If you've ever had your browser crash--and who hasn't?--there's a good chance that Flash was to blame. Adobe, the company behind Flash, has announced its plans to kill off the platform in the coming years.
In a post on its website today, Adobe announced it will "end-of-life Flash," which means it will go through the process of phasing it out as companies continue to migrate to alternatives. "Specifically, we will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 and encourage content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to these new open formats," it said.
The next three-plus years will still see Flash supported by Adobe, including the release of security updates. It will, however, "move more aggressively to EOL Flash in certain geographies where unlicensed and outdated versions of Flash Player are being distributed." Various companies, including Microsoft, Apple (which gleefully notes that it's already blocked by default in Safari), and Google, all have their own plans for handling the phase out for Flash, but the end result is that you should begin seeing it even less than you have recently.
It's a move that has been a long time coming--Apple famously left out support for Flash from the iPhone, which portended its inevitable demise almost a decade ago. The tech has been largely rendered obsolete as other standards have emerged, including HTML5.
Adobe notes that Flash (and Shockwave) were created a time when the formats were needed. Flash has lingered due to its widespread adoption and usage, but it's consistently proven problematic over the last decade or more. Its death may make it more challenging to play old, Flash-based games and things of the sort, but by and large it should result in a more stable internet-browsing experience for everyone.
Ubisoft has finally announced a release date for Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch. Switch owners will be able to get their hands on the platformer starting on September 12 in North America and Europe.
The Definitive Edition includes a bunch of Switch-exclusive features that take advantage of the console's controls and touchscreen. In addition to the normal, four-player online co-op, it'll support local wireless multiplayer between Switch systems in the Kung Foot mini-game. It also includes a tournament mode for Kung Foot.
Further, if you play with the Switch undocked, you can also touch the screen to kill enemies, move platforms, and cut ropes at any time, in both single- and multiplayer modes; this feature debuted in the Wii U version. Finally, Ubisoft will also release a free demo at some point this summer. The demo was briefly available on the European Eshop recently, but it was quickly pulled. You can see a new trailer for the game above.
In February, Rayman creator Michel Ancel spoke about the decision to port the game to Switch, explaining that the Switch is an especially good system for Rayman. "Rayman Legends is like a board game," Ancel said. "It means playing with your friends in the same room, and this console is perfect for that. It's the concept of console we've been waiting for a long time: An HD console, powerful, portable."
The definitive edition will be available for $40. Rayman Legends originally launched back in 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC. Since then, it's been ported to PS4, Xbox One, and Vita, as well.
Update: As promised, the Humble Telltale Bundle has added new games. If you already purchased the bundle at the beat-the-average price or above, you'll receive these automatically. Otherwise, you can still get them by exceeding the average sale price ($8.86 as of this writing) with a purchase now. The new titles include The Wolf Among Us, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Poker Night 2, The Walking Dead: 400 Days, and Jurassic Park: The Game. You can see a complete list of what's available in the lists at the bottom of this story.
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Original Story: The latest Humble Bundle went live today, and this one's all about Telltale Games, the developer known for episodic adventure games. It discounts a whole bunch of PC games from the studio, from classic titles to more recent releases.
As always, this Humble Bundle is pay what you want--although there are tiers that unlock if you pay more. The first tier is composed primarily of older Telltale series, and you can get it for only $1. It includes the Sam and Max games, as well as Puzzle Agent and Bone. It also comes with the fantastic first season of The Walking Dead.
The next tier unlocks if you pay more than the average, which is $7.43 at the time of this writing. This one comes with more recent Telltale series, such as Tales from the Borderlands, the second season of The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones. Humble Bundle promises that more games will be unlocked for this tier in the coming days, too.
Finally, if you spend at least $15, you'll also receive a copy of Telltale's Batman series and Minecraft: Story Mode. You can see the full breakdown of games below.
In other Telltale news, the studio has said that it has news to share this week during San Diego Comic-Con. Although it hasn't given any details, a rating appeared that suggested that Telltale is working on a new Batman series.
Pay $1 or more:
Sam and Max Season 1
Sam and Max Season 2
Puzzle Agent 1
Puzzle Agent 2
Bone Episodes 1 and 2
Hector: Badge of Carnage
Telltale Texas Hold 'Em
Poker Night at the Inventory
The Walking Dead Season 1
Beat the Average:
The Walking Dead: Michonne
Tales from the Borderlands
The Walking Dead: Season 2
Game of Thrones
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier 50% off coupon for the Humble Store
Forza Motorsport 7 will have an enormous number of drivable cars--over 700, Microsoft states. Today, a handful of those were revealed, and they're all really cool vintage race cars.
In a blog post today, developer Turn 10 announced that a whole bunch of classic cars are coming to the game. They're not just 1960s and '70s muscle cars, either: they go way back to the years before World War II, when car racing was just getting started. According to the studio, they include cars with wooden frames; the first attempts at race cars from well-known manufacturers; and cars that significantly influenced automobile design.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette
You can see the whole list here. Turn 10 highlights the 1950 Alfa Romeo 158, the 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, and the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette. The Volkswagen is particularly notable, considering that the manufacturer was conspicuously absent from Turn 10's most recent release, Forza Horizon 3. Due to a licensing disagreement, the studio wasn't able to get VW cars in the game. They'll return, however, to Forza Motorsport 7.
2K and Firaxis have unveiled the next playable civilization and leader on its way to Civilization VI. The new DLC will introduce Nubia to the mix.
Led by the queen Amanitore, Nubia features the unique Ta-Seti ability. This offer bonus production when creating ranged units, and those units gain experience more quickly in combat. Additionally, mines provide more production than usual when built on strategic resources and more gold when built on luxury resources. Amanitore's unique ability is Kandake of Meroe, providing bonus production when constructing districts, which themselves are improved if a Nubian Pyramid (more on those in a second) is located next to the city center.
Ta-Seti combines nicely with Nubia's unique unit, the Pitati. These are both stronger and faster than the Archer unit that they replace and can be upgraded into the Crossbowman. The civ also has access to a unique tile improvement called the Nubian Pyramid. Masonry is a requirement, and they can only be built on desert, desert hill, and flood plain tiles, but they provide faith and additional bonuses based on the adjacent tiles.
A release date for Nubia was not announced; we only know it's coming "soon" along with a Gifts of the Nile scenario, where you play as Nubia or Egypt and attempt to the control the Nile River. If you own the Digital Deluxe edition of Civ VI, you'll automatically receive the Nubia DLC for free. A price also was not announced, but other civ/scenario packs sell for $5.
The biggest addition from the Operation Frontier Shield pack is Frontier Defense, a four-player cooperative horde mode that tasks players with defending their Harvester against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. The reward for completing matches is mode-exclusive Aegis Ranks, which can unlock additional upgrades for players' Titans. Frontier Defense currently supports five maps, though Respawn says that additional ones will be added to the mode in future updates.
Along with Frontier Defense, today's update introduces two new maps to the game. The first, Rise, is a remaster from the original Titanfall and is one of the five stages supported in the aforementioned mode. Rise is a close-quarters map that emphasizes long sight lines. The second map, Township, is for the game's Live Fire mode and is a residential area with sparse coverage.
Finally, players will be able to purchase various Warpaints for their Titans and weapons. Aside from their cosmetic differences, the Titan Warpaints give players and their teammates a chance to earn bonus Aegis XP after completing Frontier Defense matches. These skins are only available until August 28 and can be purchased individually for $5 or as a bundle for $25. Additionally, players can buy Elite Weapon Warpaints that grant merit boosts for the team as well as a 10% chance to earn a double XP token at the end of a match. These are likewise available until August 28 and retail for $5 individually or $25 as a bundle. You can learn more about the Warpaints on Respawn's website.
Respawn has also made an assortment of fixes and refinements to the game. You can read about all of the changes from today's update here, while a portion of the patch notes can be found below.
Game Improvements
Added more out of bounds triggers to Complex.
New stats page for maps, including tracking of Frontier Defense difficulty levels.
Visual improvements for Weapon and Titan stats pages.
Titan Balance
General
Ogre class Titans now have a baseline of 1 dash with a 10 second cooldown.
Turbo Engine will now reduce cool down of Scorch and Legion's dashes to 5 seconds. It will still behave the same as before for other Titan classes.
Overcore now gives 20% core meter.
Electric Smoke unlocks at 20% instead of 25%.
Ronin
Sword Block damage reduction reduced by 5%.
Scorch
Scorch will now have 1 dash charge with a 10 second cooldown.
Increased Firewall's width.
Scorch Kits
Wildfire Launcher now increases the direct-hit damage of the Thermite Launcher. It still increases the amount of fire spread.
Scorched Earth's lingering fire lasts longer.
Tempered Plating now makes Scorch immune to crits and his own thermite damage.
Fixed a bug with Flame Core not igniting Incendiary Traps.
Legion
Legion will now have 1 dash charge with a 10 second cooldown.
Hidden Compartment: Power Shot has two charges and Power Shot damage is reduced by 15%.
Monarch
XO-16 base magazine size increased to 40 rounds.
Reduced the strength of the slow effect of Energy Siphon.
Slightly reduced effectiveness of Arc Rounds against Vortex Shield and Heat Shield.
Multi-Target Missile System no longer locks onto cloaked targets.
Pilot Balance
General
Aim Assist settings have been modified for Assault Rifles and SMGs.
ARs and SMGs require you to be aiming closer to your target before any ADS assist takes effect.
Reduced the overall effectiveness of ADS assist for Assault Rifles.
Titan Hunter kit modified to be 10% extra Titan meter from damage instead of 10% Titan Meter on Titan Kill.
Phase Shift
Now has just 1 charge, but recharges faster.
SMGs
Medium and long damage significantly reduced.
One of the positive changes we saw in the High TTK playlist was the increase of weapon diversity. It is our hope that between the Aim Assist nerf and this SMG nerf, we'll see weapon diversity increased across all three platforms.
G2
Reduced fire rate.
DMR
Reduced fire rate: In this particular instance, we felt that the reduced fire rate simply made the gun feel better since the gun stabilizes better between shots.
Flatline
Slightly reduced damage at medium range. It still has the best medium range damage of any Assault Rifle.
Archer
No longer locks onto cloaked targets.
Smart Pistol
No longer locks onto cloaked targets.
Sidearms
High TTK playlist changes for the P2016, Wingman, Wingman Elite, and Mozambique have been brought over to bring their power level down now that all Pilots can carry a secondary weapon.
Melee
Lunge time and melee hit frames changed to .3 seconds from .2 seconds. This will help people firing weapons, particularly automatic weapons, get extra shots in before the lunge completes.
Melee lunge range reduced.
Non-lunge melee attack range increased. This will help with the cases where melee looks like it should hit but doesn't connect with the target.
Game Mode Adjustments
Various improvements to the UI for Private Match, including increased visibility of text chat on PC.
Misc. Bug Fixes
Fixed issues with purchasable Nose Arts not showing up correctly on Titans.
Spectators in Marked for Death can no longer be marked for death.
(Xbox One) Buttons and pod doors in War Games intro sequence now play at the correct volume.
Titan Nose Arts flagged as Advocate Gift unlocks may now actually be awarded when opening Advocate Gifts.
Update: Microsoft has published a response to coverage of the possible death of MS Paint, and it claims that the app is "here to stay."
The response is a bit confusing, but the gist of it is this: MS Paint as you know it will eventually be made available on the Windows Store for free. In the meantime, most of its functionality is getting integrated with Paint 3D. Microsoft will continue updating Paint 3D, but normal Paint won't be updated any longer.
Original Story: Chances are good that you've messed around in MS Paint at least once in your life. The app has been around for 32 years now, and over the decades it has become primarily used both as digital white-out and as a tool for creating hilariously bad--and, sometimes, astoundingly good--pictures. But now, MS Paint might be going the way of Clippy, the personal assistant. Microsoft is marking Paint for possible removal from Windows this fall.
Microsoft has just added several apps to the list of features "that are removed or deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update," and Paint is one that's marked "deprecated." According to the company, this means that Paint is "not in active development and might be removed in future releases."
Image from PC Mag.
Alongside Paint, Microsoft will also remove several older apps like Reader, Reading List, and Outlook Express. But it's adding a bunch of new features in the update, many of which are meant to make using Microsoft apps and files on iPhones and iPads easier.
Microsoft Paint was originally added to the first version of Windows way back in 1985. Since then, it's been a staple of every Windows release. Although the built-in Paint app might disappear in the near future, its successor still survives: Paint 3D lets you create both 2D and 3D images, and it's available on the Windows 10 store.
It's been six months since Dark Souls-esque action game Nioh launched on PS4, but if you've been wanting a reason to return to it, there's some good news today. Nioh's Defiant Honor DLC pack is available now and adds new enemies, weapons, and more.
In a PlayStation Blog post, Team Ninja creative director Tom Lee discussed some of the major additions in Defiant Honor. Chief among them is Sanada Yukimura, a new samurai that you can fight. The developer said that he'll be the hardest foe in the game.
"His brave heroics and fearlessness in the face of death epitomizes the spirit of the samurai," Lee said. "A perfect warrior in many respects, and for a game that is profoundly focused on life and death we could not think of a better candidate as the toughest adversary in Nioh."
In addition, Defiant Honor also brings you up against a ninja named Sarutobi Sasuke. He acts as Yukimura's guard and is nearly as tough as the samurai.
Although these enemies are going to be difficult to defeat, players also get a new weapon to confront them with: the Tonfa. It's a ninja weapon meant for close-quarters melee combat. "The Tonfa may also put a smile on many of the faces of our loyal Ninja Gaiden fans who are surely familiar with this impressive weapon," Lee wrote.
Defiant Honor costs $10 / £10 on the PlayStation Store, but it's free if you own the season pass. This is the second DLC pack for the game; the first, Dragon of the North, launched back in May. There's a third pack in the works, called Bloodshed's End, but Team Ninja hasn't said anything about it yet.
This week's US PSN deals have been revealed, and there's a whole load of games on offer for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. The discounts are spread across two different promotions, with an additional list of deals for PS Plus subscribers.
Firstly, the Totally Digital sale--which started last week--has been updated with new offers on a wide array of downloadable PS4 games. Some of the best deals available include co-op sidescroller Broforce for less than half off at $6.74, The Escapists at $8 (down from $20), and a double pack of Limbo and Inside for $18 (reduced from $30). Titan Souls is also less than half price at $6.74, while beautiful strategy title The Banner Saga is down from $20 to $12. Take a look at the full list here; you'll get an extra 10-15% off the prices listed here on all of those if you're a PS Plus member. In addition, some as yet unreleased games--such as Patapon Remastered, Last Day of June, and Absolver--are discounted until their respective launches.
Talking of PS Plus, a bunch of offers exclusive to Sony's subscription service are included in a separate part of the Store. For Honor is half off at $30, for example, and Persona 5 is down to $48. The excellent Resident Evil 7 is down to $36, while Tekken 7 is already down to $48. Other big games available in sale include Ghost Recon Wildlands for $36, both Yakuza 0 and The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind for $42, and the brilliant first-person adventure game What Remains of Edith Finch for $15. Check out all the PS Plus special offers here.
Finally, EA is having its own sale on the PlayStation Store. This one's smaller, but some great deals can still be found, such as the Star Wars Battlefront season pass for $8, Battlefield 1 for $24, and Titanfall 2 for $20. You can see all the EA action games on offer here.
With over half of Season 2 down, this week's episode of Preacher, titled "Sokosha," not only supplied a firm (and violent) reminder of who exactly the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish) is. The episode in question brought a possible end to the big bad's story once and for all.
The majority of the characters in Season 1 were killed off in the finale when the city of Annville was destroyed--except for the Saint of Killers. Viewers were teased with the pending battle between Jesse (Dominic Cooper) and the Saint in Season 1's final moments. And following through on that promise, the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg-produced program began Season 2 with the Saint of Killers hot on Jesse Custer's trail.
While Season 2 has felt more true to the comics storyline than Season 1 did, it's pretty clear that the show hasn't fully done the Saint of Killers justice. The books found the Cowboy continually having unsuccessful face-offs with Jesse, only to be blocked by the power of the preacher's word--Genesis. But the series changed that. On the screen, Jesse's power--the word of God himself--has no effect on the Saint.
God's left heaven. (Who knew the heavenly father was such a deadbeat?) This is the crux of both Jesse and the Saint of Killers' dilemma. While Jesse is out to track down God to make him answer for his misdeeds, the Cowboy comes to the realization in "Sokosha" that his angelic deal to kill the preacher and be reunited with his family is pretty much null and void. If God and the angels are gone, how will the Saint get into heaven?
What we finally got in Monday's episode was a full-blown confrontation between Jesse, Tulip (Ruth Negga), Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), and the Saint. But the way it all went down was completely wrong. While the Saint of Killers definitely walked the walk and talked the talk, there was something empty about this final confrontation. The Saint was never shown as a hero in the comics, but towards the story's end, he was revealed as a character with empathy and a real end-goal. He was a character who, once he made a deal with Jesse, went out on his own terms--and pointed in the right direction on the series' often broken moral compass.
But since the beginning of Season 2, the Saint has been nothing but a bloodthirsty beast out to wreak havoc wherever he goes. Whether it's ripping a man's tongue from his mouth or massacring a small roadside hotel, it's felt as if this iteration of the Saint was more a horror movie villain than a deeply flawed man--but still a man.
Look, he's the Angel of Death, and his immediate urge is simply to kill. But deep down, he has more specific motivations. Does that make sense? Once you take the character's empathy away--that library montage may have given a nice nod to the late Steve Dillon's artwork, but didn't help much to connect with the character--all you have left is a horror movie monster.It felt for a second that the episode would end with Jesse and the Saint coming to an accord, making way for Herr Starr (Pip Torrens) to fully enter the picture. But as we watched Jesse get the upper hand on the Cowboy, things took a brutal and darker turn. Could the real villain of Preacher Season 2 be the preacher himself?
It's possible the Saint of Killers will return in future episodes to bring justice to Jesse Custer. But the way the episode ended, with the Cowboy locked away in an armored truck, sinking into the marshy waters of New Orleans, this could also be his final bow. And it's a shame if it is. Throughout his appearance in both seasons of Preacher, audiences barely got a taste of the Saint of Killers' real potential.
"Sokosha" felt like the Saint's swan song. The creative team of Sam Catlin, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg may have gotten the character's look and backstory right--Graham McTavish does a great job bringing the foreboding cowboy to life--but there was a lack of any real humanity to the Saint. And maybe that was deliberate. After all, audiences finally got a hint at Jesse's own familial backstory in the episode, and if this plot point is as gruesome in the show as it was in the comics, our hero preacher is about to go down a dark and sinister road.
The co-op zombie shooter Killing Floor 2 is coming to Xbox One, developer Tripwire announced today. The game releases for Microsoft's console on August 29 and will be compatible with Xbox One X when that system launches on November 7.
The Xbox One version will retail for $40 and features all of the game's previously released content packs, as well as timed-exclusive content in the form of a new weapon for the Survival Perk called the Freezethrower. As its name implies, the gun sprays liquid nitrogen, allowing players to freeze Zeds and shatter them to pieces. Players can customize the Freezethrower with eight different weapon skins. Additionally, Xbox players will have timed-exclusive access to the Wasteland Armor uniform with five different skins. The game will feature visuals enhancements such as improved performance and 4K support when played on Xbox One X.
Killing Floor 2 was originally released for PlayStation 4 and PC in November 2016, though it was available in Early Access since 2015. The game is set in Europe following an outbreak of zombie-like creatures called Zeds. One to six players can team up to take on waves of the monsters in Survival mode. The game also features a PvP mode that pits two teams of six players against each other, one side playing as humans and the other assuming the role of Zeds.
Killing Floor 2 was well-received when it first launched; GameSpot awarded the PS4 version 8/10 in our review, with critic Miguel Concepcion saying, "The game hones in on the basic appeal of killing zombies without the complications of reaching waypoints or setting up intricate fortifications. Yet Killing Floor 2's strongest asset is in its simple yet effective combat--Tripwire could substitute the Zeds for robots or Nazis and still have a solid shooter on its hands."
The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play Xbox 360 games on the new console. But what games are available? We've now rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available.
We're just a few days away from August, and Microsoft has finally announced the list of games that Xbox Live Gold members will soon be able to download for free. As always, it includes four total games: two for Xbox One and two for Xbox 360.
On the Xbox One side, the month starts out with Slime Rancher, the first-person sim game where you manage a farm of adorable slime creatures. It's been in Early Access on PC for some time, but August 1 marks its official release, meaning Gold members will get it for free right out of the gate. On August 16, Trials Fusion, the latest game in the excellent platforming-with-bikes series, will become free.
In terms of Xbox 360 games, the first half of the month features stellar character action game Bayonetta, while the second half will offer Red Faction: Armageddon. Both of these games are also playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility; Armageddon is a new addition to the program.
Rockstar's impressive continued support of Grand Theft Auto V continues today with the release of yet another update. As always, this one focuses on GTA Online and introduces a new mode and vehicle.
The new Adversary mode is one called Power Mad, which centers around teams of two to four players attempting to secure the Juggernaut suit. Teams compete to pick up the power-up, which grants them control over an armored juggernaut with a minigun. The team who picks up the power-up attempts to keep their juggernaut alive long enough to fill a meter, which scores them a point. If the juggernaut dies, the power-up is dropped and both teams again have to fight to get their hands on it. From now through the end of July, players will receive double GTA$ and RP when playing Power Mad.
That money has an additional use as of today, thanks to a new car being added. The Pegassi Torero strongly resembles a real-life Lamborghini and features scissor doors. A 25% discount on engine upgrades for all cars through the end of the month also provides the opportunity to make it even more impressive without breaking the virtual bank.
Rockstar has also announced the newest round of bonuses and discounts, which run through July 31. Research speeds are increased by 25%, the Weapon and Vehicle Workshop modules for the Mobile Operations Center are 25% off, and a wide variety of weapons (all handguns, machine guns, SMGs, assault rifles, and sniper rifles) are 25% off.
This week's Premium Race is Trench III (with a restriction to bikes only), while the Time Trial is Cypress Flats. Per the usual, the Premium Race only pays out its big GTA$ reward to finishers in the top three, but everyone gets Triple RP. The Time Trial offers significant GTA$ and RP rewards for anyone who beats the target time.
On Xbox 360, a whole bunch of Dynasty Warriors games are heavily discounted at over 70% off, while much of the Farming Simulator franchise is also going for cheap on both platforms.
All of these deals are good until August 1 at 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET / 11 AM BST. Go to Major Nelson's blog to see a complete rundown of this week's offers, some of which require a Gold membership.
Square Enix has shared some more details about Lost Sphear, the next title from I Am Setsuna developer Tokyo RPG Factory. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, the publisher revealed two new characters who'll be joining players on their journey and announced a release date for the game: January 23, 2018.
Lost Sphear is set in a world "threatened by a mysterious phenomenon known as Lost." When a portion of the world becomes Lost, it vanishes, leaving behind a mist. However, the game's protagonist Kanata has the power of Memory, which allows him to restore the Lost portions of the world. Together with his childhood friends Locke and Lumina, Kanata sets out on a journey to prevent the world from disappearing.
Along with a mysterious ally named Van, the blog post gives fans their first look at two more characters who'll be accompanying Kanata and his friends on their journey: Sherra and Obaro. Sherra is a priestess who wields a bow and can heal the party. Obaro is an elderly man who had actually become Lost but was restored by Kanata's power. He battles foes by casting powerful magic spells.
The post also formally revealed the Vulcosuit armor, the mech suits that we got to glimpse in yesterday's batch of screenshots. These mechanized suits of armor are "gifted to the people from the ancients." In addition to enhancing the party's prowess in battle, each suit has its own special abilities that can be used to navigate the overworld.
Lost Sphear is releasing for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC. Players who pre-order the game digitally from the PlayStation Store will receive a "Memories of Moon" theme immediately and two additional music tracks when the game launches: "Market Town Marpenning" and "Town of Elgarthe." Physical copies of the game for Switch and PS4 are available in limited quantities from Square Enix's online store and retail for $50.
After years in development, Fortnite--the tower defense/survival game hybrid from Gears of War and Unreal Tournament creator Epic Games--is finally ready to launch, albeit in Early Access. It's available now on PC/Mac, PS4, and Xbox One.
Although not scheduled to release in full as a free-to-play game until sometime in 2018, this is a paid version of Early Access. It follows a long series of beta and alpha tests, but if you're interested in playing now, you'll have to purchase at least the $40 standard version of Fortnite. This includes access to the game and various bonuses, such as loot packs and additional customization options. More expensive versions of the game--including the Deluxe ($60), Super Deluxe ($80), and Limited ($150) editions--come with additional bonuses, like weapon packs, additional hero characters, and even bonus copies of the base game to share with friends.
Not unlike Orcs Must Die, Fortnite puts you in a third-person action take on tower defense. However, Fortnite also features an expansive building system, letting you create elaborate series of traps and structures to help defend and fight off waves of enemies. You can get a glimpse of what it's like in the launch trailer above.
Fortnite was first revealed way back in December 2011, when Cliff Bleszinski was still working at Epic. It was shown to be a cartoony survival game where you'd explore and scavenge, elements which remain a part of Fortnite all these years later.
The Early Access version of Fortnite actually launched recently for some players who pre-ordered, but there have been technical issues affecting its servers. This has resulted in some downtime as Epic works to resolve the situation.
Below you'll find Fortnite's system requirements and recommended specs for those looking to play on PC or Mac.
Fortnite Recommended System Requirements
GPU: Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 equivalent DX11 GPU
With Uncharted 4: A Thief's End capping off the adventures of Nathan Drake and his crew of companions, it was difficult to imagine the series continuing without its leading man. But with the reveal of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy late last year, it's clear that Naughty Dog isn't done with the series just yet. During a special hands-on event last week, we played a sizable amount of the upcoming adventure and spoke with game director Kurt Margenau about letting Uncharted's supporting cast take center stage.
"There was never any doubt in our minds that Uncharted is more than just Nathan Drake," Margenau said. "While Nate was the center of this series, we felt that this presented a blank slate for us to show off others that we didn't explore all that [much]. And to build them to be as fully featured and complex as Nathan Drake, but in a different way. For Nate, he has this hero complex, but for Chloe, she's more selfish and focused on self-preservation. It's an interesting idea to play as someone like that, but also it allows us to stay fresh and stay flexible. We can set our characters in an interesting location, with Chloe herself being half-indian and her being in India allows her to have explore her own background with the tusk, and of her father, who was an archeologist."
Initially developed as DLC for Uncharted 4, The Lost Legacy grew beyond what Naughty Dog expected, and will be a standalone release. The game takes place after the events of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Nathan Drake has left the treasure hunting game, leaving the elusive and self-reliant Chloe Frazer to fill in the gap. In pursuit of the Tusk of Ganesha, an ancient Indian artifact of great value--and with a connection to her archeologist father--she must keep it out of the hands of a dangerous warmonger named Asav, who has his own plans for the relic. But in order to stay one step ahead of Asav and his army, Chloe will have to enlist the aid of gun-for-hire and former leader of the Shoreline mercenary group, Nadine Ross. Forming a somewhat uneasy partnership, Chloe and Nadine travel to exotic locales fighting mercenaries and looting tombs, all while trying to keep their alliance from falling apart.
During our play session, we got to explore one of the early levels of the game set in the Western Ghats, a lush jungle landscape on the West Indian peninsula populated with ancient ruins. The Lost Legacy takes the open exploration in A Thief's End even further. With the Western Ghats being the largest open space Naughty Dog has ever placed in an Uncharted title, they focused more on allowing a non-linear approach to things.
Much like in Uncharted 4, you'll have access to an all-terrain vehicle with a winch and cable, letting you freely travel across a large space at your leisure. However, the glaring absence of a sprint button makes hoofing it back to your vehicle a bit of a hassle. Still, it was refreshing to have more room--so to speak--to explore and rummage about. Which felt more in line with true treasure hunting, where finding clues and traveling large distances is a key part of the work. While the scripted and linear levels that put Uncharted on the map are still present and accounted for, Naughty Dog saw an opportunity to branch out further with the open spaces in The Lost Legacy.
"On the gameplay side, we wanted to do something bigger," said Margenau. "We took the Madagascar space from Uncharted 4, which was to us Uncharted 4 at its best. It was just firing on all cylinders, allowing you to freely explore the space and without giving you a super targeted goal. To just allow the players explore, let them go off and discover things, and to take the reigns off. It was to let these character relationships grow, as they galavant around these gorgeous ruins in the Western Ghats."
"The open areas are just one part of the game, and we're making them fit into the broader picture of the game. It's always a challenge for us to make sure that the games have this momentum to them. We're always pushing the narrative for it, and now we're in this big space trying to make sure we're still progressing the plot, narrative, and relationships."
While in the Western Ghats, Chloe and Nadine have to locate a series of unique ruins, each corresponding to deities from ancient Indian mythos. Some of these ruins are atop steep mountain trails, while others require swimming and shimmying through narrow passages. With the larger scope, The Lost Legacy has an expanded array of weapons and treasure to find, creating more variety and incentives to see what's around the corner. While you can head straight to each destination, there's still a set of side objectives and diversions to find.
It was certainly refreshing exploring through the space, and it offered many opportunities to cut loose and listen in on Chloe and Nadine's conversations while trekking through the jungle. As it turns out, Nadine as an adorable affection for monkeys, which was revealed in an amusing scene where the duo stumble upon a nest in one of the ruins. This scene also gives way to a side-quest involving hidden tokens associated with various idols. After finding them all, you'll unlock access to a special area where the monkeys live. It's an incredibly charming scene and a wonderful character moment showing the gentler side of Nadine.
Calling on her skills as a thief, Chloe can use a variety of tools to overcome many problems in the field. For instance, Chloe's lockpick adds a new lockpicking mechanic to chests and locked doors, which gets you access to new weapons, rare relics, and other valuables. Of course, finding these chests is a challenge in itself, and they're often sitting in enemy encampments. But with Nadine in tow, the two are able to take on a number of challenges that may have tripped up Nate, Sully, and Sam on their exploits. Though you'll primarily play as Chloe, Nadine is more than capable of holding her own in combat--those who played Uncharted 4 can easily attest to this, making her the most reliable side-character to have in a fight.
In The Lost Legacy, there's a greater focus on letting players be resourceful. Chloe carries a cell phone, which makes record keeping and information gathering much simpler and helps the pair feel more prepared for the dangers ahead. That's important, considering there's plenty of opportunities for combat. Just like in the last game, you'll be able to mark enemies, take them out with stealth--including new silenced weapons--or go in guns blazing. If you're especially crafty, it's possible to evade encounters using the grappling hook and tall grass to hide from patrols.
Considering the scope, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is ambitious for a budget release. At $40, the package includes a new single-player campaign and all multiplayer and survival mode content released for Uncharted 4. Whether this is it for Uncharted or a new beginning remains to be seen. However, the developers at Naughty Dog seem rather content with Uncharted's next foray into the unknown--if not just to have another adventure with the series' colorful cast of characters, but also to give a new perspective on the high-stakes and action-packed game of treasure hunting.
"[The Last of Us:] Left Behind really gave us confidence in doing a smaller project for Uncharted, and of course the catch was that we couldn't do something like that," said Margenau. "We wanted Uncharted 4 to be meaningful; we didn't want to touch those characters again. So we looked at other characters from the entire series and thought, 'who have we not explored, who's interesting, who would have great chemistry together?' And we landed on Chloe. She's a fan favorite, she's our favorite, and Nadine, who was this bad guy, plays on your side now, [which] was an interesting idea. The dubious moral compasses of these two really interested us, where you don't really know their allegiances, and they have this self-preservation mentality. That was a really great jumping off point for us."
The Sims 4 came to PC back in 2014, and it now seems the game is finally coming to Xbox One. A product page on the Microsoft Store has listed the game for Xbox One with a release date scheduled for November 17.
No official announcement from publisher EA has yet been made regarding The Sims 4 coming to console, so it's possible this is simply a listing error. It's also unclear whether the PC title will come to other platforms, and how much it will cost. GameSpot has contacted EA for comment.
The Sims 4 recently came to Origin Access, the PC equivalent of EA Access--the Xbox One-exclusive subscription service that includes a number of free games. The libraries of free games available to EA and Origin Access members are typically very similar; that The Sims 4 has come to Origin Access, then, may hint that it will be added to Xbox One's EA Access Vault in the future.
EA has continued to support The Sims 4 since its release three years ago. Earlier in 2017 the game received a free update that added toddlers.
"I'm not exaggerating when I say we've been talking about this particular update for years," executive producer Lyndsay Pearson said at the time. "We just had to find the right time, resources, and design to allow us to start the heavy process of actually building and bringing toddlers to life. And believe me when I say it has been really really difficult to not talk about this as we worked to get it right."
In our original PC review, critic Kevin VanOrd called The Sims 4 "a lovely and lively game that elicits constant smirks," but he said a "a decked-out version of The Sims 3 is far more inviting." Read more in our full The Sims 4 review.
Felmyst, a private World of Warcraft server developed by fans and designed to emulate Blizzard's MMO as it was in 2007, when its Burning Crusade expansion launched, has been shut down. The server launched on July 21, but was shut down just a few hours later.
Gummy52, a developer on the project, posted an image of a cease-and-desist letter from Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, a legal firm representing World of Warcraft developer Blizzard. The letter stated that the server constitutes an infringement of Blizzard's intellectual property.
"We understand that through your involvement with Felmyst, you are engaged in the development, distribution, and hosting of so-called 'emulated server' software (hereafter, the 'Infringing Services),'" the letter reads. "Among other things, [these] Infringing Services allow users to play altered and/or illegitimate copies of WoW online [without] the need for a legitimately-purchased copy or subscription."
ArsTechnica has further details on the letter, which goes on to state that "Blizzard has never authorized and, in fact, expressly prohibits the forgoing activity."
It continues: "Our client's copyrights are extremely valuable and Blizzard takes this matter very seriously. As you can appreciate, your activity causes serious and irreparable injury to the value and integrity of our client's products and intellectual property."
In an accompanying post, which now replaces the Felmyst website and forums, Gummy52 said the server was the culmination of four years of work. He added that a muscular dystrophy condition prevents him from moving to another country as "an alternative means to host the server."
Part of the issue seems to be the amount of people that have suddenly taken an interest in the legacy server. The intention was to have a small community of players enjoying a classic version of the game, but this hasn't been possible. Gummy52 said he is unwilling to hand off the project to someone else as, given the increased attention the server has received, "the market to wrongfully profit from this stuff is much too lucrative to hand it out on a whim."
"I am sad that things didn't turn out the way I'd hoped but I don't think I'd change any of the decisions I made," he continued. "I gambled that we could cap the servers at 3k and enjoy a close community. Sadly, I did not win that gamble, though on some level it was nice to see so many people eager to enjoy something I worked on. This project gave the last four years of my life a sense of purpose that I thoroughly enjoyed."
The new Pokemon Go update allows you to catch Legendary Pokemon, Lugia and Articuno. To catch them, you need to participate in each Pokemon's accompanying Raid.
Below you can find details on what Raids are and what you need to do to find and catch the game's first two legendary Pokemon.
What is a Raid?
For the uninitiated, Raids are special limited-time encounters where you can team up with friends to simultaneously fight powerful Pokemon at Gyms. Each Raid has its own special Pokemon you fight, which upon defeating it, allows you the opportunity to catch it. Raids are graded from one to five: a level one is a relatively weak Pokemon, a level four is powerful Pokemon, and a level five is a Legendary Pokemon.
Keep in mind, Raids are only active for as long as their designated timer indicates. In addition, Raids are only available at select Gyms for Trainers over level 5.
How To Access a Raid
Raids can only be accessed via a Raid Pass, which you can acquire from gyms or purchase from the shop for 100 PokeCoins. You can only receive one Raid Pass per day; though, if you've got cash to spare, you can also purchase additional with real money. Up to 20 players are allowed to enter a Raid together. And similar to Gym fights, you can take six Pokemon with you. Here are directions on how to spot a Raid:
When a Raid is about to begin, an Egg will appear at a Gym with a countdown. After it hatches, the Gym transforms into a Raid and you will be given an allotted time to clear it. If there are no Raids in direct sight, you can track ongoing Raids using your tracking radar.
After spending a Raid Pass, you'll be put into a lobby where you can adjust your team. Once a Raid begins, you have five minutes to defeat the Pokemon. If you fail to defeat the Raid Boss, you and your allies can keep retrying without spending another pass until the time is up.
When you complete the Raid, you receive 3,000 XP, 1,000 Gym Badge XP, additional items, and a chance to catch the Pokemon. Once the countdown is over, the Raid location will transform back into a Gym and all Pokemon originally assigned to it will return.
How To Catch Lugia and Articuno
Both Lugia and Articuno can only be found in what are called Legendary Raids. While these special Raids normally require a Legendary Raid Pass, they are currently accessible with a normal pass. Take advantage of the opportunity while you can.
Like normal Raid bosses, Legendaries have a five-minute timer, and after you defeat them, you'll be rewarded with 13,000 XP. To best these two powerful foes, make sure to bring a roster of your strongest Pokemon. In addition, round up at least 10-12 people to fight alongside you; you're going to need as much as help as you can get.
During the capture phase, make smart use of the Golden Razz Berries you just earned from the battle (pull up your berries list and swipe to the left to find them) to make it easier to land your Pokeballs. They don't guarantee you'll catch the legendary creature, but every little bit helps! After all, you're only given five balls to capture a Legendary, so make it count.
Have you discovered any additional tips or tricks to landing these elusive catches? Let us know in the comments below.
If there was a competition for strangest video game marketing material, Anthem would win it. Developer BioWare announced today that there's now an Anthem-themed corn maze.
People can now go wander through a maze shaped like one of the mechs from Anthem, thanks to a partnership between BioWare and Edmonton Corn Maze. It's in Edmonton, Canada, and features a massive BioWare logo carved into the corn field, as well. Check it out above.
At least BioWare seems to be aware of the inherent ridiculousness of making a video game-themed corn maze. "In a world saturated with banners and billboards, getting the message out about our new game, Anthem, is more important than ever," the video's description states. "Rather than taking a conventional approach, we've chosen a field as our medium. What better way to celebrate the growth of a new game than through corn, which also grows?"
Oh, and if the corn maze isn't silly enough, BioWare also filled its announcement post with a bunch of maze and corn puns. The company's not saying, however, if a corn field will somehow make its way into the game. "We cannot confirm nor deny whether Anthem will feature corn in any shape or form," the post reads.
Square Enix has shared some new screenshots of Lost Sphear, the sophomore effort from I Am Setsuna developer Tokyo RPG Factory. The new images show off more of the title's world and battle system, as well as give fans a glimpse at a potentially new element of the game.
Like the studio's previous title, Lost Sphear is a traditional RPG heavily inspired by classic 16-bit adventures like Chrono Trigger. The new batch of screenshots provide a closer look at many of its classical elements, but what's most notable about the images is that they seemingly reveal a new mechanic that Square Enix hadn't previously detailed: mech suits. Some of the screenshots show protagonist Kanata and his party donning what appears to be robotic combat armor, which weren't shown off when the game was unveiled last month. You can see them in the screenshots below.
Lost Sphear is a melancholy adventure set in a world created by memories. When memories fade, so too does a part of the world, leaving a white mist in its wake. After Kanata witnesses this phenomenon firsthand when his mother disappears, he sets out with his friends Lumina and Locke on a quest to prevent his village from vanishing and restore the world. Along the way, the trio team up with an enigmatic ally named Van, who uses magic to control a mysterious weapon called Bits.
As in I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear employs an active-time battle system, which has been enhanced to give players a "much greater sense of freedom" in combat. While Square Enix hasn't shared any details on the mech suits the party can wear, the above images make it clear they'll play a vital role both in and out of battle; in one of the screenshots, the party can be seen using the suits to destroy a giant boulder that's blocking their path.
Lost Sphear is releasing for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC in early 2018. Square Enix is offering a limited quantity of physical copies for the PS4 and Switch versions through its online store. The physical copy retails for $50 and includes two additional music tracks.
Fans of the Game of Thrones TV show have enjoyed a consistent release of new content over the past six years, but those who prefer the book series have been waiting for the same amount of time for a new novel. Today, however, author George R.R. Martin revealed that he expects at least one new book set in the Song of Ice and Fire universe to be released next year.
In a blog post today, Martin revealed that he's planning on splitting his previously announced history of Westeros into two volumes. He explained that, over the years, he's written so many stories about the world that it's now worth putting together into a compendium called Fire and Blood. The first volume is currently planned for publication in late 2018 or early 2019.
"The first of those [volumes] will cover the history of Westeros from Aegon's Conquest up to and through the regency of the boy king Aegon III (the Dragonbane)," he wrote. "That one is largely written, and will include (for the first time) a complete detailed history of the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons."
Martin also gave fans a very small update about the status of The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth novel in the series. He confirmed that, contrary to some reports, he's still writing and revising the novel. However, he also said that The Winds of Winter, too, could be released in 2018.
"Whether Winds or the first volume of Fire and Bloodwill be the first to hit the bookstores is hard to say at this juncture, but I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018," he stated. "And who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream..."
In other news, we recently got a new Game of Thrones trailer that teases what's coming up in the show. In addition, be sure to watch our series, GameSpot of Thrones, for all the GoT speculation and analysis you need.
With Xbox One X on the horizon, the Xbox One deals haven't dried up. Alongside an official new promotion from Microsoft, there's an even better deal going on right now on Ebay.
Newegg's Ebay store has discounted the Battlefield 1 Xbox One S bundle to $240. This consists of the special-edition green version of the console and controller (only available through this bundle), along with a digital copy of Battlefield 1's Deluxe edition. The system itself comes equipped with a 1 TB hard drive, and you'll also get a one-month subscription to EA Access, which allows you unlimited access to a library of games.
Xbox One S system bundles with 1 TB hard drives, including this one, typically retail for $350 and are occasionally discounted to $300. To get this for $240 with free shipping and no tax is an awfully nice deal. Through other retailers right now, Microsoft is offering your choice of a free game with 1 TB Xbox One systems. But even when adding in the $60 cost of a game, this Ebay offer is the superior deal. What may be of interest to you, however, is the upcoming Madden 18 Xbox One bundle, which launches in August with a copy of the football game for $279.
Also remember that Xbox One X's launch is just a few months away. As detailed in our Xbox One X everything you need to know feature, the system is a souped-up version of the Xbox One that will provide a better experience whether or not you own a 4K display, although you'll likely want one to take full advantage of its horsepower. It launches for $500 on November 7, and pre-orders should begin soon.
Zotac's Amp Extreme is the biggest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti card we've tested with dimensions that measure 12.8 x 5.83 x 2.23 inches. This makes it a 2.5 slot card, so you'll definitely want to make sure that you have enough clearance in your rig before you purchase it.
Zotac's Amp Extreme card comes equipped with three 90mm fans. What makes them unique is that they won't actually spin until the GPU hits around 60 degrees Celsius.
Zotac's card offers the most aggressive out-of-the-box frequency that we've seen from an aftermarket GTX 1080 Ti with a boost clock that tops out at 1759MHz. This makes it 177MHz faster than Nvidia's reference GTX 1080 Ti. The Amp Extreme also features an aggressive VRAM overclock with its 11.2Gbps rate.
In terms of aesthetics, the card comes in a "gunmetal" gray. It's got some sharp-looking edges, but looks pretty clean overall. Zotac's card offers RGB lighting. With its Spectra software, you can tweak three lighting zones on the board to cycle colors, breathe, and more.
Unlike Nvidia's reference board, which requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector, Zotac's card requires two 8-pin power connectors. In terms of ports, it offers 3x DisplayPort 1.4 and 1x HDMI 2.0b. The card retails for $770, which makes it approximately $70 more than Nvidia's reference SKU.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
CUDA Cores/Stream Processors
3584
3584
Texture Units
224
224
ROPs
88
88
Core Clock
1480MHz
1645MHz
Boost Clock
1582MHz
1759MHz
Memory Clock
11Gbps GDDR5X
11.2Gbps GDDR5X
Memory Bus Width
352-bit
352-bit
VRAM
11GB
11GB
Transistor Count
12B
12B
TDP
250W
320W
Power Connectors
1x6 pin, 1x8 pin
2x 8 pin
Manufacturing Process
16nm FinFET
16nm FinFET
Architecture
Pascal
Pascal
GPU
GP102
GP102
Dimensions
10.5x4.37x2 inches
12.8x5.83x2.23in
Ports
3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b
1x Dual-link DVI-D, 3x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0
Retail Price
$699
$770
Testing Methodology
We tested several GTX 1080 Ti GPUs against Zotac's board using their out-of-the-box speeds on five graphically-taxing games. We maxed out the graphical settings on all the games with the exception of anti-aliasing, which is a very graphically demanding effect that doesn't make much sense at 4K.
We tested all of the GPUs on the same system, which is a custom rig equipped with an Intel Core-i7 6700K CPU, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM clocked at 2133MHz, and a Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7 motherboard housed in NZXT's H440 case. Full test bench details are located below.
CPU
Intel Core-i7 6700K
RAM
16GB Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7
Storage
Seagate 600 Series 240GB
Cooler
NZXT Kraken X61
Case
NZXT H440
OS
Windows 10
PSU
NZXT 1200W
4K Benchmarks
As you can see from the benchmark chart above, Nvidia's reference card is the slowest solution of the bunch. Zotac's solution is the fastest card across the board followed by the Asus Strix and then by PNY's XLR8 card.
In our GTA V benchmark, only the Asus and Zotac cards were able to cross the 100 average FPS threshold. They were also the only two models that allowed our rig to hit over 60 average FPS in the Witcher 3.
The Zotac Amp Extreme was the only model to surpass the 70 average FPS threshold in Rise of the Tomb Raider, and get above 40 average FPS in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. While all of the cards are able to average over 30 FPS in Eidos Montréal's stealth action game, all of them featured minimum framerates that dipped into the 20s. This means you'll probably want to turn down some graphical settings to bring up the frame rate.
VR Benchmark
While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both use resolutions that amount to 2160x1200, both VR headsets allow you to easily enable supersampling options that push the rendering targets to 4K-like levels.
Running Valve's SteamVR Performance Test, all of the cards here earned a "very high" score of "11," which is the highest score. The test does provide more granular data that takes into account the amount of frames that are rendered within the benchmark, however. The more frames a GPU is able to render, the better. Again, here the pecking order remains the same. According to our results, Zotac's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the best VR graphics card out of the bunch.
Conclusion
Zotac's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Amp Extreme is the fastest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti we've ever tested, which makes it the fastest graphics card we've ever reviewed. While it is certainly a 4K-capable card, you'll still most likely want to lower some graphical settings if you want to reach a consistent 60 FPS in the more graphically demanding games.
If you're in the market for a great-bang-for-the-buck 4K solution, we recommend Nvidia's Founders Edition graphics card. If you're looking for the most badass gaming GPU in town, we recommend Zotac's Amp Extreme solution. Just make sure it fits into your case.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a great game as it stands right now, garnering critical acclaim and commercial success. But, as with any single-player game, there are those that wish it was a bit more cooperative. Some fans have decided to make that wish a reality and started work on a multiplayer mod for the game.
Using the Cemu Wii U emulator on PC, a member of the mod community, Fooni, discussed the cooperative mod that they are working on with a couple of others. It's extremely early in development, and there's a long way to go before it's truly playable, but it's still cool to see a proof-of-concept. Check out one of the split-screen images from the mod in action below:
Currently, the mod only works on a single PC with local controls. It requires Cemu to be open in two clients at once, which is very unstable, according to Reddit user S1ash. In addition, S1ash points out that there are a lot of user interface and gameplay issues to work out, such as how inventories will work and how two players will change the process of completing shrines.
Fooni explained that the mod works by teleporting an NPC to the main player, swapping its model to Link, and then having the second player control it. Fooni says that it'll take a long time--perhaps a few years--to finish the mod. There's a chance it never sees the light of day, though, as Nintendo could intervene to shut it down as it has done to other fan-made Zelda projects in the past.
In other Breath of the Wild news, its first DLC pack recently launched. We posted a lot of guides and walkthroughs to help you get the most of the new content, and you can check out all of them here.
The Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti uses three low-noise 90mm fans. They're also IP5X-certified, which makes them dust resistant. Asus' card is significantly larger than the Founders Edition and measures 11.73x5.28x2.07 inches. You'll want to measure the innards of your case for clearance before you decide to purchase this puppy. The primary reason it's so big is that it features an aluminum heatsink that offers 40 percent more heat dissipation area than Nvidia's reference model. The card also uses five 6mm heat pipes. Asus asserts that it runs 30 percent cooler and three times quieter than Nvidia's reference design. One slight issue that we encountered when we tried to install the graphics card was that we needed to slightly bend the two teeth on the bracket to squeeze it into our system. It wasn't hard to do, but it was an oddity.
Asus' 1080 Ti card offers a 1708MHz boost factory overclock, which is 126MHz faster than the Founders Edition. The video RAM here is also overclocked by 100MHz, which brings the VRAM speed to 11.1Gbps. The Strix also offers different overclocking presets that you can enable with Asus' software.
While Asus' card is still a 250-watt solution, it does require two 8-pin power connectors (Unlike the Founders Edition, which requires one 6-pin and an 8-pin). The card also includes a PWM fan header that allows you to automatically or manually adjust thermals. In addition, the card offers an RGB header that uses Asus' Aura Sync software so you can control the RGB LEDs on the card to breath, strobe, and more.
The card ran very quiet and cool and generally stayed in the low 70 degrees Celsius in our testing.
In terms of ports, you get five on the Strix: 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 2x HDMI 2.0, and 2x DisplayPort 1.4. It retails for $780, which is a hefty $81 more than the reference card.
We tested several GTX 1080 Ti GPUs against Asus' board using their out-of-the-box speeds on five graphically-taxing games. We maxed out the graphical settings on all the games with the exception of anti-aliasing, which is a very graphically demanding effect that doesn't make much sense at 4K.
We tested all of the GPUs on the same system, which is a custom rig equipped with an Intel Core-i7 6700K CPU, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM clocked at 2133MHz, and a Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7 motherboard housed in NZXT's H440 case. Full test bench details are located below.
CPU
Intel Core-i7 6700K
RAM
16GB Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7
Storage
Seagate 600 Series 240GB
Cooler
NZXT Kraken X61
Case
NZXT H440
OS
Windows 10
PSU
NZXT 1200W
4K Benchmarks
As you can see from the benchmark chart above, Nvidia's reference card is the slowest solution of the bunch. The fastest card across the board is Zotac's aggressively overclocked variant followed by the Asus Strix and then by PNY's XLR8 card.
In our GTA V benchmark, only the Asus and Zotac cards were able to cross the 100 average FPS threshold. They were also the only two models that allowed our rig to hit over 60 average FPS in the Witcher 3.
VR Benchmark
While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both use resolutions that amount to 2160x1200, both VR headsets allow you to easily enable supersampling options that push the rendering targets to 4K-like levels.
Running Valve's SteamVR Performance Test, all of the cards here earned a "very high" score of "11," which is the highest score. The test does provide more granular data that takes into account the amount of frames that are rendered within the benchmark, however. The more frames a GPU is able to render, the better. Again, here the pecking order remains the same.
Conclusion
Like all GTX 1080 Ti cards, Asus' GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a 4K-capable card, though you'll most likely want to lower some graphical settings if you want to reach a consistent 60 FPS in the more graphically demanding games.
While Asus' Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is definitely faster than Nvidia's Founders Edition variant, it's a bit hard to recommend the card at its $780 retail price, especially when you consider that Zotac's Amp Extreme board is slightly faster and cheaper. Click here to check out the other GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards we reviewed.
PNY's XLR8 GTX 1080 Ti features three fans and features a boost GPU frequency that's overclocked to 1645MHz right out of the box. This makes it 63MHz faster than the Founders Edition's boost speed.
At 4.96x12.36 inches, it is also bigger than Nvidia's reference model. Still, it is the smallest aftermarket card in this roundup.
Aesthetically, the GPU shroud uses a predominately black and silver design with red accents, which might come across as slightly garish to some. Unlike many other modern graphics cards, there are no LEDs here.
Like the Founders Edition before it, PNY's board requires a single six-pin and eight-pin power connector and offers the same ports: three DisplayPorts and one HDMI 2.0b port. It retails for $735, which is roughly $36 more than Nvidia's reference card.
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
PNY GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
CUDA Cores/Stream Processors
3584
3584
Texture Units
224
224
ROPs
88
88
Core Clock
1480MHz
1531MHz
Boost Clock
1582MHz
1645MHz
Memory Clock
11Gbps GDDR5X
11Gbps GDDR5X
Memory Bus Width
352-bit
352-bit
VRAM
11GB
11GB
Transistor Count
12B
12B
TDP
250W
250W
Power Connectors
1x6 pin, 1x8 pin
1x6 pin, 1x8 pin
Manufacturing Process
16nm FinFET
16nm FinFET
Architecture
Pascal
Pascal
GPU
GP102
GP102
Dimensions
10.5x4.37x2 inches
12.36x4.96x2.2 inches
Ports
3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b
3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b
Retail Price
$699
$735
Testing Methodology
We tested several GTX 1080 Ti GPUs against PNY's board using their out-of-the-box speeds on five graphically-taxing games. We maxed out the graphical settings on all the games with the exception of anti-aliasing, which is a very graphically demanding effect that doesn't make much sense at 4K.
We tested all of the GPUs on the same system, which is a custom rig equipped with an Intel Core-i7 6700K CPU, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM clocked at 2133MHz, and a Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7 motherboard housed in NZXT's H440 case. Full test bench details are located below.
CPU
Intel Core-i7 6700K
RAM
16GB Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7
Storage
Seagate 600 Series 240GB
Cooler
NZXT Kraken X61
Case
NZXT H440
OS
Windows 10
PSU
NZXT 1200W
4K Benchmarks
As you can see from the benchmark chart above, Nvidia's reference card is the slowest solution of the bunch. The fastest card across the board is Zotac's aggressively overclocked variant followed by the Asus Strix and then by PNY's XLR8 card.
VR Benchmark
While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both use resolutions that amount to 2160x1200, both VR headsets allow you to easily enable supersampling options that push the rendering targets to 4K-like levels.
Running Valve's SteamVR Performance Test, all of the cards here earned a "very high" score of "11," which is the highest score. The test does provide more granular data that takes into account the amount of frames that are rendered within the benchmark, however. The more frames a GPU is able to render, the better. Again, here the pecking order remains the same.
Conclusion
PNY's XLR8 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a 4K-capable card, though you'll most likely want to lower some graphical settings if you want to reach a consistent 60 FPS in the more graphically demanding games.
It's not the fastest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti we tested, and it isn't as cheap as the Founders Edition, but it is slightly faster than Nvidia's card across the board. Click here to check out the other GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards we reviewed.
Release dates are often the last things we learn about video games, and yet it's almost always the exact opposite with movies. Such is the case with the next entry in the James Bond series, which just today has been given a release date that is disappointingly still far away.
James Bond 25, as it's colloquially referred to for now as the 25th entry, is due out on November 8, 2019 in the United States, MGM and Eon Productions have announced. It'll be released ahead of that date in the UK, as is typically the case with new Bond movie releases.
Spectre
Despite the date being set, we know almost nothing else about the movie, including perhaps the most fundamental question: who will play James Bond? Daniel Craig's involvement has not yet been confirmed one way or the other, and his past comments on the subject of returning have been inconsistent, to say the least. A recent report suggested that Craig and Skyfall theme song artist Adele will return for the next movie. Craig would be 51 years old at the time of the film's release, which is still a far cry from the oldest a Bond actor has been--Roger Moore was a whopping 58 when A View to a Kill came to theaters.
The most recent James Bond movie was 2015's Spectre. It was the second consecutive movie directed by Sam Mendes, who has already made it clear he is moving on from the franchise. Spectre was in many ways a culmination of the movies starring Craig, attempting to tie together their stories. It also brought back some classic elements of the series, including the titular SPECTRE group and villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, both of which were mainstays in the early movies. Whether either of these elements will return for future films is unknown.
Bond 25 will reportedly be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have co-written some of the best (Casino Royale, Skyfall) and worst (Die Another Day) Bond movies of the last two decades.
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