Blizzard recently teased new dance emotes for Overwatch. With the Anniversary event underway, these are now live in the game.
We've rounded up all of these for you to watch in the video above. You'll recognize some as real-world dances--Winston does The Twist, which will make Chubby Checker smile somewhere--while others are references you might recognize. Mei, for instance, does the Hare Hare Yukai dance from anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Indisputably the best of the bunch belongs to Zarya (at the 1:45 mark), who mimics a portion of the routine featured in this delightful aerobics video, which also inspired a similarly great Key & Peele sketch.
Sony started bringing PS2 games to PS4 in December 2015, and right now, there are more than 40 games in the catalog. The PS2 games have been updated with Trophy support and are upscaled to 1080p. Games in the program also support PS4 features such as Remote Play, Share Play, Activity Feeds, and Live Broadcast, giving them something of a modern spin.
This is not exactly backwards compatibility. Even if you still own the PS2 discs, you'll have to buy them again to play on PS4. They typically cost between $10 and $20.
If you've been hoping for a classic controller to play Nintendo Switch games with, now you can. Third-party peripheral manufacturer 8bitdo announced today that its line of controllers received a firmware update that now allows them to work on Switch.
The company makes several retro-style controllers evocative of NES, SNES, Famicom, and Super Famicom controllers, and all of these now can be paired via Bluetooth with Switch. Not all controllers work with every Switch game, as some of 8Bitdo's products have fewer buttons than the Joy-Cons. However, the NES30 Pro and the FC30 Pro have enough buttons to fully support Switch button configurations.
We've tested them out and they work great for classic games like the Neo Geo ports available on the eShop. They'll likely also be good for the upcoming Switch port of Street Fighter 2. Not surprisingly, these controllers don't support Switch-specific features like HD Rumble or Amiibo support, but they're still cool. You can find the instructions for how to pair the controllers with your Switch here.
8Bitdo's controllers also work with PC and Android devices. They range in price from $35 for the standard NES and SNES controllers to $43 for the Pro versions.
Update: This is our PS4 Pro review. For more information on the PS4 Slim, check out our coverage here. Related: Console Specs Compared.
The PlayStation 4 Pro represents a new move for Sony. While the company has refreshed many of its consoles before, the PS4 Pro marks the first time a mid-generational design has received a significant boost in processing power. Sony says that the Pro was primarily designed to take advantage of burgeoning 4K TVs, but is it powerful enough? More importantly, is it worth it? Let's find out.
Before I dive into the PS4 Pro's tech specs, let's take a look at what comes inside the box. Aside from the console, the package includes a mono headset, HDMI cable, DualShock 4 controller, USB charging cable, and an AC power cord. The PS4 Pro uses a thicker, two-pronged power cable this time around and measures about 60 inches in length. This is roughly 20 inches shorter than the PS4 Slim's equivalent.
Design
One of the first things you'll notice about the PS4 Pro is that its 11.6x2.1x12-inches chassis is big. At 7.2 pounds, it's also quite heavy. In terms of aesthetics, it maintains the PlayStation 4's slanted design but opts to use the PS4 Slim's more rounded corners as opposed to the original model's sharper edges. It also uses the Slim's matte black finish. The console has a new power LED light bar on the front, which starts on the left and trails off to the right. Coupled with the light bar are physical power and eject buttons.
The Pro sort of looks like a PS4 Slim stacked on top of the original PS4, and it has two slits that go around the chassis. The optical drive is located on the top slit, and speaking of it, despite being a 4K-capable system, the Pro doesn't support 4K Blu-ray discs. This is an odd, unfortunate omission, which slightly detracts from the package. Luckily, the PS4 Pro will be able to stream 4K HDR video from apps like Netflix and YouTube.
One of the first things you'll notice about the PS4 Pro is that its 11.6x2.1x12-inches chassis is big.
In terms of ports, the Pro brings back the optical S/PDIF, which was removed from the PS4 Slim. In addition to the two USB 3.1 ports on the front, the Pro offers a third USB 3.1 port on the back, which pairs well with PlayStation VR, since the separately available headset takes up a port. Other inputs on the back include HDMI, AUX, and Ethernet. The Pro also exhausts heat through vents on the back.
Like the original PS4 and PS4 Slim before it, the Pro model has an integrated power supply, which saves you the trouble of figuring out where to position a bulky external power brick. On top of the unit is a reflective silver PlayStation logo, and tucked underneath the console are little rubber feet modeled after the PlayStation button logos.
The Pro doesn't support 4K Blu-ray discs. This is an odd, unfortunate omission.
Specs
Underneath the hood, the PlayStation 4 Pro features the following tech specs:
CPU: x86-64 AMD "Jaguar," 8 cores clocked at 2.1GHz
GPU: 4.2 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon-based graphics clocked at 911MHz with 36 compute units
Memory: GDDR5 8GB + 1GB DRAM
Storage size: 1TB hard drive
External dimensions: Approx. 295x55x327 mm/11.6x2.1x12.8 in (width x height x length)
Blu-ray/DVD Drive: Blu-ray × 6 CAV, DVD × 8 CAV
Input/Output: Super-Speed USB (USB 3.1 Gen.1) port × 3, AUX port × 1
AV Output: HDMI out port (supports 4K/HDR), optical port
The faster graphics processing unit is arguably the most significant boost the PS4 Pro offers. The GPU is based on AMD's new Polaris microarchitecture, which the graphics-card manufacturer debuted with its Radeon RX 480 GPU. Its 911MHz frequency is 14 percent higher than the original model's equivalent. It also offers twice the number of compute units with 36 CUs and features 4.2 teraflops of performance, which is 2.28 times as much as the original PS4.
The console itself still offers 8GB of GDDR5 memory, which it shares with the CPU, but Sony has also added 1GB of DRAM for the CPU. This allows the x86-based processor to run the operating system and streaming video applications at 4K. This extra DRAM also frees up some of the faster GDDR5 memory for the GPU.
The CPU is still an eight-core Jaguar AMD processor, but its frequency has been raised from 1.6GHz to 2.1GHz, which amounts to a 31 percent boost.
The PS4 Pro also comes with a larger 1TB hard drive--though it's unfortunately still the slower 5,400rpm variety as opposed to the slightly faster 7,200rpm equivalent. Luckily, you can still swap out the HDD for a solid-state drive, and because the Pro supports the SATA III interface, SSDs installed in the console can now reach up to 6Gbps speeds. This is double the frequency of the original PS4's SATA II interface.
Graphical Enhancements
The main reason to get excited about the PS4 Pro is the prospect of better graphics. The new console is completely backward-compatible with the existing library of PS4 games, and some titles will receive graphical enhancements on the Pro. Some games may use the extra processing power to bolster frame rates, while others may render at a higher resolution. Some games may run natively at 4K, but Sony says the majority of games will use a 4K upscaling technique the company calls checkerboard rendering, essentially a 4K rendering shortcut that isn't as taxing on hardware. It's not quite as sharp as native 4K, but it does look surprisingly close.
Checkerboard rendering is not quite as sharp as native 4K, but it does look surprisingly close.
PS4 games will not receive Pro enhancements out of the box, however. Developers will have to patch their games to take advantage of the Pro's extra processing power. Sony asserts that patching a title to implement checkerboard rendering isn't too time-intensive, but it's unclear how many titles will support the upscaling technique moving forward, since Sony doesn't require developers to implement the feature. Developers can actually use the extra power as they see fit. Instead of cranking up the resolution, developers may choose to increase graphical fidelity, offer improved frame rates, or use better anti-aliasing techniques. This means the Pro could bolster visuals at 1080p. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, for instance, uses super-sampling anti-aliasing to mitigate jaggy edges on regular HD displays.
Visual Analysis
To analyze the visual enhancements that the PS4 Pro offers, I compared it against a PS4 Slim. The Slim replaces the original PS4, and while it might look a little different from the 2013 model, it carries the same GPU and CPU horsepower.
I hooked up both PlayStations to different HDMI inputs on the same TV: a 55-inch 4K high-dynamic range (HDR) display. I gathered two copies of every PS4 Pro-enhanced game that I could get copies of and quickly switched between the two inputs to conduct visual A/B tests. Both HDMI inputs were calibrated to look exactly the same. Because the PS4 Pro can also bolster 1080p graphics, I also connected both systems to a 55-inch 1080p TV and similarly analyzed the visual differences there.
While the PS4 Pro will support 4K HDR video streaming via apps like Netflix and Youtube, 4K HDR versions of these PlayStation apps won't release until the console launches on November 10. At the time of this writing, only a handful of games support PS4 Pro enhancements. The games I tested included Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, The Last of Us, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, and Infamous: Second Son.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
You sometimes have to stand still and look for these visual differences, since they aren't huge graphical improvements, but the main takeaway here is that the PS4 Pro offers a clearer image overall.
With both PlayStations hooked up to the 4K TV, I noticed that the Pro offered slightly better textures in the remastered version of Modern Warfare. The Pro made it a bit easier to make out the individual hair follicles on an NPC's beard, for instance. The Pro also allows the game to support a dynamic resolution that scales up to 4K, which helps mitigate some aliasing issues. Flickering fences on the Slim looked clean and stable on the Pro, for instance. Text on distant posters strewn about the game's opening training area were also unreadable on the Slim, but were legible on the Pro. You sometimes have to stand still and look for these visual differences, since they aren't huge graphical improvements, but the main takeaway here is that the PS4 Pro offers a clearer image overall.
When I hooked up both consoles to our 1080p TV, I couldn't tell much of a difference, unfortunately. Since the PS4 Slim already runs the game at 60 frames per second, it's already hitting the TV's 60Hz refresh rate limit, so I wasn't able to gauge any frame-rate improvements.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
With both systems hooked up to the 4K TV, I noticed slightly richer textures on the Pro. For instance, I could more easily see fibrous textures on clothing. The game also has better anti-aliasing with edges that look less pixelated. They're not huge improvements, but the Pro once again offers more clarity and less noise than the Slim on the 4K TV.
When I hooked up both systems to our 1080p TV, I was able to see better AA and slightly sharper textures from the Pro, but they weren't as noticeable at this resolution.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Shadow of Mordor offers different graphical enhancement options with the Pro. One option allows you to favor resolution. This dynamically scales the game's resolution up to 4K and smooths out unwanted jaggies. Once again, the Pro's video quality looked clearer at 4K as a result.
When the Pro runs Shadow of Mordor on a 1080p TV with resolution favored, it switches to a super-sampling anti-aliasing mode to render the game at a higher-than-1080p resolution and then shrinks the image down to 1080p. This does a decent job of making a regular HD display appear sharper than it actually is.
Alternatively, Shadow of Mordor also has a setting that allows you to favor quality. This forces the game to run at 1080p, regardless of the display, but it increases graphical fidelity. Unfortunately, outside of extra wrinkles on faces, I couldn't notice any other visual enhancements.
The Last of Us
The Last of Us has been updated to support HDR, and while the original PS4 and PS4 Slim models now support HDR via a recent firmware update, the PS4 Pro still made the game's colors look much richer and lusher.
As the game opens, it takes place in a dimly lit bedroom at night. Playing the game on the PS4 Pro, you can clearly see a green poster on one of the walls with legible words written on it. On the Slim, it's hard to even see the green poster, let alone the words--it's completely blanketed in darkness.
The Pro made the game's colors look much richer and lusher.
Textures also look much sharper with the Pro. For instance, the small text on book spines is easily readable, whereas it looks like illegible smudge stains on the Slim. The Pro also offers slightly better anti-aliasing; characters' hair look slightly less jagged here.
The Pro also mitigates some aliasing issues at 1080p as well, though it isn't as prominent on the HD display.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 offers the most disappointing visual enhancements out of my A/B tests. It offers marginally better AA at 4K, and even then, you have you really get up right in front of the TV to notice. The effects were even less impressive at 1080p.
Infamous: Second Son
Infamous Second Son is the last title that I analyzed. The game supports HDR, and color is the most notable difference here. Hues on the PS4 Pro version looked much more realistic and lifelike. Colors on the Slim, in comparison, looked a little too exaggerated and cartoony. It appears that the Pro's ability to produce a wider color gamut allows the game to offer more subtle, granular tones. Looking up at the sky in the Pro version of the game, I noticed pink streaks of light fill out the clouds. This beautiful effect wasn't as prominent on the Slim.
Hues on the PS4 Pro version looked much more realistic and lifelike.
Second Son's black levels also look much darker on the Pro--almost too dark. For instance, protagonist Delsin Rowe often fades into blackness in dimly lit walkways. In general, playing through Second Son on the Pro makes it seem like you're playing the game at a slightly later time of day.
This color difference surprisingly crossed over to our non-HDR 1080p TV as well. The Pro again made colors look much more lifelike and warm here, but details and textures once again were lost in ultra-dark shadows.
Noise, Heat, Power Consumption, and Boot Times
The original PS4 featured a very loud optical disc drive. While the PS4 Pro's ODD is certainly audible, it's not obnoxiously loud. The system, in general, is pretty quiet.
The heat signature was captured with a Flir One thermal imaging camera.
It can get warm, however. Firing up the Last of Us, the Pro's temperature rose to 46.1 degrees Celsius (114.9 degrees Fahrenheit), which puts it in line with the original PS4 model's temperatures. Interestingly, judging from our thermal imaging scan below, most of the heat is segmented to the back half of the console. It gets particularly warm right above the PlayStation logo.
In terms of power draw, the console draws around 75 watts sitting in the operating system. When I booted up The Last of Us, it went up to the mid 140s. This again puts it inline with the original PS4 and is pretty impressive, considering the Pro is more powerful and has a PSU that's rated up to 310 watts.
The PS4 booted up in roughly 24 seconds, which is on par with the original model. Interestingly enough, waking up from sleep took only five seconds--14 seconds faster than the original design.
Conclusion
The PlayStation 4 Pro can indeed make games look better--that is, if they're patched to take advantage of the extra processing power. From what I've seen thus far, it seems to offer better anti-aliasing, which makes the overall image look cleaner, and depending on the game, you occasionally get more vibrant, realistic colors.
Should you buy a PlayStation 4 Pro? If you have a 4K HDR TV and are looking to buy a console, I'd definitely recommend the PS4 Pro. Even if you have a 1080p TV and are looking to buy a PlayStation, I'd still lean more toward the Pro. Yes, it does cost $100 more than the Slim model, but you get more ports, twice the storage space, more future-proof hardware in the event that you ever decide to get a 4K TV, and some games can look slightly better at 1080p.
If you already have a PS4, however, I wouldn't make the upgrade unless you have a 4K HDR TV and the extra cash lying around. Graphics enthusiasts may appreciate the improved anti-aliasing and more vibrant colors, but the differences likely won't blow most people away.
Regardless, the PS4 Pro is priced fairly, offers a plethora of features, and is the most powerful console you can buy today.
Unsurprisingly, the delay prompted parent publisher Take-Two Interactive's stock price to take a big hit. After closing today, May 22, at nearly an all-time high of $69.04, the company's stock price took a big hit in after-hours trading, falling to $62.90 at press time. That's a dropoff of almost 9 percent.
The delay was announced right around when the market closed at 4 PM ET. The dramatic-looking chart above shows that the stock price dropped basically right after the announcement.
Rockstar apologized for the delay, saying "some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans." The developer also released new screenshots, which you can see in the image gallery below.
Take-Two will report earnings for the latest period, tomorrow, May 23, so we'll report back then with more details on Red Dead Redemption 2 and other Take-Two titles as they're announced.
Wii U releases may have all but dried up following the launch of Nintendo's record-breaking new system Switch, but the aging console still has at least one notable release for it in Darksiders Warmastered Edition, which is out now.
Warmastered Edition is a remastered version of the first Darksiders title, which originally appeared on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC back in 2010. While Warmastered Edition launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC last November, the Wii U version was pushed back, prompting rumors that the title may have been cancelled.
Warmastered Edition makes a number of visual refinements to the original Darksiders. In addition to HD resolution and improved shadow rendering quality, the game runs at 60 FPS, though the Wii U version only runs at 30. The series' second installment, Darksiders II, received a similar "Deathinitive" Edition in 2015 that touched up the original's visuals and made other improvements, though that version skipped Wii U entirely and only appeared on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Darksiders Warmastered Edition retails on Wii U for $20. We reviewed the original Darksiders when it first released and awarded it 8/10, calling the game "a fun and entertaining adventure with a host of fair but challenging puzzles." Darksiders fans also have the recently announcedDarksiders III to look forward to, which is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC next year.
Following the announcement of a delay to Red Dead Redemption 2, publisher Take-Two has reported its earnings for the most recent fiscal quarter and its full fiscal year, both of which ended on March 31, 2017.
The most significant revelation concerned Red Dead Redemption 2's release date. Yesterday's delay announcement said only that the game would now arrive during Spring 2018, which is a somewhat vague window. We can now narrow that down slightly further, as Take-Two confirmed it will not be out until fiscal year 2019. That means it will launch no sooner than April 1, 2018. Regarding the delay, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, "Such decisions are not made lightly and are driven by our team's unwavering commitment to unparalleled quality."
Asked about the level of anticipation for the game, Zelnick responded, "It's not really my nature or our nature to claim victory before it occurs; it's more our nature to do the very best we can to delight consumers and then report the results. To say that we're highly confident about Red Dead Redemption 2 is an extraordinary understatement. But I'm not sure that really matter ... it'll be released, and consumers get to vote."
Additionally, Zelnick noted that fiscal year 2019--which runs from April 2018 through March 2019--will also see the release of "a highly anticipated new title from one of 2K's biggest franchises." He didn't offer any further specifics regarding what the game might be. Borderlands 3 has long been rumored--and a new Borderlands is definitely in development--but there's no official indication that it's the franchise Zelnick was referencing.
With Red Dead Redemption 2 pushed back, Zelnick described Take-Two's release slate as "unusually light" during the current fiscal year, which runs through March 2018. New NBA 2K and WWE 2K games are on the way, and the company will continue to lean on Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.
During a post-earnings conference call with investors, Zelnick stated that GTA V and GTA Online "outperformed [Take-Two's] expectations during the fourth quarter quarter as they have in every period since they released." GTA V has now shipped 80 million units worldwide since release, and with the game continuing to do well--it continues to see year-over-year growth in recurrent spending--"much more" is still planned in terms of future updates.
NBA 2K17 is on track to become Take-Two's best-selling sports game ever, Zelnick noted during the call. To date, it has shipped 8 million units. Other sell-in figures the company shared included Civilization VI ("nearly" 2 million, making it the fastest-selling game in series history), WWE 2K17 (3 million), and Mafia III (5 million).
Net revenue for the most recent fiscal year was $1.78 billion, up from $1.414 billion in the prior year. Digitally delivered net revenue was up to a record $921.7 million, half of which came from recurrent consumer spending (which includes things like DLC, microtransactions, and virtual currency purchases). That means 26% of the company's total net revenue stemmed from those sources.
In the wake of today's earnings news, Take-Two's stock has rebounded. The news of Red Dead Redemption 2's delay yesterday caused the company's share price to plunge in after-hours trading. However, it's performed strongly today, briefly reaching a new all-time high of $76.70. It stands at $72.04 as of this writing, which is also higher than the company had ever reached before today.
Update: Squad has released a statement clarifying the news, reiterating that these are former members of the studio who have joined Valve and reassuring fans that Kerbal Space Program remains in development.
"There was news today that former KSP developers have joined Valve," Squad wrote on its forums. "We want to clarify that Squad is not joining Valve, and we continue to be an independent studio with the core KSP team remaining at Squad, hard at work on the improved KSP for consoles port, Update 1.3 and the Making History Expansion. The KSP community shouldn't be concerned about this news having any impact on the game.
"Regarding the developers joining Valve, it is important to note that we have had several people working on our team over the years, and it is common among development studios for team members to come and go. If some of them joined Valve, it is on their own behalf and we wish them good luck and success in their current and future endeavors.
"So do not worry, everything continues normally with KSP"
Original Story: Valve has hired a number of developers from Squad, the team behind acclaimed PC sim Kerbal Space Program.
Although the developers were hired around six months ago, the news only surfaced recently. Speaking on the Game Dev Unchained podcast, Roger Lundeen, who worked as an environmental designer at Valve between 2010 and 2013, indicated that Valve is paying close attention to smaller devs and modders.
"[Valve] is still buying up mod teams," he said. "There's the group that made Kerbal Space [Program]--I think that happened four or five, [maybe] six months ago. They just gave that entire team jobs."
During the podcast Lundeed referred to ex-Squad members as "modders," which briefly led to some confusion as to whether Valve had hired people from the main Kerbal Space Program development team or modders that had created content based on the game.
PCGamesN received clarification that Lundeed did indeed mean former Squad developers, not modders. While it's unclear what they're working on, a representative for Valve also told the site that "they joined a little while ago" and there will be "more news about what they are doing soon."
In GameSpot's Kerbal Space Program review, Justin Clark awarded it a 9/10, saying "you will fail at this game. It will demoralize you and it will stress you out, but, more often than not, it will soothe, quiet, and inspire you."
He continued: "Innovative muscles will be stretched here that aren't stretched very often by games, and more complex moments require a sort of zen beyond being simply twitch-ready for a surprise attack. Even failure imparts a lesson. No matter how big or small the achievement, anything else that can be done is limited only by your imagination.
"Even with its cartoonish humor and quirks, Kerbal Space Program has an almost sacred respect for the tiny miracles involved in space travel, and even at its most difficult, it deserves that respect in return."
Get Even, the first-person shooter coming from The Farm 51, has been delayed until June 23, the developer announced today.
The game was originally scheduled to launch on Thursday, May 25. In a statement, the studio confirmed the delay, saying that the attack at a concert in Manchester yesterday was the motive for the decision.
"Given recent events and out of respect we have decided to postpone the commercial release of Get Even," the developer stated. "We would like to express our deepest condolences to everyone concerned."
Get Even is a narrative-focused thriller with a heavy emphasis on plot twists and psychological horror. It's coming for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Yesterday, a bomb exploded at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, resulting in 22 deaths and dozens wounded. The attack has been classified as an act of terrorism by authorities, and the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
Nintendo is hitting the road this summer, taking Switch and 3DS games to several locations around the United States. At each stop, you'll get to try out the systems' new games new games. Visitors will also get the chance to try the new Nintendo 2DS XL, the company's latest system which promises to be a hybrid between the current 3DS and previous versions of the 2DS.
Top games that will be playable include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, and Pokemon Sun and Moon. Nintendo will be setting up "playgrounds" for each of the games, where you can snap photos in front of the "colorful visuals" of characters like Mario and the Inklings from Splatoon.
Here's the full list of games Nintendo is featuring:
Nintendo Switch:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
1-2-Switch
Snipperclips – Cut It Out Together
Arms
Splatoon 2
Super Bomberman R
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
Nintendo 3DS:
Pokemon Sun
Pokemon Moon
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Hey Pikmin
Miitopia
The Summer of Play Tour starts on June 9 in California and finishes on September 4 in Baltimore. Here's the full schedule:
June 9-11 -- Irvine, California -- Irvine Spectrum Center
June 16-18 -- Pleasanton, California -- Alameda County Fair
June 23-25 -- Bloomington, Minnesota -- Mall of America
June 30-July 2 -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest Grounds)
July 7-9 -- Chicago Navy Pier
July 14-16 -- Glendale, Arizona -- Arrowhead Towne Center
July 20-23 -- San Diego -- Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina (San Diego Comic-Con)
July 28-30 -- Arlington, Texas -- The Parks Mall at Arlington
Aug. 4-6 -- Miami, Florida -- Aventura Mall
Aug. 11-13 -- Bethlehem, Pennsylvania -- Musikfest
Aug. 18-20 -- New York -- DUMBO Waterfront
Aug. 25-27 -- King of Prussia, Pennsylvania -- King of Prussia Mall
Sept. 2-4 -- Baltimore Harborplace
Nintendo is offering an extra bonus for those who live near the tour stops: anyone who buys or pre-orders certain Nintendo games at participating GameStop locations nearby will get a Nintendo-branded PopSocket mobile accessory device. Nintendo has published more details about the upcoming tour on its website.
Battlefield 1's next big DLC pack is called In the Name of the Tsar, and its main addition is the Russian Army. Alongside four new maps, the pack will include Russian vehicles, soldiers, and weapons. This week, EA revealed a cool detail about the map pack: the Russian Scout class will be represented by a female soldier from the Women's Battalion of Death.
The publisher recently announced this on Twitter, giving no other details about the Russian Army or the Scout Class. However, this is a notable addition to a series that until now has predominately featured men in multiplayer modes.
This seems like a good way to increase awareness of a part of World War I that isn't widely known. The Women's Battalion of Death was formed in 1917 as a desperate attempt by the Russian Provisional Government to inspire morale and support for the war effort. Although women had been serving in small numbers in the standard Russian Army before this, some women pressured the government to create female-only units. Several of the resulting battalions were sent to the front lines to fight against Germany. Estimates of the number of women who fought range in the several thousands.
This isn't the first time that Battlefield 1 has featured relatively unknown and underrepresented units. The cover of the game and one of the chapters in its story highlight the Harlem Hellfighters, the first African American regiment to serve with the American military during the war. In addition, the "Nothing Is Written" chapter of the story features a playable female Bedouin rebel.
Battlefield 1's In the Name of the Tsar DLC pack is planned for release in late summer, and it'll be shown off at EA's E3 event in June. In addition, Battlefield 1 is getting several other pieces of content this summer, including the Nivelle Nights and Prise de Tahure maps. All DLC is included in Battlefield 1's Premium pass.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is getting its second major update this week, and today developer Bluehole revealed what players can expect. It was already announced that an irritating targeting bug will be fixed, and now we know that several other significant improvements are coming.
This patch focuses on client performance, so headlining it are a number of tweaks that are designed to increase efficiency and quality of the game's processes. For example, the patch will improve the rendering performance of fences, grass, and weapons, the performance of character animations, and visual effect performance.
The patch also adds a new weapon, the VSS, a suppressed sniper rifle. It has a permanent 4x-magnitude scope and uses 9mm ammo. Considering the usefulness of both sniper rifles and silenced attacks, the VSS will likely be a particularly powerful weapon. As such, it's extremely rare: It can be found in care packages and as a very infrequent loot spawn.
There are a number of UI tweaks and quality-of-life improvements, as well. You'll now be able to press the Delete key to remove a waypoint marker, and a dotted line on the mini-map will now show the way to the next playable zone.
You can check out all the main changes and additions below, and you can see a full list of bug fixes at the game's Steam page. The developer will push the update to the game's servers on Thursday, May 25, at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET/9 AM BST, and the patch is expected to go live for everyone an hour after that.
Battlegrounds has found a great deal of success since its release earlier this year; as of early March, it had sold 2 million copies, according to the developer. Steamspy.com now shows that 2.5 million people have played the game. It's currently only available on PC, but PS4 and Xbox One versions are in the works.
Early Access Month 2 Update additions and changes:
Client Performance
Improved CPU usage for world level streaming
Improved rendering performance of fences
Improved rendering performance of grass
Improved rendering performance for weapons and attachments seen at distance
Improved rendering performance by modifying certain weapon and vehicle effects that were unnecessarily rendered at distance
Improved character animation performance
Improved effect performance
Improved the performance of teammate name plate, map and mini-map in teamplay
Content
Added VSS. A suppressed sniper rifle with permanent 4X scope & chambered for 9mm ammo. This new weapon can be found in care packages and as a very rare loot spawn
Added Motorbike
Gameplay
Reduced the moving speed of the two final play zones for better engagement during the endgame
Made a balance pass on certain weapons:
Vector
Reduced bullet damage slightly
Increased deviation gain per shot
Winchester/S686/S12K
Reduced pellet damage slightly
AKM
Increased bullet damage slightly
Fixed an issue where the players alive count would reduce when a player disconnected. Now the count will only go down upon the players death.
Action and Gunplay
Now players can put stock attachments on following weapons:
SKS : Sniper rifle cheek pad
Vector : Tactical stock (for M416)
Adjusted the color of the aiming point for the basic crossbow scope.
Added new scope rendering method (parallax free) allowing for greater aiming precision
Improved ADS view
Modified recoil for following weapons: AKM, SCAR, M16, M416
Fixed an issue allowing a player to zoom in with right click when waiting before throwing a grenade
Decreased the time to ADS when using the 2X scope
Vehicle
Added punctured wheel effect and sound
Added burnt markings to vehicles after being destroyed
Added the motorbike number plate image
When a vehicle explodes, the fences near the vehicle will now also be destroyed
World
Added new vegetation to the lobby
UI
Players can press "Delete" to remove their marker placed on the world map
Adjusted the transparency of mini-map grid and coordinates text to make the map more visible
Added a dotted line towards the next play zone on the mini-map
Modified the icon design of the First Aid Kit
Added Thai language in language options
Added new key bindings for hold breath, motorbike air control and switch to previous weapon
Disgaea 5 Complete, NIS America's quirky tactical RPG, is available now in North America for Nintendo Switch and launches in Europe on May 26. It appears that isn't the only platform getting the title, however, as the ESRB website has also rated Disgaea 5 Complete for PC.
Disgaea 5 Complete is a re-release of Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance, the formerPS4 exclusive that first launched in 2015. As its name implies, Complete comes with all of the DLC that was released for the original game. NIS America announced the title for Switch back in February, but this marks the first mention of a possible PC release as well.
The original Disgaea 5 earned 8/10 from GameSpot. In our review, we called the game "the biggest and most satisfying installment in the series to date." Switch owners can download a demo for the title through the eShop. You can also get a sense of the series' signature over-the-top gameplay and offbeat brand of humor in the overview trailer above.
There's currently no word on when Disgaea 5 Complete will release for PC; we've reached out to NIS America for comment and will update this story with any additional details.
The Overwatch Anniversary event is now live on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. To celebrate the acclaimed multiplayer shooter's first birthday, Blizzard is giving players the chance to earn new 100 new cosmetic through Commemorative Loot Boxes. Rewards include "skins, dance emotes, sprays, and more."
In terms of new gameplay content, the Anniversary update features three new Arena Maps. These were teased on May 18 and look to be heavily inspired by the existing Dorado, Eichenwalde, and Temple of Anubis locations.
These are "small maps built for intense action" and involve eliminating "all enemy players to win a round--and, ultimately, win the match." These have been added to the Arcade and support up to 3v3 elimination matches.
The first map, Necropolis, is an "impromptu field base" where Ana "can keep an eye on things," Blizzard explains. "Head to Ana's preferred vantage point at the top of the ruins, and use the high ground (and the element of surprise) against the enemy team. Or walk the stone corridors below, and take the fight to them directly--just watch out for pits."
Castillo "is an old fort looking out over Dorado's bay. It's the location of Calaveras, a bar frequented by questionable patrons; a graffitied Los Muertos hangout; and Sombra's hacking den. Test your skills against the enemy team throughout Castillo's multiple levels, and use its winding stairs for cover and strategic advantage."
Finally, Black Forest is "on the outskirts of Eichenwalde, the misty Black Forest map wraps around a long-overlooked battlefield dotted with the wreckage of Bastion units. Flank your opponents on pathways between the castle and woods, and use the wooden balconies to move between the second stories of houses throughout the forest."
In addition to this, a Game of the Year Edition of Overwatch is also now on sale. It is available for a "special introductory price of $40" on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A press release indicates that the price will increase to $59.99 in the future, but it's not clear when.
The Game of the Year Edition has "the full roster of Overwatch heroes, maps, and game features, as well as an arsenal of bonus content and Overwatch-themed goodies for several Blizzard Entertainment games." Take a look at a full list of the content below.
Overwatch: Enjoy 10 Standard Loot Boxes, each containing a collection of random items that can be used to customize your favorite heroes. Loot Boxes may include skins, emotes, victory poses, voice lines, sprays, and highlight intros, as well as credits you can use to unlock a variety of different customization options.
Overwatch: Origins Skins -- Pay homage to the original Overwatch strike force with vintage skins of Blackwatch Reyes for Reaper and Strike-Commander Morrison for Soldier: 76. Explore other heroes' origins with Overgrown Bastion, Security Chief Pharah, and Slipstream Tracer.
Diablo 3: Mercy's Wings -- Slay demonic forces throughout the High Heavens and Burning Hells while donning Mercy's wings, and all of Sanctuary will know of your allegiance to Overwatch!
StarCraft 2: Player Portraits -- These picture-perfect portraits of Tracer, Reaper, Pharah, Winston, Bastion, and Soldier: 76 give new meaning to the phrase "Hero of the Koprulu Sector."
Hearthstone: Overwatch Card Back -- If you happen to find yourself in a Tavern Brawl, show your opponent you've got backup with an Overwatch-themed card back.
World of Warcraft: Baby Winston Pet -- Adorably cuddly and highly intellectual, the Baby Winston pet will be at your side as you fight to extinguish the Burning Legion.
Heroes of the Storm: Tracer Hero -- The cavalry's here! Jump into the Nexus with Tracer and surprise your enemies in the blink of an eye.
Outside of the 10 standard Loot Boxes, the rest of the items were originally available as part of Overwatch's Origins Edition.
Blizzard has also discounted the standard edition of Overwatch to $30 for a limited time. Additionally, those that want to upgrade from the standard version to the Game of the Year Edition to unlock the items listed above can do so for $10.
Looking ahead, Blizzard is holding another free weekend for Overwatch from May 26-29. Players will be able to level up, earn Loot Boxes, and unlock customization options during the free weekend. Those who decide to purchase the game afterward will retain the progress they made.
If you've been looking for something new to play on the cheap, today you can pick up the well-received space trading game Starpoint Gemini 2 for free on PC.
Publisher Iceberg Interactive announced that until Wednesday, May 24 at 7 AM PT/3 PM BST, the game will be free to all Steam users. This promotion is to celebrate that the game has passed 300,000 copies sold since its release, and to coincide with the official launch of Starpoint Gemini Warlords today on PC. This isn't temporary access to the game: players who download it during the free period will own it permanently.
You can go to Gemini 2's Steam page to pick it up at no charge; it normally costs $35. It originally launched back in September 2014 for PC and Xbox One. Since then, it's received three DLC packs.
In response to fan feedback, developer LGM created Warlords as a standalone game building on the Gemini series. After spending a year in early access, it has been fully released today. It incorporates much more strategy and exploration elements than the original Starpoint games. You can pick up Warlords for $35.
James Bond star Roger Moore has died after a short battle with cancer. The news was announced by his family, who released the following message via Twitter:
With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated. pic.twitter.com/6dhiA6dnVg
Moore was 89. He was the third actor to play James Bond, taking on the role in 1973, after Sean Connery and George Lazenby. Moore's first Bond movie was Live and Let Die, and he played 007 in seven films, including The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker. His final Bond movie was 1985's A View to a Kill. He remains the actor to have played the British spy the most times in official Bond movies.
Prior to 007, Moore was already famous for two iconic television roles. He starred as suave criminal Simon Templar in The Saint between 1962 and 1969, and alongside Tony Curtis for a single season in the comedy thriller The Persuaders in 1971. He earned $1 million for that series, which at the time made him the highest paid TV star in the world.
Moore received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for his charity work. He spent 12 years as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.
Housemarque has made a name for itself creating hectic, entertaining top-down shooters like Super Stardust, Resogun, and Alienation, and its next game, Nex Machina, looks to continue that trend. The game is coming next month, but you can register now for a chance to play it early in the PS4 closed beta starting this weekend.
If you navigate to this Google Form (originally posted on the developer's official Twitter page) you can sign up. The studio will then randomly select a few hundred names to participate in the closed beta. The beta will from May 26-June 1.
You need to own a PS4 and have a North American or European PSN account to be selected. The developer hasn't provided specific details about the focus of this test, other than that it hopes to "tweak the game and gameplay to make the game even better" from player feedback.
If you happen to get into the beta, there are some restrictions on sharing videos. Housemarque is not allowing livestreams of the beta, but video capture is fine as long as the videos aren't published until 7 AM PT/3 PM BST on May 29.
Nex Machina will be officially released on June 20 for PS4 and PC. Housemarque has specifically called out old-school shooters like Robotron and Smash TV as inspiration. It features local two-player co-op, competitive multiplayer, and 100 levels to play through. Check out our early impressions here.
Hitman developer IO Interactive has indicated some staff have been let go as it prepares for upcoming changes to the way the studio operates.
"Today at IO [Interactive], we had to make some changes to our studio, which will allow us to be better equipped for our future adventures," reads an update posted on Twitter. "We're sad that great talent and good friends will be leaving the studio. We are doing everything possible to look after everyone affected. Thank you for your support and understanding."
On May 11, it was revealed that Square Enix intends to divest ownership of IO Interactive. This, the Japanese company said at the time, was to narrow its focus on key franchises and studios. During Square Enix's financial reports, it indicated it had taken a financial loss to offload IO Interactive and also cease production of IO's ongoing projects.
This has led to questions regarding the future of Hitman, which was expected to have a second wave of content launch in the future. Square Enix said it had begun discussions with new investors that could potentially purchase IO Interactive, but whether the Hitman property would be sold alongside it remains unclear.
The decision to downsize IO's headcount could be tied into a potential acquisition. It may be that whoever is interested in investing in the studio may want reduce the size of the studio to mitigate costs and risk. Either way, a smaller, leaner studio would present IO Interactive as more attractive to potential investors.
GameSpot has contacted Square Enix for a statement on the matter.
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. A job listing spotted in February also indicated IO Interactive was working on a new IP.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now less than seven months away, and the latest issue of Vanity Fair has a major behind-the-scenes feature on the movie. The different magazine covers have been released in advance, and they showcase the film's main characters, including the late Carrie Fisher and new star Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose. Check them out in the gallery below:
Last week, the movie's big twists were teased in a new promotional ad for the Japanese release. While the ad didn't reveal much, it did mention that the film would contain a "shocking truth."
The Last Jedi stars Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Domhnall Gleeson, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. It hits theaters on December 15, 2017.
Developer and publisher Capcom has not provided any further details on the re-release so it's unclear how the game will benefit from its new platforms. However, a bump in graphical quality seems likely.
Reclaim your heart in the epic Action RPG “Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen”. Coming to PS4 and XB1 this fall!
As of yet, Capcom has only mentioned the re-release on social channels, so it's somewhat of a low-key announcement. We expect more details will be available soon.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen was originally released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 as an expanded and enhanced version of the core Dragon's Dogma title. Dark Arisen was later released for PC with "increased fidelity" in relation to graphics, as well as "full Steam platform support with Achievements, and the ability to play using both Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers."
"Dragon's Dogma takes chances, and it's that riskiness that makes this role-playing game so unique among its peers," he said. "Of course, some of those risks will have you groaning in frustration. Dragon's Dogma is many things: a flawed classic, an exciting disaster, a triumphant mess. One thing it isn't is a generic rehash. Dragon's Dogma will remain with you, frustrations and victories alike, when your memories of other games have long since faded."
Looking for more information on Call of Duty: WWII? You don't have much longer to wait. Developer Sledgehammer Games has announced a new "Making Call of Duty" video series for the game, the first episode of which will premiere today, May 23, at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET.
According to studio boss Glen Schofield, the video series will provide an "in-depth look" at the making of Call of Duty: WWII. Guests for the first episode will include animation director Chris Stone and campaign director Brett Robbins. Some "special guests" will also appear during the stream, which will be broadcast live on Facebook.
We will report back with any noteworthy takeaways from the Call of Duty: WWII livestream. What are you hoping to see? Let us know in the comments below!
[UPDATE] During the Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting briefing, Sony management talked more about the PlayStation business. Here are some of the gaming takeaways:
PS4 users collectively spend 600 million hours every week on PS4.
Sony wants to further enhance the content and appeal of PlayStation Plus to make it more attractive and in turn grow subscriber figures.
PS Plus had 26.4 million paying members at the end of the last fiscal year.
The original story is below.
The PlayStation Network now has 70 million monthly "active" users, Sony has disclosed.
Sony revealed the new figure as part of its latest Corporate Strategy Meeting for FY2017, which was released today [PDF]. A slide (below) shows the 70 million number, but does not mention how Sony defines what it means to be "active" or when the number was reached. It likely covers at leastPlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.
A webcast for Sony's Corporate Strategy Meeting will take place later today in Japan where more details may be divulged. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the first entry in Disney's swashbuckling action series since 2011's On Stranger Tides, opens this Friday in the United States.
Ahead of that, reviews have started to show up online. To help you get an idea about if the film is worth your time and money, we have collected excerpts from reviews into a roundup.
You can see excerpts from selection of reviews below. For a wider view of the critical reaction to Dead Men, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Film:Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Salazar's Revenge in the UK)
Release Date: May 26
Starring: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario,
Directed By: Joachim Ronning, Espen Sandberg
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 129 minutes
CNET
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales regains its bearings, sets a course for the franchise's north star and breathes new life into the series by getting back to what made the first two films so enjoyable." -- Ashley Esqueda [Full review]
ScreenCrush
"Dead Men Tell No Tales is the sort of sequel that's so bad it makes you retroactively wonder why you liked the original film so much in the first place." -- Matt Singer [Full review]
Total Film
"Six years since we last rode the high seas with Cap'n Jack Sparrow in On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp returns to his signature role. With his ship the Black Pearl now shrunken inside a tiny bottle, he's even more hapless than usual, in charge of a bare-bones vessel named the Dying Gull. This is not a bad omen, as Salazar's Revenge is a hugely enjoyable ride." -- James Mottram [Full review]
Empire
"Not the return to form you might have been hoping for. Its story might cover all the same beats as the 2003 original, but there's little of that film's spark or spirit." -- Dan Jolin [Full review]
The Wrap
"...the fifth entry, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, is the most divertingly enjoyable since the first. A professionally crafted brew of action, slapstick and supernatural mumbo-jumbo, it's less likely to spur timepiece glances than did the last few bloated installments." -- Robert Abele [Full review]
Entertainment Weekly
"Five films in, Pirates still leaves you feeling a lot like the Magic Kingdom ride it's so famously inspired by: alternately thrilled, exhausted, and seriously regretting that last funnel cake." -- Leah Greenblatt [Full review]
Disney's live-action Pinocchio film is moving forward and now there is word on who might direct it.
According to Deadline, Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty and also directed the James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre, is in "early talks" to direct the upcoming Disney film.
A deal hasn't been made as of yet, it seems, and it's unclear who else Disney might be speaking with about directing the live-action Pinocchio.
Pinocchio is just the latest animated classic that Disney is making into a live-action movie. The latest was Beauty and the Beast, which has made more than $1.2 billion worldwide. Disney is also producing live-action versions of Mulan, Aladdin, and Dumbo.
Mendes also directed Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road.
Microsoft's Project Scorpio console will surely be one of the biggest storylines in gaming this year. Due out in holiday 2017, the system is billed as the "most powerful console ever made." Now, Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, who left Epic Games to create LawBreakers studio Boss Key, has weighed in.
In a Reddit AMA today for LawBreakers was asked for his thoughts on Scorpio. He praised Microsoft for "getting their sh** together" and mentioned that an Xbox One version of LawBreakers could happen.
"MS is getting their sh** together. They're putting it in a backpack or in a shit museum and getting it alllll together," Bleszinski said. "Scorpio is promising. MS bet on Kinect too hard last round. Don't rule out an Xbox version [of LawBreakers], btw."
Bleszinski also shared his opinion on Gears of War 4, the first new entry in the series developed internally at Microsoft. He said he enjoyed it and is curious to find out "how much of my ideas will stick as they continue with the series... :)"
Looking to buy more games or other content through the PlayStation Network? If you can wait until June, there is a nice deal coming up that you may want to consider.
Starting on June 9, when you spend $100 on the PSN you'll get $15 back in PSN credit. The promotion is good through June 20 at 11:59 PM PT, and it's only available in the US, Canada, and Mexico. As was the case with past offers, you can only receive a single $15 credit per account, so don't spend hundreds in the hopes of stacking up vouchers.
The $15 code expires at 11:59 PM PT on July 18, so you have until then to use it. Codes will be sent on or before July 5 through email or system message/notification.
The June 9-June 20 promo period covers the time immediately leading up to and following E3 2017. The full terms and conditions on the free credit offer can be seen here.
Since the inception of the Wii, Nintendo has gone down a different design path with its consoles. Rather than wage a war of processing power with Microsoft and Sony, the company sought to fundamentally rethink hardware. Some might refer to these as gimmicks. Regardless of what you call it, Nintendo struck gold with the Wii. With its motion controls, the console ended up being the company's best-selling system to date. Nintendo missed the mark with its follow-up, the Wii U, however, which is being the company's worst-performing console to date. The Nintendo Switch continues this out-of-the-box thinking with its hybrid form factor. After using it for a week, I'm glad to say that the hardware has a lot of potential and marks a strong return to form for the company.
Like the Wii U GamePad before it, the Switch offers a 6.2-inch touch screen. The tablet-like portion of the console is small, and measures roughly 6.7x3.9x.6 inches. Even with the Joy-Con controllers attached, its 9.4x4.1x1-inch frame make it significantly smaller than the GamePad.
The Switch has .7 inch bezels on the sides and .4 inch bezels on the top and bottom
While the dimensions of the display are the same, the Switch's screen looks far better. Its bright, glossy 1280x720p screen certainly isn't the sharpest panel on the market, but it offers a modest 236.87 pixel per inch (PPI) density. For reference, the iPhone 7 offers a 326 PPI. The 720p screen strikes a good balance between resolution and performance demands for the console. Unlike the GamePad's resistive touchscreen, the Switch uses a capacitive panel, which offers a higher contrast ratio and improved touch gestures. While you can certainly play the Switch outdoors, like with your typical smartphone or tablet screen, bright lights can make it harder for you to make out finer details on the panel.
The hardware has a lot of potential and marks a strong return to form for Nintendo.
This is the top of the Switch without the Joy-Cons attached.
Above the touch screen, the Switch houses its power button, volume rocker, exhaust vent, Game Card slot, and 3.5mm headphone jack. Both sides of the console feature rails for the Joy-Con controllers to slide in. Underneath the device, there's a USB-C power port. On the back of the unit, there's a kickstand that you can pull out, which also reveals the MicroSD card slot underneath. The kickstand is flimsy and only offers one viewing angle. I would have liked more angular granularity to give it more versatility.
The Joy-Con controllers are very light and weigh just over 0.1 pound each. I tested the neon red and blue variant and have to say that they look surprisingly bright and charming in-person. They also come in a dark matte grey if you prefer a more subdued tone. It's easy to attach the Joy-Cons to the Switch. They generate a very satisfying snap when you slide them in place. Removing them requires a little more care, however, as you need to press down on a small button on the back of both controllers to release them. The left and right Joy-Cons are somewhat mirrored forms of each other. Both controllers offer face/directional buttons and a joystick. Attached together, either with the included Grip accessory or on the Switch, they act as a singular controller with offset joysticks, similar to what you might see on an Xbox controller. The sticks themselves are pretty short, and can't match the travel distance of Microsoft's variants. They are much taller than the Nintendo DS' sticks, however, and are serviceable.
The Joy-Cons both offer four LED lights to indicate controller battery life.
While the two Joy-Cons may look like mirrored version of each other, there are slight differences to each controller. For multiplayer games that split the Joy-Cons apart, I suspect most gamers would prefer to choose the left Joy-Con, as the right Joy-Con places its joystick somewhat awkwardly in the middle of its frame. The left controller, on the other hand, has the stick more comfortably offset to the side. The right controller does house an NFC reader and an IR motion camera, however. The NFC reader allows users to sync Amiibos to the device and the IR camera allows the Switch to detect movements and hand gestures.
The home button on the right Joy-Con will light up for notifications.
The box comes with two straps for the Joy-Cons. Not only do these straps prevent you from flinging your Joy-Cons across the room, but with the straps attached and the controllers turned horizontally, they accentuate the shoulder buttons with larger triggers.
Both Joy-Cons support motion controls. In The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, they allow you to augment joystick aiming. It was jarring at first, but augmented aiming eventually helped me fine tune my bow and arrow shots. There were downsides, though, vibrations on a bumpy commute can throw off your aim.
The kickstand feels a bit flimsy and only offers one angle.
In addition to motion controls, the Joy-Cons offer a very sophisticated haptic feedback system. Nintendo calls it HD Rumble, and it allows developers to create games like 1-2-Switch that tasks you with guessing how many virtual marbles are "rolling around" inside your controllers. With the controllers' multiple motors, it does an excellent job here and feels accurate. It represents the best haptics I've felt to date.
Having spent several hours playing with the Switch on the go, I can say that it never felt uncomfortably heavy.
Whereas the Wii U GamePad looked and felt a bit like a Fisher Price toy, the Switch feels sturdy overall. This is even more impressive when you consider that at 0.9 pounds with the Joy-Con controllers attached, the Switch is more than 0.1 pound lighter than the GamePad. Having spent several hours playing with the Switch on the go, I can say that it never felt uncomfortably heavy. Its size made it easy to rest on my lap when some fatigue did set in.
You can connect up to eight Nintendo Switch systems
The Switch is also more portable than I imagined. With the Joy-Cons attached, the device can fit into large pants pockets, though it will most likely jut out a little. The Switch is ideally suited for backpacks, but on some loose-fitting slacks, you can most likely get away with putting both Joy-Cons into one pocket and the console in the other.
When you want to play the Switch on your TV, you'll need to insert it into the included Switch Dock. The plastic Dock measures 6.7x4x1.9 inches and offers two USB ports on the left. Nintendo says that you can use these USB ports to connect accessories like USB-to-Ethernet dongles. There's also a door on the back that swings open, which allows you to do some basic cable management with your power and HDMI cables. There's also a third USB port stowed back here. It's really easy to slide the Switch into the Dock and there's even a guard at the bottom that depresses to protect the system once it's properly in place.
The Switch's AC adapter uses a wall wart, which means it's best suited for the tail end of a power strip.
When you're playing the Switch on the TV, you'll probably want to connect the Joy-Con controllers to the included Grip peripheral. While the Pro Controller feels amazing, the Grip configuration is surprisingly comfortable and ergonomic.
Specs
Underneath the hood, the Switch uses a heavily-customized Nvidia Tegra system-on-a-chip (SOC) that's based on the ARM instruction set. In layman's terms, that basically means that the console uses a souped-up tablet processor.
Nintendo has yet to officially comment on RAM or GPU/CPU clock speeds, but we do know that because the Switch is based on a mobile processor, it's not a processing powerhouse. In the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, there are jaggies and faraway enemies will occasionally pop in. While the Switch is capable of delivering a 1080p signal while docked, Breath of the Wild opts to run at 900p with a 30 FPS locked frame rate here. Visually, I could tell that it often failed to meet this frame rate while docked. It tends to dip when there's too much happening on the screen. Interestingly, I didn't notice the same frame rate issues when I played with the Switch undocked.
This is not to say that the Switch isn't capable of delivering beautiful graphics. Despite its occasional technical hiccups, Breath of the Wild is a beautiful game with lush colors and expansive vistas. It's far and away the most beautiful game I've ever seen rendered on a mobile processor. Period. This includes any game I've played on Nvidia's 2017-released Shield gaming device.
The Switch hit 39.2 degrees Celcius playing The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
The Switch uses a tiny fan and it's super quiet. It never got obscenely hot either. Using Flir's thermal imaging camera and playing Breath of the Wild in portable mode, the Switch hit 39.2 degrees Celsius (102.5 degrees Fahrenheit). For reference, I've seen the PlayStation 4 Pro hit 46.1 degrees Celsius (114.9 degrees Fahrenheit). With the console docked, temperatures hit 41.1 degrees Celsius (105.9 degrees Fahrenheit). The Switch's power-efficient design is most likely why its temps are so moderate. Using a power meter with the console docked, the Switch consumed 7.8 watts sitting in the operating system. When I fired up Zelda, power draw roughly doubled to 15 watts. This is still incredibly modest when you consider that the PlayStation 4 Pro often hits above 140 watts, which is nearly 10 times as much.
The Switch comes with 32GB of storage. When you factor in operating system overhead, this leaves you with 25.9GB of usable space. That's not a lot, but the console does support expandable memory via MicroSD cards up to 2 TB, though Nintendo recommends an Ultra High Speed SD card to store games.
Switch Game Cards are roughly the size of SD cards.
In terms of audio, while docked, the Switch supports 5.1 channel surround sound. The console also offers two small speakers below its touch screen. The speakers get the job done, but didn't blow me away. They lack a little punch and were actually drowned out a bit by my Nexus 6P phone speakers when I had them blasting audio at full volume side by side. Interestingly enough, when I plugged the same set of earbuds into both devices, the 6P was able to output a much louder signal. That's not to say the system is really quiet with earbuds, but those with hearing issues should take note.
For its battery, the Switch uses a rechargeable 4,310 mAh lithium-ion cell. This is a pretty sizable battery. For perspective, the iPhone 7 uses a 1,960 mAh solution. Nintendo claims that the Switch can last over six hours, depending on usage. For Zelda, the company says users should expect around three hours of battery. From my testing, this seems pretty accurate. With a 100-percent charge, I was able to get three hours and three minutes of battery life playing Zelda with screen brightness set to 80 percent. Reviews Editor Peter Brown set his screen brightness to 100 percent and recorded two hours and 50 minutes. If you're wondering how fast the Switch charges, we clocked a 49 percent charge after an hour of sleep on the Dock.
In terms of wireless connections, the Switch supports Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
You can also use a USB-C phone charger with the Switch. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck charging the console with an external power bank. I played roughly 10 minutes of Zelda on the go with a Kingston MobileLite Wireless G3 plugged in and saw battery drop from 55 percent down to 51. The G3's 2A battery output could have been a bottleneck, but the device wasn't charging the Switch even when it was sleeping.
The system's sleep mode itself seems to be very power-efficient. After a full charge, I took the Switch out of the dock and set it aside for five hours. When I woke it up, it still reported a 100-percent charge. The console also takes less than four seconds to wake up from sleep when it's docked. It wakes up under two seconds when it's not docked. It seems like the system was designed with sleep mode in mind and you have to navigate through the UI a bit to shut it off. The Switch performed a cold boot in about 10 seconds.
I encountered the longest loading time when I booted Breath of the Wild after closing the game. It took 17 seconds, but because the Switch seems like it was designed to run games in the background at all times, I often found I was able to pop right back into Hyrule nearly instantaneously. That's quite impressive given the sleep mode's power-efficient state.
User Interface and Operating System
A day-one update is preventing me from evaluating the Switch's full capabilities at this time. Features like Nintendo's eShop are currently offline. I'll update this review once I get my hands on with the patch.
As it is right now, the operating system is very simple and barebones. Currently, there is no video player. Nintendo said that video-streaming applications are "being considered for a future update."
Currently, the OS allows you to do simple things like calibrate your control sticks, test your internet connection, and go into airplane mode. The Switch allows you to capture in-game screenshots and you can view and edit these pictures with captions in the OS. An eventual update will allow you to share these images online.
The UI allows you to create different user profiles and Miis. It also offers pretty sophisticated parental controls that allow you to restrict games based on age, region, and more.
Conclusion
The Nintendo Switch feels like the culmination of years of hardware growing pains from both Nintendo and Nvidia. Unlike the Wii U GamePad, you no longer have to worry about being tethered to your TV. Because the Switch houses all of its processing power in its portable form factor, it truly allows you to carry console power with you wherever you go. The fact that it's able to do that while being lighter than the Wii U's GamePad is a bit of a technical marvel in my book.
The Switch isn't perfect, but it offers multiple ways to play games; all of which are viable. As silly as the commercials may seem, I can definitely see myself bringing the Switch to social gatherings to play something like 1-2-Switch as much as I can see myself playing Zelda sitting alone in front of my TV.
The Nintendo Switch feels like the culmination of years of hardware growing pains from both Nintendo and Nvidia.
You can find more powerful consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One on sale for cheaper than the $299.99 Switch, but you're paying for the form factor here. There's something special about being able to play Breath of the Wild on the big screen in the living room and then continuing where you left off 15 minutes later on the bus.
Should you make the Switch? That answer should largely depend on whether you think the system's library of games will satisfy your needs, but Nintendo has undoubtedly laid the groundwork for a great gaming device.
GameSpot and Five Star Games are pleased to be giving readers the chance to win a copy of Rime on PlayStation 4!
This third-person adventure sees players stranded an enigmatic island. You'll explore and solve a number of environmental puzzles using sound, light, perspective, and even time manipulation to learn more about the mysterious location.
Five lucky winners will win a copy of Rime on PlayStation 4. To be in the running, simply fill in the form below and provide your most creative answer to the following hypothetical:
"In Rime, you're guided through the island by a mysterious fox. What do you want your magical spirit animal to be, and why?"
GameSpot staff will hand-pick the winners based on the creativity of their answers. This competition will close on Tuesday, May 30 at 9:00am AEST.
This competition is only open to residents of Australia. All entrants must be over 18 years of age.
Please use the form to enter the competition, answers written in the comments section are invalid.
It's a big day for Halo Wars 2, as Microsoft today released the RTS sequel's latest update and DLC leader.
Starting with the update, it adds a big new feature in the form of HDR lighting support on Xbox One S. That's the only new feature added, but there are also stability tweaks, including fixes for various crash scenarios. Some of the gameplay changes featured in this update include a new allied view indicator for the mini-map, two new themes for the Proving Ground Blitz map, and Blitz playlists now showing up in the main "Find Match" screen for multiplayer.
Additionally, an exploit for "Combat Salvage" has been removed with this update. There are also some audio changes, including the dialogue line "Upgraded Complete" for leaders where it was missing. Additionally, Microsoft changed the "high frequency" sound on the Highway's Forerunner structure because it was proving to be "unpleasant to hear."
As for the new Halo Wars 2 DLC leader, Sgt. Johnson is out now on Windows 10 and should come to Xbox One very soon, according to community manager Brian Jarrard.
Halo Wars 2's previous released DLC leaders included Kinsano and Colony; they are included with the game's $30 DLC pass or can be purchased individually for $6 each. Presumably, the same is true for Sgt. Johnson.
We're still waiting for the #HaloWars2 Sgt. Johnson DLC to finish publishing to Xbox One but it's confirmed available now on Win10!
The patch is a big one, coming in at around 8 GB. Microsoft says if your download looks like it's frozen, it's a good idea to "just leave it and be patient. It will eventually resume." You can trigger the download to start right away by rebooting your console, but this method requires you to install the entire game again, so it might not be the best idea.
Halo Wars 2 May 22 Patch Notes:
New Feature:
Support for HDR lighting is now enabled for console players with compatible hardware
Stability:
Players should no longer have a chance of loading into the game without the ability to issue any commands
Fixed a crash that rarely occurred after signing in on the Main Menu
Fixed a crash when playing against AI in Firefight or Skirmish mode
Fixed a desync that could occur in ranked 2v2 games
Fixed a crash on "Last Stand" that could occur from loading from an old save from a previous release
Fixed a crash that could occur when attacking the first barricade in the Prologue
Gameplay:
Added allied view indicator to the mini-map
Added 2 new themes to "Proving Ground" Blitz map
Blitz playlists will now also appear in the main multiplayer "Find Match" screen
Made "Restoration Drones" get more expensive when it is upgraded to its 3rd tier
Adjusted the Foundry so that its always hit by Hunters' and Marines' upgraded projectiles when attacked
Added better "Combat Salvage" visual effects when a unit dies and is immediately built back at base
Removed an exploit with "Combat Salvage"
Reworked a targeting exploit that could occur with using "Extraction"
Pelicans and Darts should no longer leave floating lights above bases
Made it so that "Ghost in the Machine" would no longer disable Colony's "Combat Repair" on the units it borrowed
Spartans no longer strip upgrades from vehicles they hijack
Some tech upgrades were not applying completely to some units
Fixed an issue with moving units not properly attacking Garrisoned units
Units teleported off the map are now teleported back to your base
Spartans no longer increase the level of units they hijack
Localization/Accessibility:
Made card pack descriptions show up in the appropriate language for France and Taiwan
Added text to the Pelican Transport level 2 when selected on the leader power radial
Audio:
Added "Upgrade Complete" voice over for various leaders that was missing
Adjusted the audio to the Forerunner structure on Highway to remove the high frequency that could be unpleasant to hear
Audio/music should no longer drop from games played through a playlist
Locust beam is no longer audible in the fog of war
Hellbringers should no longer play Kinsano voiceover when being attacked by an enemy Spartan
One of the benefits of the new Xbox One S is support for high-dynamic range. If you have a 4K TV, this means more vibrant and luminous games; in essence, it aims to make content look more realistic.
If you're wondering what games support HDR now or will in the future, we've roundup them up here. We will continue to update this post as more HDR-supported games are announced.
Some of the Xbox One games that support HDR right now include Microsoft-published titles like Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3. Third-party games like NBA 2K17, Hitman, and Battlefield 1 already have or will be patched to support HDR in the future. You can see the full list below.
Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg teased on Twitter that there are "lots more" games that will receive an HDR patch in the future, though he didn't name any outright.
HDR Xbox One Games (as of May 22, 2017):
New titles are bolded
Battlefield 1
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
The Elder Scrolls Online
Final Fantasy XV
Forza Horizon 3
Gears of War 4
Halo Wars 2
Hitman
Mass Effect: Andromeda
NBA 2K17
Pure Chess Ultra
Recore
Resident Evil 7
World of Tanks
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