pointing to an Xbox exclusive making its way over to the Nintendo Switch sometime this year, and according to insiders, the Switch port will be met with lots of praise by gamers.

According to the host of the NateTheHate podcast, which reportedly has a good track record with gaming industry insider information, the rhythm-based Hi-Fi Rush developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda will be making its way over to the Nintendo Switch. These rumors were then backed up by other insiders or known leakers, such as lolilolailo, suggesting the game was going to be released on the Nintendo Switch in 2024.

Notably, Hi-Fi Rush was a hidden gem of 2023, and despite it being announced and shadowdropped during the Xbox developer direct, gamers who discovered the title praised it highly. On its Steam listing, Hi-Rush has received an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review score, with 97% of user reviews out of the 19,000 total reviewed it positively.

Retro cool, the AYANEO FLIP KB and FLIP DS are powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U APU (up to 28W) and a 'brand-new flagship processor' that we assume will be announced at CES 2024. AYANEO's latest high-end Windows gaming handheld might be its most stylish, with one version with a full keyboard and one with a second display - like the iconic Nintendo DS.

Although the keyboard is small on the AYANEO FLIP KB, the key spacing is nice, and there's even a fingertip mouse. Throw in RGB backlighting, and it's a portable PC with game controller buttons, hall sensing sticks, triggers, and a d-pad.

The main display for the AYANEO FLIP KB and FLIP DS sounds impressive: 7-inch Full HD with a 120 Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB coverage, and a 400-nit overall peak brightness. It's AYANEO's first gaming handheld to feature a 120 Hz IPS display. The AYANEO FLIP DS includes an additional 3.5-inch touch display - detected by Windows as a second display.

MSI's new gaming handheld is called the Claw, and it will be powered by Intel's beefy Meteor Lake processors.

The PC gaming handheld market will continue to grow in 2024 with leading hardware-maker MSI throwing their hat into the ring. MSI's particular PC-handheld hybrid delivers both a primal name and savage specs.

New leaks show that the MSI Claw handheld will feature a 16-core, 22-thread Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU at 3.8GHz outfitted with an Intel Arc GPU with 8 Xe cores at 2.25GHz, complete with a whopping 32GB of RAM memory. It's likely that this is the highest-end configuration of the Claw, and that MSI could offer multiple SKUs with different price points for the device.

Microsoft just released a new preview of Windows 11 for the earliest testing channel, and acknowledged that gaming bugs affecting preview builds have recently got worse.

The bad news comes with the release of preview build 26020 for the Canary channel, with Microsoft admitting that existing issues with bugs hitting PC games have got worse.

Microsoft told us:

Grinding in video games is something only a specific type of gamer likes to do, and how much you enjoy that grinding for gear ranges on a spectrum from "I don't mind grinding a little bit" to "I enjoy farming for the absolute best gear even if it means hours, days, or possibly months of my life".

Some gamers are simply built differently, and most that fit this category love the idea of an ultimate goal despite the time it would take to achieve. Diablo IV is filled with these types of loot-hunter gamers, and one such player took to the Diablo IV subreddit to share their spoils while also announcing their retirement. The player revealed they collected all seven Ancestral Unique items after 800 runs and a "month worth of grinding".

For those that don't know Diablo IV items but can appreciate drop rates, the Ancestral items are the rarest items in Diablo IV, and the runs that the player is referring to are extreme end-game content, likely Helltide Events or Nightmare Dungeons. Gamesradar reports that if the player acquired all seven of the Ancestral items in 800 runs, it would mean the player had a drop rate of just 0.00875% per run.

Star Citizen is a sprawling and impressive everything sci-fi game that has been in development for over a decade, and even though there doesn't seem to be an end in sight - over that time, the game has managed to raise hundreds of millions in funding via the cloud. One method is to sell in-game ships to players so they can cruise through the stars in style one day (or in the current Alpha).

The in-game ships aren't cheap, with some costing several hundreds of dollars. The latest digital space pack for Star Citizen from Roberts Space Industries has to be the most expensive DLC we've ever witnessed for a high-profile game. The LEGATUS 2953 package is described as the "perfect collection," featuring "over 175 vessels from every manufacturer of note."

The price? $48,000 USD.

GeForce NOW, NVIDIA's cloud gaming service that gives users a full GeForce RTX 4080-powered gaming experience without shelling out for expensive PC hardware, closed out 2023 in style.

From GeForce NOW Ultimate membership, which now includes three months of PC Game Pass, over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles hitting the service, and November and December 2023, seeing a whopping 150 new games arrive, NVIDIA is looking to continue that momentum in 2024.

One of the most impressive shooters in recent items, Embark Studios' free-to-play The Finals is now available to play on GeForce NOW. With a whole suite of RTX technologies. DLSS 3, DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and real-time ray tracing, it's a visually stunning and highly competitive game. It's joined this week by Redmatch 2 (Steam), Scorn (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass), and Sniper Elite 5.

The illegal ransomware hack on Insomniac Games has delivered tons of leaks about Wolverine, new Spider-Man games, and potentially even Sony's upcoming PS5 Pro.

Reports indicate that Sony will release an upgraded PS5 Pro sometime in 2024. Like the original PS4 Pro, the Gen9 PS5 Pro may also prioritize graphics upscaling technology thanks to a special new chip. Sony is said to be working on some sort of proprietary raytracing acceleration tech that's akin to DLSS, potentially via new dedicated AI hardware.

The recent Insomniac Games hack appears to reinforce this theory. The hack saw hundreds of thousands of confidential files and materials leaked onto the internet, including new info about Insomniac's upcoming Wolverine game set for 2025. One slide specifically mentions complex game features like AI upscaling via machine learning, fluid dynamics, and deformable surfaces.

If you've always wanted an Xbox toaster, the accessory of your console gaming dreams has arrived courtesy of Walmart.

The Xbox Series S Toaster - yes, this is a real product, listed at Walmart - is a two-slice toaster (with a wide slot, you'll doubtless be pleased to hear) that jazzes up your toast by imprinting it with the Xbox logo.

It has a digital timer, six different levels of toast browning - the darker the shade, the more pronounced that Xbox logo will be - and settings for bagels, and for defrosting bread.