The next God of War game is still a long way off, but recently Sony released several images of concept art for the game that are pretty incredible.
They show off the war-torn, desolate world that you'll be exploring in-game, as well as Kratos looking distinctly Scandinavian. They also depict some of the pretty scary-looking Norse enemies that you'll fight. Kratos's son Atreus also appears, holding a dagger that looks insufficient for taking on the hordes of foes. Check out the images below.
E3 2017 marked the last time we saw God of War in action. We were able to sit down with creative director Cory Barlog to discuss the challenges of rebooting the series; you can read our interview here.
In addition, you can watch the E3 2017 demo of God of War in the embed at the top of this article. The game is currently scheduled for release sometime in Q2 2018.
Force Friday was a key day in the lead-up to the release of 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with all the major toy companies releasing a host of toys that tied in with the movie. With The Last Jedi set for release in December, Force Friday II is set to take place starting at midnight tomorrow, September 1. Details of what fans can buy have now been revealed, which includes some new characters from The Last Jedi.
One of the new additions is a droid named BB-9E. Although it seems to be from the same line of Astromechs as BB-8, the black paint job and angular head suggest that it's a First Order droid. The toy comes from Sphero, and you can check it out below, via Techcrunch:
Hasbro is also releasing some new Last Jedi toys, as part of its Black Series line. The latest iteration of the Imperial Guard, know as an Elite Praetorian Guard will be available, alongside a Guardians of Evil set which tracks the evolution of the Imperial Guard design across the franchise.
In related news, a new picture from The Last Jedi was released this week. It shows Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, looking very serious in a new outfit. The Last Jedi arrives in theaters on December 15. It also stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, and Andy Serkis.
Call of Duty: WWII's second beta weekend was scheduled to begin tomorrow, September 1, but it's gone live a day early. You can already jump in and check out the beta, which includes several additions from last weekend.
Players noticed earlier today that the beta had become accessible well before its planned September 1 start date; GameSpot has since confirmed that it's playable now. So, if you've pre-ordered the game on either PS4 or Xbox One and received a code for the beta, you can start playing as soon as it's downloaded.
This is the second beta weekend for Call of Duty: WWII; the first was exclusive to players who pre-ordered on PS4. This current beta test features some content that wasn't in the first weekend. Most notably, the Aachen multiplayer map is now playable. In addition, you can try out the M1A1 Carbine, new Scorestreaks, and a new sniper rifle. Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, and the new stage-based War Mode are all available, as well.
The beta ends on Monday, September 4. Call of Duty: WWII launches on November 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Along with the news that three new Legendary Pokemon are on the way to Pokemon Go, developer Niantic has announced that it will begin field-testing the game's new Exclusive Raids very soon.
Now dubbed EX Raids, these differ from the standard Raids in a few important ways. Most notably, players will need to receive an invitation in order to participate in one. To get an invite, you will have to had completed a Raid at that location "recently." Niantic says that players will have "advance warning" before an EX Raid Battle begins to give them "ample time to coordinate with other trainers."
Before Niantic rolls the feature out globally, it will test EX Raids at "select Gyms" in order to further refine the experience. "During the field test, we'll be making periodic adjustments to EX Raid eligibility requirements, frequency, times, locations, and durations with the goal of making the EX Raid Battle feature engaging, rewarding, and most importantly, fun for Trainers who regularly participate in Raid Battles," the developer said in a post on the Pokemon Go website.
Niantic will begin distributing EX Raid Passes to select players "as early as September 6." The developer hasn't said how long it plans to field test the feature or when it will launch in full, but we already know of at least one Pokemon that can only be acquired through EX Raids: the Legendary Psychic-type Mewtwo, which was unlocked earlier this month at a special Pokemon Go Stadium event in Japan.
Beginning today, players around the globe will have a chance to encounter Pokemon Gold and Silver's Legendary beasts, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, for a limited time. Unlike the previous batch of Legendaries, each one will be available in a specific part of the world for a month, after which it will move on to a different region. Until September 30, the Electric-type Raikou can be found in the Americas; the Fire-type Entei will appear in Europe and Africa; and the Water-type Suicune is in the Asia-Pacific region.
Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon may still be a few months away, but Pokemon fans have a few titles to look forward to soon. On September 22, the Pokemon fighting game Pokken Tournament DX launches for Switch, and alongside it, the classic Gold and Silver versions will arrive in the 3DS Eshop. To commemorate the upcoming releases, Nintendo has announced some new Pokemon-themed rewards for My Nintendo members in the US.
As is typically the case, the rewards come in the form of discounts for select Wii U and 3DS games. On the former console, players can snag a 30% discount off the excellent Game Boy Advance spinoff, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, and 20% off of the Wii download, PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. 3DS owners, meanwhile, can save 30% on the series' Game Boy Color puzzle game, Pokemon Puzzle Challenge.
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
Each reward is available until November 23. The Pokemon Pinball and Pokemon Puzzle Challenge rewards both cost 20 Gold points apiece, while the PokePark Wii discount can be yours for 400 Platinum points. My Nintendo members can also grab a Pokken Tournament DX-themed September calendar for their PC or smartphones for 50 Platinum points, though it will only be available until September 30.
Beyond the Pokemon rewards, My Nintendo members can still snag discounts on a number of other Wii U and 3DS games. You can find the full list of rewards that are currently available here, but some notable ones include:
Nintendo of Europe also has its own Pokemon sale going on right now. For a limited time, 3DS owners in the region can get a discount on Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow versions. All players can save 20% on the titles, bringing them down to £7.19, while those who've linked their Nintendo Network ID to their Nintendo Account will save a more substantial 36% off instead. The trio will only be on sale until September 4.
Do you have any tech-related questions of your own? If so, please leave a detailed question in the comments below to get answers tailored to your specific curiosities.
Note: Questions have been formatted for spelling, grammar, and clarity.
Will there be cryptocurrency GPUs that will prevent the over inflation of gaming cards?
Nopers @nopers on Twitter asks: Will there be new hardware specifically designed for cryptocurrency mining so that video cards will go back to being dedicated more for gaming?
GameTech Support: From what AMD has told me, the answer looks to be "no" at the moment. Gaming GPUs excel at parallel processing, which cryptocurrency mining just happens to also thrive on. Hindering GPU performance for mining would also negatively impact gaming performance.
Can you help me put together a cheap gaming PC?
Calvin Hatcher @HatchCalvin on Twitter asks: I'm looking for a new gaming PC that could run and stream games at 1080p with high settings with a 60FPS frame rate. Any cheap recommendations?
GameTech Support: If you want a cheap gaming PC just to game on, this sub $650 build I spec'd out is really good: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/best-cheap-gaming-pc-build-updated-august-2017/2900-953/. If you wanted something to stream with, however, you'll want a higher-end CPU and perhaps 16GB of RAM. I'd replace the Ryzen 3 1200 in that link with a Ryzen 7 1700 processor, as that's one of the better bang-for-your-buck streaming solutions out there.
How do I get HDR working on my PS4?
GameSpot user Marsupialman asks: I recently picked up a new 4K HDR Sony television, but I don't have a PS4 Pro. I noticed that games like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Ratchet and Clank will still display in HDR on a regular PS4, so I looked up a list of PS4 games that support HDR. For some reason, only some of the games on the list displayed HDR for me. For example, I could not get Helldivers to show up in HDR. Do I need a PS4 Pro for some of these games? Is this something that is up to the developer or is there a problem with my TV?
GameTech Support: You'll want to make sure your PS4 and 4K HDR TV have HDR enabled.
With your PS4, navigate to the Video Output Information screen then go to [Settings] > [Sound and Screen] > [Video Output Settings] to see if your TV is HDR capable. From there, go to the Video Output Settings menu and set HDR and Deep Color output settings to Automatic.
You'll also want to make sure that you're using an HDMI 2.0 cable and have it plugged into a HDR-capable port on your TV. Check your TV's manual to see if only certain HDMI ports support the HDR.
When are the next GPUs coming? Also, why should you pay more for a motherboard?
GameSpot user Myron117 asks: I'm thinking of buying an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (when all the Bitcoin inflation rubbish stops), but I'm wondering what the next high-end cards from AMD and Nvidia are, and when I should expect them.
I'm also not sure why motherboards differ so much and what's the real gain on performance.
GameTech Support: AMD recently released its Radeon RX Vega 64 and 56 GPUs, so I wouldn't expect any major new graphics cards from the company anytime soon.
On the Geforce side of the equation, Nvidia hasn't revealed a specific release date for its upcoming Volta GPUs, but rumors seem to suggest that they'll be out early next year.
As for your question on what to look for in a motherboard, we've outlined it in this story here.
The short answer for why you may want to spend more for higher-end motherboards is that they may offer more overclocking options, more USB 3.1 ports, Thunderbolt 3 support, WiFi support, Bluetooth support, more RAM slots, more fan ports, more PCIe slots, NVMe support, and higher-quality integrated audio. Beyond that, there's superficial things like the aesthetics of a board and RGB lighting.
Is it okay to leave PC parts out?
Varun Nandlal on Twitter asks: Is it safe to keep unopened PC parts in your house for long? I've had my RAM and GPU unopened in my house for a couple months now.
GameTech Support: Computer components are more durable than most people think. As long as you don't shock them with static electricity or get them wet, they should largely be fine. If you know you're going to be storing them for long periods of time, it's good to place them in the anti-static bags and enclosures they came with.
Should I always update my GPU driver?
Vicky14 @vicky on Twitter asks: Should I update my AMD graphics card every time there's a new driver update?
GameTech Support: For the most part, yes. They can often offer performance improvements to certain games. There are rare instances in which new drivers will cause some slight hiccups, so if you're really concerned, you can wait and see what the community thinks of a particular driver update before you dive in.
What is a PWM fan? And can I SLI two different GPUs?
Farhan Tasaddaq @4han_t on Twitter asks: What is a PWM fan? I have two fans on an x62 radiator, one fan on GC radiator, and one fan connected straight to the motherboard. How do I control them?
Also, can I add two different graphics cards like a GTX 1080 and 1080 Ti in SLI?
GameTech Support: PWM stands for pulse-width modulation. These fans usually have cables with four pins and you'll want to make sure that they are connected to a four-pin fan port on your motherboard. They will allow you to intelligently and granularly tweak fan speeds either in your computer's BIOS or with third party programs like NZXT's Cam software within Windows.
As for your graphics card question, unfortunately, they need to be the same GPU to run in SLI. You can run the same GPUs from two different vendors in SLI, however. For instance, you can run a Zotac GTX 1080 Ti in SLI with an Asus GTX 1080 Ti.
Can you help me put together a really high-end gaming PC?
Alexinthestudio @Dubblasterz on Twitter asks: What are some good PC parts? I have $25,000.
GameTech Support: Wow, that's quite the budget. With $25,000, you could pretty much build anything you want. Here's a high-end rig I spec'd out for less than a tenth of that.
With your budget, however, I would add a second GTX 1080 Ti for SLI and go with a bigger SSD.
How do I get the sound out of my TV speakers from my PC?
Barry Monroe @ApexPenguin on Twitter asks: When using a TV as a monitor, how do I get the sound to come out of the TV speakers from a PC?
GameTech Support: Assuming you use Windows, move your cursor over to the lower right corner of your desktop and right click on the speaker icon. Then click on Playback devices. From here, select your TV as the audio source and select "Set Default."
How much would it cost to build a PC that can run modern games on high?
Assassin @XxAssassin207xx on Twitter asks: How much would it cost to build a PC that can run games like GTA and Battlefield on high settings?
GameTech Support: You should be able to build a gaming PC that can max out both games at 1080p for less than $650. I spec'd out a good build for that here.
Storage (HDD): IBM/Seagate Constellation ES 1TB Hard Drive $40.00
PSU: EVGA 500 B1 80+ Bronze 500W PSU $36.00
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 3.1 $40.00
Total $639.93
Why does the Titan Xp costs so much more than the GTX 1080 Ti?
Facebook user Rafael Molina asks: Haven't you ever wondered why people with a $699 USD graphic card like a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti claim their hardware is as fast as the $1,200 Titan Xp? What's the catch?
GameTech Support: The reason the Titan Xp costs so much more than the GTX 1080 Ti and is only marginally faster for gaming is that it's not actually designed to be a gaming GPU. The Titan Xp is geared more towards compute applications with its higher CUDA core count.
While it's a super expensive graphics card for gaming, it's a relatively cheap and powerful one for research.
By Anonymous on Aug 31, 2017 11:29 pm Rob and Erick head back into the Call of Duty WWII private beta to try out the new M1A1 Carbine, M1903 Sniper, a new scorestreak Mortar Strike, and a brand new basic training Ordnance.
Update: An official statement has been released concerning Clausen's reported departure from the show. "We tremendously value Alf Clausen's contributions to the Simpsons and he will continue to have an ongoing role in the show," Fox told GameSpot. "We remain committed to the finest in music for the Simpsons, absolutely including orchestral. This is the part where we would make a joke but neither Alf's work nor the music of the Simpsons is treated as anything but seriously by us."
Original Story: Here is some pretty big news about The Simpsons, one of TV's longest-running and most beloved shows: veteran composer Alf Clausen is leaving the program. This is according to reports from Entertainment Weekly and Variety, which claim the Emmy-winning composer has "parted ways" with the show, though the circumstances around his supposed departure are unclear. Cost-cutting measures are speculated.
Whatever the case, this is a big loss for The Simpsons. Clausen, 76, joined The Simpsons in 1990, at the beginning of Season 2. He has worked on the series since then, picking up 23 Emmy nominations throughout his run where he scored more than 560 episodes of the series.
Clausen told Variety that producer Richard Sakai called him to let him know that The Simpsons would be pursuing "a different kind of music" going forward, and Clausen would not be needed. Clausen did the music for The Simpsons Season 28 finale back in May. Season 29 premieres on October 1, but we don't know yet who will score it.
According to Variety, the 35-piece orchestra that Clausen uses for every episode can carry a cost of "millions of dollars" per year. The iconic Simpsons theme song from Danny Elfman is not expected to be replaced amidst Clausen's exit.
In addition to The Simpsons, Clausen scored the popular movies The Naked Gun and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
By Anonymous on Aug 31, 2017 11:20 pm Mutant storms bear down on Fortnite players in a new mode adding modifiers, hydraulic guns, and a new sheilder beast.
Ahead of next week's release of Destiny 2, the Destiny companion app has received a huge overhaul. It's available to download now, and from a first look at the app, it has become a lot more social. In the first Destiny, the companion app was mainly a way to check your gear and your game stats. Destiny 2's app presents a lot more information about Destiny, Bungie, and the community right up front.
For example, upon launching the app, you're now greeted with the Explore section, which is essentially a feed of all the news and posts published to Bungie's website. Explore is laid out a lot like a social news site--there are tabs for "trending" posts, news, creations, community posts, and game updates. It's already a good way to see all of the official news about the game, but the coolest parts of the Explore section are the ones that are tied to the community.
The app also has a much more robust section for interacting with your clan, complementing Destiny 2's revamped Clan system. You can chat with your Clan, post on its forum and see your Clan's progress. Adding Slack-like functionality, such as different chat channels, alongside things like specific Clan forums, will likely be very useful once Clans start growing larger and more active.
According to a post on Bungie's website, you should now expect big changes to the companion functionality to go live first in the mobile app, rather than in the web browser. Bungie's website will receive changes at a slower pace than the app.
It is the last day of August, which means now is your final chance to pick up some of August 2017's free Games With Gold titles before they return to their normal prices. There are three games to claim, two of which will no longer be free after today.
On Xbox One, the adorable-looking first-person game Slime Rancher will end its run as a freebie at midnight. Switching to Xbox 360, the third-persons hooter Red Faction: Armageddon is free until the end of the day. Also worth noting is that another one of August 2017's Xbox One Games With Gold titles, Trials Fusion, will continue to be free until September.
Destiny 2's new live action trailer has quite the director behind it: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director of this year's Kong: Skull Island, not to mention the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie. For him, he told GameSpot, anything related to video games is a labor of love.
"It really did have to do with my love of video games, and sci-fi, and Destiny," he said. "It was just impossible for me to turn down. It had too many things that I love in it."
The latest in a long line of live action Destiny trailers, this Beastie Boys-scored spot begins with Cayde-6, voiced as ever by Nathan Fillion, introducing a trio of freshly resurrected Guardians to their new life in a world bereft of comforts. Then, they use their big guns and space magic to blow aliens up for a good minute of straight action. They also show off some of Destiny 2's new powers, including each class's new Super ability.
Vogt-Roberts worked mainly with Destiny 2's publisher, Activision, and the ad agency 72andSunny. But he also got to take a trip to Bungie, play an in-progress build of Destiny 2, and pick the developers' brains about what makes their games tick.
"I just can't say enough amazing things about the guys up there, [Destiny 2 Director] Luke Smith and the artists and the animators," he said. "Those guys give a s***."
"I really like the mechanics of games," he continued. "It was amazing to be able to talk to them about why a game feels a certain way, you know?"
Still fresh from directing the enormous Kong: Skull Island, Vogt-Roberts could have opted for something smaller for his next project, like directing more episodes of FX's critically lauded anti-rom-com You're The Worst. But he couldn't resist the challenges the Destiny 2 commercal presented.
"Bungie created a world that is super unique--like, incredibly unlike anything else out there. And it would be very easy to be afraid of that, to lean away from that, or, as you're making a spot like this, to forget about the people who made the first game such a success," he said. "For me, it really was a thing of, from the jump, really being able to talk to [Bungie] and say, look, let's just make sure that as we design all this stuff, as we create a world that, yes, should bring in new players, that we never for a second forget about the core. The actual mega fans of Destiny need to be able to watch this and say 'I'm proud of this. This represents the game that I love. This represents the world that I love. I'm glad this thing exists.'"
Destiny 2 hits Xbox One and PS4 Sept 6., and PC Oct. 24.
If you're eagerly awaiting Total War: Warhammer II on PC, its developer The Creative Assembly has shared some key info. It has revealed the recommended and minimum system requirements for the game, which comes out September 28.
Creative Assembly is also revealing new graphical features it's rolling out for release. Those include improved Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO), a new volumetric fog system that thickens the air (producing god-ray effects), a new sharpening filter, and impressive wet-look surfaces.
"Continuing the series trend for optimization and performance improvement, the second game in CA's fantasy-strategy trilogy will be playable on a wide range of PC systems," the company said on its website. Alongside the minimum and recommended specs, Creative Assembly have outlined a recommendation for 60 FPS gameplay at 1080p.
PC Recommended Specifications
Expected around 45-55 FPS on campaign map and in a 1v1, 20 units vs. 20 units battle, default graphics preset set to High, running at 1920×1080:
Operating System: Windows 7/8.1/10 64 Bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-4570 3.20 Ghz
RAM: 8 GB
Install Size: 60 GB
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2 GB/AMD Radeon R9 270X 2 GB at 1080P
PC Minimum Specifications
Expected around 25-35 FPS on campaign map and in a 1v1, 20 units vs. 20 units battle, default graphics preset set to Low, running at 1280×720:
Operating System: Windows 7 64 Bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 Ghz
RAM: 4 GB/5 GB
Install Size: 60 GB
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 460 1GB/AMD Radeon HD 5770 1 GB/Intel HD4000 at 720p
PC 60 FPS+ Specifications
Expected 60 FPS+ on campaign map and in a 1v1, 20 units vs. 20 units battle, default graphics preset set to Ultra, running at 1920×1080:
Entry is open to US residents only. Giveaway ends on Friday, September 1 at 12:00 PM PT. Three (3) winners will be contacted via email.
Enter below (the additional entries are optional to increase your chances of winning):
About this game:
As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing and starving on the shores of a mysterious island called ARK, you must hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to withstand the elements. Use your cunning and resources to kill or tame & breed the leviathan dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the land, and team up with or prey on hundreds of other players to survive, dominate... and escape!
That's right, you can now dress Noctis up in a helmet that looks like a Cup Noodle cup, complete with all the details down to the barcode and nutritional information. Check it out in action:
Wakey wakey Noct, we don't want people thinking you've got noodles for brains! Download the Noodle Helmet for free from the PS/Xbox Store pic.twitter.com/NhuX4Frn8W
It's available on Xbox One and PS4, and the best part is that it's free. You can grab it from the PlayStation Store right now, but it's not up yet on the Xbox Games Store.
The Cup Noodle helmet originally appeared in a Nissin Cup Noodle-created parody video; following requests from the public, Square Enix added it to the game in Japan in February. It was available to Japanese players who actually bought Cup Noodles.
Rob and Erick head back into the Call of Duty WWII private beta to try out the new M1A1 Carbine, M1903 Sniper, a new scorestreak Mortar Strike, and a brand new basic training Ordnance.
Mutant storms bear down on Fortnite players in a new mode adding modifiers, hydraulic guns, and a new sheilder beast.
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