Among other things, Mass Effect: Andromeda's latest patch adds a weapon that could previously only be seen in cutscenes.
The X5 Ghost assault rifle had been, until now, inaccessible in Andromeda itself. BioWare revealed last month that it "was an early idea" that simply ended up as a prop, not a usable weapon. Lead designer Ian Frazier did note at the time, "That said, several folks seem interested in it, so we're investigating the possibility of turning the prop into a usable gun for a future patch."
While not a hard promise, BioWare has made good on that. GameSpot has verified the weapon now exists in-game, as pictured above. It can be researched from the Milky Way weapons category.
Andromeda's new patch also makes major balance changes on the multiplayer side and improves cinematic scenes, particularly those in the early portion of the game.
Aside from the release of an update, yesterday was an eventful day for developer BioWare Montreal. A report suggested that the Mass Effect series has been put on hiatus and that staffing changes were underway, with some developers moving over to EA Motive and others now working on BioWare's new IP. EA has since confirmed the staffing changes and clarified that there hasn't been any downsizing. It has not addressed the status of Mass Effect.
The GeForce GTX 1080 was one of the worst kept secrets in graphics hardware. While many leaked images hinted at the new card's arrival, it still came as a surprise when manufacturer Nvidia announced that the GTX 1080 would not only be faster than the $1,000 Titan X, but apparently faster than two GTX 980s in SLI.
It's difficult to recall the last time a new flagship GPU from Nvidia was as fast as two of its predecessors in SLI. And you supposedly get all of this for a starting price of $599? Surely there's a catch?
While the GTX 1080 doesn't eclipse two 980s in every scenario, it's demonstrably stronger at 4K. That makes this, right now, the fastest single-GPU card about to hit the market.
I'm reviewing the "Founders Edition" of the card, which cost $699 ($100 more than the 1080's starting price). While previous iterations from Nvidia were known as "reference designs," it appears the corporation wants to show it designs more than baseline graphics cards. So it has revamped its own design by using higher-quality materials that will no doubt resonate with the most devoted enthusiasts . Having said that, the Founders Edition graphics card does not use a higher-quality binned GPU. The extra $100 is merely for the superior materials and craftsmanship. For what it's worth, personally I find the card's jagged edges look pretty sharp.
What makes the Founders Edition stand out? For starters, the 4.3x10.5-inch chassis uses a die-cast aluminum body. The two-slot card's radial blower fan is also aided by Nvidia's vapor chamber cooler. Under load, I saw the fan rev up to 1,342rpm, which was still near whisper quiet.
Another feature that makes the Founders Edition different is its removable low-profile backplate, which is useful for snug SLI configurations.
Specs
GeForce GTX 1080 also uses a new video RAM built by Micron called GDDR5X, which is currently the fastest GDDR memory on the market
Founders Edition details aside, all GeForce GTX 1080s use Nvidia's new Pascal architecture, which leverages bandwidth reduction, preemption, and memory compression techniques to become the company's most efficient architecture to date. On top of this is a new 16nm FinFET production process, which ultimately allows the card's clocks to run really high (I witnessed a base clock of 1.61GHz and a boost clock of 1.73GHz.) Nvidia says it's also been able to overclock the card to over 2GHz. For reference, the company has not before been able to surpass 2GHz on any of its cards, whether using air cooling or more efficient water coolers.
The GeForce GTX 1080 also uses a new video RAM built by Micron called GDDR5X. G5X, as it's also known, is currently the fastest GDDR memory on the market, and allows the card's VRAM to reach an exceptional 10GHz. For reference, the GTX 980 before it topped off at 7GHz.
The GTX 1080 uses a generous 8GB of that frame buffer, which positions it in 4K territory, and is double the VRAM of its 2014 predecessor, the GTX 980.
Spec Chart
GTX 1080
GTX Titan X
GTX 980 Ti
GTX 980
CUDA Cores
2560
3072
2816
2048
Texture Units
160
192
176
128
ROPs
64
96
96
64
Core Clock
1607MHz
1000MHz
1000MHz
1126MHz
Boost Clock
1733MHz
1075MHz
1075MHz
1216MHz
Memory Clock
10GHz GDDR5X
7GHz GDDR5
7GHz GDDR5
7GHz GDDR5
Memory Bus Width
256-bit
384-bit
384-bit
256-bit
VRAM
8GB
12GB
6GB
4GB
TDP
180W
250W
250W
165W
GPU
GP104
GM200
GM200
GM204
Architecture
Pascal
Maxwell
Maxwell
Maxwell
Transistor Count
7.2 billion
8 billion
8 billion
5.2 billion
Manufacturing Process
16nm FinFET
TSMC 28nm
TSMC 28nm
TSMC 28nm
Launch Date
05/27/16
03/17/2015
06/01/2015
09/18/2014
Launch Price
$599/$699
$999
$649
$549
But what does all this new tech mean for power consumption? With the more power-efficient design, the GTX 1080 carries a modest 180-watt TDP (thermal design power), and only requires one eight-pin power connector. This is really lightweight when you compare it to the reference 980 Ti's 250-watt TDP, which is a card that requires both an eight and six-pin connector.
Features
Every time a new GPU architecture from Nvidia rolls around, the company likes to incorporate new graphical features, the situation is no different with Pascal.
Ansel
Arguably the most interesting addition is Ansel. Named after famed photographer Ansel Adams, the new feature is a free-roaming camera that allows you to pause a game's action and take a high-resolution screenshot (with the UI stripped out). While that description may sing to the budding videogame photographer in you, it actually sells Ansel a little short, since there are also a ton of post-processing effects that you can add to your image that include film grain, bloom, lens floor, vignettes, and more.
Using Ansel on The Witcher 3.
Perhaps more impressive is that Ansel uses a CUDA-based imaging stitcher that can stitch up to 3600 tiles for a photo that scales up to 4.5 gigapixels. That equates to an EXR file that's roughly 1,000 times sharper than 4K. It's a really sophisticated tool that not only allows you to save 360-degree images, but stereoscopic 360-degree images that you'll be able to revisit in VR using anything from the $800 HTC Vive to the inexpensive Google Cardboard.
However, this tech only works for games that allow it, but Nvidia claims that developers should find it easy to incorporate. Apparently, to get Ansel working with The Witness, it took only 40 lines of code. Other games that will support Ansel include The Division, LawBreakers, The Witcher 3, Paragon, No Man's Sky, and Unreal Tournament.
VRWorks Audio
With modern VR now a reality, Nvidia wanted to change how people listen to spatialized audio. While the industry has been able to nail down directional audio to a satisfactory degree in traditional video games, modern audio solutions don't quite cut it for VR. To mimic lifelike audio in VR, audio needs to reverberate off walls and echo appropriately. Coming up with a solution to this problem could greatly enhance virtual-reality immersion.
In reality, audio bounces off of walls.
Nvidia's solution is VRWorks Audio, which the company enthusiastically exclaims is the "world's first real-time acoustics simulator." The technology essentially leverages the GTX 1080's ability to calculate complex physics to realistically bounce audio off of virtual environments.
I've only briefly tried one VRWorks Audio demo at a controlled Nvidia press event, and would like to do more AB testing to come to a conclusion on how well it works.
Simultaneous Multi-Projection
Because display types and resolutions are constantly evolving, Nvidia created what it calls "Simultaneous Multi-Projection" to be adaptable to the times. SMP uses 16 independent "viewports" to appropriately re-composite an image to its display type. For instance, if you're going to game with three monitors in Nvidia Surround, chances are you're going to want to angle the peripheral monitors inwards so you can get a better sense of your virtual surroundings. A negative side- effect to this is that because the game doesn't know you're turning the monitors inward, it inadvertently creates this weird and inaccurate image distortion. SMP fixes this by warping and rendering a wider FOV to compensate for the angle change.
Here is an example of SMP correcting for an Nvidia Surround setup.
Nvidia also says that SMP can provide a performance boost for virtual reality. Instead of rendering a monster twice for each eye in VR, for instance, SMP, in theory, allows the GTX 1080 to do one single rendering pass of the monster and displays two different viewports from that pass that mimic the positions of both our eyes.
HDR
High-dynamic range monitors are said to be the "next big thing" for displays. HDR increases the visible colors of traditional monitors by a factor of two. According to Nvidia, that covers roughly 75 percent of the visible color spectrum. Nvidia is positioning its Pascal GPUs to take advantage of this richer HDR color gamut. Games will have to be optimized to work with HDR, however, and some titles that will support it include The Witness, Lawbreakers, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Paragon, and Shadow Warrior 2.
The black triangle represents HDR, and encompasses roughly 75% of colors that the human eye can see.
Fast Sync
With the GTX 1080, Nvidia is also introducing a GPU/display feature called "Fast Sync." It's a complementary feature to the company's G-Sync technology, but does not require a G-Sync monitor. The benefits of Fast Sync come into play at the higher end of the performance spectrum, when your GPU is able to render frames faster than your monitor's refresh rate. Enabling Fast Sync here, in theory, would allow you to get near the low latency of having V-Sync disabled, but without the annoying screen-tearing effects.
GPU Boost 3.0
The last noteworthy feature the GTX 1080 introduces is GPU Boost 3.0, which allows you to adjust the per-voltage point frequency offset. This allows you to match the card's frequency against its voltage more closely. If you're really into the minutia of GPU overclocking, this can be pretty exciting.
1080P Benchmarks
Performance
While the new bells and whistles seem nice, the real acid test is how fast the GTX 1080 runs. Let's take a look at the benchmarks.
Methodology
For our test bench, I'm using a PC equipped with an Intel Core i7 5930K CPU clocked at 3.5GHz along with 16GB of RAM. I've used a wide array of game benchmarks along with some synthetic tests at three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, and 4K).
I'm pitting the GTX 1080 against the GTX 980, its predecessor, and because Nvidia claimed that the GTX 1080 is faster than two 980s in SLI, we're testing it against that, too. Nvidia also claimed that the GTX 1080 is faster than the GTX Titan X. Unfortunately, we don't have a Titan X on hand, but we do have the next best thing, and perhaps something that is even better: Zotac's GeForce GTX 980 Ti Amp! Extreme. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is already almost as fast as the Titan X, but Zotac's supercharged version is a massive three-slot card that has three fans along with massive heat sinks to accommodate the extra overclock. Compared to its vanilla counterpart, it carries a 253MHz faster core clock and a zippier 279MHz boost clock. On top of that, it's VRAM is also clocked 210MHz higher and the card is 25 watts beefier than the stock 980 Ti. In many cases, it's actually at least 10% faster than a Titan X.
Because there is a lot of GPU horsepower here, to properly push the cards, all benchmarks are set to their respective max settings.
1080p Benchmarks
Clearly, this card is overkill for 1080p gaming.
3DMark 11 is a popular system benchmark tool that is heavily graphics-intensive and leverages DirectX 11. We ran the benchmark under the Extreme setting. As you can see from the graph above, the GTX 1080 is the fastest single-GPU setup with a 9441 score. Nvidia's claim that the GTX 1080 is faster than two 980s doesn't quite hold up under this resolution, but it is important to note the the Extreme mode renders scenes at 1080p, which is a resolution that is too low to awaken the GTX 1080's monstrous VRAM from its slumber.
Using the Unreal Engine 3, BioShock Infinite is a moderately-taxing game, but at 1080p, the GeForce GTX 1080 renders Irrational Games' shooter with a 160.7 average FPS. Clearly, this card is overkill for 1080p gaming. The GTX 1080 is 5% slower than the pair of 980s, but *spoiler warning* you'll see the GTX 1080 overtake the dual cards at the higher resolutions, where the pair of 980s are held back by the fact that they can't combine, or "stack," their 4GB frame buffers.
The GTX 1080 trumps all single GPU configurations and is once again only bested by the dual 980s. To be fair, the Metro Last Light benchmark pushes a ton of graphical effects that include advanced lighting, smoke, and physics elements that will eat up all the computational power that two GPUs will be able to throw at it.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the only 1080p benchmark where the GTX 1080 beats the dual 980s. Why is that? Because I benchmarked the game using the HD texture pack, which meant the GTX 1080's 8GB of GDDR5X memory was finally able to get a little workout.
You should begin to see a trend here. At 1080p, the GTX 1080 is consistently ahead of the overclocked 980 Ti (and by extension the Titan X and GTX 980) and is generally only slightly bested by the two 980s.
Unigine Valley is a heavily graphics-intensive synthetic benchmark that uses the Unigine engine. This test affirms that the GTX 1080 isn't quite as fast as two 980s at 1080p, but nonetheless carries high average FPS of 100.7.
1080p Conclusion
At 1080p, the GTX 1080 generally isn't faster than two GTX 980s in SLI
At 1080p, the GTX 1080 generally isn't faster than two GTX 980s in SLI, but that's because the resolution is too low for the GTX 1080's 8GB of GDDR5X to even awaken. The GTX 1080 is like a super fast race horse that is tied down by the weight of a low resolution. Sure, it can still push the chariot superfast, but two slightly slower horses (the 980s) can generally do the job five to nine percent faster. Still, considering you can get similar levels of performance here for several hundreds of dollars less is extremely impressive.
Perhaps the bigger takeaway is that you should not get the GTX 1080 if you plan on using a 1080p monitor. Unless you aim to use a 144Hz or 165Hz super high refresh-rate monitor, it's simply overkill.
1440p Benchmarks
1440p Benchmarks
Whereas the dual 980s were able to enjoy a cushy 5 percent lead in the BioShock Infinite benchmark at 1080p, the GTX 1080 has made up ground at 2560x1440, where frame buffer size is beginning to matter more. Now the SLI setup only leads by a one percent margin, but still leads nonetheless.
While the GTX 1080 was able to make some ground in BioShock Infinite at 1440p, victory is just as elusive at this resolution in Metro Last Light for the GTX 1080. While Nvidia's new flagship graphics card has double the amount of VRAM as the dual 980 setup, and should be able to beat it in a battle of textures as a result, the Last Light benchmark again isn't so texture-intensive as it is effects-heavy.
Because Shadow of Mordor uses high-resolution textures, the GTX 1080's 8GB of GDDR5X VRAM is once again able to out-leverage the dual 980s.
At 1080p, the GTX 1080 lost to the dual 980s by four percent, but here at 1440p, the Pascal card is able to close the gap down to two percent.
If your goal is to max out 1440p games with at least a 30 FPS average, then the GTX 1080 will be able to handle that with relative ease.
Even though I'm testing the GTX 1080 against two 980s, it's worth pointing out the giant delta between the GTX 1080 against a single 980 in this test. The GTX 1080 is able to enjoy a 62.8 average FPS here, whereas the 980 has a much lower 37.6 average FPS. That's a 67 percent performance gap and means the difference of gaming at 30 something FPS vs 60 something FPS.
1440p Conclusion
If your goal is to max out 1440p games with at least a 30 FPS average, then the GTX 1080 will be able to handle that with relative ease. Even under the brutal Metro Last Light benchmark, which is one of the most graphically-demanding games around, it garnered a very playable 45.6 average FPS. This suggests that GTX 1080 may be powerful enough to perform at 4K, which is something few single-GPU cards have been able to achieve.
2160P (4K) Benchmarks
Up until now, the GTX 1080 has been trying to play catch up to the dual 980s in our BioShock Infinite benchmark. Now, in the realm of 4K, the card and its 8GB of GDDR5X video RAM can just about cross the finish line with a four-percent lead. Perhaps more important is that it's able to play BioShock Infinite maxed out at 4K with a smoother-than-60 (65.5) average FPS, which is quite the accomplishment.
Metro Last Light is the only 4K benchmark in which the GTX 1080 isn't able to outperform the dual 980s. It's likely all those crazy special effects that are too much for the single GPU to handle, with the game rendering at an unplayable 19.3 FPS. To be fair, even two 980s are only able to muster a 22 FPS average, which is also not playable.
The GTX 1080 appears to edge ahead here, but the really big thing to focus on is the disparity between the GTX 1080 and single 980. While the GTX 980 is able to muster a playable 34.6 average FPS, that's 71 percent slower than the GTX 1080's 59 FPS average. One graphics card has you playing in the 30s, while the other has you almost at 60FPS.
What was a narrowing two-percent deficit at 1440p has grown to a three-percent lead for the GTX 1080 over the dual 980s. And with an average FPS of 55.7, Tomb Raider is most definitely playable maxed out at 4K.
4K Conclusion
Experientially, the GTX 1080 will be able to handle most games maxed out at 4K with above 30 average FPS
Clearly, the GeForce GTX 1080 is a 4K-capable card. Will it be able to max out every single game at 3840x2160? No, but that's a lot to ask of any single graphics card. Experientially, the GTX 1080 will be able to handle most games maxed out at 4K with above 30 average FPS, which is quite the feat. If you're looking to max out graphically-demanding games at 4K with 60 plus FPS, you'll need at least two graphics cards.
VR Test
With VR picking up steam (no pun intended) and being so graphically-intense having to run two independent 1080x1200 resolution screens at 90FPS, it's wise to see how the GTX 1080 would handle a VR workload.
While there aren't very many VR benchmarks out there at the moment, Valve did recently release its SteamVR Performance Test, which benchmarks systems using its Aperture Science VR demo.
Because framerate is so essential to VR (if it dips below 90fps, you are more likely to get motion sick), the more frames a graphics card can generate, the better the experience.
The GeForce GTX 980 is a really good card for VR and is actually above both Oculus Rift's and HTC Vive's recommended spec (both recommend a GTX 970). The GTX 1080, on the other hand, is an exceptional card for VR and is a whopping 58 percent faster than the 980 with a 13921 frame count.
While the dual 980s were able to trade blows with the GTX 1080 in most of our previous tests, you'll notice that the SLI setup is actually the worst of the bunch here. The reason for that is most VR demos, including the SteamVR Performance Test here, are not optimized for SLI. As a matter of fact, because SLI introduces latency, with the two cards having to communicate with each other, VR performance actually suffers.
Overclocking
According to Nvidia's internal testing, the company was able to overclock the GTX 1080's core clocks up to 2.1GHz under load. Using a prerelease version of EVGA Precision that was provided by Nvidia, I wasn't able to duplicate the results in our initial testing. I was, however, able to crank GPU clocks up by 200MHz with stable results. It is important to note that every single GPU is going to overclock differently, even GPUs within the same SKU (due to complicated and intricate binning processes). You can expect a more in-depth GTX 1080 overclocking story on GameSpot in the near future, but for now, know that the GTX 1080 does provide some overclocking runway.
Conclusion
The GeForce GTX 1080 is the fastest single GPU-graphics card available today. It easily gives the $1,000 Titan X a run for its money. At 4K, where it's really able to flex its muscles, it can be 70 percent faster than its predecessor, which is insane when you consider that the GTX 980 is still a fantastic GPU.
The GTX 1080 offers a new single-card performance standard at great value.
If the GTX 1080 is out of your price range, you'll want to keep your eye out on the GTX 1070, which releases on June 10th. Nvidia claims that the 1070 is as fast as the Titan X, but will start at a much more reasonable $379.
No, it won't max out every single game at 3840x2160 with smooth playable frame rates. Don't expect a single-GPU card to be able to smoothly max out 4K until at least Nvidia's Volta architecture arrives, which looks to be around 2018. Regardless, the GTX 1080 offers a new single-card performance standard at great value.
The free birthday offer is listed here and costs $5, but can be redeemed for free by using the promo code FREEGIFT at checkout.
GMG is known for its surprise discounts. Also to celebrate its birthday, the site is offering 50% off the Game of the Year Edition of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for $10 until tomorrow. A new deal will be revealed then, and another each day for the next five days.
You can get an additional 20% off that same game by using the promo code 7YEARS at checkout.
While the Dungeon Keeper franchise itself hasn't been given much love in recent years, other series have endeavored to keep its spirit alive. That includes the simply named Dungeons series, the most recent entry of which can be yours for free right now.
The Humble Store is currently giving away copies of Dungeons 2, which normally costs $30, to all users. You'll need a free Humble Store account in order to claim it, but doing so will net you a key to unlock the game on Steam. This offer is available until Saturday, May 13, at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET. The key must be redeemed by May 27 at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET.
Like Dungeon Keeper, Dungeons 2 reverses the standard hero-and-bad-guy setup, putting you in the role of a dungeon lord who needs to keep heroes out of his lair. In addition to designing a trap-filled dungeon, Dungeons 2 allows you to visit the surface for a sort of real-time-strategy game where you take the fight to the good guys. However, as our Dungeons 2 review notes, that RTS element is one of the weaker aspects of the game.
This isn't the only free offer out there right now. Amazon Prime members can pick up a copy of Oxenfree, while Green Man Gaming is handing out a free mystery game to all users.
Twitch Prime members regularly receive free games for PC. The latest of these is Oxenfree, the excellent atmospheric adventure game released last year. As with other recent Prime freebies, this is only for a very limited time--you'll need to claim your copy by May 15.
To do so, head over to this page on Twitch and add the game to your account. With that done, open the Twitch desktop app (or download it here if you don't already have it) and you'll be able to download and play the game with no restrictions.
In GameSpot's Oxenfree review, we awarded the game an 8/10, praising its well-written dialogue and story.
Overwatch is rumored to be kicking off a new event soon to celebrate its one-year anniversary, but it may also be getting a Game of the Year Edition.
Existing players of the game will be most interested in the prospect of a new event. Dataminers recently uncovered indications of one in a recent PTR patch, and the Overwatch Twitter account seemingly confirmed it in the most uneventful way possible. In response to a question about when the anniversary event begins, it said, "No timing details yet."
Meanwhile, TrueAchievements reports that it's discovered an Xbox Store listing for a Game of the Year Edition of Overwatch, with an accompanying release date of May 23. According to the description, it would come with the game, 10 loot boxes, skins for five characters (the same five from the Origins Edition), the Baby Winston pet in World of Warcraft, Tracer as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm, and more. Although the listing was for Xbox One, this would presumably also be available on PS4 and PC.
A price for this wasn't included, nor do we know if any of this information was intended as a placeholder. But the prospect of a Game of the Year Edition doesn't come as a major surprise; it certainly won plenty of awards last year, including GameSpot's Game of the Year.
Square Enix has announced intentions to divest ownership of IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the Hitman series.
In a statement to its investors, the Japanese publisher reported what it described as an "extraordinary" $42 million loss for the financial year ending March 31, 2017. This is a result of the company's decision to to narrow its focus on key franchises and studios.
"To maximize player satisfaction as well as market potential going forward, we are focusing our resources and energies on key franchises and studios," it said in the statement. "As a result, the company has regrettably decided to withdraw from the business of [IO Interactive], a wholly‐owned subsidiary and a Danish corporation, as of March 31, 2017.
"This decision has resulted in booking of the extraordinary loss amounting to 4,898 million yen, including disposition of the content production account related to the business and impairment loss of intangible assets, in the financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017."
The statement indicates that the loss comes not only from its decision to offload IO Interactive, but also cease production on its ongoing projects, which likely includes more Hitman episodes. Square Enix went on to state it has begun discussions with new investors that could potentially purchase IO Interactive.
"Whilst there can be no guarantees that the negotiations will be concluded successfully, they are being explored since this is in the best interests of our shareholders, the studio and the industry as a whole."
The wording doesn't provide any assurance on the future of IO Interactive if a new investor isn't secured, though it could mean the studio is closed and its staff displaced. Furthermore, it's unclear whether the sale of IO Interactive would also include intellectual properties for any of the games it has developed.
In August of last year, IO Interactive said it was planning to release two more seasons worth of Hitman content. However, splitting the property from its developer could mean this never comes to fruition. Of course, it could also be that a new investor is able to negotiate the purchase of the property along with the studio.
Square Enix became IO Interactive's parent company when it acquired Eidos Interactive in 2009. In addition to Hitman, the studio is known for developing the Kane & Lynch series, as well as underrated action-adventure game Mini Ninjas. A job listing spotted in February also indicated IO Interactive was working on a new IP.
This news comes as part of Square Enix's announcement of its financial results for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2017. Despite what you might assume given the IO Interactive news, Square Enix enjoyed record net sales (up 20% year-over-year) and operating income (up 20.3%). This was attributed in part to the release of big games like Final Fantasy XV and the PS4 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider, as well as "strong download sales of previously released catalogue titles."
This story has been updated with additional details regarding Square Enix's financials.
The broadcast begins this coming Monday, May 15, at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET. It will consist of a whopping 886 episodes of the show being aired back to back over the course of 18 days, coming to an end on June 3. Once it begins, you can watch it here.
According to Twitch, the marathon "features the most comprehensive collection of episodes available, including many that have only aired once and are unavailable elsewhere online."
Coinciding with this, a fundraising campaign will be held to support PBS, the station Misters Rogers aired on for the majority of its 30-plus-year run. Viewers in the United States will be able to donate to PBS through a panel located on the stream's Twitch page.
Once the marathon ends, it won't mean the end of the show on Twitch. According to its channel page, it will play it "on a regular basis post-marathon," though an exact schedule hasn't been announced yet.
Microsoft recently revealed the specs for its Xbox Project Scorpio, so we thought it would be fun to build a PC inspired by the company's upcoming console. While we won't be able to recreate the system exactly using off-the-shelf PC parts, since Microsoft uses heavily customized components, it helps that the Project Scorpio is based on the PC's x86 architecture. We're also going to benchmark our rig to get a rough approximation of how games might run on Project Scorpio.
Walking You Through Our Xbox Project Scorpio PC Build
Our Xbox Project Scorpio build is actually going to be very similar to our PS4 Pro-inspired PC we built last September. Our new graphics card, the AMD Radeon RX 580, is the most significant change, and because it's more powerful than the RX 480 we used in our PS4 Pro-inspired PC, we're also upgrading our power supply. Let's take a look at all of our components.
Project Scorpio uses a six teraflop GPU based on AMD's Polaris architecture. Considering AMD's recently released Radeon RX 580 is a 6.1 teraflop graphics card that's also based on Polaris, we think it's a great fit for our build here. These GPUs aren't exactly the same, mind you. Project's Scorpio uses an integrated graphics solution that offers 2569 shaders, which is more than the RX 580's equivalent 2304, but the RX 580 has a higher 1257MHz core clock, and tops the console's 1172MHz speed.
Microsoft's upcoming console has 12GB of GDDR5 RAM, but only eight gigabytes of it is relegated to the GPU (For reference, the PS4 Pro has 8GB of GDDR5 RAM total). Fortunately for our purpose, the RX 580 graphics card is also equipped with 8GB of GDDR5 video memory. This helps us achieve VRAM parity. Finally, both GPUs also support 4K, HDR, and HDMI 2.0.
Central Processing Unit
Project Scorpio uses a heavily-custom eight-core AMD CPU. Reports suggest that it's not based on AMD's more recent eight-core Ryzen processors, but are more similar to the company's Jaguar-based accelerated processing units. On the PC side of things, APUs usually take the form of more entry-level dual or quad-core processors that trade in CPU performance for a little more integrated graphics power, but considering we're using a dedicated video card, we won't be tapping into any integrated graphics.
This means choosing an equivalent CPU isn't easy, but we do think there is a compelling case for AMD's 2012-released FX-8350 CPU, which released right around the company's Jaguar-based APUs. Like Project Scorpio's system-on-a-chip (SOC), the FX-8350 offers eight CPU cores. While most games aren't optimized to use more than four cores, Microsoft says that it's burgeoning DirectX 12 API will be able to leverage more CPU cores in games that take advantage of it.
The FX-8350 4GHz core clock speed does make it faster than Project Scorpio's 2.3GHz frequency, but considering our computer has to run a full-fledged desktop operating system (Windows 10) on top of the games, there's a case for having some extra processing power here.
Cooler
Microsoft hasn't always used the best coolers (Xbox 360, we're looking at you). While Project Scorpio doesn't use a fancy water cooler, Microsoft asserts that its upcoming console uses a high-end vapor-chamber cooler, which will help keep the console cool and quiet. Though the FX-8350 comes with a stock cooler, it's anything but premium, and often sounds like a leaf blower. To help us achieve a little parity in the cooling department, we went with AMD's higher-end Wraith air cooler.
Motherboard
For our motherboard, we went with Gigabyte's 970A-UD3P, which offers the AMD AM3+ socket support we need for our CPU. It also offers high quality audio capacitors coupled with an audio noise guard, which should help us get close to parity with Microsoft's claim that Project Scorpio will offer high quality audio.
RAM
Compared to traditional PCs, Project Scorpio's RAM setup is very unconventional. The console uses 12GB of GDDR5 memory, which is a RAM type that's relegated to graphics cards in the PC space. Microsoft says that eight of the 12GB will be dedicated to Project Scorpio's GPU.
PCs, on the other hand, use the slower DDR RAM that's better at handling all-around computing tasks. Because we can't use GDDR5 as system RAM, we opted to use 8GB of the slower DDR3 memory, which is clocked at 1600MHz. While you can argue we should use only 4GB of system RAM, because DDR3 is slower, coupled with the fact that our rig has a heavier desktop OS to carry, we figured 8GB of DDR3 represents a reasonable compromise.
For any respectable gaming PC, 4GB is not enough. In general, if you have a ton of RAM, it most likely won't make your gaming PC any faster, but if you don't have enough, it can create an unnecessary bottleneck. That's something we wanted to avoid.
Storage
Project Scorpio will offer a one terabyte hard drive. Considering Microsoft's Xbox One S featured a 5,400rpm solution, we're going to assume that Project Scorpio's HDD is going to be the same. As a result, we went with a 1TB 5,400rpm hard drive from Western Digital.
Power Supply
Project Scorpio will use a 245-watt integrated PSU that Microsoft asserts is very power-efficient. While our EVGA Supernova solution carries a noticeably higher 550-watt output, it offers enough juice to power our system. It, too, is also very power efficient with its 80 Plus Gold rating.
Case
Right now, we don't know what Microsoft's upcoming console will look like exactly. Images of the developer kits make it look somewhat similar to the company's Xbox One S console with its mostly white and black look. Our mid-tower Deepcool Tesseract case will probably be a bit larger than Project Scorpio's chassis, but it offers enough space to house all of our components. Aesthetically, it's also mostly white and black.
Spec Chart
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 580
$275
CPU
AMD FX-8350 with Wraith cooler
$138.98
Motherboard
Gigabyte 970A-UD3P
$133.48
RAM
8GB DDR3 1600MHz
$59.02
Storage
1TB 5,400RPM WD HDD
$49.99
PSU
EVGA 550-watt 80-Plus Gold PSU
$84.99
Case
Deepcool Tesseract
$35.99
OS
Windows 10
$99.99
Total
$877.44
Our completed Xbox Scorpio-inspired PC.
Benchmarks
Considering Microsoft is heavily touting Project Scorpio as a "true 4K" capable console, we wanted to test that claim. We chose half a dozen games available on both the PC and Xbox One, and analyzed how they performed across a wide variety of graphical presets at 4K resolution.
Forza Horizon 3
Microsoft worked with developer Turn 10 Studios to show off Project Scorpio running an unreleased build of Forza at 4K with a 60FPS framerate. While we don't have access to that build, 2016's Forza Horizon 3 is on the PC. When we ran the racing game at its ultra preset, it achieved a 35 average FPS. While it was playable, it didn't hit the 60FPS mark. It wasn't until we cranked the settings down to the low preset did we start to hit 60. And for whatever reason, we started to see a lot of in-game artifacting here, though that may reflect more on the PC port or AMD's drivers than our system. It is important to note that Forza Horizon 3, with its open world setting, may not be truly representative of the build that Turn 10 recently produced. There's also a chance that the developer has access to low level APIs that would make Project Scorpio run the game's engine more efficiently.
Gears of War 4
Considering Gears of War is one of Microsoft's leading exclusive franchises, it was a no-brainer for us to test Gears of War 4, which came out late last year. Fortunately, the PC port of the game has a built-in benchmark. When we ran Gears at its ultra preset at 4K, it achieved a 27 average FPS. Considering most people don't consider anything below 30 FPS to be playable, we cranked the preset down to high. Here, it achieved a 37.5 average FPS, which crosses that playable threshold. The frame rate was also pretty consistent, so we can definitely see Project Scorpio running the game at 4K with these approximate settings. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the game running above 60 average FPS. Even on the lowest preset, where textures looked noticeably worse, the PC averaged just 53.8 FPS. This could speak to the quality of the PC port, but as it stands, unless Microsoft can make some significant optimizations, we doubt Project Scorpio will consistently hit 60FPS at 4K with Gears of War 4.
Overwatch
Overwatch is not very graphically demanding. When we ran Blizzard's first-person shooter at its ultra preset, our rig averaged 64 FPS. It did hit a low of 44, however, but it was still highly playable overall. We can see Overwatch running in 4K at max settings, or something close to it, on Project Scorpio with smooth framerates.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the few PC games at the moment that support DX12. When we ran the game's benchmark at its max preset with 4x anti-aliasing enabled, it averaged 12.2 FPS. That's super choppy.
It's important to note that AA is very graphically demanding and makes much less sense at 4K, where the ultra high resolution inherently mitigates most of the jaggies for you. When we disable AA and set the game to its high preset, our rig achieved a 36 average FPS, which is playable. When we lowered the preset to medium, the average frame rate went up to 40.6. Attempting to see if we could reach 60 average FPS at 4K, we turned the settings down to its lowest preset, where it averaged 50.8 FPS. This makes us think Project Scorpio probably won't run Rise of the Tomb Raider at 60 FPS. If we had to guess, it will probably target around 30 FPS with graphical fidelity set somewhere between high and medium.
Fallout 4
At Microsoft's E3 press conference last year, we saw Fallout 4 featured in Project Scorpio's announcement video, so we wanted to benchmark Bethesda's open-world RPG on our rig. When we ran the game at its highest preset, it achieved a 39.2 average FPS. It did dip below the 30FPS playable threshold with a low of 28, however. When we disabled anti-aliasing at 4K, the average rose to 45.3 and the game never dipped below 39 FPS. This makes us believe that Project Scorpio can almost max out Fallout 4 shy of a few sensible performance tweaks. Could our rig handle the game at 60FPS? Yes, but we had to turn down the settings to the game's lowest preset to accomplish this.
VR benchmark
Microsoft also asserts that Project Scorpio is a console that's capable of delivering "high fidelity" VR, so we put it through the SteamVR benchmark. Here, it scored a "high" 7.4 score. According to Valve, this classifies it as "VR-ready" rig.
Conclusion
Due to hardware and software limitations, you shouldn't expect our Project Scorpio-inspired PC to run exactly like Microsoft's upcoming console, but we think there are enough sensible similarities here that should give us a rough ballpark figure of performance. Analyzing the results of our Project Scorpio surrogate, we can see Microsoft's forthcoming system running games at 4K, though it's likely that all games won't run at 60FPS, or will have to make some graphical fidelity compromises.
Bethesda has released a new trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online's upcoming Morrowind expansion, and the video highlights the political intrigue and assassination that will take place between the region's Great Houses.
The expansion brings players back to the setting of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and one of its main narrative arcs tasks players with becoming involved in the politicking of the Great Houses. According to a press release, players will have to "negotiate their competing allegiances to the three great houses: House Hlaalu, House Redoran, and House Telvanni."
The expansion costs $40 if you already own ESO, or you can buy both the base game and ESO: Morrowind for $60. The collector's edition is $60 if you own the base game and $80 if not.
Paragon, the MOBA for PS4 and PC developed by Epic Games, is getting a big update next week, and today the developer detailed what players can expect.
The most significant addition coming in the Age of Intellect patch is a new hero, named Phase. She's a ranged Support whose main ability is Telekinetic Link, which lets her connect to teammates to heal them. You can check out Phase in action in the trailer above, and all of her abilities are listed below.
"Phase began to exhibit powers at a young age and was sent to Tryon Industries for special 'care,'" Epic stated in a press release. "When the other subjects staged a break out, she joined the cause. Once free, she hid her powers blending in with everyday life in Omeda City, until, that is, she was led to Agora."
The update also changes and tweaks the other characters in the game to improve usability. According to the developer, the update is meant to encourage players to approach battles differently. Heroes like Steel and Murock have been made more viable in combat, while others like Shinbi have "seen changes to unlock [their] full potential."
The in-game card system has also received attention. Niche cards have been reworked, and Epic has updated the balance for all of the cards. The entire system is still undergoing a complete overhaul planned for sometime this year.
You can see the full patch notes over at the Paragon website. Age of Intellect launches on May 16. Epic releases a new hero every three weeks, so you can expect the next one to arrive in early June.
Phase patch notes:
Telekinetic Link (RMB/R1)--Creates a link between Phase and an one target friendly Hero. Can be reactivated to pull the tethered target to her. Additionally, Phase passes her Health Regen to her linked ally. Using any of Phase's abilities (or reactivating Telekinetic Link) gives her a quick Health Regen boost.
Psychic Flare (Q/Square)--Phase emits a blast of light around her and her linked target. The blast both deals damage and Blinds enemies caught in the area of effect.
Energy Lance (E/Circle)--Phase fires a stream of energy from her hands, dealing damage and a stacking slow every hit. If she can keep her lance on the target long enough the slow will stack into a root.
Hyperflux (R/Triangle)--Both Phase and her link will gain a short Movement Speed boost, increased Attack Speed, Mana Regen bonus and Cooldown Reduction. Mana Regen of +75. Upon cast, she and her linked ally will get a 2 second decaying Movement Speed burst (like Muriel's boots).
Added Shadow Lynx Phase Skin to the in-game store.
Added Sluggo Disapproves Emote to the in-game store.
Project Cars 2 comes out later this year, and today developer Slightly Mad Studios revealed what you'll get if you preorder it or buy it on its launch day. The game's Day-One Edition will come with a Japanese DLC pack that includes four cars from Honda and Nissan.
In a press release, Slightly Mad said that the edition includes Nissan's Group A R32 Skyline GT-R and N280ZX GTX race car, and Honda's 280ZX GTX and 2&4 concept car. The pack also comes with unique paint jobs for each car.
Nissan GT-R
Recently, Slighty Mad showed off another vehicle that will be drivable in Project Cars 2. The developer released a short trailer showing footage of the McLaren 720s, a brand-new supercar, racing around the Long Beach Grand Prix track. You can watch that trailer here.
The Fate of the Furious is still making big money in theaters, but the ever-busy Dwayne Johnson has yet another movie about to hit screens. Baywatch is the reboot of the popular '90s TV show, and the final red band trailer has landed. Check it out below:
Baywatch also stars Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, and Priyanka Chopra and is directed by Horrible Bosses' Seth Gordon.
In a recent interview with EW, Gordon spoke about the way the new movie would reference the show."The history of the show is to showcase beauty," he said. "There's a beat where one of the characters sees someone running and asks, 'Is she running in slo-mo? And why is she wet but not that wet?' Stuff like that shows that we are in on the joke."
The original Baywatch ran from 1989 to 1999, with a subsequent show, Baywatch Hawaii, airing until 2001. The main show was a huge international hit, and had clocked up a total of 242 episodes by the time it was cancelled.
Today's big addition is Minecraft. Priced at $30, it features local and online multiplayer support as well as Mario-inspired skins, as you can see in the image gallery below. It launches later today in the US, at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET. It launches in the UK tomorrow, May 12, for £20.
The other release is another ACA Neo Geo game, Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Like many of the other ACA titles we've seen on Switch, it's a 2D fighting game. This one was originally released in 1999 and features two-player multiplayer support. It's available on the eShop now for $8/£6.29, and you can check out some screenshots of it in the gallery above, alongside Minecraft.
The eShop got a welcome upgrade recently, as it now allows users to store their credit card information. Previously, you had to enter it every time you made a new purchase, unless you were willing to add credit to your digital wallet on the system.
We've seen a fairly constant trickle of games released on the Switch eShop since the system's debut in early March, although Minecraft--despite being a port--is one of the biggest releases to date. Nintendo's next big game release, barring some E3 surprise, is the quirky game Arms, which launches on June 16. That will then be followed by Splatoon 2 on July 21, with games like Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 coming later this year.
Marvel Heroes Omega, the new version of Marvel Heroes coming to consoles, is launching very soon. The game's "Live" version, which follows a previously closed beta, is coming to PlayStation 4 on May 23, but you might be able to play earlier.
There will be an "Head Start" period beginning on May 19 for people who buy the game's Founder's Pack or redeem a code. GameSpot has 50,000 codes to give away--you can get one right here.
Additionally, everyone who downloads the Marvel Heroes Omega Live edition, as developer Gazillion is calling it, on PS4 can unlock the Daredevil pack from the PlayStation Store for free.
People who are in the Omega closed beta on PS4 can continue playing until May 17. All progress will be wiped during downtime on May 18 before the game goes live on May 23.
Marvel Heroes Omega is also coming to Xbox One, although the specifics of when it will be available have not yet been announced.
Addressing the staggered release between PS4 and Xbox One, Gazillion said in a FAQ that doing this "ensure[s] we deliver the best possible experience for players on both platforms." The statement also points out that Gazillion is a "comparably smaller studio."
Finally, Gazillion released a rundown of all the Trophies for Marvel Heroes Omega, all of which you can see below.
Marvel Heroes is also available on PC through Steam as a free-to-play game. An MMO, Marvel Heroes, and Omega, lets you play as popular superheroes such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Captain America.
Marvel Heroes Omega Trophies
Trouble at the Raft
Defeat Green Goblin in the Prologue
Bronze
Cleaning Up the Kitchen
Defeat Doctor Octopus in Chapter 1
Bronze
Pursuing the Hood
Defeat The Hood in Chapter 2.
Bronze
Meet in Madripoor
Defeat Elektra in Chapter 3.
Bronze
Topple the Kingpin
Defeat The Kingpin in Chapter 4.
Bronze
Purification Crusade
Defeat Juggernaut in Chapter 5.
Bronze
Stryker Under Siege
Defeat Magneto in Chapter 6.
Bronze
Savage Safari
Defeat Mister Sinister in Chapter 7.
Bronze
A Doomed World
Defeat Doctor Doom in Chapter 8.
Bronze
Gazillionaire
Loot 1,000,000 Credits.
Bronze
Duped!
Find and Defeat a Cosmic Doop
Bronze
Mobile Command Center
Visit Six Different Headquarters
Bronze
Targeted Frustration
Defeat a Training Room Target Dummy.
Bronze
Throne of Deceit
Defeat Loki in Chapter 9.
Silver
Special Ops
Complete 14 Different Operations
Silver
Next Level Crafting
Level any vendor to level 10.
Silver
Part-Time Hero
Rescue 100 civilians in Midtown Patrol.
Silver
Rounding Up Relics
Collect any 100 Relics of the same type
Silver
Super Hero!
Reach level 60 with any hero.
Silver
Treasure Hunting
Explore all of the Treasure Rooms in each chapter of Story Missions.
Silver
The Vault
Loot 100 Artifacts.
Silver
If They Be Worthy...
Complete the Super Heroic Trial with any hero.
Silver
Living Legend
Complete 25 Legendary Quests.
Silver
Mark II
Apply a Modification to an Artifact.
Silver
Hero for Hire
Open 50 Bounty Chests in Operations
Silver
Myth No More
Fully upgrade a Legendary Item.
Silver
Cleaning Up The Streets
Defeat 150 Super Villains in Midtown Manhattan.
Silver
Going for Gold
Loot a Cosmic Medallion
Silver
High Noon
Defeat 7 Different Super Villians in their Showdowns
Silver
All In a Day's Work
Complete 24 Different Special Events in Story Mode
Original: We've teamed up with Gazillion to give away 80,000 codes for Marvel Heroes Omega closed beta on PlayStation 4 (North America only). Closed beta starts on April 28, 2017 and ends May 16, 2017.
This is an instant win and you will receive an email with the code within 24 hours. Scroll down this page to enter for a key.
Marvel Heroes Omega assembles one of the largest gatherings of iconic Super Heroes and locations from the Marvel Universe in gaming history for its upcoming debut on PlayStation 4 later this year. Band together with fellow adventurers in Earth's mightiest Action-RPG, take the fight to Doctor Doom in an epic nine-chapter story campaign, and experience your favorite heroes, including Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, and more! Check out this local co-op gameplay of Deadpool and Thor.
Nintendo has detailed its plans for E3 2017 and, as with last year, it includes a Nintendo Direct-like stream, treehouse events, and tournaments.
An image posted on Twitter reveals that Nintendo's E3 2017 plans kick off on June 13 at 9AM PST/5PM BST, when it will have the "Nintendo Spotlight." According to its brief description, this will showcase "Nintendo Switch games for 2017, including Super Mario Odyssey." This is likely to be its equivalent of Sony and Microsoft's press conferences, where all the big announcements are made.
Immediately after the Nintendo Spotlight stream will be Treehouse: Live @ E3. During this "Treehouse members and developers" will appear to show off their titles and discuss development. This is where Nintendo delves deeper into games that have just been announced or are scheduled to be released soon.
On both June 13 and 14, there will be broadcasts of the Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational and the 2017 Arms Open Invitational. All of these events will be will be available to watch on Nintendo's Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as its website. Of course, GameSpot will also be at hand to bring you all the news, videos, and analysis from these events.
Many Switch owners will no doubt be eagerly anticipating big announcements from Nintendo at E3. Since the launch of the new platform, there has been a small selection of first-party titles, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8. Splatoon 2, Arms, and Super Mario Odyssey are next major Switch releases, but Nintendo's plans beyond that are a mystery.
Coming up on two years after the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, developer Treyarch continues to support the shooter with new updates and content. Ahead of and in preparation for the launch of Black Ops III's Zombies Chronicles expansion next week, Treyarch today released a new update for the game.
First, the update adds support for the Zombies Chronicles ad-don, which arrives on May 16 on PS4. In terms of gameplay changes, the update addresses "a number of general performance issues," though no specifics were provided. Additionally, it changes the Black Market system so that unopened Supply Drop bundles are not lost; those that vanished have been added back.
The update also makes attachment icons load faster in create-a-class and the Gunsmith menus, while a bug that allowed players to equip camos they didn't actually have has been fixed. Finally, there is one weapon change: ballistic knife blades can now be recovered.
The next entry in EA's The Sims franchise has been announced. The Sims Mobile, a new free game for iOS and Android devices, launched this week in Brazil and will come to other markets later.
In true Sims form, the new mobile game lets you play God, basically, as you can create a family unit and progress them through their lives. You can also play with other real-life people by hosting and attending parties and becoming friends, enemies, or soulmates.
The game's official description explains that you can do all manner of things in the new Sims game for mobile such as making tacos or thinking in the shower. There are also venues to unlock such as a restaurant or a nightclub, and you can then customize the area further.
There will also be dialogue options in the game. As you can see in the image below, one of the scenarios involves a discussion between a couple that has very different options.
As for the mainline Sims series, the latest entry is The Sims 4, which came out in 2014.
In 2015, EA closed the primary Maxis studio in Emeryville, CA; the team was behind games like SimCity, Spore, and the early Sims games. In its announcement for the new mobile game this week, EA said it was made by "the creators of The Sims and SimCity franchises."
When The Sims Mobile becomes available, it will be available at these links:
Fox's Batman prequel TV show Gotham is coming back for a fourth season, the network announced today. The DC show stars Ben McKenzie as a young James Gordon, and its third season is currently airing. There is no word yet on when Season 4 will premiere, but it'll likely stretch into 2018.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Gotham Season 3 is averaging 4.6 million viewers. That's not a huge number, but it's good enough, it seems.
Fox also announced today that its end-of-the-world comedy The Last Man On Earth has also been renewed for its fourth season. As EW points out, a renewal order was not guaranteed, as the show averaged only 3.2 million viewers. The show stars SNL alum Will Forte, who also created it.
Kristen Wiig, who also starred on SNL, appeared in the Last Man On Earth Season 3 finale. The season ended on a big cliffhanger (via TVLine) so fans are surely happy to see the show coming back.
Star Citizen's crowdfunding campaign has been a massive success, bringing in more than $148 million by the latest count. The game's creator, Chris Roberts, never believed the crowdfunding effort would be anywhere near that successful.
"My expectation was that we'd raise around $4 million," Roberts told The New York Times. "I had investors lined up to help with the rest but Sandy, my wife, told me not to worry about investors--that we'd make it to $20 million. I told her she was crazy, and then it kind of went from there."
The game has not been without controversy. With the ballooning budget, the scope in turn has increased, resulting in delays. Some parts of the game are playable, but the full title has no release date. In 2016, developer Cloud Imperium Games refunded a backer $2,500 after he complained to California's Attorney General.
Speaking to NYT, Roberts--who has said Star Citizen is the most ambitious game ever made--acknowledged these concerns and said, "I'm already building the best game I can."
"But imagine--the game I can build with $140 million is going to be very different to the one I could build with $10 million. If I can build a bigger and more robust experience, I will," he added.
Also in the interview, Roberts said Star Citizen "doesn't fit the blockbuster video game mold" and might not have been possible through a traditional publisher relationship.
"I love the idea that people can support a game that wouldn't probably be made by a big studio," he said.
Strafe, a Doom- and Quake-inspired first-person shooter, launched this week on PS4 and PC, and its retro style looks fantastic. But the 90s inspiration goes beyond its gameplay. Even its special-edition vinyl soundtrack harkens back to the time of dial-up internet and NSYNC, as it comes packaged in a sleeve that looks like a giant floppy disk.
The OST is sold by Laced Records in extremely limited quantities--only 300 copies are available. The soundtrack is composed of two vinyls, it'll cost you $35 ($50 if you want a copy of the game), and it'll ship sometime in Q3 2017.
The music was composed by ToyTree, who also made music for other games like Equinox and Kingdom: New Lands. A standard edition of the record is available for the same price but in larger quantities.
"These amazing looking disks defy logic, they are made of wax, yet they hold FIRE… HOT… JAMS," the description on the website states. "ToyTree hasn't been seen since the completion of the soundtrack and many theorize that he returned to hell after delivering this soundtrack. Some say he's made a deal with the Devil but others think he is the Devil. Caution: Breaking disks may free demons and/or begin an extinction event."
Strafe was developed by Pixel Titans and is available now for $20. In our 8/10 review, critic Michael Higham stated, "As unforgiving, repetitive, and frustrating as it can be, the urge to jump back into the game and take out that frustration on hordes of enemies to the tune of the most-proper soundtrack with a toy box of guns is hard to resist. Strafe wears its influences on its sleeve but stands on its own as a fun, intense, and fast-paced shooter with distinguishable charm."
The Nintendo Switch has only been out for a couple of months, but already fans are customizing and changing its appearance. One of the most striking examples of this is a Switch comes from a user on the South Korean website Ruliweb, who made their console look like a Super Famicom.
User Clown TV created skins for his Switch that are designed to evoke the design of the Japanese version of the SNES, and the results are pretty amazing. The custom-ordered skins are incredibly detailed, down to including the Super Famicom logo on the back of the Switch. Clown TV even got the dock skinned. Check out some images of it below.
You can see more over at Clown TV's post here. This isn't the first time the user's tried something like this; they had previously worked on a Famicom custom design for the Wii U.
I'd hazard a guess that Nintendo is unlikely to officially release something like this in the near future. However, it has been known to create a multitude of color variants for its past consoles, including a NES-themed 3DS. Some fans have even conceptualized what themed variants of the Joy-Cons might look like.
ABC's hit political drama Scandal is coming to an end, it seems.
Multiple sources told TV Live that the show's forthcoming Season 7 will bring the show to a conclusion, likely in dramatic fashion. This news, which has also been reported by Entertainment Weekly, is expected to be made official on Tuesday as part of an ABC's upfronts presentation in New York.
TV Line reports that the decision to end Scandal came directly from Rhimes, with ABC agreeing to her decision.
The show having a relatively short life is not unexpected. Rhimes told NPR in 2013 that there is a "finite amount of Scandal to be told."
"So I know what the end of Scandal will be, and I feel really good about that," she said at the time. And I can see where the end point is. And I don't think I'm going to change that. ... I know how long I think it will be. But we'll see."
Scandal is currently in its sixth season, and it's averaging 7.9 million views per episode, which is down compared to past seasons and the series-high of 12 million viewers for the Season 4 premiere.
The show starts Kerry Washington as a powerful and well-connected attorney in Washington, D.C. Her co-stars include Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz, Darby Stanchfield, Jeff Perry, Bellamy Young, and Tony Goldwyn.
Rhimes also created Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder, among other shows.
Research company Nielsen today released its annual report covering all manner of topics about gaming in the United States. The full "US Games 360 Report 2017" is fascinating and well worth a read; and you can read it here. We've broken down some of the breakout statistics and figures below.
One of the standout charts has to do with awareness of current consoles. With Microsoft's Project Scorpio coming out this year, it looks like the company still has work to do to drive awareness in the product. This chart shows that only 11 percent of the US general popular aged 13 or over had heard of Project Scorpio. The awareness leader is PS4 (69 percent), followed by Xbox One/Xbox One S (61 percent), Nintendo Switch (22 percent), and PS4 Pro (21 percent).
In terms of awareness for the surveyed gamer population, Scorpio came in at 14 percent, the lowest of all the categories except for "None of the above."
And in terms of awareness for non-gamers in the US, Scorpio sits at the bottom as well, at just 3 percent. The PS4 leads the way among non-gamers, at 52 percent, followed by Xbox One/Xbox One S (41 percent), PS4 Pro (9 percent), and Switch (7 percent). Thirty-seven percent said they hadn't heard any of the consoles.
Scorpio's relatively low awareness--for all of the surveyed groups--is not a big surprise. Although the console was announced a year ago, Microsoft has not talked all that much about it since. This has changed in the past few weeks, with Microsoft beginning to share more details. The results of the new report come from a survey distributed in Q1 (January-March), which is before Microsoft started to unveil more Scorpio details, which may in part explain the relatively lower awareness percentages.
After Microsoft gives Scorpio an official title and launches a marketing campaign for it, the awareness figures will surely grow. With E3 right around the corner, Microsoft may be waiting until then to kick it into high gear ahead of the console's release this holiday.
Another notable takeaway from this report is that 77 percent of people who identified as gamers know about PS4 and 72 percent for Xbox One S. This could mean those consoles--which are already performing well in the market--still have room to grow further still.
The Nielsen report also has a slide for purchase intent. The PS4 (21 percent) leads the way in the gamer group, followed by Xbox One (17 percent), Switch (16 percent), PS4 Pro (15 percent), and Scorpio (13 percent).
Another key industry topic that the report covers has to do with physical vs. digital game preferences. While digital consumption is no doubt on the rise, the report shows that, for console gamers aged 13 and older, physical is still the preferred method for the majority (69 percent). As suspected, digital skews higher on PC, with 75 percent of respondents saying they prefer digital.
The Nielsen report also shows that PC is by far the most popular platform for average time spent playing weekly. Twenty-six percent of gamers said they spend the most time on PC during a typical week, followed by PS4/PS4 Pro (14 percent), and Xbox One/Xbox One S (13 percent).
The US Games 360 Report 2017 was compiled from 2000-plus interviews (50 percent male/50 percent female) conducted by online surveys in Q1 (January-March). The responses were then weighted to "ensure representation of the U.S. General Population based on U.S. Census data."
Owlchemy Labs, the Texas-based studio behind the virtual reality game Job Simulator and Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, has been acquired by none other than technology behemoth Google.
In a blog post, the studio said, "Today is a REAAAALLY BIG day for Owlchejmy. As we look to the future with Google by our side, we couldn't be happier."
The statement continues: "Our plan to build awesome things will continue forward stronger than ever."
Going forward, Owlchemy said it plans to continue making "high-quality VR content" for PlayStation VR, Oculus Touch, and HTC Vive, though no specific projects were announced.
"This means continuing to focus on hand interactions and high quality user experiences, like with Job Simulator," Owlchemy said. "This means continuing our mission to build VR for everyone, and doing all of this as the same silly Owlchemy Labs you know and love. We are continuing to do all of this with even more support and focus on building awesome stuff. It's incredibly exciting that Google and Owlchemy are so well aligned on our goals and vision for the future of VR."
Owlchemy was founded in 2010 as a team of four, and is now staffed up with 23 people. The studio's breakout hit was Job Simulator, a game that the studio said is anything but a "safe bet."
"We ignored the cries of 'But VR died in the 90s!' and we instead spent over a year envisioning what was possible with a tracked head and hands," Owlchemy said. "After a ton of experimenting and prototyping, we emerged with Job Simulator as a day one launch title for HTC Vive, Oculus + Touch, and PlayStation VR."
In its own blog post, Google said it will be working with Owlchemy to develop "engaging, immersive games and developing new interaction models across many different platforms to continue bringing the best VR experiences to life. There is so much more to build and learn, so stay tuned!"
Activision has recruited Metal Gear series artist Yoji Shinkawa to create art for Call of Duty: Black Ops III's upcoming Zombies Chronicles expansion. This was announced during a livestream event dedicated to the content this week, where the add-on's price and more details were also revealed.
Shinkawa is doing the art for the game's four main characters, and Treyarch studio boss Jason Blundell sung his praises. "To be able to work with him and have him realize our main characters in his very unique and distinctive style was an opportunity I couldn't really pass up," he said (via Kotaku).
You can see Shinkawa's artwork in the image gallery above. Additionally, people who preorder Zombies Chronicles on PS4 will receive a dynamic theme that shows them all off.
Versions of Shinkawa's artwork will be available on all platforms, so no need to worry if you don't have a PS4. Activision is holding a special event starting on May 12 where players who rack up a certain number of headshots in Black Ops III's multiplayer or Zombies mode will get static and animated calling cards, along with a new weapon skin as they progress through tiers.
Black Ops III's Zombies Chronicles DLC launches on May 16 for PS4, priced. It will presumably be released about a month later on Xbox One and PC, if the release schedule for past DLC packs is anything to go on.
If you're a T-Mobile customer, it looks like you're getting a free one-month subscription to Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service on Xbox One later this year.
Today, T-Mobile announced in a message to customers that they will receive a one-month subscription to the Netflix-style gaming service for free...at some point. The message does not say when the freebie will be available. Xbox Game Pass is due out sometime this Spring, so it could be soon.
The message from T-Mobile also directs people to tune in to the Xbox E3 briefing in June, though it's not clear if any Xbox Game Pass announcements will be made at that time.
"This June, Xbox is comin' back and we're giving one-month of Xbox Game Pass to T-Mobile customers," reads a line from the message. "Discover and download titles you've always wanted or revisit and old favorite--there's always something new to play! Plus, we've got chances at epic Xbox prizes! If you want more info on what's coming next for Xbox, be sure to tune into the Xbox E3 briefing on June 11 at 2 PM PT."
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, the beautiful remake of the classic 1989 platformer, released for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One last month (with a PC release on the way this June). Up until now, the title has only been available digitally, but soon PS4 owners will have a chance to pick up a physical copy from Limited Run Games.
The company, which specializes in releasing physical versions of digital-only titles for PS4 and PS Vita, has announced it will sell physical copies of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap for PS4 this summer. The game will be available in both standard and collector's editions, though prices have yet to be announced. Limited Run also hasn't specified what will come in the collector's edition.
Since the company's founding in 2015, Limited Run Games has produced physical versions of a number of popular indie titles, including Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Runner 2, and most recently Mutant Mudds Deluxe. A physical version of Risk of Rain is also releasing through Limited Run Games on May 26. As the company's name implies, these releases are available in limited quantities and can only be purchased through its website.
In the latest update to GeForce Experience (GFE), Nvidia's streaming and video capture tools are now available to games that use either Vulkan or OpenGL graphics API (application programming interface). A large majority of PC games use DirectX/Direct3D and have GFE functions integrated, but Nvidia is increasing its accessibility.
The two biggest titles that the update relates to are Minecraft and Doom. The GFE in-game overlay will pop up and users can then activate the instant replay feature, capture screenshots, record video, or broadcast a stream. These functions work with games running in either fullscreen or windowed mode. They've also been streamlined and now allow users to select an upload service (like Imgur or Facebook) in the overlay.
GeForce Experience overlay in Minecraft.
Here's the complete list of changes and fixes in the GeForce Experience 3.6 update:
Added button to open Windows video folder from within the Gallery.
Improved overlay performance at first launch.
Improved stability and reliability of GeForce Experience overlay. Also addresses bugs associated with Mass Effect: Andromeda and Microsoft Outlook.
Fixed case where FPS counter did not work in Shadow Warrior 2 and HDR mode.
Fixed case where games running HDR mode would crash when a screenshot was taken.
Fixed case where record would affect in-game FPS on Windows RS2 (requires minimum driver version 381.65).
The added support for OpenGL and Vulkan APIs requires users to have at least version 381.65 of the Nvidia graphics driver. The latest version of the driver is 382.05, and you can check out all the changes and fixes in our breakdown.
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