Gaming News - Page 35

Nintendo needs to avoid resetting the console generation and displacing over 130 million Switch owners in the process.

Moving to a new console generation is a tricky thing to pull off. Asking customers to buy a whole new wave of hardware and software can be a tough prospect. Some companies like SEGA can even exit the market entirely during these transition points due to a combination of factors. Hardware-makers also have to worry about low migration rates to the new system due non-compatible games.

While the core problems of cross-gen navigation remain the same, the proposition of completely resetting game libraries is even more off-putting these days. No one wants to have to buy all new games on top of a $300-500 console. Backwards compatibility is a must for new consoles (I argued it was the single most important feature for the PS5 and Series X/S), and Nintendo isn't exempt from these pressures.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox console isn't being built by the team that led the charge with Xbox Series X/S consoles, but rather the Surface team is building the next-gen Xbox, according to the latest rumors.

During a chat in the latest episode of the XboxERA podcast, according to XboxEra's own Nick Baker, that the person responsible for leading development of the Xbox Series X/S hardware -- Jason Ronald -- is not in charge of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox gaming device and that Microsoft's own Surface team replaced his team.

There's lots of news about Microsoft's next-gen Xbox hardware right now, with previous rumors that AMD won't get the contract for the new Xbox and that it's already got the contract to build an APU for Sony's next-gen PlayStation 6 console. Intel is reportedly stepping up into the ring and is thirsty to win a huge contract like building a chip for the next-gen Xbox, which would be a huge deal for the company -- a major win for a semi-custom SoC -- and it could be built in the United States.

Helldivers 2 is rapidly establishing itself as a cracking PC shooter of the online coop variety, and it has easily overtaken God of War to become the biggest Steam launch ever for a PlayStation title.

A simultaneous PS5 and PC launch, Helldivers 2 hit just over 155,000 concurrent players on Steam over the weekend.

To put that in perspective, God of War previously held the record amount of concurrent players for a PlayStation PC published game at 73,000 - so Helldivers 2 has more than doubled this, which is quite the achievement.

Ever wanted to own a Pokedex - a real one? Your reaction to that will either be a fervent yes, or an equally fervent more negative response, but even in the latter case, you're likely to admire this project.

YouTuber Abe's Projects had the idea to build a real-life version of the Pokedex. The theory was to produce something that looks and works like the device in the Pokemon cartoon, identifying creatures correctly from pictures or toys.

A further goal was to make the Pokedex talk in a similar voice to the one used in the TV show.

NASA has recently launched its latest mission to study the "invisible universe" on and around Earth, with the ultimate goal of studying the microscopic aspects of our planet that go unseen every day.

The new mission is called PACE, or the Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem satellite (PACE), and it was launched into Earth's orbit on the back of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The space agency was able to confirm a signal from PACE approximately 5 minutes after launch, and according to NASA, the satellite is operating nominally.

So, what will PACE aim to achieve? NASA's newest satellite will study the impact of "invisible things," such as "microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in the air". The PACE satellite is equipped with a hyperspectral ocean color instrument that will enable researchers to scan bodies of water across the spectrum of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light.

There has been no shortage of Nintendo rumors as gamers patiently wait to see what direction Nintendo will take for the successor to the incredibly popular Nintendo Switch.

The latest leaks come from the Portuguese website Universo Nintendo, which has previously been correct about some of the contents within Nintendo's Direct showcase. Previous rumors from other sources pointed to Nintendo's successor of the Switch utilizing a custom NVIDIA chip that would, for all intents and purposes, be a massive leap in power compared to the Nintendo Switch's Tegra X1 chip. This leap in processing power is reportedly going to enable developers to "enhance" Nintendo Switch 1 games on the next-generation console.

Furthermore, Universo Nintendo reports the next-generation console will come with full backward compatibility for both physical and digital copies of titles. It should be noted that all of the aforementioned information regarding Nintendo's next-generation console is merely rumors at this stage, with Nintendo remaining completely quiet on any information regarding its Switch successor.

RuneScape developer Jagex is being acquired by a new capital investment duo, and some interesting financial info has been included in the press release announcement.

Jagex is one of the most well-known names in gaming. The name RuneScape sparks nostalgia in the hearts of countless gamers who grew up cutting willows in separate tab in computer class. While those gamers have grown up, Jagex has too, complete with a very adult-sized bank account.

RuneScape is a big part of Jagex's coffers, but the company was also just acquired by CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments. Nestled in the big acquisition news was a brief highlight of Jagex's financial performance. The results show that RuneScape is a member of the illustrations billion-dollar club enjoyed by the likes of Doom, Halo, Call of Duty, Diablo, and Warcraft to name a few.

The latest forecasts put Xbox Series X/S sales at nearly half as high as the PlayStation 5.

Since Microsoft stopped giving Xbox console sales data years ago, analysts have to make their own predictions and try to fill in the blanks. Sony, on the other hand, takes every opportunity to tout PS5 sales. In late 2023, Sony confirmed that PlayStation 5 sell-through reached 50 million. That means 50 million PS5 consoles have been sold to consumers (the other metric, sell-in, refers to shipments made to retailers).

What about the Xbox Series X/S? Thanks to a minor presentation slip-up at the BIG Festival in Brazil, we know that the Xbox Series X/S had a 21 million+ installed base as of July 2023.

Sony PlayStation's new live service model enjoys thunderous success with a new multiplayer sensation.

Helldivers 2 is all the rage right now. The game has amassed 155,926 concurrent players on Steam, and has been the #1 top-selling game on Valve's distribution service for a bit now. Yesterday, Helldivers 2 studio CEO Johan Pilestedt said the game had sold around 1 million copies on all platforms.

The game is so popular that Helldivers 2 had to be taken offline for server maintenance. The fixes didn't last for long, and the survival shooter had to be adjusted even more.

The future of Xbox hardware may not just grow vertically with more performance and instead could grow horizontally with more devices than ever before.

With the release of OneCore in 2015, Microsoft changed the definition of its Xbox brand. Since then, Xbox evolved from a console into a cross-platform service. Using Windows to unify consoles and PCs was the first step, and the next step was introducing a high-margin subscription service to this new unified ecosystem. Expansion onto competing storefronts followed as Microsoft chased wide-spread game sales.

Now there's reports this business plan could expand even further. Microsoft will reportedly break Xbox ecosystem exclusivity for select games. Titles like Hi-Fi Rush are expected to release on PlayStation, with reports that other games like Gears of War have been brought up in discussions.Sources have also told Verge's Tom Warren that a "surprising" Xbox game is also coming to PlayStation.