Gaming - Page 960

Contrary to what you might have heard, Nintendo is indeed still selling standalone Switch docks on its website.

I've seen reports going around that Nintendo is no longer selling individual Switch docks on its site as a result of it scratching console screens. This prompted buzz that Nintendo may be planning a revised Switch dock that doesn't scratch any screens, however it appears these publications didn't look too far, because Nintendo is still selling Switch docks.

Both the official Nintendo Japanese online store and the Nintendo U.S. online storefront are selling Switch docks without the main console, but the U.S. site is sold out. Interestingly enough I couldn't find a listing for the dock on the Switch UK site.

After a few days with the Nintendo Switch we're ready to deliver some basic impressions. Don't worry, our review is coming soon!

The Nintendo Switch is an incredibly interesting device. It's rather intriguing and, well, fun. The idea of melding mobile, handheld and console gaming to one device is revolutionary--but is it worth all the drawbacks? After all, the Switch is a lot less powerful than an Xbox One or PS4, and even those consoles are getting upgraded. But the Switch does something none of those do: provides impressive handheld performance.

All in all the Switch is a comfortable, efficient, and rather enjoyable piece of kit. Right now, however, it's more of an investment because it's lacking games. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the major system-seller, and games like Shovel Knight are the best real ancillary titles--even better than the 1-2 Switch game that should've been a pack-in title. The real magic of the Switch is being able to take it with you and play with anyone on the go, but right now we don't have too many games that make use of that (just Bomberman R and 1-2 Switch). Here are our hands-on impressions of Nintendo's new merged console-handheld roadmap.

Horizon Zero Dawn patch 1.02 delivers the much-awaited performance mode for the PS4 Pro. Yet, this mode favors on delivering a smooth 30FPS gameplay rather than a much responsive 60 FPS experience.

According to Eurogamer, which did a fantastic job in their initial frame-rate analysis, the performance mode actually forces the game to run at a locked 30 FPS in 1080p. Players who choose this option over the resolution mode will certainly miss out on the excellent SSAA coverage and all the eye candy that 4K provide. Even in Eurogamer's honest opinion, this performance mode is not much of a game changer because "Guerrilla's performance at 4K is already so good with only very minor drops (if any) in most areas."

Guerrilla Games approach about the performance mode is nonetheless an interesting one. We're now seeing a trend from developers who focus on maxing out the graphical performance of the consoles while delivering a smooth experience in their games instead of making them look like crap but run at "60 FPS".

Ubisoft has released some shocking statistics after Ghost Recon: Wildlands open beta. Prepare to be blown away by the numbers!

First off, Ubisoft is calling this beta "THE BIGGEST BETA EVER AT UBISOFT". Well, they got the player count to back that up. 6,83 million players played the open beta. This is a new record for the studio since the last one was held by For Honor with a little less than 6 million players.

Of course, the player count is nothing to brag home about if players only logged on for a few minutes. Guess what? The total playtime comes in at 34.295.124 hours which is more than 3915 years... Jesus Christ! And, it doesn't stop there either.

It's no surprise that people got pumped for the Nintendo Switch release on March 3rd. They will pay whatever amount of money in order to get the latest and greatest from Nintendo. Yet, some of them (like myself) are not too fond of shelling out the extra cash for games since none are included or the optional Pro controller ($69.99) or even an extra set of Joy-Con ($79.99). Derek, our gaming editor, found it out the hard way when he had to spend almost 50% of the console price, at his local Walmart, to get a Pro controller along with a copy of Breath of The Wild. Sony, on the other hand, decided to laugh at this practice by slashing its PS4 Slim price by a third on the Nintendo Switch launch day.

Sony Italia posted this post over at Twitter today . Thanks to the Italian translations provided by Jordan Coetsee over at Gameranx , we will be able to read this amusing tweet.

The text in the red square translates to: "Tomorrow is a special day for the world of gaming," followed by the words in apparent PS4 colors and logo, "PS4 is yours at only €199,99." The text in the tweet supports the image by saying: "Even tomorrow, make the right choice. PlayStation 4 always knows how to surprise you."

Twitch is planning to sell games via streamers this spring.

The games bought on Twitch will be downloaded to an upcoming Twitch launcher or to an existing platform such as Uplay. There are several developers who are already on board with this project such as Raw Fury, Ubisoft, Digital Extreme, Telltale and many more.

Developers will be able to earn a 70% cut from the game sales on Twitch - which is the same as Steam. On the other hand, streamers will be earning 5% when sales happened on their channel.

The newest entry in the Super Bomberman series might not run at its rumored 60 fps on the Nintendo Switch.

According to Just Pause, Konami has confirmed that Super Bomberman R will run at 30FPS and full resolution in each of the Nintendo Switch modes - that means 1080P in TV mode and 720P in handheld mode.

Personally, I don't think it's a major issue as long as Konami delivers a solid 30 FPS experience without frame rates dips and some fun-looking explosions. Bomberman was always known for its smooth gameplay even in its self-induced chaotic mayhem. We hope this game will be, at least, on par with the standard it predecessors set.

Nintendo's new handheld Switch hybrid does feel awkward at first, and I've seen lots of people not sure how to actually hold it while they play. So we fired up this quick guide to help everyone out.

When you first slap in the JoyCons into the Switch and play a game, things feel weird. Since the joysticks are aligned on a non-linear axis like an Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller, and the back is flat instead of contoured, gamers will try to hold it like they would a Wii U. Remember the JoyCons detach into two separate controllers that can be used by two people, and if the joysticks were on the same axis, one player would have the joystick and face buttons on the wrong side.

Now I have to say that the Wii U's linear joystick axes combined with a contoured backing made a quite comfortable tablet-controller. The Switch, however, might not be so user friendly to everyone at first. But there's a trick to the Switch handheld: your hands aren't meant to be equally placed.

While scouting the Nintendo's European website for Switch manuals I noticed something interesting: a spec sheet that identifies the maximum radio frequency power of the system's JoyCon controllers.

A bunch of Nintendo Switch owners are having problems with their left JoyCons disconnecting. Luckily we don't have that problem. As reported in our JoyCon distance evaluation test, our JoyCons can stretch to an impressive 37 feet away from the system while docked or in handheld mode before disconnecting. Now we know why.

As per the Nintendo Switch operating manual on the Nintendo UK site, the Switch's left and right JoyCons both operate at a max Bluetooth 3.0 radio frequency of 6dBm (decibel-milliwats), which equates to 3.98 milliwatts, putting it in the Class 2 range category.

343 Industries is making a new Halo game, and they're hiring a narrative director to help pen it's story. Let's just hope it's a lot (lot!) better than Halo 5: Guardian's lackluster story.

I recently predicted that 343i has been working on Halo 6 for quite some time, and that it'd release on Microsoft's new "monster" 4K-ready Project Scorpio console. Alas I was proven wrong, as Phil Spencer recently confirmed that Halo 6 won't be a Scorpio launch game, and based on a new job listing at 343i, it appears they might not have started Halo 6 just yet. Or it could be another Halo game entirely.

"343 Industries is looking for an experienced, passionate and highly creative Narrative Director to create engaging, compelling narrative content combined with thrilling gameplay experiences in Halo's epic environments and universe," the job listing states.

As of right now, Nintendo Switch owners have absolutely no way to back up save game data. So if your system bricks, gets zapped by lightning, or your internal memory fails, you'll lose out on all of your progress. But that will assuredly change sometime soon.

While it may be obvious to think that Nintendo would have to provide a backup method, I've uncovered a bit of interested snippets from the Nintendo Switch warranty document that strongly suggests the feature will eventually be available. After all, if you send it in for repairs there's a chance your data will be wiped, essentially punishing you for needing your system fixed.

"By sending the Product to Nintendo you accept and agree that Nintendo will not be responsible for any loss, deletion or corruption of your files or data that has not been deleted or removed," the warranty states.

The Nintendo Switch is great for taking in-game screenshots of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's amazingness, but what if you want to back those screenshots up or want to keep your system storage free of thousands of Zelda pics? Here's an easy way to do it.

If you're like me, then you love sharing screenshots. The Switch lets you take screenshots by pressing the capture button on the left JoyCon, and share screenshots individually on Facebook and Twitter. But you can only share one at a time. What if you want to share multiple pics, or make a massive album? Then you need a micro SD card.

Sadly, the Switch does not allow you to back up screenshots to a USB stick because USB devices can't be attached while the Switch is in Handheld Mode. So get a micro SD card and a SD card adapter--any will do, I'm using an incredibly ancient 2GB micro SD card from like 2007--and slide it into the Switch underneath the kickstand. Now that you've expanded the Switch's usable 25.9 GB of memory won't have to worry about filling your precious data, go to the main menu and check under system settings.

Nintendo's new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid system sports a dock with three USB ports in it, so we couldn't help ourselves from stuffing tons of devices into it to see what works. We already found out that USB keyboards are supported by the Switch, and now we see the dock can actually charge your phone.

The Switch dock is actually a kind of nexus for power and video signals. The Switch tablet nestles into the dock's USB Type-C plug transferring a video signal out while power flows in to recharge the tablet's 4310mAh battery. The dock also transfers power to its three USB ports (2x USB 2.0 and 1x USB 3.0 that hasn't been activated yet), meaning whatever you plug into it will be able to leech off of the power output.

I plugged both my Nexus 4 and Nexus 6 Android smartphones into the Switch dock, and they both charged. Then I tried a LG G2, a Sony Xperia XA, a Nexus 10 tablet, a 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet, a Nexus 5, and a Kindle Fire/Fire HD, all of which charged. The devices charged both with the Switch docked and undocked from the cradle.

Although Nintendo's new Switch handheld-and-console hybrid supports remote game downloads via Wi-Fi, it actually won't download digital eShop games in Sleep Mode.

Earlier tonight I bought Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment from the Nintendo Switch's eShop, expecting the console to auto-download the game while it's sleeping in its cradle. However I soon found out that the Switch tablet's Sleep Mode functionality isn't the same as the PS4, and it won't download games while asleep.

According to the status message sent by Nintendo, the Switch has to be awakened out of Sleep Mode before it will download digital eShop games. "Your download will begin once you wake your Nintendo Switch from Sleep mode. The time required to download may vary. You can check the status of your download via the icon displayed on the Nintendo Switch HOME Menu," read the message.

The Nintendo Switch's included dock cradle features three USB ports, and on a whim we decided to plug a bunch of stuff into it to see what works and what doesn't. Interestingly enough USB keyboards will work.

You might be asking yourselves what good a USB keyboard is when the Nintendo Switch doesn't have an actual web browser. That's absolutely true, but we did find one good use for a USB keyboard: making memes writing clever words over screenshots to share on Facebook, Twitter, and our SD cards.

Just like Sony's PlayStation 4, the Switch lets you take screenshots of any game at any time. The left JoyCon controller has a dedicated screenshot button (video coming soon!) that quickly immortalizes any game scene with a snap. If you're anything like me then you've taken tons of screenshots of Zelda: Breath of the Wild already, and maybe even shared a few or two of the best ones with text overlays.

Although Nintendo's new handheld-and-console Switch hybrid can be expanded with extra storage via SD cards, users won't actually be able to copy their saves over.

Nintendo has confirmed that game saves are locked to the Switch's internal 25.9GB flash storage, meaning gamers have no way of exporting or copying their saved games progress to SD cards. So what happens if you play 300 hours of Zelda: Breath of the wild and your Switch console bricks?

You lose everything.

There's reports floating around the Nintendo Switch JoyCons are still having de-sync issues, and we decided to test out the functional range of these nifty wireless gadgets to just how far they could go without disconnecting. And they can go pretty far.

During my time with the Nintendo Switch I've experienced zero de-synchronization issues with the JoyCon controllers (except when I purposefully went out of range for testing purposes). The left JoyCon works flawlessly alongside the right one at ranges in excess of 30 feet--or about 10 meters.

I tested the JoyCons' range in two different ways: both detached in either hand and combined in the JoyCon Grip. The results were the same either way. I also tested the range with the Switch docked in TV Mode, and in Tabletop mode with tablet set up on its kickstand.

One of the biggest worries about Nintendo's new Switch handheld-and-console hybrid is on-the-go battery life. Unlike most handhelds on the market (phones excluded!) system pelts out gaming at 720p HD resolution, but the battery life is actually pretty impressive given Nintendo's original projections. Here's our analysis.

To conduct this battery test I played the Switch's most demanding game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, in handheld mode. Using a stopwatch app on my phone, I proceeded to play while writing down battery capacity as the stopwatch counted upwards.

The console's brand new 4310 mAh battery was fully charged, and hadn't really depleted much charge since I got it as I kept it docked for the most part. The JoyCons were attached for this test, and both the left and right controllers were fully charged too.

The Nintendo Switch Pro controller is exceptionally well-made, but it's also quite...small. We size up the Switch Pro against its DualShock and Xbox competitors--even the now-dead (but not forgotten) Wii U Pro controller.

When I saw the box for the $70 Switch Pro controller, I surely thought it was the wrong device. But alas, the box mirrored the controller's actual size. But unlike other controllers, none of its space is wasted. It's a compact, stylish and immensely comfortable piece of hardware that will bring 40 hours of pleasant gaming.

The controller feels solid in your hands, if not a bit heavy (certainly heavier than the Wii U Pro). But the way it's shaped also makes it feel light, and your fingers easily curl around the sides. It genuinely fits like a glove. The face buttons are well-placed, with the ABXY buttons enhanced to reduce the time needed to press them. The buttons themselves are easy to press--there's no pushing needed like with Xbox One controllers--and the triggers are absolutely fantastic. The triggers hang, but not too much, nothing like Sony's DualShock 4. Like the rest of the buttons they press in very easy.

After long bouts of silence, Square Enix has finally announced NieR: Automata's PC release date: March 17, 2017.

NieR: Automata will be exclusive to Steam and apparently won't launch on Microsoft's Windows Store platform, which isn't a surprise since the game won't come to Xbox One either. The incoming PC release will be a simultaneous global launch similar to Final Fantasy XV's cross-regional release.

If you're interested in pre-ordering Square Enix is pulling one of their signature goofy pre-order bonuses for the Steam launch: pre-orders will unlock an awesome Valve gear accessory for 2B that resemble's the face of Valve.