Gaming - Page 440

If you haven't heard about War Thunder by now, it's a massively popular free-to-play online tank war game that is one of the most accurate tank-related games ever created... and some people take War Thunder very, very seriously.

So much so, that a French Army tank crewman leaked out a classified military document on the French Leclerc Main Battle Tank and its variants, all to win an argument about tanks in War Thunder. The argument came down to the actual exact speed of the rotation of the turret on the tank.

The argument was over the turret and its rotation speed being 40 degrees per second, so the player started uploading parts of the gunner manual for the Leclerc to prove that they were right. The tank crewman leaked out portions of the manual to the War Thunder forums, before a mod removed it and explained: "Guys its not funnny [sic] to leak classified Documents of modern equipment you put the lives of many on stake who work daily with the Vehicles! Keep in Mind that those documents will be deleted immediately alongside sanctions. Thanks for reading!"

Diablo IV gets a new game director following the departure of Luis Barriga in August.

Blizzard is slowly recovering from big culture shocks that have led to multiple talent leaving the studio (the company is facing four high-profile legal battles centered around discrimination, sexual harassments, and possible securities fraud).

Diablo IV's dev team in particular was hit hard with the departure of former game director Luis Barriga and game designer Jesse McCree. Now the company has announced a new director for Diablo IV that has been with the company for nearly two decades.

Resident Evil 7 has sold-in over 10 million copies worldwide, Capcom today announced, making it one of the company's best-selling games of all time.

RE7 is doing exceptionally well for a four year-old game. The title has shipped over 10 million copies since 2017, making it the second best-selling Resident Evil game ever and the best-performing single-generation game in the franchise (RE7 is second only to RE5 which has sold-in a combined 10.2 million units across PS3 and PS4 eras).

Previous Q1 numbers had RE7's sales at 9.8 million, so a bit of math reveals the game has sold over 200,000 copies since June 30th to the present. Capcom should update its Platinum Titles sales list when it reveals its Q2'21 earnings figures.

It's official: Rockstar Games will release a remastered GTA trilogy bundle sometime soon.

After multiple leaks, Rockstar games today announced the GTA Definitive Edition collection. The new edition bundles remastered versions of GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas together in one package across modern platforms including PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Rockstar says the bundle will have visual upgrades on consoles and PC, confirming the Definitive Edition "will feature across-the-board upgrades including graphical improvements and modern gameplay enhancements for all three titles, while still maintaining the classic look and feel of the originals." This won't be a re-release of the mobile versions offered previously, and Rockstar will de-list the existing versions of these games.

Ubisoft is making a never-ending Assassin's Creed game codenamed Infinity. Now it could be applying the same formula to the Far Cry franchise.

Far Cry 7 could be an online game with stronger emphasis on continued play, sources tell Axios Games' Stephen Totilo. Far Cry has traditionally been a singleplayer-driven experience with supplemental multiplayer content, ranging from competitive PVP to co-op.

A change could be in order with online multiplayer becoming the core of the game, marking a radical shift in the series. Not much is known about Ubisoft's potential plans but nothing has been set in stone yet.

Bethesda's new Starfield space odyssey could be yet another 100GB+ game.

In a recent Tokyo Game Show 2021 stream, Bethesda's Todd Howard confirmed Starfield will have over150,000 lines of dialog. That's almost as much as Fallout 4 (110,000 lines) and Skyrim (60,000 lines) combined. Considering we know voice-over and recorded dialog data takes up most of any game's install size, Starfield could end up being a huge game that squeezes even more space out of your Xbox Series X's limited SSD availability.

Also remember Starfield is being built on the new Creation Engine 2, complete with high-end textures, environments, and other effects--all of which require serious storage space. Back in 2019, Bethesda confirmed they're using ultra-detailed photogrammetry textures based on captures from real-life locations.

Far Cry 6 runs at a slightly higher maximum resolution on Xbox Series X than it does on PlayStation 5, but both consoles still use dynamic resolution scaling.

Far Cry 6 looks pretty good on PS5--although it should thanks to its huge 26GB+ HD Texture Pack--but apparently the game might look even better on Xbox Series X. According to findings from VG Tech, Far Cry 6 on the Series X can actually hit 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160p. Since the game is dynamically scaled in order to maintain 60FPS on both systems there's also a low point of 3072 x 1728 resolution on the Series X, which is still pretty good.

The numbers aren't that much different on PlayStation 5. The console pushes a comparatively lower max resolution of 3392 x 1908 and a minimum resolution of 2944 x 1656. The numbers show the PS5's resolution targets are roughly 12% lower than those on Xbox Series X. So if you have both consoles you might want to just pick the Xbox Series X version (of course the game looks best on PC, especially with higher-end cards).

Gearbox corporate shifts leadership as the multi-pronged company plans to expand farther into publishing, games development, and transmedia production.

Gearbox is gearing up for big new things. Following its acquisition by Embracer--and a healthy $363 million influx of cash from the buyout--Gearbox is expanding and is changing leadership as a result.

Randy Pitchford is now handing off software development oversight to Gearbox veteran Steve Jones, who will now lead Gearbox Software, the company's games development branch. Pitchford will stay as Gearbox Entertainment's CEO and president, and is also overseeing Gearbox Studios, the branch responsible for transmedia like the Borderlands film.

Electronic Arts has expressed interest in possibly going rogue with its soccer/football simulation games.

FIFA is EA's biggest cash crop--at least in terms of revenues. FIFA's Ultimate Team earnings generated hundreds of millions a year (Ultimate Team made $1.632 billion in FY21, for example), and EA has sold over 9.1 million copies of FIFA 22. These are revenues before licensing, royalties and expenses are paid out to organizations like FIFA. There's a lot of money potentially left on the table for EA.

Now EA says they might not renew their licensing contract with FIFA. It's possible the next soccer/football game from EA won't be a FIFA title.

The PS3 and PS Vita digital storefronts will no longer accept direct purchases starting October 27, Sony has announced.

On October 27, Sony plans to cut direct purchasing options from the PS Vita and PS3 systems. That means gamers who access the PlayStation Store on the PS3 and PS Vita will no longer be able to buy games and content using attached credit cards or PayPal accounts. This also includes adding funds to your virtual wallet from these platforms.

Sony was careful to say that gamers can still load up their PlayStation Account wallets from desktop, mobile, PS4, or PS5 consoles. This wallet is shared across all platforms and the funds can be used to buy games across the full spectrum of PlayStation products including the PS3 and PS Vita.

Xbox Series X/S storage expansion is currently locked to one proprietary card, but this $30 adapter might be the ticket to adding more storage for a lower cost.

The Series X/S consoles only have 802GB of usable storage, and the only way to add more is to buy an expensive $219 1TB Seagate expansion card. While that cost isn't a whole lot for Gen4 SSDs, it's kind of high for a Gen4 x2 drive (1TB PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 drives used in the PS5 expansion bay, for example, are often cheaper than the Xbox Series X's card but can offer higher speeds).

This $30 DIY CFExpress adapter might let you cut a few corners and use a cheaper M.2 drive in your next-gen Xbox.

PS5 internal storage is premium real estate. If you've ever had to manage your PS5's storage space--since it's only 667GB, I'm sure you have--you'll probably have noticed the Other section. This is a maddening part of the SSD that can't be directly deleted or accessed. So far as I can tell no one knows exactly how this works.

Sony offers a cryptic explanation:

"This storage space is reserved for system data needed for games and apps to work properly. The amount of space reserved depends on how your console is being used."

Game install sizes are getting out of hand. Here's why they're so big.

With multiple high-profile games like Black Ops Cold War, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and now Far Cry 6 commanding 100GB installs, M.2 expansion storage on the PS5 is no long negotiable. The console's 667GB internal SSD fills up fast. The sizes are just obnoxious even with the PS5's compression tech, which can substantially shrink data down to manageable chunks. So why are games so big?

I've become very acquainted with the PS5's storage management screen lately. I'm currently testing multiple M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs in transfer rates and loading speeds, which involves lots of migration of data back and forth. While browsing the screens I noticed that some PS5 games break down the installed data and tell you what's included. Apparently it's not the actual games that are huge, but the staggering amount of data for voice-overs and dialog.

Far Cry 6 is finally here and now gaming chair company noblechairs have revealed their exclusive HERO Gaming Chair - Far Cry 6 Edition.

The new noblechairs Far Cry 6 Special Edition gaming chair has a very unique look and style, designed around FC6 hero D. Rojas. On the back you've got the number 6 and "D. Rojas" that represents the baseball jersey of who you play in the game.

We have vegan-friendly PU leather, which is totally a thing (vegan-friendly PU leather). There's also some built-in lumbar support, and a memory foam headrest that should see you having a more comfortable gaming experience over many hours of sitting. The awesome gorilla artwork on the backrest looks fantastic, I only wish those eyes were glowing.

If you have $352,770 burning a hole in your pocket, I know how you can spend that money: buying a super limited edition PlayStation 5 Gold Prime Edition console.

Caviar is back again with the new PlayStation 5 Gold Prime Edition console, with gold plates, a beautiful pattern that reminds me of the Superman suit from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. Caviar explains the PlayStation 5 Gold Prime Edition: "It is the best and most exclusive series ever produced by Caviar".

There are only 5 of these limited edition consoles being made, so at least you know if you spend $350,000+ on a gold-plated PlayStation 5 that no one you know will have one. Not only is the PS5 console itself beautifully styled, but the DualSense controller has also been tweaked. There's some beautiful gold-plated thumbstick, and that wicked pattern on the PS5 is spread across the DualSense controller.

Following new leaks and datamined info, Rockstar should reveal the GTA trilogy remaster collection soon.

A Grand Theft Auto Definitive Edition is coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch sometime in November, sources say. The collection was recently rated by the Korea games rating board, and packs remastered versions of GTA III, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas in a single bundle. Now courtesy of the GTA Forums we have our first look at leaked logos from the remaster.

Rockstar also put clues in its proprietary games launcher. Rockstar community member VideoTech found new strings in the Rockstar Launcher that directly mentioned GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas with "Unreal" attached to them, so it's possible the games have been remastered and touched up with UE4 or even UE5 on newer console hardware.

One YouTuber makes a leaning tower of broken PlayStation 4's to show gamers how useless video games hardware can stack up when the tools to repair them don't exist.

YouTuber TronixFix has stacked up 42 malfunctioning PS4s on top of one another in an effort to visually demonstrate the importance of right-to-repair laws (and to potentially set a new world record). The idea is to show how useless and broken technology can literally pile up when consumers don't have replacement parts to fix them. It's kind of a protest in favor of right-to-repair legislation in the United States, which has been opposed by consumer technology firms.

Right now it is technically legal to fix consumer tech, but companies like Sony do not make the tools or replacement parts widely available. So while you have the freedom to open up your consoles, Sony will not sell you the parts to repair your systems--instead they charge a fee to fix hardware that's out of warranty, and often also charge shipping fees to transport broken hardware to and from their facilities.

The PlayStation 5's development goes way back and Sony starting working on the next-gen console shortly after the PS4 shipped in 2013.

The PS5 may have been in development for about 7 years (from 2013 - 2020). That's according ex-Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Shawn Layden, who gave new insight into Sony's always-evolving console generation strategy. According to Layden, work on the PS5 began almost immediately after the PS4 released. This aligns with earlier reports from Microsoft, who said the Xbox Series X/S's NVMe SSD technology and architecture was 13 years in the making. It's likely Sony was making similar plans behind closed doors.

In a recent podcast with What's Up PlayStation, Layden revealed Sony's internal mantra for product development.

With its new free-to-play business plan, Ubisoft is taking on some of gaming's biggest billion-dollar earners. Can the French games-maker differentiate itself enough to win over players?

Ubisoft's F2P plan is taking shape. Like competitors Activision-Blizzard, Take-Two, and Electronic Arts, Ubisoft sees the free-to-play market as a way to expand reach of its biggest franchises while monetizing over time. The idea is to diversify IPs with standalone and accessible experiences that can generate long-term revenues via microtransactions. The low-friction, wide availability of F2P means anyone can play, and in-game purchases off potential supplemental earnings to Ubisoft's core premium titles.

So far the French publisher has four major F2P projects based on best-selling franchises:

Ubisoft announces Ghost Recon Frontline, a new free-to-play squad-based multiplayer shooter while celebrating 20 years of the Ghost Recon franchise.

Ghost Recon Frontline is a new free-to-play battle royale FPS with huge 100+ player multiplayer, complete with 3-player squads and multiple classes. Gameplay emphasizes tactical action where players adapt and conquer based on weapon usage, skill, and map advantage.

Frontline is a "new take on the franchise" and the game's main mode, Expedition, features over 100 players and is set in the huge Drakemoor island--basically Warzone's Verdansk--that features tons of biomes, weapons, and even dynamic weather and time-of-day systems.