The long-running British sci-fi adventure Doctor Who is back later this month, and it has been revealed that a key character is also returning. If you don't want to know who it is, stop reading now!
The Doctor's long-time enemy the Master will reappear in the new season, played by John Simm. "I can confirm that it's true, thanks to the power of time travel I'm back," Simm said in a statement. "It's always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can't wait for you all to see what the Master gets up to in the next series."
Showrunner Stephen Moffat also commented on Simm's return, and revealed that he would appear opposite Michelle Gomez, who has played the role (as the Mistress) since 2014.
"You'll have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what the Master is up to and how he makes his return to face the Doctor," he said. "It's been a huge pleasure to have John and Michelle face to face in the same role! It's not often you get to see a solo personality clash."
Simm first played the Master in Season 3, and returned for the two-part special The End of Time in 2009. The character initially appeared in Doctor Who back in 1971, portrayed by Roger Delgado.
The upcoming season is to be the last for both Moffat and star Peter Capaldi. The pair are departing after three and six seasons in their current roles, respectively. Moffat, who serves as head writer and executive producer, will be replaced by Chris Chibnall, who previously contributed episodes such as 42 and The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood.
Capaldi's replacement, meanwhile, is currently unknown, with Ben Whishaw, Richard Ayoade, Rory Kinnear, and Rupert Grint tipped to step in.
With Microsoft revealing more information on Project Scorpio, we have updated our console specs compared story to include the latest information on Microsoft's upcoming system. Specs, features, and prices for all the modern consoles are condensed in our comprehensive chart below.
Xbox One
Xbox One S
Project Scorpio
Playstation 4
PlayStation 4 Slim
PlayStation 4 Pro
Switch
CPU
1.75GHz 8-core AMD custom CPU
1.75GHz 8-core AMD custom CPU
2.3GHz 8-core AMD custom Scorpio Engine CPU
1.6GHz 8-core AMD custom "Jaguar" CPU
1.6GHz 8-core AMD custom "Jaguar" CPU
2.1GHz 8-core AMD custom "Jaguar" CPU
1020MHz Nvidia custom Tegra SOC (*Clockspeed TBC)
GPU
Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 853MHz with 1.31 teraflops of performance
Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 914MHz
Integrated AMD graphics with 6 teraflops of performance
Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 800MHz with 1.84 teraflops of performance
Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 800MHz with 1.84 teraflops of performance
Integrated AMD Polaris graphics with 4.2 teraflops of performance
Black (Joy-Con controllers are also available in red/blue)
Optical Drive
Blu-ray/DVD
4K/HDR Blu-ray drive
4K/HDR Blu-ray drive
Blu-ray/DVD
Blu-ray/DVD
Blu-ray/DVD
NA
Networking
Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi A/B/G/N 2.4GHz and 5GHz
Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi A/B/G/N/AC 2.4GHz and 5GHz
TBD
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 B/G/N, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 2.1
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 B/G/N/AC, Bluetooth 4.0
Gigabit Ethernet
802.11A/B/G/N/AC Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compliant) / Bluetooth 4.1 (TV mode only. A wired LAN connection is possible through the use of a commercially available wired LAN adapter.)
Internet Subscription
Xbox Live required to play online
Xbox Live required to play online
TBD
PS Plus required to play online
PS Plus required to play online
PS Plus required to play online
Nintendo Switch Online Service required to play online
Ports
Power, HDMI in, HDMI out, 3x USB 3.0, S/PDIF, Kinect port, IR out
Power, HDMI 2.0a in, HDMI 2.0a out, 3x USB 3.0, S/PDIF, Kinect port, IR out
TBD
HDMI, analog-AV out, 2xUSB 3.0, AUX, S/PDIF
HDMI, analog-AV out, 2xUSB 3.1, AUX
HDMI, 3x USB 3.1, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x PS Camera
Game Card, Audio Jack, SD card slot, USB-C, HDMI out
We've highlighted a few interesting tidbits below:
Which console is the most powerful? On paper, Microsoft's Project Scorpio console is poised to become the most powerful system with its 6 teraflops of performance, but it isn't slated to release until the end of 2017. As of today, the PS4 Pro is arguably the most powerful console on the market, offering 4.2 teraflops of performance.
Which console offers the most storage space? The console that currently offers the most storage space out of the box is the 2TB version of the Xbox One S. It's worth mentioning that you can swap out the storage drives on the PlayStation 4 consoles, which is something Xbox One systems currently can't do. The Switch also features expandable storage via its MicroSDXC card slot.
Which console is the heaviest? Without knowing the weight of Project Scorpio, the original Xbox One is the heaviest of the bunch, weighing 7.8 pounds.
If you're more into the game's Stunt Race Series, there are extra bonuses for you, too: players are getting double RP and GTA$ on all 15 stunt races for the next five days. There are also in-game deals on land and sea. This week, players will get 25% off the following:
Watercraft: Aquarius, Pieces, and Orion Yachts, Nagasaki Dinghy
We enjoyed Lego City Undercover on its original release--critic Kevin VanOrd said few games are as good at "making you feel so young at heart." For more, check out our full Lego City Undercover review.
4K and HDR are terms that have been tossed around a lot lately, especially since the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft will support both features. But what are 4K and HDR, exactly? We provide all the important details in Q&A format down below.
4K
What is 4K?
In regards to consumer displays, 4K generally equates to a 3840x2160-resolution panel. This means the typical 4K screen will offer 3,840 horizontal pixels and 2,160 vertical pixels. When you multiply these numbers together, you get a panel with more than 8 million pixels. This is four times the pixel density of a traditional 1080p HD panel. See the math below:
3840x2160 = 8,294,400 pixels
1920x1080x4 = 8,294,400 pixels
The term 4K derived from the fact that the film industry reached a 4096x2160 resolution standard, which is a 1.9:1 aspect ratio, but since most home monitors and TVs use a 16:9 ratio, the resolution was scaled down to 3840x2160p, which is also commonly referred to as Ultra HD.
Why should I care about 4K?
Studies show that by 2020, the majority of US homes are expected to have a 4K-capable UHD TV.
In terms of picture quality, the increased resolution provides improved image clarity and sharpness. It also allows for larger panels, since 1080p screens stretched across a large surface will begin to look blurry with their low pixel density.
Do I need a 4K player to take advantage of 4K?
Yes. There are standalone 4K players, but gaming PCs with modern graphics cards will also be able to output to 4K as well. The Xbox One S can play 4K movies, but it doesn't have enough power to render 4K games. While the PlayStation 4 Pro is capable of running some games natively at 4K, many games use a checkerboard rendering shortcut. Microsoft asserts that its upcoming Project Scorpio console will be able to game at 4K.
purports to support both 4K video playback and 4K gaming.
Is there a lot of 4K content?
Netflix's House of Cards was one of the first streaming shows to support 4K.
Most blockbuster movies moving forward will offer 4K Blu-ray discs, but UHD content on the Web is still a growing segment. 2160p video is becoming more widely available on streaming services like YouTube, Amazon, Vimeo, and Netflix. Certain high-profile 4K Netflix shows include Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and House of Cards.
What are the issues facing 4K?
Aside from the relatively small library of 4K content at the moment, you'll need a good Internet connection if you intend to stream 2160p video. In addition, because 4K is four times as sharp as 1080p, it can be graphically demanding for gaming.
HDR
What is HDR?
HDR stands for high dynamic range. You might have heard the term as it pertains to cameras, but when it comes to display technology, it's actually somewhat different.
Samsung showcases HDR on its TVs.
When cameras are shooting in HDR, they're typically taking multiple exposures to highlight the dark and light information in a scene. From there, processing is used to combine the exposures into one picture to deliver a balanced image that's more representative of how we, as humans, perceive light and color.
HDR on TVs also aims to represent colors in a more realistic way, but instead of using image processing to combine exposures together, it simply uses panels that offer a much wider color gamut compared to standard RGB TVs.
The black triangle represents HDR, and encompasses roughly 75 percent of colors that the human eye can see. The Yellow triangle represents the color gamut of more traditional sRGB screens.
According to Nvidia, HDR can expand the color gamut by a factor of two, which amounts to roughly 75 percent of the visible color spectrum.
Why should I care about HDR?
In terms of image quality, HDR increases the contrast between blacks and whites over traditional RGB displays. This means whites will look super bright, and blacks will look very dark. Colors will also look much more lush and vibrant. For instance, onscreen fire effects will look much "warmer," and images will, in general, have a little more pop. It's a technology that's arguably more noticeable than the upgrade from 1080p to 4K.
Do all 4K TVs support HDR?
No. While the vast majority of HDR TVs will feature a 4K panel (due to their appeal to a high-end market), not all 4K TVs will support HDR. They're separate technologies. Having said that, HDR pairs very well with 2160p and makes good use of the greater pixel density to create a more dynamic, richer image.
What will I need to enable HDR?
Sony updated all PS4s to support HDR.
Aside from an HDR-capable TV, you'll need an HDR-capable player and HDR content (this goes for movies and games). In terms of consoles, Microsoft's Xbox One S supports HDR, and Sony eventually pushed out an HDR update to existing PS4s. In addition, the PS4 Pro also supports HDR, though it doesn't have a 4K/Blu-ray HDR optical drive like the Xbox One S. Microsoft's upcoming Project Scorpio console will also support HDR. In order to get HDR working, you'll need an HDMI 2.0 cable.
Is there a lot of HDR content?
Not at the moment. HDR content is still in a state of infancy, even compared to 4K, but both Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix are working to incorporate more HDR video content. Some of Netflix's existing, prominent HDR content includes its own Marco Polo and Daredevil shows.
Older movies and games can also be remastered to support HDR. For instance, Sony recently revealed that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will eventually receive an HDR update.
Are OLED TVs the same as HDR TVs?
Not necessarily. OLED TVs offer deep black levels (with each pixel serving as its own light source) and can be HDR-capable, but since they're not backlit in the same way that popular LED TVs are, they're not generally as bright. This means they can fail to meet HDR's 1,000 nit brightness requirements. In order for an OLED TV to meet HDR's requirements, it needs to have more than 540 nits of brightness and less than .0005 nits of black level.
How can I know if I'm buying an HDR TV?
The UHD Alliance was formed to create standards for HDR TVs. One standard is based on whether or not a TV can reach a certain peak brightness, measured in nits. The other standard, which is more popular for dimmer OLED TVs, is for the panel to meet a certain contrast ratio between blacks and whites.
To know whether or not the UHD Alliance has certified a TV as HDR-complaint, look for the Ultra HD Premium label.
To celebrate the upcoming release of Prey, you can enter for a chance to wintwo (2) tickets for you and a friend to see Starship Troopers at the Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco on Tuesday, April 11th. Five (5) winners, plus their friends, will be chosen on Sunday, April 9th, and contacted via email. Winners will have to travel to the event at their own cost.
Attendees of the event will be able to play the game Prey, enjoy food/drinks, and get a chance to win a custom Prey Xbox One or PlayStation 4. This event is sponsored by Bethesda Softworks.
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema – New Mission at Bear vs Bull | 2550 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94110
When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017. The event starts at 5:00pm PT and Starship Troopers showing begins at 7:00pm PT.
The device contains 12 GB of RAM--50% more than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That memory is GDDR5, the same, faster type of memory seen in the PS4, and an improvement over Xbox One's DDR3.
Memory bandwidth is also improved: Scorpio's RAM has a transfer speed of 326 GB/s, an increase over PS4 Pro's 218 GB/s. The picture on Xbox One is a little more complicated, as it contained 32 MB of ESRAM, which is not seen in the other consoles, in addition to its more conventional 8 GB OF DDR3 RAM. These portions of RAM could clock 204 GB/s and 68 GB/s, respectively.
The new device's graphical capabilities are contained on a new System on Chip called the Scorpio Engine, which was designed in conjunction with AMD. This contains 40 "customized" compute units clocked at 1172 MHz, up from PS4 Pro's 36 units that run at 911 MHz and Xbox One's 12 units that can manage 853 MHz. For comparison, Xbox One S also contained 12, though they were slightly faster at 914 MHz. Scorpio's GPU is about 4.6 times more powerful than the Xbox One's and is described by Eurogamer / Digital Foundry as "a beast." This equates to six teraflops of performance; for more, check out our guide on what a teraflop is and what it means for Xbox's Project Scorpio.
Scorpio also boasts eight custom x86 CPU cores, each clocked at 2.3 GHz, which represents a speed increase over both Xbox One's eight 1.75 GHz Jaguar cores and PS4 Pro's similar array that runs at 2.1 GHz.
Lastly, the upgraded console will ship with a 1 TB hard drive and supports 4K Ultra HD Blu-Rays, just like the Xbox One S can; PS4, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One can all only take standard Blu-Ray discs.
So what does all this mean?
Well, the Scorpio is seemingly capable of native 4K gameplay at a consistent 60 FPS. Digital Foundry saw a test version of Forza--based on the same engine used to build Forza Motorsport 6--running at those levels, though other titles will likely vary. Existing games that have a 30 FPS cap on Xbox One will also need to be patched if they are to have higher frame rates.
Scorpio will run all Xbox One games "better," whether they're patched for the new console or not. That means a more stable or higher frame rate, improved texture filtering, no screen tearing, and faster load times. All of that is also reportedly true for backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games, even though changes in hardware between Xbox One and Project Scorpio mean Microsoft has had to go through every existing game individually to make them run on Scorpio.
Scorpio also contains some improvements to Xbox One's features. Game DVR now lets you capture 4K, 60 FPS, HDR gameplay, and it will also allow you to scrub through captured gameplay to find the best screenshots. However, just like the Xbox One S, the new console does not contain a Kinect port--you'll need a USB adapter to use your Xbox One camera device.
Users who own 1080p televisions will still be catered for, too: "ultra HD-rendering should super-sample down for those 1080p displays," says the site, meaning games should look sharper, even if you don't own a 4K set.
Hearthstone's latest expansion, Journey to Un'Goro, introduces a slew of new legendary cards as well as a new keyword: Adapt. But the most interesting addition are Quests. The Quest cards introduce difficult to achieve goals, but the rewards are powerful legendaries that can seriously turn the tide of battle.
Click through this gallery to see each of the new Quest cards as well as the reward you earn.
The latest Hearthstone expansion, Journey to Un'Goro is full of interesting cards and new abilities. Entire decks will likely be built around the Quest mechanic, and Adapt promises to change up the meta in surprising ways.
But the most fun cards are, of course, the Legendaries. Here are all of the gold cards you can find in packs. If you'd like a deeper dive specifically into the the various quests and those rewards, check out our Journey to Un'Goro Quests gallery.
According to Eurogamer--which received official information from Microsoft--Project Scorpio is 100% compatible with all Xbox One games as well as Xbox 360 titles that are supported by Microsoft's backwards compatibility program. On Project Scorpio, these games will be "smoother, look better, and load faster."
The PlayStation 4 Pro features more powerful versions of the original PS4 hardware, allowing it to essentially function as a standard PS4 for emulation purposes. On the other hand, Project Scorpio is a radical hardware overhaul, and so cannot take this approach. The new hardware configuration allows its full horsepower to be used when running existing games.
This means Xbox One games that aren't able to sustain their frame rates on that console have "a really good chance of doing so on Scorpio." However, it is noted that games that are designed to run at 30 FPS won't just start running at 60 FPS, as it is the software itself that decides the target. Scorpio doesn't have the capability of unlocking a cap.
On the subject of screen tearing, Microsoft says that "you will never see a torn frame, because we have enough performance there to ensure that."
Games that use dynamic scaling to adjust their resolutions based on what's happening on-screen also stand to benefit, as Scorpio should allow them to reach their maximum resolution at all times. Texture filtering, meanwhile, has been improved since Project Scorpio can overwrite "all bilinear and all trilinear fetches to be anisotropic."
The 31% CPU boost means that loading times in existing games will be "fundamentally faster." This is because the CPU is capable of decompressing assets streamed from the hard drive quicker. Additionally, the hard disk speed is 50% quicker so that 4K textures can be delivered faster. Naturally, Xbox One and Xbox 360 games also benefit from this.
In addition, the improvements mean you'll be able to capture higher quality screenshots and footage using the enhanced Game DVR app.
Eurogamer notes that some of these enhancements may cause compatibility issues on "a very small percentage of titles." However, Microsoft is working on ensuring that "all titles work," even if "some of the benefits above need to be dialled back."
Last weekend, WonderCon took place in Anaheim, California. The event showcased the worlds of comic books and entertainment over the course of three days. In addition, there were plenty of booths and many of which had props and replicas from famous movies. Over at the EFX Collectibles booth, helmets and masks from the Marvel and Star Wars films were on display, many of which are available for purchase on their website. Here are the Marvel pieces the company had on display.
Microsoft has said Project Scorpio, its new high-end version of Xbox One, is designed to "win developers back." Speaking to Eurogamer, corporate vice president of Xbox and Windows gaming Mike Ybarra said it wants to foster a relationship similar to the one it had with developers during the Xbox 360's life.
"The team looked back at developers and the developer relationship we have," he said. "With Xbox 360 we had the absolute best platform for developers, [with Xbox One] we sort of lost that in a two-year time-frame, so we said how do we win the mind-share of those developers back?
"We want the best games running on our box and there are tools, devkits and some arrows like that to win the developers back. So that was a big priority for us as we approached this product."
Ybarra added that Microsoft has been focused on ensuring that developers have a toolset that allows them to "create the absolute best version of [their] games." This, he continued, was in order to "win the hearts and minds of developers" again.
The decision to release a new, more powerful version of the Xbox One was also influenced by the hardware iteration model established by the mobile phone industry.
"When you think about phones, for example, consumers are buying phones more frequently than we've ever seen," Ybarra explained. "[Consumer] expectation of technology is they no longer need to wait for it, it's immediately there in front of them and they expect all of their content to flow across those devices, too.
"And so when you see people buy phones, their apps just download and they just keep going and it works seamlessly for them. Same with 4K TVs. 4K TVs are one of the biggest holiday items this past year. People are expecting this new technology faster than I've ever seen and when you think about the console business, that's kind of in conflict to that, because it's like here's a console and for the next five to seven years, you're on that physical box."
Of course, Ybarra also noted that this new approach carries with it inherent risks.
"We're taking that big risk to release something we know consumers want," he said. "And adopting that business model, that's where the risk comes in--it's in the business model of saying let's change things up and let's give consumers what they want, sooner."
Hardware specs for Project Scoripio have also been revealed and the console looks to be as powerful as Microsoft initially touted it to be, with hardware is beyond what we've seen in the current console generation.
Microsoft has revealed fresh new tech specs about its upcoming upgraded Xbox One console, Project Scorpio.
According to a new report from Digital Foundry, the console's specs are beyond what we've seen in the current console generation. Scorpio was able to run a Forza Motorsport demo at 60 FPS in seemingly native 4K, with graphical settings at an "Xbox One-equivalent" level.
In terms of specs, the console boasts a 1 TB hard drive, as well as 12 GB of GDDR5 memory--the same type of RAM contained in the PlayStation 4, though Sony's device only contains 8 GB.
That 12 GB is split into two portions: 8 GB is accessible to developers, while 4 GB is reserved for system use. That's an increase over Xbox One's 8 GB overall memory, which was split the same way into portions of 5 GB and 3 GB, while GDDR5 represents a speed increase over Xbox One's DDR3 RAM.
Digital Foundry--which was shared this information by Microsoft itself--says Scorpio will run all Xbox One games "better," whether they're patched for the new console or not. This is because the console uses no emulation--Xbox One games will run natively using the system's internal power.
Scorpio's GPU--which is 4.6 times as powerful as Xbox One's--is described by Digital Foundry as "a beast." Combined with a faster CPU, the result is a more stable or higher frame rate, no screen tearing, and faster load times. All of that is also reportedly true for backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games, even though changes in hardware between Xbox One and Project Scorpio mean Microsoft has had to go through every existing game individually to make them run on Scorpio.
Scorpio also contains some improvements to Xbox One's features. Game DVR now lets you capture 4K, 60 FPS, HDR gameplay, and it will also allow you to scrub through captured gameplay to find the best screenshots. However, the new console does not contain a Kinect port--you'll need a USB adapter to use your Xbox One camera device.
The site says Scorpio's internal design brief was to scale existing titles up to 4K--and this latest batch of information suggests Microsoft has succeeded. it should be noted, however, that the demo only contained one test version of an unconfirmed Forza game--though the build apparently was built using the same tech used to make Forza Motorsport 6. Additionally, titles that were originally 30 FPS will not go over that unless patched to do so, while the level of optimization seen in all titles could vary.
Users who own 1080p televisions will still be catered for, too: "ultra HD-rendering should super-sample down for those 1080p displays," says the site, meaning games should look sharper, even if you don't own a 4K set.
Although no price has officially been confirmed, Digital Foundry and Eurogamer estimate from the specs they've seen that the console will cost US $499--the same price as the Xbox One at launch. For more on the latest Scorpio specs--including all the technical details of the console's CPU and GPU--check out our rundown here.
Peter and Rob trek across the entire map of Hyrule. The catch? One is blindfolded. We'll see how this plays out.
Microsoft offers another glimpse at Project Scorpio.
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