Gaming - Page 39

Even before the current memory crisis led to price increases across a wide range of PC and gaming hardware, the pricing history of the current generation of video game consoles has been unprecedented. As we're closing in on six years of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles going on sale, they're both now notably more expensive to buy than they were on day one in most markets. Compared with previous console generations, in which prices steadily declined over time, this unprecedented situation has led to something we never thought we'd see.

Australian retailer EB Games, which is basically the GameStop of Down Under, is offering its members a trade-in deal that gives them $749.95 in cash or store credit for their 2020 launch-day PlayStation 5 disc-based consoles. To highlight the noteworthiness of this trade-in deal (via Press Start), $749.95 AUD was the launch day price for the PlayStation 5 in Australia.

Which means EB Games members can essentially get a full refund for a six-year-old console they've used week in, week out to play games. A potential reason EB Games is offering this trade-in deal is that the current PS5 disc-based slim refresh console is priced at $999.95 AUD in the country. This 33% increase likely indicates that the retailer plans to refurbish these consoles and sell them at a discounted price relative to the current $1,000 price.

The expected performance level of the new consoles is a point of immense speculation in every console cycle. As we approach the end of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, rumors are emerging about the performance we can expect from the upcoming generation.

Popular leaker "Moore's Law Is Dead" has recently made a series of claims about the performance level of the upcoming consoles, particularly the PlayStation 6. The leaker's information apparently comes courtesy of "leaked internal documents" from AMD. Since AMD will power both the PlayStation 6 and the next-gen Xbox, it is plausible to estimate their performance based on this.

According to the leak, traditional rasterized performance is likely to triple compared to current-generation consoles. While this may sound like a big jump, it is actually quite modest compared to what previous generations offered. However, it seems rasterization isn't the main focus of next-generation consoles, since the leak mentions a 6x to 12x increase in ray tracing performance on the PS6 compared to the PS5.

Kraken Express hits it big with their platinum-selling pirate sim Windrose, which has become the next big early access indie sensation on PC.

New pirate sim Windrose has maintained momentum after its initial early access release, amassing an impressive 1 million sales in just six days, the developers have confirmed. The game is currently on sale via both the Epic Games Store and Steam in a pre-release state, allowing gamers to help shape and mold the high seas-faring world with direct feedback.

Kraken Express shares their thoughts on the milestone: "While we keep working on the game, we read your reviews and comments, watch your videos and streams, and sometimes, honestly, shed a pirate-y tear of happiness, because now when the game is out you share our dream of swashbuckling adventure. And there are boars, too, we know, but whatever does not send you flying into the nearest tree, makes you stronger, right?"

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has been outspoken about Game Pass for quite some time, and his recent comments have caught the attention of current CEO Asha Sharma.

Despite thunderous $5 billion gross revenues, and assertions of profitability from management, Xbox Game Pass has been criticized by industry analysts and executives alike, including former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden. By including new AAA games day and date, the service seems to operate on a kind of deferred success subscription model that potentially devalues front-line pricing of big games in favor of the hopes of facilitating long-term subscriptions. This effect remains the principal criticism of the service.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has recently called for a change in the Game Pass model, saying that it's too expensive in the short term and too inflexible in the long-term. This is quite topical, because former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden also recently shared a fiery comment on a LinkedIn post centered on Game Pass, saying: "They are trying so hard to will this into health, despite unfavorable diagnostics and a grim prognosis. A clarifying post mortem would do the entire industry some good."

Original Metro book series author Dmitry Glukhovsky reiterates the darker themes for the new Metro 2039 game, saying that the project aims to deliver a meaningful and impactful experience rather than just another FPS campaign.

4A Games recently revealed the first look at Metro 2039, the next game in the landmark franchise. Metro 2039 was promised to be a truly brutal and twisted game, tapping into the fear and steely resolve that the developers have faced while crafting the project during the ongoing Ukrainian War. The cinematic trailer for Metro 2039 amps up the franchise's psychological torment to new heights, depicting a protagonist that's tortured by their own memories while simultaneously being led by a faint flickering hope.

Leading up to the reveal, Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author behind the books that the games are based on, has hyped up the project with assertions that Metro 2039 is a more agonizing and distressing game, and now he's said that it's less of a game and more of an experience: "I don't think Metro 2039 should be called a game. It should be called an experience," Glukhovsky said on Twitter.

Capcom struck gold with Resident Evil Requiem, captivating fans through its signature horror-action gameplay, strong narrative, next-gen visuals, and the return of Leon S. Kennedy. With 70% of players on PS5 and PC having already rolled credits, the challenge for Capcom now is to give them a compelling reason to return.

To address this, it appears Capcom is already working on a solution by developing a Mercenaries mode similar to the RE4 remake. A fresh datamine has uncovered previously unheard music tracks in the game's files, and everything points to the wave-based assault minigame coming.

Discovered by dataminer SYRKOV on X, the 10 unused short tracks don't seem to follow any specific naming convention, but their sounds have players excited. Datamined tracks 7 and 9 lean hard into the high-octane sounds you would expect from a Mercenaries mode. The standouts, though, are Tracks 3 and 4, both backed by a constant ticking noise, suggesting they could be tied to the kind of time-based pressure the mode is known for.

Blizzard has sent cease and desists to another private World of Warcraft Classic server as the studio takes aim at unsanctioned alternatives that impact its official player counts.

The games industry is under intense pressure right now and studios are squeezing operations as tightly as possible in an effort to stabilize against rising costs. This also means some aspects of competition are being shut down wherever possible, including unsanctioned mods and private servers that act as alternatives to official paid experiences.

That's what's happening on the World of Warcraft front, as Blizzard has now sent out cease and desists against two major private servers. Blizzard first took on the TurtleWoW private servers, suing the group for "egregious copyright infringement" and calling TurtleWoW a "pirated software product." It's since been revealed that TurtleWoW will end operations and shut down on May 14, 2026 as a result of the lawsuit.

Rockstar Games is celebrating 4/20 with a number of GTA Online activities, including the hilarious Stoner Survival game type where players smoke ganja and take down hallucinatory enemies in psychedelic gunfights.

4/20 is tomorrow and GTA Online has players covered with its annual 420 Event, offering a challenging 7-round Stoner Survival mode where players shoot a variety of baddies like wrench-wielding clowns, aliens, and even life sized action figures. Stoner Survival is only available in the 4-hour window between 4:20pm and 8:20pm, so you might only get 1 attempt per in-game day, with the mode providing moderate challenge.

For a different kind of trip, Rockstar even added mind-altering peyote plants to the game. There are 76 peyote plants littered throughout GTA Online in Los Santos, and they transform you into different animals for hilarious results. These perception-shifting cacti can be found in the ocean as well as on the foothills of the Tataviam Mountains.

After possible delays with the Steam Machine, Frame, and Controller, Valve recently updated its release status to "coming soon" without providing an official date. The original plan pointed to early 2026, but the first quarter is nearly over, and nothing has been confirmed. But it seems we are not the only ones tired of waiting.

The developer behind EmuDeck, the popular retro emulator tool, has decided to build its own Steam Machine-style console called the Playnix. A similar project, EmuDeck Machines, debuted in August 2024 but never got off the ground. Its spiritual successor, however, is available for global order, with shipments from Spain.

The Playnix is a PC-console hybrid that draws its hardware from the PC world while taking design cues from the Xbox Series S, though it is slightly bulkier at 320x246x64mm compared to the Series S at 275x151x65mm. That extra room packs in a solid punch of gaming hardware.

Xbox's chief content officer Matt Booty shares interesting behind-the-scenes stories on how Microsoft's gaming teams collaborate across all of its divisions--from Obsidian iterating on Undead Labs' shared worlds tech to Blizzard helping out with Fable's cinematics.

One thing that struck me about the new Fable reboot is how impressive the cinematics look. Xbox debuted the game with some high-res visuals that aren't usually associated with the Fable franchise, which has traditionally been more cartoonish. Now it looks like a fully-fledged medieval fantasy befit of something like Lord of the Rings or maybe Elder Scrolls. As it turns out, Blizzard is helping Playground Games with Fable's visual sequences--if you've ever played a Blizzard game, then you know their cinematics are next-level.

Now in a recent Xbox Podcast episode, Microsoft games exec Matt Booty outlines some of the different ways that Xbox's first-party teams are collaborating on a number of projects. We don't often get info like this, so the candid take expresses an appreciative look at how Microsoft's video games empire is able to release new content at a regular cadence through the power of multidisciplinary organizational teamwork that sometimes spans the world.

Eerie Guest Studios and tinyBuild Games have launched the pre-alpha test for the highly anticipated survival horror stealth sequel Hello Neighbor 3. This marks the third entry in the survival-horror stealth franchise, which began with the 2017 installment. The latest entry also brings back series creator Nikita Kolesnikov, who is hopefully taking things in an even darker direction. The pre-alpha test is currently live on Steam, where players can request access to jump into an early build to discover what Raven Brooks has in store this time around.

The Hello Neighbor 3 pre-alpha introduces a new corporate mission set in Raven Brooks, the series' signature cozy yet half-abandoned ghost town with sinister undertones. Players are tasked with tracking down a missing employee who holds the location of an important report, but soon uncover a much larger mystery tied to the town's ongoing disappearances.

The pre-alpha introduces a new objective system that guides players through the narrative while retaining the series' free roam spirit. Loop-based progression frees players from speed-running, with loops ending seamlessly and objectives and collected knowledge carrying over.

Take-Two Interactive has a unique answer to subscriptions--mingling its games in a cross-publisher catalog as part of Rockstar's popular GTA+ service.

A few of gaming's biggest companies all have their own multi-subscription services; The Big 3 with Nintendo Switch Online, Xbox Game Pass, and PlayStation Plus, alongside publisher-specific offerings like Ubisoft+ and EA Play. But what about big players like Take-Two Interactive?

Instead of making a brand new subscription service to host catalog games, Take-Two apparently wants to rotate sports games into Rockstar's already-popular GTA+ subscription. This is something that I actually missed until now, but 2K Games/Take-Two have included NBA 2K26 as part of GTA+ for a bit now, yet the game is set to leave the service entirely on April 20. That's similar to how content rotates out of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription, albeit at a much faster rate.

Valve's latest Proton 11.0-beta1 is here, bringing broader game compatibility and improved performance for Steam Deck and Linux users. The release also lays the groundwork for further improvements expected in the near future.

The biggest highlights include expanded support for classic and newer titles. Several games that previously required Proton Experimental now run officially, including classics like Resident Evil 1 and 2, Dino Crisis 1 and 2, SHOGUN: Total War, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Metal Gear Survive, and DCS World Steam Edition.

Valve has also massively expanded the playable library, adding new titles, including Gothic 1 Classic, X-Plane 12, Breath of Fire IV, Deadly Premonition, and Unknown Faces. Additional fixes cover other classic titles, including Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Call of Duty 2.

The retro maestros at Plaion Replai are working their magic again to bring yet another faithful recreation to life, this time with the NeoGeo AES+. Pre-orders for the console are now open ahead of its November 12th release, and the best part is that players won't have to pay an arm and a leg to get their hands on it.

The NeoGeo AES was SNK's home console version of its arcade hardware, bringing its arcade library into living rooms. The hardware was far closer to the arcade experience than what most consoles offered at the time. But the console was expensive and niche, and the price made the Neo Geo more of a premium enthusiast console than a mainstream one. Now that a modern version of the hit 90s console is on the way, the company is clearly not looking to repeat that mistake.

The NeoGeo AES+ keeps the original design while adding modern features, including low-latency HDMI output, 1080p output, on-system DIP switches for language selection, overclocking support, display mode selection, and permanent high-score saves via a separate memory card. AV input ports are also included for those who want to pair it with a CRT TV and chase that 90s vibe.

The latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build is definitely noteworthy for PC gamers, as it expands "Xbox mode" to cover all Windows 11 PCs. This includes desktops, laptops, and tablets, with the Xbox full-screen interface and experience designed to offer a streamlined console-like experience similar to an Xbox console, without all of the background tasks and features of the operating system getting in the way.

This mode debuted last year with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds from Microsoft and ASUS, and is widely viewed as the first step toward offering a fully featured Windows 11 'Xbox Edition' operating system for the upcoming Project Helix console. In its current form, it's more like a Steam Big Picture mode than an alternate version of the main Windows OS; however, there is an option to boot straight into this new Xbox mode on startup.

This is handy not only for the upcoming Project Helix console, but for those building or using a Windows-based PC connected to a TV or display as a pure gaming device. The Xbox App allows you to link and connect your Steam account, too, so you're not limited to the Xbox PC library or PC Game Pass titles.

Capcom launches an interesting new stylized virtual storefront to sell PC versions of its games.

When Capcom launched Capcom Town, a colorful, pixelated digital cityscape meant to be an interactive way to celebrate its 40th anniversary, I kept thinking "I hope this sticks around." Stuck around it has, and now Capcom Town has a fully-fledged storefront where fans can buy games directly from the Japanese publisher.

The so-called Capcom Town Store currently only sells Steam and GOG versions of PC games, including brand new releases like Pragmata and Resident Evil 9 Requiem. There's always some sort of licensing to work out with these kinds of storefronts, so it's possible that Xbox and/or PlayStation games may not show up as purchasable options on Capcom Town until a later date (if at all).

The Game Pass model has issues, and Microsoft is trying to fix the service...unfortunately, some of these plans may not actually work.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma wants to lower the price of Game Pass. The service is too expensive in the short term, Sharma says, and too rigid and inflexible for the long term. She's right; the service's myriad problems have seemingly compounded over time, facilitating the knee-jerk price hike response, what appears to be a dead-end for the service. Regardless of how much value is offered, if Game Pass gets too expensive, people will simply stop paying.

New reports say that Microsoft could introduce a lower-cost Game Pass tier that only has first-party games. A dataminer believes they have uncovered evidence of this tier, which could be codenamed Triton, named after the Greek god of the sea (possibly purely coincidental). It's a great bet for gamers, but for Microsoft, this tier won't actually do much to solve the subscription's biggest issue: Immediate frontline devaluation of video game software.

Nintendo's latest release is expected to significantly elevate game sales as investors eye a Pokopia-like success streak for the new cross-generational Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.

Based on strong initial demand and excited buzz among fans, it appears that Nintendo investors may have identified the company's next big hit and are rallying behind the firm's stock in response.

Nintendo's shares saw a notable uptick on the Japanese Stock Exchange following the launch of new multi-gen Switch game Tomodachi Life, as stock value increased by 3.5% to 8,615 yen per share throughout the day. Japanese games analyst Dr. Serkan Toto notes that this jump is likely the result of the launch of the popular title.

Pearl Abyss stock has taken a hit, dropping over 6% in the last 5 days despite a major sales milestone announcement from the company.

Crimson Desert, the first-ever AAA singleplayer game from the South Korean live service gurus at Pearl Abyss, is doing quite well insofar as full game sales. The open world action RPG mash-up has accumulated a whopping 5 million sales to consumers in less than a month, solidifying Crimson Desert as not only a substantial best-seller during the lackadaisical Q1 calendar period, but also one of the most popular games of the year.

Investors seem to be unimpressed with the achievement, with the company's stock dropping -3.39% since the announcement, and it's possible that shareholders were expecting more from Crimson Desert's sales. Indeed, this isn't the only game that Pearl Abyss is releasing and maintaining, but it's currently the highest profile and most immediate title from the group.

Overwatch 2's long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 debut hasn't exactly gone to plan, as fans have spoken out about performance issues on Nintendo's latest console, sparking a response from Blizzard.

Fans had been eagerly anticipating a smoother, more capable version of the free-to-play shooter on Nintendo's next-gen handheld, but the launch has been met with noticeable performance issues. Reports of unstable frame rates and general lack of polish have quickly spread across the community, dampening what should have been a strong platform arrival for the hero shooter.

Overwatch director Aaron Keller has now addressed the situation, confirming the team is actively working on improvements. In a recent post, Keller said, "We're working on it and hope to have a fix out in the next few days," indicating a rapid response from Blizzard.