Gaming - Page 518

Spider-Man Miles Morales can load in less than 10 seconds on the PlayStation 5's SSD, compared to over 31 seconds on the PS4.

The PS5's new PCIe 4.0 SSD is a big leap for console gaming. Faster load times are the biggest revolution for consoles, and there's really no going back once you play games from the SSD. The PS5's drive is able to transfer data at up to 5.5GB/sec, over 100x faster than traditional 5400RPM HDDs in the PS4. The 12-channel SSD can load games much, much faster than console HDDs.

Read Also: Understanding the PS5's SSD: A deep dive into next-gen storage tech

A new software update for the DualSense is now available, but it won't fix analog stick drifting.

DualSense stick drift may not be as widespread as Nintendo's controversial JoyCon drift, but it's still present. We've found out the hard way. Our pack-in DualSense controller started to significantly drift just days ago, making games unplayable. The only thing it's good for now is navigating menus.

Sadly, it appears firmware updates won't fix this issue (at least for us). Today Sony released a new DualSense patch that updates the controller to v0210. This didn't alleviate our issue. It appears the drifting is a hardware fault and can't be remedied by software updates, which makes sense considering the DualSense uses the same exact same drift-prone analog sticks as the DualShock 4.

Spider-Man Miles Morales now has an optional 60FPS ray tracing performance mode on PS5 that enhances ray-traced reflections while maintaining buttery-smooth frame rates.

The new Spider-Man Miles Morales update clocks in at 261.9MB and brings a Performance RT mode, offering ray-traced 60FPS gameplay. RT with 60FPS is a pretty big deal for consoles, but Miles Morales runs at a lower resolution with this mode on. We're not exactly sure what resolution the game can hit with the perf setting enabled.

The mode does also seem to significantly lower the pedestrian density in Manhattan. Our tests show a markedly reduced AI character count while re-loading the game in Performance RT. The mode's description warns this will happen though: "This is an alternate version of the 60 frames per second "Performance" mode, adding ray-tracing by adjusting the screen resolution, reflection quality, and pedestrian density."

Sony just released the third major firmware update for the PlayStation 5 since launch, fixing Wi-Fi connectivity and game download issues.

The new PS5 firmware patch updates the console to v20.02-2.30.00.05-00.00.00.0.1 and squashes a few bugs. The update doesn't bring many big fixes outside of Wi-Fi support and specific use-case downloads, and it's not as dramatic as the second update which outright fixed random game deletion and USB DualSense charging. There's still no way to back up PS5 game saves outside of PS Plus, and M.2 SSD expansion is still unsupported (this won't be available until 2021).

The main fixes include Wi-Fi connectivity with specific routers, text input when playing PS4 games via backward compatibility, a bug that cancelled game downloads when transferring PS4 data to the PS5 (a nifty startup feature that saves you time), and general system stability.

Cyberpunk 2077 news is everywhere right now with the game launching on December 10, and now news is surfacing that Tesla Motors and SpaceX boss Elon Musk is in Cyberpunk 2077.

It was November 22, 2019 when Musk tweeted "See ya in 2077" with a wink emoticon, setting people into a flurry -- but now the game is here and an Elon Musk-like NPC has been spotted in a bathroom inside of the game. CDPR and Musk were tweeting each other last year, with CDPR saying "we had a done deal, Elon" to which he replied: "See ya in 2077".

You be the judge -- is this Elon?

Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be filled seizure-triggering moments, with Game Informer writer Liana Ruppert writing a piece titled Cyberpunk 2077 Epileptic PSA -- where she suffered a major seizure playing the game.

Ruppert played through Cyberpunk 2077 and suffered "one major seizure" and then "felt several moments where I was close to another one" but decided to push on, so that she could put together a small guide for players who want to play Cyberpunk 2077 -- and don't want to miss out because they know it will trigger a seizure.

It seems the big problem with seizures while playing Cyberpunk 2077 are the Braindances, which are a feature of the game that lets players use Braindances to access another person's memories. Ruppert writes that "pretty much everything about this is a trigger and this is something that caused me to have a grand mal seizure when playing to help with our review. This is also a trigger on many levels, starting with the device itself".

Yeah Cyberpunk 2077 is the new Crysis, and maybe even worse -- as NVIDIA has just published some official benchmark numbers that will make your eyes water.

Not even the flagship GeForce RTX 3090 which starts at $1499 can handle 4K 30FPS out of the box with the RTX 3090 hitting just 22FPS average (ray tracing + Ultra graphics) and not even 4K 60FPS with DLSS on "Performance Mode" for Cyberpunk 2077. This is with all of the ray tracing bells and whistles on, with the GeForce RTX 3080 at just 15.5FPS average and 51.8FPS average with DLSS enabled.

NVIDIA's previous-gen Turing-based flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti hits just 13.4FPS average in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K, while enabling DLSS pushes the frame rate up to 38FPS average -- much further away from the new Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards.

First there was cross-saves. Now Bungie is finally bringing cross-play to Destiny 2, but we don't know exactly when.

In a recent dev update, Bungie confirms cross-play is coming to Destiny 2 sometime in 2021. There's no exact timeframe for the new feature, but it'll be part of 2021's slate of updates that also includes the Vault of Glass raid, new strikes, and more.

Hopefully we won't have to wait until Destiny 2's big new Witch Queen expansion before cross-play rolls out.

World of Warcraft Shadowlands is now the fastest-selling PC game in the history of the video games industry, Blizzard today confirmed.

Activision-Blizzard is on a roll. First Call of Duty broke $3 billion in revenues in 2020, and now Shadowlands is breaking sales records. Shadowlands sold more than 3.7 million copies in a single day's time, breaking Diablo III's previous record of 3.5 million.

WoW playtime is also up to new all-time highs: Gamers have spent more time playing the game in 2020 than any previous year in the last 10 years. Paid monthly and yearly subscriptions have also skyrocketed to 10-year highs in both the West and East regions. These engagement metrics are what Activision cares about most, especially with its monetization-driven live games.

Today CD Projekt RED released a Cyberpunk 2077 launch trailer that brings lots of feels.

Cyberpunk 2077 conjures up images of high-tech cities with flying cars, characters walking around with sci-fi cybernetics, gritty crime, and glowing neon-lit rain straight out of Blade Runner. One thing I don't think about is emotional feels. This is a big part of CDPR's new RPG, and rightly so given the developer's storytelling prowess (remember the Baron's quest from Witcher 3?).

The new Cyberpunk 2077 release trailer highlights these kinds of emotional events and the characters that drive them. We get to see a kind of dystopian hero's journey as V., the mercenary anti-hero, is called upon to change the world of Night City. Armed with a cast of supporting characters, a dead rockstar who haunts your mind like Cortana does to Master Chief, and your own brains and brawn, players have to carve their legacy through the futuristic streets and forge their own story--whether it's through blood, mayhem, or good deeds.

According to a new report from the ESA, the video games market generated $90 billion in revenues in the United States in 2019 and contributed roughly 0.41% of the country's total GDP.

The ESA's new Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Impact Report is jam-packed with interesting tidbits of info. The report focuses on video game trends in the United States, and confirms metrics like total earnings, number of workers/employees/developers.

The economic brief says video games made over $90 billion in the U.S., coupled with over $12 billion in tax revenues (companies like Activision-Blizzard and EA are adept at minimizing taxes, though). The report also says there's over 11,000 game development/publisher establishments in the United States, and most of the games jobs are in California (25,000+ as per geographical data from TEConomy).

Cyberpunk 2077 reviews are out and they're a bit hit-and-miss so far -- some claiming it is amazing, but it is filled with a bunch of bugs, the story line isn't up to scratch, the first-person mechanics are clunky, and so much more.

CD PROJEKT RED has one of the most visually-striking games of 2020, filled with NVIDIA RTX graphics technologies, and so much more with Cyberpunk 2077. You will need a GeForce RTX 3090 for anything near 4K 60FPS but I will be doing a myriad of testing (right up to 8K and UltraWide 21:9 monitors) once Cyberpunk 2077 drops.

Cyberpunk 2077 is nearly here and now we have an early look, but this is nowhere near final, at the performance of CD PROJEKT RED's new masterpiece if early reviews are anything to go by.

NVIDIA technologies are throughout Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing and DLSS at launch, while support for AMD FidelityFX Super-Resolution for RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6000 series in the future. Tom's Hardware has benchmarked an early release of Cyberpunk 2077 -- which is an early version of the code, as explained by GamersNexus:

So the DRM on Cyberpunk 2077 for reviewers is specific and GamersNexus says is "known to reduce performance". This will "not be active on launch day, therefore any testing published today will not accurately reflect launch performance. CDPR warned us of this, so we are waiting for launch day".

A bit ago Sony said it "believed in generations." That belief isn't strong enough to completely wipe out the PS4--at least not yet.

Sony execs have said a lot of somewhat-contradictory things about PlayStation. Back in 2017, then-PlayStation boss Shawn Layden hinted the PS5 would be a true next-gen leap. Then more recently in May, PS boss Jim Ryan said Sony "believes in generations." In July 2020, Sony's Eric Lempel said "next-gen experiences require next-gen hardware".

Despite these comments, Sony isn't ready to give up on the PS4. In fact, Sony will support the PS4 will new game releases until 2023. That means some new first-party games will release both on PS4 and PS5, including Spider-Man Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West.

Sony continues grabbing timed exclusivity for Square Enix RPGs. First it was Final Fantasy VII, now it's a new action IP.

Sony's new PS5 games trailer confirmed some interesting news. Gran Turismo 7 will be exclusive to PS5, and Sony has paid for a huge 2-year console exclusivity deal with Project Athia. Square Enix's big new RPG won't be on Xbox for at least two years:

"In development for PS5. Also available on PC. Not available on other consoles until at least 24 months after release date," the trailer says. We already knew Project Athia was PlayStation timed exclusive, but we didn't know for how long. Usually this kind of marketing deal lasts for 6 months to 1 year, not 2 years.

Master Chief motion capture actor Bruce Thomas says Halo: Infinite will launch in Spring 2021. Could it get delayed again?

Halo: Infinite might be in rough shape right now. Infinite's recent gameplay footage received lots of criticism, and 343i is having to optimize on five separate Xbox consoles with varying power. There's also PC to optimize for, too. It's no surprise Infinite was delayed indefinitely--343i needs all the time they can get.

According to Bruce Thomas, who's played Master Chief in Halo 4, Halo 5, and Halo: Infinite, the game's mocap is wrapped up and a release could happen in Spring 2021. "I started Halo 4, did Halo 5 as well, and we have wrapped up Infinite--I believe, unless we're going to try and do some more as COVID comes to a halt. But as far as I know it's in the can and ready to go for next spring."

A new PS5 ad reiterates Gran Turismo 7's next-gen exclusivity, confirming the game won't be coming to PS4.

Although Sony will support the PS4 until 2023 with simultaneous cross-gen releases, the PS5 will still get exclusive titles. According to a new game teaser, Gran Turismo 7 will be one such exclusive. The racing game will only be available on PS5 in 2021, and won't release on PS4.

PS5 exclusivity for this game makes a lot of sense on Sony's part. Gran Turismo 7 was billed as a next-gen spectacle that leverages the full might of the PlayStation 5, including 4K 60FPS performance and ray-traced visuals. The idea is to let Polyphony flex the PS5's horsepower without having to also build a game for the vastly-outdated PS4.

After 7 years of waiting, Cyberpunk 2077 is almost here. Be sure to pre-load the game now so you can jump right in when it launches.

Pre-loads for Cyberpunk 2077 are now live on GOG.com at the time of writing, but will also be available later today on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Remember you're only pre-loading and can't actually play the game until CDPR flicks the switch. Some console players got their copies early and are releasing lots of spoilers so keep an eye out.

Cyberpunk 2077 requires at least 70GB of install space on PC, and there's probably a hefty day-one patch and optional texture downloads for gamers with high-end RTX 3000 series cards. Check below for a map of game launch time zones and PC spec requirements.

After The Last of Us Part II's landmark success, Naughty Dog has promoted Neil Druckmann to co-president.

Neil Druckmann has gained lots of momentum at Naughty Dog in the last 9 years. The dev went from helping design Uncharted to leading The Last of Us' design team, and then was conscripted to help bring Uncharted 4 to life after Amy Hennig left the studio. Druckmann became Naughty Dog's vice-president soon after, and could one day take over the full mantle of president. The studio's fleet of big PlayStation exclusive hits stand as milestones in Druckmann's career.

Right now Druckmann leads Naughty Dog alongside Evan Wells, and Alison Mori (ex-director of operations) and Christian Gyrling (ex-co-director of programming) will take on roles as joint vice presidents. The studio is currently working on the multiplayer component of The last of Us Part II.

CD PROJEKT RED has reminded gamers that if they buy the game from GOG.com then they, the developer, will take 100% of the sales -- versus taking just 70% from other platforms.

In a new tweet the team said that if you purchase Cyberpunk 2077 through GOG.com then they will get all of the sales, which is what a lot of gamers like to support. Other platofrms like Steam, Xbox, PlayStation -- even Google, Apple, and others -- take 30% at times. This means CDPR takes 70% from those platforms, but on GOG.com they get 100%.

Not only that, but if you pre-order Cyberpunk 2077 before December 10 then you will also get a 30% code for official merchandise on the CD PROJEKT RED store. That is a great bonus, and a very nice incentive to buy the game from GOG over other platforms.