Netgear is rolling out two new products designed for hardcore gamers. Launched today at CES 2018, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming WiFi Router (XR500) and Nighthawk Pro Gaming SX10 10G/Multi-Gig LAN Switch (GS810EMX) have been designed for heavy-duty, uninterrupted gameplay, offering best in class features neatly packaged in formidable black casing.
Once again, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich is ushering in the beginning of CES with a major keynote. This year, the big focus is on data and it's "power to transform the world." But we also hope that he says more about how Intel plans to tackle the fallout from Meltdown and Spectre. We also expect to hear plenty about how Intel is using data in its artificial intelligence initiatives. And of course, the company will likely highlight some of its upcoming products. In particular, we hope to see Krzanich demo machines using the new 8th generation Core CPU with AMD RX Vega M graphics. Join us at 6:30pm PT/9:30pm ET when the keynote kicks off.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.
It's been almost five years since we've heard anything about the Steven Spielberg-helmed Halo live-action TV series, and if you think you're gonna get a release window well then you best HALO jump out of a spaceship because there is nothing of that sort to be had here.
While speaking at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Showtime president and CEO David Nevins was asked about the state of the Halo series. "[It's] still in very active development," was the only real definitive answer that he could give and stated that he had read some of the scripts and enjoyed what he had seen. President of programming Gary Levine echoed Nevin's statements with "[it] is absolutely still in development, still moving forward and I'm encouraged by what we've seen so far."
So there you have it, the old military adage of "hurry up and wait" applies to even military science fiction TV shows. I'm a lifelong fan of the Halo series but despite having not played Halo 5: Guardians yet, I'm still looking forward to this show as I think the lore and universe of the Halo series is one of the best in gaming. But what about you? Will the wait be worth it or are we just being set up for disappointment?
Steven Spielberg's Halo Series Is Still Very Much in Development at Showtime [TV Guide]
The Vive Pro is a beefed-up version of HTC's original VR headset, adding integrated 3D audio and high-res OLED screens displaying 2880 x 1600, with a pixel density of 615 pixels per inch, an upgrade from 1080 x 1200 and 448ppi. The headset also addresses some of the first iteration's fit issues, adding a new headstrap with a sizing dial that helps redistribute weight, so it's not all collected at the front of the headset.
If you own enough Razer gear, you're probably used to a light show. But wouldn't it be nice if that show extended to your entire room? It will very shortly. Razer and Philips have formed a partnership that will let you sync any Chroma-equipped Razer device (including laptops and peripherals) with Hue lights. If a game supports it, you can change the lighting color of your whole environment in tune with gameplay. Your room may turn blood red during a battle scene, or go an appropriately Razer-themed green when you're in a forest.
Source: Razer
Sony's left-field reveal for CES 2018 is already kinda known. It, too, is working on autonomous cars. Hopefully we'll see its conceptual party bus roll out on stage later today, but we're at least bound to hear more about the AI smarts powering it all. Fear not: we're likely to see upgraded AV options, from TVs to soundbars, and while I'm not sure how Sony can make its OLED TVs even more desirable, those beauties are bound to make a reappearance. New cameras? PlayStation news? Both are less likely, but I wouldn't discount anything. Join Engadget at 8pm Eastern Time, because we'll be liveblogging it all!
A few months back two patent applications submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Electronic Arts surfaced online. Both of these patents were filed on March 8, 2016 and dealt with dynamically altering the player experience. One of the patents dealt with dynamically changing the difficulty of a game to better keep players interested. They would achieve this mostly by adjusting difficulty without your consent so that you don't get stuck on a boss and end up quitting the game.
The second, more malicious and exploitable patent dealt with how EA handled its online matchmaking. Similar to Activision's own matchmaking-altering patent that was approved a few months ago, EA's patent for Multiplayer Video Game Matchmaking Optimization wants to dynamically alter who you get matched up with based more on their algorithm rather than solely on equal skill levels. The algorithm, named Engagement Optimized Matchmaking (EOMM), is designed as the name states for the sole purpose of keeping you engaged in online games. The factors that go into this algorithm run the gambit from interaction, play style, sportsmanship, willingness to spend money, and skill.
On the application, EA states that it is applying for the patent to improve player engagement, but this is EA we are talking about. After the fiasco with Star Wars Battlefront II, I wouldn't put anything really past them to make the extra buck. This concern for the patent being rooted in more than just engagement is especially valid when you look into the research paper that the algorithm was based on where they say they can "change the objective function to other core game metrics of interest, such as play time, retention, or spending. EOMM allows one to easily plug in different types of predictive models to achieve the optimization."
So what's the takeaway for both of these patents? As far as the dynamic difficulty one, it's nothing super serious other than to make people question whether or not they actually got through that boss they were having problems with or if the game threw them a get-out-of-jail-free card. The matchmaking patent is the one that we as consumers should keep an eye on -- it has the most potential to exploit our wallets. But for now, since these are only applications, it is nothing to seal the gates on just yet.
When can we expect these patents to be approved or denied? YouTube games personality YongYea noted that Activision's own matchmaking patent took around two and a half years to be approved. So judging by the time gap from EA's application date, the approval, if it occurs, would take place sometime later this year.
A handful of independent developers have "banded together" to hold a sale on the Nintendo Switch eShop. If you're one to wait for (or double dip with) Switch ports like me, this is a pleasant little list.
The sale will run in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand through January 15.
This is fortuitous, as I was thinking of finally digging into GoNNER on Switch tonight after seeing Jonathan Holmes' recommendation in our "best games of 2017 that you didn't play" list.
Along with Sea of Thieves (and let's be honest, plenty more PUBG), State of Decay 2 is one of the cooperative games I'm most looking forward to this year. Undead Labs and Microsoft Studios have been fairly quiet about the zombie survival game, but it seems to be making steady progress all the same.
Today, the ESRB rated State of Decay 2.
.@StateOfDecay 2 (#PC, #XboxOne) from @undeadlabs and @MSStudiosBlog is rated #MforMature!
— ESRB (@ESRBRatings) January 8, 2018
Click here for more: https://t.co/Ifu3v16d2m http://pic.twitter.com/asqyVEbbqD
The summary doesn't really tell us anything new, but if you're curious, knock yourself out.
This is a third-person action/simulation game in which players assume the role of survivors in a zombie apocalypse. Players explore small towns and rural settings, locate survivors, and battle hordes of swarming zombies. Players use baseball bats, meat cleavers, machetes, grenades, and machine guns to kill zombies in frenetic melee-style combat. Several weapons allow players to crush/maim zombies' heads; grenade blasts also depict blood and dismemberment.
If other human survivors become infected or ill, players can choose to “euthanize” them by shooting them in the head at close range, resulting in decapitation and large blood-splatter effects. During the course of the game, players can build an infirmary in which they can craft painkillers and opiates; specific drugs referenced include Herbal Remedy, Painkillers, Opiates, Amphetamines, and Pentamezin (a fictional prescription drug). The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole” appear in the dialogue.
Following this roundabout status update on the game's production, Undead Labs also confirmed that while it still can't commit to a release date, the developers are "confident for a Spring release."
ESRB [Twitter]
The world is big and monsters are big (usually), but Monster Hunter: World isn't necessarily very big. At least the file size, that is.
With Monster Hunter: World releasing later this month on January 26, reports are surface about the game's base install. According to this photo that PlayStation Universe found, the Japanese PS4 version of Monster Hunter: World is 16GB. That's in line with the Xbox version which the Microsoft Store lists as 13.62GB.
Pretty small, right? Not that file size speaks to quality in any way whatsoever. I just kind of expected something bigger. Maybe there's a 50GB day one patch to bring our collective irritation back up to normal levels.
Monster Hunter World file size for PS4 is very surprising [PlayStation Universe]
World War II is a staple in the gaming community. For years all we had were Nazis to shoot because it is harder to find a more universal evil than Nazis. Unfortunately, since most of those games were shooters the stories amounted to little more than to move you from battle to battle so that you had more Nazis to shoot at. Games that eschewed the shooting and instead dove into the human story of World War II are few and far between, so when one of the community members here sent me the Steam page for Attentat 1942, my first thought was that it was about damn time someone did this.
My real conundrum with writing this review is how does one even begin to handle a game about one of the most atrocious periods in modern human history? It's not like I can say this game is a barrel of laughs or a joy to play because it isn't. It is filled to the brim with the horrors of Nazi-occupied Europe, and while the personal stories are fictionalized, the gnawing reminder that these stories are based on countless real-life stories makes the game both uncomfortable and almost necessary to play.
The two million people who own PlayStation VR should be able to find something new to latch onto this year. As reported by Nikkei, Sony expects its VR platform to jump from 150 available titles to "over 280" by the end of 2018.
Granted, some of these games will surely be too short, too unrefined, or relegated to limited modes housed within larger games, but still! Over the holidays, I got back into Resident Evil 7 for its Not a Hero and End of Zoe DLC, the latter of which was excellent and reinvigorated my interest in VR. I am so down for more melee-centric horror experiences in virtual reality. (Another Condemned, please!)
While this year's games aren't all bound to be worthwhile experiences, it's reassuring to know that PSVR software isn't slowing down. I'm looking forward to the adorable mouse adventure Moss (pictured above) and Supermassive's psychological horror game The Inpatient in the near future.
ＳＩＥ、「プレステＶＲ」のソフト280本超に [Nikkei via Siliconera]
Many PC enthusiasts use light-up RAM to add a flair to their systems. But creating a proper, synchronized light show isn't always easy. Even if you have the right motherboard, compatible RAM and the necessary software, there's no guarantee of a harmonious display. HyperX wants to fix that: it's introducing new Predator DDR4 modules that can use infrared light to sync their RGB illumination. There's no guesswork and no external cables -- you can just assume your lights will pulse together using power directly from the motherboard.
Source: HyperX
HTC's recent tease for a higher-res Vive model is coming to fruition.
This week at the Consumer Electronics Show, the company announced the Vive Pro, a lighter-weight unit with integrated audio and a resolution increase to 2880 x 1600. The new model will be available as an HMD-only option for folks who bought the original Vive and it'll be compatible with your existing gear as well as the upcoming 2.0 base stations that can track up to a 10 x 10 meter area.
What's more, the Pro has a new headstrap, dual microphones with active noise cancellation, and two front-facing cameras "designed to empower developer creativity." Timing and pricing wasn't divulged yet, but hopefully we'll see a price drop for the original Vive once the Pro is on the market.
There's also a new wireless solution coming this summer. The Vive Wireless Adaptor will support the original Vive and the Vive Pro, offering an integrated VR experience courtesy of Intel's WiGig technology.
Look at this funky thing!
Wireless is a big, necessary step forward for a lot of folks. Glad to see progress on that front.
Tyler1, a notorious League of Legends player, hadn't been playing much League lately. Ever since 2016, Tyler1 had been ID banned by Riot for conduct that can be described as toxic and detrimental to the community. Riot actually described him as "a genuine jerk."
But now he's self-described as rehabilitated and Riot believes him. Last week, it was revealed that Tyler1's account had gone under review and Riot decided to lift the ban. He's free to play League of Legends again. As it turns out, a whole lot of people are interested in seeing that.
In his first day back, Tyler1 has shattered Twitch's concurrent viewers record by an individual streamer. At the time of writing, there are somewhere around 378,000 people watching him. Last February, League of Legends, uhh, legend Faker gathered 245,000 viewers in his first Twitch stream. (It's worth noting that big events routinely get far higher view counts; in January 2017, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's ELeague major was the first to break a million concurrents.)
The viewers are nice, but Tyler1 probably cares most about the fact that the subscription notifications have been absolutely flying since he started his show. Each of those equates to about $2.50 in his pocket for as many months as they sub for. Rehabilitation has proven to be plenty profitable.
As of right now, Tyler1's re-introduction show is still going on. You can watch it here.
PC monitors have a lot of benefits over regular television sets in that they have incredibly low latency for basic inputs. What this means is that games tend to feel a lot smoother since the take it takes to register a button press is dramatically shorter than on a traditional TV. The only real downside is that PC monitors tend to cap off around 34 inches, so they have never been that large...until now!
Nvidia has unveiled, today, what it is calling "Big Format Gaming Displays." Being shown off at CES this year, this new standard will be for a range of monitors with 120 hz refresh rate, Gsync capabilities, HDR color range, 4K resolution and obviously a massive screen size (65 inches is mentioned). An Nvidia SHIELD is also being integrated, for some reason. A bunch of different manufacturers are already lined up to create some monitors including ASUS, HP and ACER.
Renegade Sector Games has a knack for playing with perspective. The indie developer's previous offering, Cold Vengeance, was a 3D shoot 'em up that riffed on the genre standards with low camera angles and branching paths. For its follow-up, Renegade Sector is trying its hand at a twin-stick shooter, but don't expect it to be like anything you've played before.
Kill the Superweapon has all the trappings of a traditional twin-stick shooter. Players guide their avatar -- the aptly named Samantha Kill -- through a series of interlocking rooms where she can run, jump, and shoot at her foes. The twist is that unlike, say, Smash TV, Kill the Superweapon uses a diorama-like perspective. In doing so, the level geometry is more of an obstacle than simple set-dressing, as pillars and platforms can act as some much-needed cover or obscure your view during a firefight.
In addition to the unique camera angle, Kill the Superweapon also includes wandering bosses. As Ms. Kill makes her way through the research labs and warehouses that seem to make up many of the game's rooms, she'll have to deal with Superweapons. These bosses can roam around their respective level, adding a layer of unpredictability to what already seems like a frantic experience. Bosses that move from room to room scratch a specific Resident Evil 3 itch; biologically enhanced soldiers prowling around and waiting for a chance to strike. It's a fascinating twist on what already looks like a cool game.
Kill the Superweapon's low-poly aesthetic and twin-stick sensibilities won't be available until March, but you can check out a playable demo on Renegade Sector's itch.io page.
Kid Icarus is an IP that doesn't get a whole lot of love from Nintendo. Since the first game released for the NES in 1986, only two subsequent games have been released, the last of which was a 2012 3DS title, Kid Icarus: Uprising.
While Nintendo sleeps on Pit's adventures some dedicated fans have made a partial remake of the original NES title.
The dream of a wire-free HTC Vive is close to becoming a practical reality. HTC has unveiled a Vive Wireless Adapter that uses Intel's WiGig to eliminate the corded connection for both the original Vive and the Vive Pro while keeping lag and interference to a minimum. There's no word on price, but you will have to wait -- the compact add-on won't ship until sometime in the summer.
Source: Vive
Off Camera Secrets is doing some great work over on YouTube, providing fresh takes on old games by unlocking their cameras to see what's going on behind the scenes. In the latest episode they take a gander at Metal Gear Solid, and get David Hayter to guest star briefly, in-character as Solid Snake.
In this episode they visit some highly requested scenes here answering questions like "where do the guards come from during the Snake/Meryl standoff (they warp in from two positions), "how do elevators work?," (they don't actually move, they warp in new maps), is Sniper Wolf actually rendered when she attacks you from afar?"(yes), or "what's behind you when you first start the game?" (a black void).
It's insane how well optimized this game is, especially given how ahead of its time it was. The developers came up with a bunch of neat tricks (like less strenuous puddle reflections) and only ever show you what you need to see.
Back in July, I wrote a post that has aged horribly. It was headlined "Map size doesn't seem like a focus for Assassin's Creed Origins" and my presumptions have made me look like an idiot. I mistook director Ashraf Ismail not knowing how large the game was to mean that size wasn't a priority.
Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Assassin's Creed Origins is incredibly big. It's enormous. After finishing the game, I still had three regions that were completely unexplored. (It turned out there wasn't much of consequence in any of them.) Maybe map size wasn't a selling point for Origins but it was definitely on Ubisoft's mind.
And it's about to get even bigger. In January's state of the game post for Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft reveals that it's adding a new region. This accompanies The Hidden Ones, which is the first proper add-on for Origins. In it, Bayek battles the Romans, and that arc takes place somewhere new. The DLC also raises the level cap from 40 to 45.
Despite the fact that we now know a little bit more about The Hidden Ones, we don't yet know when it'll actually release. January has always been the broad launch window and that's still the case. Whenever it gets here, Egypt gets a little more expansive even though it was perfectly gigantic already.
This Month in Assassin's Creed Origins -- January [Assassin's Creed]
Sorry for the lack of box office the past few weeks, but holidays and such. Anyway it pretty much was just Star Wars and Jumanji, and that'll continue for a bit because... well. Blockbuster holiday movies have strong holdover for about the entire month. That might not be more true than this year when Star Wars and Jumanji seem set to duke it out with nothing coming to knock them off the roost until Black Panther or everyone having seen them because there was nothing else to see. This week went to Jumanji, a movie that pulled ahead by being released later and also some incredible word of mouth because, damn, if it isn't fun.
That's another big hit for Dwayne Johnson, by the way. A man whose charm pretty much oozes out of every pore and makes you somehow even slightly enjoy movies like San Andreas or look forward to a fucking Rampage adaptation. But let's really dig into this. How much do you like him? I'm in between have his babies and simply marry him. Of course there's no option to not like him. I mean look at that charming smile!
It should be mentioned that the tepid Insidious: The Last Key opened this week at number two with a really strong box office for an early January film.
Well, we know pretty much all there is to know about Bayonetta 2 on Switch. While the original game will be more inline with what we already got on Wii U, new details have come to light for the sequel that involve more amiibo support and a breakdown of multiplayer.
According to the official UK site, you can play Tag Climax mode both online and locally. Note that for the latter option it is not split or same-screen, rather, you'll need two copies of the game and two Switch units to play. I really miss the Wii U option of playing on a TV and a GamePad, but alas that generation is behind us.
Bayonetta 2 will also bring amiibo support with it, and although we don't know the exact costumes that will be supported outside of the ones confirmed for the original (Fox, Peach, Daisy, Samus, Link), it will "instantly" unlock them, or you can unlock outfits by way of normal progress.
Bayonetta 2 [Nintendo UK]
At the weekend, a video surfaced online of a Reddit user playing Capcom's revamped Street Fighter V, set for release later this month. User dick_dickerson2004 claims they bought the standard edition for the PS4, but the disc contained the full, upcoming, Arcade Edition.
Images and videos made their way to Reddit and Event Hubs soon afterwards, some of which contain interesting tidbits and features yet to be announced for the re-release. First and foremost, Player Two can now confirm rematches, or return to character select, after Versus fights. While this might seem like a minor addition, it is baffling that it was left out of the game originally, leaving player one to seek player two confirmation between fights. First World FGC problems, sure, but it was annoying sometimes.
While perusing Reddit I came across this heartwarming Zelda post titled "My Wedding Ring," from AD29. Apparently they ordered from Etsy five years ago, leading all sorts of commenters to explain that they also have the same ring, something similar in the Zelda family, or another nerdy sundry.
One particularly heartwarming story involves a wife who engraved it with the "it's dangerous to go alone" quote, but the possibilities are endless here with all sorts of properties rife with tie-ins. It's amazing to me that these people are sharing these experiences together, presumably for the rest of their lives -- and it made me want to hear more stories.
As for me, I had one request -- that my band looked vaguely like The One Ring. She obliged!
My Wedding Ring [Reddit]
This week at CES, Linksys is debuting a new gaming router, the WRT32XB, which is the first (and only) device that's specifically optimized for the demands of the Xbox One. It's basically an Xbox One-specific model of the WRT32X Gaming Router, and it retails for a similar price: $300. It will be available in February.
Publishers NIS America have announced on twitter that they will be holding a presser next month in order to showcase their plans for the coming year and beyond.
The publisher, whose catalogue includes the Disgaea, Hyperdimension Neptunia and Danganronpa titles, will host the event on February 9, and will live stream the conference for fans to watch online. We can expect to see new announcements and some "very special guests".
NIS America press event set for February 9 [Gematsu]
As 343 Industries is to Halo, The Coalition is to Gears of War. That is to say: These are the developers who are trusted to be the primary gatekeepers to Xbox's most important properties. Those franchises are so ingrained in the studio's reason for existence that each is actually named for something from their respective in-game universe -- 343 Industries for 343 Guilty Spark and The Coalition for The Coalition of Ordered Governments.
That's why it strikes as somewhat noteworthy that The Coalition is apparently involving itself in some sort of new property, which we've learned from an entirely different company. An entry on StoryLab Productions' Projects page lists "New IP with The Coalition Studios" as one of the games it's working on. There are no other details, just that it's something new and that it's with the Gears of War team.
A quick look at StoryLab's completed projects paints the picture that it's also a Gears of War team. Apart from creating a couple of films, StoryLab's games-related work is restricted to acting as support on Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Gears of War 4.
These are the kind of things that get announced on their own timelines, so we're not expecting to learn much more until an official reveal. But, it is important to remember that The Coalition is a subsidiary of Microsoft, so this is almost certainly going to be considered Xbox first-party and published by Microsoft Studios.
Also, there's no real guessing as to how big or small this new property might be. The Gears of War studio is almost definitely staying mainly focused on Gears of War stuff. The Coalition's involvement could be super tangential with just a few folks dedicating their attention toward it. However, hearing that The Coalition is involved with a new property immediately brings back memories of the developer's time as Black Tusk when it was working on a new game. That was shelved and Black Tusk was renamed something more Gears-y. Maybe, fingers crossed here, this is a revival.
Projects [StoryLab Productions via reddit]
CES was a different show 17 years ago. In 2001, the Best of Show award went to the DataPlay disc, a postage-stamp-size memory card that held up to 500MB of data. If you can't remember it, don't worry -- the company went out of business shortly thereafter as SD became the de facto standard. Microsoft was still the biggest tech company on the planet at that point -- Apple wouldn't release the original iPod for another nine months -- and each CES began with a keynote hosted by Bill Gates.
The first 80 minutes of its 2001 keynote consisted of clunky tech that now, in some form or another, lives in Google Home or your smartphone. But then came the reveal of the original Xbox. It arrived with none of the fanfare we expect from modern tech presentations, but, unlike the Pocket PC voice-to-text demo that preceded it, the Xbox debut changed the company's future.
For once, Microsoft was an underdog, going head-to-head against Sony, Nintendo and Sega for control of the living room. To help sell its vision, the company enlisted a veteran game developer with a penchant for flashy footwear and, of course, a pro wrestler. This is the story of that presentation, from the people who were there.
