Gaming News - Page 1

Following Jim Ryan's retirement in March, Sony has now made a decision on who will lead PlayStation.

Sony has announced a new corporate structure for its games and entertainment division. Sony Interactive Entertainment has now been split into two parts: the Platform Business Group, led by existing Sony exec Hidaki Nishino, and the Studios Business Group, led by current PS Studious SVP and ex-Guerrilla Games head Hermen Hulst.

Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki took over as interim or temporary CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in April. Totoki will retain some leadership over the new divisions as acting chairman of SIE, and both Nishino and Hulst will report directly to Totoki. The changes will go into effect on June 1, corresponding with with the last month of Sony's Q1 FY24 period.

Nintendo has published solid earnings results as the Switch enters its eighth year on the market.

Nintendo's Fiscal Year 2024 shows two clear trends: Switch sales are slowing down, but gamers are still voraciously consuming software and content for the aging system. A quick note before we delve into the financials - These values are based on yen to USD conversion rates listed in Nintendo's quarterly reports, which assumes the following rates: Q1 - 144.56, Q2 - 149.37, Q3 - 141.04, Q4 - 151.

Throughout FY24, which ran from April 2023 - March 2024, Nintendo generated a total of $11.6 billion in net sales revenue, down -2% year-over-year. This is due to a more pronounced drop in Switch hardware sales (15.7 million shipments, down -12.6%), and a smaller decrease in software purchases (down 6.7%).

Nintendo's Switch family of hardware breaks a new milestone in its eighth year on the market.

Switch sales are starting to slow down as Nintendo preps its new system. Total cumulative shipments for the 3-device Switch family have now reached 141.32 million, and by March 2025, Nintendo expects the Switch to dethrone the DS.

Nintendo shipped 15.7 million Switch consoles in Fiscal Year 2024, down -12.6% year-over-year, with Q4'24 delivering the lowest unit shipments for any Q4 period since the device's launch, or 1.96 million shipments.

Rumors about NVIDIA working with various partners to enter the PC gaming handheld market are heating up. NVIDIA and GeForce are synonymous with gaming, especially when it comes to PCs. However, everything from the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion GO, and handhelds from AYANEO are powered by AMD Ryzen with Radeon hardware.

It's a growing market, and Intel recently entered it by partnering with MSI to launch the MSI Claw gaming handheld. And now, it seems, it's NVIDIA's turn, with insider XpeaGPU claiming that NVIDIA is working with MediaTek to develop an Arm-based handheld SoC with integrated NVIDIA graphics.

This follows the news that NVIDIA and MediaTek are reportedly working on an Arm-based AI processor for AI PCs that could be revealed in a few weeks at Computex 2024. A SoC for PC gaming, running Windows 11 or Linux, would be something else entirely - and something that could blow the Steam Deck out of the water, performance-wise.

Star Citizen, the perpetually in-development grandiose everything sci-fi game, just got a new Alpha 3.23 'Adventure Beckons' update. There's a long list of updates and revisions, from a new character customization system to improved AI ship combat and a reworked Starmap to make planning your space travel more comfortable. There are also new hoverbikes, vehicles, and massive industrial facilities to explore.

Tech-wise, the update makes some fundamental changes thanks to the arrival of a new Vulkan Renderer, currently listed as in Beta. GPU performance with the new renderer should be on par with the default DirectX 11 Graphics Renderer. According to the team, "the aim [is] to make Vulkan the default and more performant implementation in a following release."

Regarding performance, GeForce RTX and Radeon GPU owners will be pleased to learn that Star Citizen now has NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR support for upscaling and a third "in-house TSR solution."

Bethesda's big May 2024 update for Starfield is now live on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and available to all Xbox Game Pass players. It's not the game's first update with a long list of changes, but it's the first with some meaningful additions and quality-of-life improvements, namely in the form of detailed surface maps for exploration through cities and beyond. Also, Xbox players now have a 60 FPS Performance Mode and can play at 40 FPS on 120 Hz displays.

The new maps are particularly impressive. Not only do they overhaul the dedicated map screen with 3D renders of the game's city and planetary locations, but the scanner overlay now shows each notable location and how far it is, with the option to fast-travel to individual vendors or other prominent spots.

The other major change is giving players direct control over a range of gameplay settings that go beyond changing the difficulty of person-to-person or ship-to-ship combat and adding a new Extreme difficulty. These include the ability to access ship cargo from anywhere and new survival features relating to food, drink, and environmental hazards.

The Sony PSP, or PlayStation Portable, is one of the most beloved gaming handhelds ever. Released in 2005, it received a backward-compatible follow-up in 2011, the PlayStation Vita. It sports a similar look and great PlayStation games from franchises like Final Fantasy, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid, WipEout, and more.

With rumors pointing to Sony working with AMD to create a proper PSP follow-up with PS4-like performance, AYN Technologies, a creator of Android and Windows-based handhelds, is teasing a new lightweight 320-gram machine that looks exactly like a modern PSP.

The handheld has yet to be fully revealed, but it is rumored to be Android-based, so it can essentially play every PSP and PS Vita game via emulation. The most exciting thing about the new handheld, though, outside of the PSP shape, has to be the display.

In 2010, Rockstar Games released the classic open-world action-adventure western Red Dead Redemption for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Following the adventures of John Marston, a former outlaw, it presented a sprawling, bloody, and gritty look at life in the old West with the same charm and atmosphere as the studio's iconic Grand Theft Auto games.

Without a PC release, it's been one of those titles that PC gamers have been waiting to see for over a decade. Red Dead Redemption II got a PC port following its release in 2018, but the original has been one of those games seemingly lost to time - or limited to the console space.

In 2023, Red Dead Redemption received a modern remaster; however, this release was only for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Well, that looks to be changing, as the studio's PC Rockstar Games Launcher now includes hidden information stating that Red Dead Redemption and its Undead Nightmare expansion are "now playable on PC."

id Software's Doom (1994) and Doom II (1994) helped establish and define the first-person shooter genre as two of the most iconic PC games of all time. Those who grew up playing the original Doom might recall its cheat codes. IDKFA gave you all weapons, ammo, and keys while IDDQD unlocked 'God Mode.'

As spotted by Clawsomegamer, ZeniMax Media has trademarked IDKFA for 'computer game software' and 'downloadable computer game software.' It's an obscure reference for a company to trademark, but it could point to IDKFA being the title for some sort of DLC or add-on for an upcoming Doom game from id Software, Bethesda, and Xbox.

With the success of the recent DOOM and DOOM Eternal reboots, there are several rumors (and leaks) suggesting that id Software not only has another Doom game in the works, but we could be getting our first look at it during next month's Xbox Games Showcase event.

Bethesda's long-awaited 'next-gen' update for Fallout 4 arrived just in time to ride the wave of the smash hit Amazon Prime series, which saw the 2015 game once again become one of the most played titles on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.

The update improved performance and visual fidelity for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S while adding ultrawide support for the PC version, several bug fixes, and some free add-on content that included new weapons, armor, and even quests.

However, the reception was not one of universal acclaim, as the 'next-gen' update for Fallout 4 broke many PC mods and added new glitches and crashes for gamers. Many players also reported problems with 4K or Quality Mode on Xbox Series X.