Gaming - Page 526

NVIDIA showed off two of the biggest releases of 2020 with its beautiful RTX graphics enabled, with Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War teased with RTX -- and now Cyberpunk 2077, both of them on the new Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards.

CD PROJEKT RED's upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 will be offering up RTX-enabled ray tracing-enhanced lighting, shadows, reflections, ambient occlusion, and more. It looks absolutely gorgeous when running, but I need to know what hardware can run it at 4K 120FPS with all of the RTX features enabled.

Cyberpunk 2077 with max RTX graphics will surely be the new Crysis, so I wonder if it'll crush that ferocious GeForce RTX 3090 that NVIDIA is pricing at $1499, packing an insane 24GB of super-fast GDDR6X memory. I'm sure we'll see 1440p or 4K 60FPS with the new flagship GeForce RTX 3080, which has 10GB of GDDR6X memory and a price of $699 -- it offers double the performance over the RTX 2080 -- all for $500 less than the RTX 2080 Ti, which it now easily beats.

NVIDIA unveiled its new GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards less than 12 hours ago now, debuting a new trailer and unveiling that Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War has RTX tech attached onto it. Check out the trailer:

The trailer doesn't show us that much at all, other than some fancy real-time ray tracing graphical goodness. I mean, it looks incredible, the lighting effects, shadows, are all on-point here with Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War with RTX on.

Reflections off of glasses, or a clock, or a gun? It looks almost real. But virtually no real-world gameplay shown, other than some Michael Bay-inspired quick cuts. Still, it looks impressive and has me wanting more -- especially as a big fan of Call of Duty: Warzone.

World of Warcraft's new Shadowlands expansion calls for an SSD in its minimum requirements, but apparently it'll still run on hard disk drives too.

New minimum spec requirements for World of Warcraft Shadowlands explicitly call for an SSD, listings on the Battle.net app confirm. This is the first time any major World of Warcraft expansion has called for an SSD and is an interesting move for Blizzard. Right now game developers are starting to target SSD storage in games thanks to new tech like Microsoft's DirectStorage, Sony's built-in PS5 SSD architecture, and the new RTX IO.

The $40 Shadowlands expansion will have tons of content packed into a 100GB package, including the cross-race/-class Death Knight, a new area across the veil to explore, new bosses and items, and more. The expansion is set to release October 26, 2020.

AT&T has abandoned its plans to sell WB Games, sources tell Bloomberg.

WB Games will remain part of AT&T's new WarnerMedia division, sources familiar with the matter say. Early reports suggested AT&T would sell WB Games in a sweeping $4 billion deal, which would include key development studios and licensing rights to DC properties, Harry Potter, and more. Companies like EA, Activision-Blizzard, and Take-Two were previously interested in buying.

The news is welcome for fans who are awaiting big new WB titles, including WB Montreal's new Gotham Knights, Rocksteady's new Suicide Squad live game, and Avalanche's unannounced Harry Potter RPG. Reports originally said AT&T would sell of WB Games in an effort to shave its massive $152 billion debt.

Game devs are starting to weigh in on the PlayStation 5's next-gen 5.5GB/sec SSD tech and how it can revolutionize gaming. But right now devs are mostly focused on speed versus huge gameplay changes.

The PS5's SSD is a massive development that changes everything. But it won't change everything right at launch. Developers still need time to get used to the tech and utilize it in innovative ways. While first-party devs like Insomniac are using the 12-channel PCIe 4.0 SSD to completely revolutionize gameplay in Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart with instantaneous omni-dimensional traversal, other devs are mostly focusing on raw speed.

Sony just interviewed a few devs about the PS5's SSD and the consensus is that the raw hardware speeds will drive initial next-gen experiences. There's no talk about custom data libraries or APIs or I/O architectures, and no discussion of technical info (which is disappointing). Just hype around instant access, elimination of loading times, and how the PS5 can load assets for rendering at 5.5GB/sec.

Microsoft's Xbox Series S gets mentioned yet again from official promotional materials. It's time to announce it already.

Microsoft is working on two next-gen consoles: The beastly, more expensive enthusiast Xbox Series X, and the cheaper, digital-only, entry-level Xbox Series S. The latter hasn't been formally revealed, but it's been leaked a bunch of times. Now it just got leaked again.

First the Series S was mentioned in the new cross-gen Xbox controller that released months early (this controller also revealed the Series X's possible launch date). Now Xbox Series S is also being mentioned in Game Pass slips included with current-gen Xbox One controllers.

It looks like the PlayStation 5 will indeed be launching on November 13 -- at least in the United States and Canada, according to another Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War leak.

The new leak was spotted by Twitter user Riaan van Wyk, which was noticed at the end of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War trailer and reads "PS5 coming Holiday 2020: US and Canada" and adding "PS5 coming late 2020: Rest of the World".

This isn't a solid release -- and hell, the PlayStation 5 might not even come out on November 13 -- it could be a little later -- or it's just the release date of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, but we've heard November 20 (at a price of $499, too) -- and even December.

Sony has developed neural network-based algorithms to power the PS5 DualSense controller's haptics.

Sony is making it very easy for developers to utilize the DualSense controller's advanced haptics. The PlayStation 5 controller features programmable adaptive triggers, which allows devs to do nifty things like locking the triggers when your gun jams or simulate nuanced tactile sensations like pulling a bowstring or driving through mud. A big part of this immersion is how the DualSense can turn sound waveforms into rumble feedback.

To streamline this process for devs, Sony has made a system that uses neural network algorithms to automatically create rumble and vibration effects based on sounds and in-game effects. This gives developers more time to focus on other things like ray tracing optimization.

Sony's next-gen PS5 will not play PS1, PS2, or PS3 game discs, Ubisoft confirms.

A new post on Ubisoft's support page confirms the PlayStation 5's backwards compatibility is exclusive to PS4 game discs. "Backwards compatibility will be available for supported PlayStation 4 titles, but will not be possible for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, or PlayStation games," reads the post. The only way to play these games on PS5 is via PlayStation Now or buying select games on the PS Store. Game discs won't be supported.

This isn't a surprise. The PS5's backwards compatibility feature emulates the PS4 on a logic level, not a chip level, and is only made possible by the x86 architectural links between the PS4 and PS5 era. The PS3 uses the CELL architecture which is tremendously complex. Before the PS5, PlayStation consoles literally had previous generation console SoCs included alongside the new ones; the 20GB PS3, for example, had a built-in PS2 chip. The PS2 likewise had a built-in PS1 chip when it shipped in the 2000s.

Sony's global research and development division plans to showcase the PlayStation 5's ray tracing capabilities in an upcoming presentation.

Sony's R&D tech website teases a ray tracing demo for the PS5. The presentation is called "Ray Tracing - Evolving Visual Expressions for Game Creators" and is a developer-oriented event, so expect lots of technical information on how the PlayStation 5's ray tracing tech works.

The R&D webpage has other demonstrations and posts of existing technology like next-gen VR capture, which teases possible capabilities in the PlayStation 5's rumored upgraded VR headset. It's worth noting the website hasn't been updated since July 31, 2020.

Gamescom 2020 was full of serious announcements, and despite the event being digital, it was still very eventful.

Gamers who tuned into the Gamescom Opening Night Live stream were welcomed with announcements from games they already knew were coming, as well as some surprises along the way. Instead of watching the entire live stream from the beginning, I've decided to round up all of the PC news into one nice digestible post.

So, what did we see at Gamescom 2020? Well, the brand new DOOM Eternal DLC was announced alongside its release date of October 20th, 2020. We also saw some behind the scenes on what's going on in BioWare's next Dragon Age game. Additionally, gamers were also pleased to finally found out that highly anticipated Fall Guys Season 2 news. In the entirety of this post, you will find each of the trailers and announcements.

If you are craving a new Lord of the Rings game to sink your teeth into, then add this one to your list, it's called Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

Daedalic Entertainment the developers behind the Lord of the Rings: Gollum have confirmed that the coming title will arrive on both next-gen consoles, PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. Recently, a trailer for the title was released, marking its the first official "teaser" trailer.

So, what will the game entail for fans? According to Eurogamer, the coming Lord of the Rings: Gollum title will take players through a series of levels and hubs, as well as some open levels and linear missions. Players will also have the choice of alternative routes through some select levels. At the moment, there is no official release date for the title, but we do know it will be releasing sometime in 2021.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is shaping up to be one of the most fun, best-looking PlayStation 5 launch titles -- with some wicked gameplay here -- but now we know the game will run at 60FPS.

60FPS... but at a "lower resolution" explains developer Insomniac Games, during a recent interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu. The developer tweeted the news, confirming that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has an "option" for 60FPS on the PlayStation 5.

The developer explains that the game has one option for 4K 30FPS, while another option for 60FPS will be available but at a "lower resolution". I'm sure it'll be something like 1440p (or thereabouts) and be upscaled (and it will still look great) but at a much smoother 60FPS.

Sony's PlayStation division is incredibly important for the company's total yearly earnings, and contributes double-digit percentage revenues.

Sony's latest 2020 Corporate Report is filled with all sorts of nifty tidbits. First there was confirmation that PS4 games will continue releasing on PC, then there was info on the PlayStation 5's custom data libraries. Now the company outlines just how important the PlayStation brand is for continued profits and revenues.

In less than 10 years' time, PlayStation has grown tremendously. The PS4 was the biggest driver for this expansion--the PS4 has sold 112.3 million units to date, and is the second best-selling PlayStation console of all time--thanks to massive console sales and even bigger game sales. Total PS4 game sales are now over 1.4 billion and Sony sold 91 million games in Q1'20, the biggest quarter ever.

Black Ops Cold War campaign dev Raven Software discusses some interesting new changes to the series, including character creation and some old-school throwbacks like multiple endings.

This year's Call of Duty is simultaneously combining new with old mechanics. The campaign in particular aims to be a more ambitious multi-decade story that spans the entirety of the Cold War, from pre-Vietnam in 1968 to the height of the espionage Communist scares of the 1980s.

With the campaign, Raven had two major goals: To connect Cold War with Black Ops in as many ways as possible, and to give new player freedoms. That includes character creation and choice-driven paths that allow unique endings.

Sony re-confirms its plans to bring more first-party PlayStation 4 console exclusive to PC, but this move will be supplemental to its console-first business.

Horizon: Zero Dawn's PC release marks the first exclusivity break for Sony's wholly-owned first-party games. In its recent 2020 Corporate Report, Sony said PC ports will continue, but didn't outline specifics.

Sony is empowering game developers by creating data libraries that're optimized for PS5's advanced next-gen rendering techniques, including ray tracing.

In its recent 2020 Corporate Report, Sony briefly mentions how it's helping game devs streamline data and asset management on the PS5. The next-gen PlayStation 5 SSD storage hardware is monumentally fast, and is capable of blasting uncompressed data at 5.5GB/sec speeds across a 6-channel memory controller and PCIe 4.0 x4 interface.

The SSD can feed data to RAM, GPU, and CPU components at never-before-seen levels for consoles, leading to instantaneous loading sequences, global illumination techniques like ray tracing, variable rate shading optimizations to significantly improve frame rates, and bigger, more robust worlds.

SPOILER WARNING:We'll be talking about Doom Eternal spoilers in this article, so if you haven't beaten the game or are not familiar with Doom 2016's or Doom Eternal's lore, then you may want to close the page.

Doom Eternal's latest Ancient Gods expansion is full of tantalizing new developments in the epic trans-dimensional sci-fantasy series. The new trailer revealed nifty little tidbits including the face of Samur, the seraphim that transformed Doom Guy into the Doom Slayer using the divine purity reserved for the Makyrs. Up until now we didn't know what the mysterious red-robed figure looked like.

The new trailer finally showed Samur's face, and further solidified his connection with Samuel Hayden. It's believed that Hayden is Samur.

Avengers has a fair and innovative monetization scheme where battle passes pay for themselves.

Like any live game, the new Avengers game exists for one primary purpose: To make money from online-driven engagement. Avengers is built to be infinitely replayable and grindy with materials, resources, currencies, and progression systems that keep you playing. The more you play, the more likely you are to pay. Avengers has a forked monetization system that innovates on the traditional battle pass model.

So how will you pay? Avengers has two major monetization paths centered around a premium currency called Credits. These Credits can be bought with real money in ratios like $5 for 500 Credits.

Doom Eternal's new Ancient Gods expansion is taking an novel approach to DLC, and could signify big changes from Bethesda.

Doom Eternal's latest Ancient Gods Part I expansion is a completely standalone episode that can be purchased on its own and played without the base game. Anyone can buy it and play it even if they don't own the full Doom Eternal release. The news was confirmed in a press release: The expansion will also come with Battle Mode lumped in for free, which makes a lot of sense for Bethesda.

"For players who don't own the Year One Pass, The Ancient Gods, Part One will be available to purchase separately and will include free access to BATTLEMODE. Players do not need to own DOOM Eternal to purchase and play The Ancient Gods, Part One," reads the press release.