Gaming - Page 445

343i is slowing down support for Halo Master Chief Collection ahead of Halo Infinite's launch.

Halo MCC's new Season 8 update will be the last big update of 2021, and will be the end of the game's seasonal release cadence. 343i says they will no longer release big updates in a seasonal format and instead launch new content and features when they're ready. This will fee the studio up to focus on Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer which will take precedence over everything else (thanks in part to in-game microtransactions).

"Starting next year, we're targeting pivoting away from our current seasonal model and cadence to instead focus on smaller MCC updates that can land when they're ready based on development status and studio roadmap alignment," Postums said in a new Halo Waypoint update.

Now that the PlayStation 5 supports PC-grade expandable storage, gamers are looking to buy high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs to supercharge their next-gen gaming experiences. With blazing speeds also comes potential for higher temps and a proper heat sink is incredibly important for any internal storage--especially NVMe drives in compact gaming consoles.

If you're a PS5 owner looking to pop in an extra SSD, Be quiet!'s MC1 cooler should be on your radar. The MC1 fits right into the PS5's expansion bay and is a great fit for both single- and dual-sided high-performance drives without heat sinks like the Samsung 980 Pro or Crucial's P5 Plus.

ASUS launched its ROG gaming furniture earlier this year, but now it is being deployed in the US through IKEA both in-store, and online next month.

The new ASUS ROG gaming furniture includes gaming chairs, gaming desks, cabinets, drawers, ring lights, phone holders, mouse pads, a mouse bungee, an insulated tumbler, a multifunctional blanket (so awesome), a neck pillow, cup holder, and even a wooden arm headphone stand.

That's a pretty extensive ASUS ROG setup there.

Call of Duty: Vanguard will limp onto the market in November, but there is some beta lovin' that people who pre-ordered the game can enjoy now -- meaning we have more information on Vanguard.

It looks like developer Sledgehammer Games will have support for AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology in Call of Duty: Vanguard, which will support both AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its super-popular (and hacker-filled) Warzone have DLSS support.

FSR support in Call of Duty: Vanguard was spotted in the game files, but you can't just enable it in the menu right now -- I'm sure it'll have full support by its launch on November 5, 2021. Interesting that Sledgehammer isn't tapping DLSS, as it was used to great effect in Warzone and helps drag those frames up to 120FPS in a big way at 4K.

Gamers speculate that Quantic Dream could be making a narrative-driven Star Wars game.

Quantic Dream, the studio behind ultra-realistic graphics and story-driven games like Detroit Become Human and Beyond Two Souls, could be developing a Star Wars game. The news comes via a Tweet from reliable Battlefield and Call of Duty leaker Tom Henderson. While Henderson didn't outright say QD's next game is Star Wars related, he did put out an image that led lots of people to believe that's the case.

This rumor comes at an interesting time for Quantic Dream. David Cage's studio recently confirmed it wanted to self-publish its own games. Lucasfilm Games could license the Star Wars property to Quantic Dream similar to its plans with EA and Ubisoft. QD says its latest move is to "preserve our freedom and our independence, to continue working on innovative and even more ambitious projects, to address greater challenges, and to create the unexpected."

Diablo II Resurrected will be limited to 4 players on Switch, and it should take extra time to level up as a result.

Diablo II is an extremely grindy game that demands lots of time. The game's RNG magic find roulette is one of the most time-consuming in all of gaming and requires gamers to do hundreds--if not thousands--of MF runs across Pindle, Ancient Tombs, Mephisto, etc. Just look at any of Dbrunski 125's Human Bot projects and you'll see how little amount of high-end loot comes from thousands of runs.

This is a big reason why I've warned gamers to avoid playing Diablo II Resurrected on consoles and stick to PC whenever possible. The grind will be extra intense for these users for a few specific reasons, including trading, which is apparently awkward on consoles (the entire reason to MF is to get gear that you can use or trade for better gear), and teaming up with other users to level up. Consoles don't have lobby systems to find/make games and must instead depend on a Party Finder, which is essentially a matchmaking tool that sets you up with random players.

Sony's new PlayStation 4 firmware update is reportedly hardware-bricking PS4 consoles.

Sony just released PS4's new v9.0 update alongside the PS5's big SSD expansion update, and some users are reporting that the firmware patch is hard-bricking their PS4 consoles. Multiple users on Reddit report that their base PS4s and PS4 Pros have stopped functioning after downloading the v9.0 update. Others report the PS4 is blinking blue, which signifies some sort of hardware or OS error. Reports say the consoles will not power on and do not work, however some users have gotten their systems to operate with a hard reset (unplugging the console for a minute or so and then rebooting).

Other users are reporting significant slowdowns on PS4 and PS4 Pro hardware, or consistent 35888 error codes (or SU-42118) preventing the update from being installed. The general consensus for a solution is trying to reinstall the update after a hard reset and praying for the best. The most frustrating part is that gamers can't use their PS4s or PS4 Pros online without downloading the update; Sony forces users to update to the latest firmware in order to connect to the internet or the PlayStation Store.

This fan-made Halo Infinite trailer really captures the original spirit of Halo's old-school marketing campaigns.

Halo's advertisements have changed over the years. Back in the day, the ads invoked a certain sense of fragility and sci-fi wonder that tapped into the heart of the Halo franchise; the Halo 3 Believe ads, for example, showed an epic war where humans were completely overrun. Halo Reach's Discover Hope showed the ultimate sacrifice, and the ODST ads exposed the brutality of the Human-Covenant War.

But where is Halo Infinite's marketing campaign? So far it's been kind of MIA and we haven't seen any real epic ads--at least not any live action ones. We've had two great campaign trailers but nothing in the vein of the old ads. YouTuber Infinite Forges steps in to bridge that gap a bit with a simple but effective fan-made marketing trailer that brings that old-school spirit.

A new batch of supposed leaked Halo Infinite images shows a high-res upgrade for Craig.

Despite intense controversy, something good came out of Halo Infinite's 2020 gameplay demo: Craig the brute. What started out as a meme making fun of Infinite quickly became one of the most recognizable Halo icons, and 343i confirms the lovable brute would bel be immortalized in Halo Infinite. Now we have our first glimpse into what Craig could look like in the final game.

A few new leaked Infinite images show snaps of high-res brutes from Halo Infinite, and one of them looks similar to Craig. This time around it looks like the Jiralhanae has grown a fashionable goatee and sports Kratos-like warpaint.

It's been eight years since Grand Theft Auto V has released, and to celebrate let's take a look at some of the milestones the game has made.

Right now fans aren't too happy about GTA V. The game is 8 years old today and will soon span three generations of console hardware (for comparison's sake, Rockstar released three separate Grand Theft Auto games on the PS2). Fans have expressed their frustrations by disliking the recent GTA V E&E PS5 trailer en masse--right now the trailer has 184,000 dislikes on YouTube.

Still, GTA V is a thundering success for both Rockstar Games and Take-Two. Since its release in 2013, the sequel has helped the franchise generate an incredible $6.4 billion in revenues across 150 million game shipments worldwide. GTA V is so big that it makes up 43% of total Grand Theft Auto franchise sales (325 million). Fun fact: Grand Theft Auto earned nearly $1.5 billion in sales revenue when GTA V released in Take Two's Q3 FY14 period (September 17, 2013).

WB Games has hired ex-Sony Santa Monica product director David Hewitt to lead Monolith Productions.

The reports seem to be true: WB Games has no plans to sell off big stars like Monolith Productions. Today the publisher appointed David Hewitt as head of studio and vice president of Monlith. Hewitt lead product development at God of War Studio Sony Santa Monica and helped manage, create, and ship one of the most pivotal PlayStation 4 games on the market.

Monolith's next game is a bit hazy. Job listings say it'll be developed on an in-house engine for next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X hardware.

Looking for high-end speeds to boost your PS5's storage? Crucial's P5 Plus SSD should be at the top of your list.

Sony just activated the PlayStation 5's SSD expansion slot and gamers can now expand their storage with premium PC-grade PCIe 4.0 SSDs. But which SSD should you buy? Crucial's P5 Plus SSD fits into the PlayStation 5's expansion bay and is fully compatible with all of Sony's required specs, bringing blistering-fast 6.6GB/sec speeds over PCIe Gen4 x4 with high-end 176-layer Micron 3D flash memory.

In our official review the Crucial P5 Plus 1TB M.2 2280 SSD received a TweakTown Elite rating and is recommended for use in the PS5 due to its high performance and single-sided design (the P5 Plus does not come with a heat sink, however the single-sided design is good for installing your own--make sure you use thermal padding!):

UPDATE: Gearbox is also making a Duke Nukem film, and it's possible Randy Pitchford was talking about this movie and not a new game.

Gearbox Software is developing a new game in the fan-favorite Duke Nukem franchise.

In a recent Embracer Group investor's meeting, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford confirms that Gearbox has "great projects in development" in its franchises, which includes Duke Nukem.

Nintendo could be making a N64 or a special Game Boy controller for the Nintendo Switch, new FCC filings suggest.

FCC documents for a new mysterious Nintendo controller have been spotted by Vooks.net. The controller model HAC-043 doesn't correspond with any known Switch hardware or peripheral and gamers speculate it could be for a Nintendo 64 controller. The Switch family of devices and peripherals uses the HAC designation.

It's also possible the new Switch controller has something to do with Nintendo's plans to roll out Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to the Nintendo Switch Online service. The documents confirm the device will be wireless and connect to the Switch via Bluetooth, and that it has a recharging lithium ion battery.

Seagate may bring a cheaper 500GB Xbox Series SSD expansion card to the market in November.

It's been nearly one year since the Xbox Series X/S consoles released, and there's still only one way to boost high-speed PCIe 4.0 SSD storage for next-gen games: The expansive $219 1TB Seagate expansion card, which is 73% of an Xbox Series S' price tag. Sony's PS5, on the other hand, will support a wide range of third-party SSDs.

Now it looks like Seagate and Microsoft will offer a 500GB SSD expansion card for $155. French games site Xbox Squad recently spotted a listing on Micromania for a 512GB Seagate Xbox SSD expansion card for 155 euros. Now gamers won't have to jerry rig SSDs with PCIe-to-CFExpress converters.

In what feels like something I've wanted since day one, Raven Software has just teased a hardcore version of battle royale with Call of Duty: Warzone changes coming in the form of the new Iron Trials '84 Mode.

Warzone's new Iron Trials '84 mode is still the same battle to the death, last team standing dominance with the circle closing in on you, the same looting system, and the Gulag -- with changes thrown into the mix. The match duration and circle collapse are being teaked, with the round timers decreasing by 12% and the circle collapse speed increasing by 12% which will ramp up the energy of rounds.

Raven said that transportation will be limited in the hardcore version of Warzone, with just ATVs and dirt bikes up for grabs.

Following multiple reports of a Battlefield 2042 delay, DICE makes it official: The game will now release on November 19 on all platforms.

DICE today confirmed Battlefield 2042 will be pushed back a few weeks from its original October 22 launch to November 19. The game is still set to launch in 2021 on current- and next-gen consoles and PC.

"Building the next generation of Battlefield during a global pandemic has created unforeseen challenges for our development teams," DICE said in an announcement.

The new Nintendo Switch OLED model doesn't have any CPU, GPU, or RAM upgrades, but it does have a dock that's capable of receiving firmware updates.

Nintendo recently confirmed the Switch OLED's dock will get firmware updates.

After nearly five years since launch, the Nintendo Switch's latest firmware v13.0.0 update finally adds Bluetooth audio support.

The Nintendo Switch can now link up with wireless Bluetooth headsets, earbuds, and soundbars, Nintendo today confirmed. The console can pair with audio devices and headsets and uses the A2DP profile with the SBC codec, and no microphone input is available. The Switch can sync with up to two controllers when Bluetooth audio is paired but wireless audio is automatically disconnected any time the Switch connects to a local network (e.g. when sharing screenshots to your phone, for instance).

We tried out the new functionality with a pair of cheap QCY headphones bought on Amazon and didn't have any issues. Nintendo warns that certain devices may have latency or delay problems but things went smoothly for us. We haven't tried out any soundbars with this new feature, however. The addition of Bluetooth audio support will help the Switch fit more neatly into a living room and on-the-go environment via earbuds and soundbars alike.

Activision is currently facing two high-priority court cases: One lawsuit for sexual misconduct from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and another class-action lawsuit alleging securities fraud. Now the billion-dollar Call of Duty maker is facing potential charges from labor protection agencies.

The Communications Workers of America AFL-CIO has accused Activision-Blizzard of Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) by violating Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act and has filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. The case (case no. 31-CA-282822) has been assigned to Region 31 of the National Labor Relations Board and is currently ongoing.

The complaint alleges that Activision-Blizzard has "repeatedly engaged in unlawful conduct by threatening employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed by Section 7," which pertains to employee rights. The document goes on to charge Activision, who made a record $8.3 billion in 2020, with threatening employees who talk about topics like wages, working conditions, and other protected concerted activities.