Enhanced versions of video games are nothing new, from porting older titles to newer consoles, to updating them to 4K. NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch is the next title to see one of these mid-generation updates, but it's not actually an update to the base game--it's an entirely new download.
For those who already own NBA Playgrounds on Switch, the Enhanced Edition is free to download, just don't go thinking it's going to be part of your base game file. It's a different one that will need to be downloaded in the Nintendo eshop. NBA Playgrounds: Enhanced Edition is denoted by a golden frame on its icon.
The upside is the updated version includes all of the game's previously released free content, and the file size is smaller. Once the new version is downloaded, you will be able to delete the original base game file. Any player who purchased the base title before June 10, 2017 will also receive a free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn later this year.
The downside is that if you choose to delete the original file, you'll need to be careful to not delete your save files. As for online play, those still playing on the base version of the game will still have multiplayer functions, but won't be able to play with anyone who has already downloaded the updated version.
NBA Playgrounds is currently on sale for $10 in the eshop until January 18. In addition, its first paid DLC, "Hot n' Frosty," is now available on Switch for $10. The DLC includes three new playgrounds, tournaments, and eight new rookies.
Update: The server issues have been resolved. The original story is below.
If you're looking to hop online with Rainbow Six: Siege or Ghost Recon: Wildlands tonight, you might not be able to. These two titles, and several other Ubisoft games, are currently facing connection issues on multiple platforms.
Ubisoft sent a message to its followers on Twitter confirming it is aware of the issues, and noted that it is working to resolve them.
We are aware of server issues impacting multiple games. Our technical team is investigating and working on resolving this as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and we will continue to update this thread as new information becomes available: https://t.co/myd5dDcFLh
Expect intermittent disconnections and longer queue waits for multiplayer, and don't expect to be able to reach other online services, forums, and websites. Seven different Ubisoft games on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Xbox 360 are being affected at the time of publication.
The following titles are currently facing connection issues:
Tonight's connection issues seem to be following a recent string of server issues for Ubisoft titles. On January 4, it seems a similar issue occurred to several titles, including Rainbow Six: Siege, on Xbox One.
Ubisoft's latest update at 8:30 PM EDT stated that the support team is still working to resolve tonight's connection issues. More updates and information on the situation is available in a forum post here.
PC gamers should be aware of the recent discovery of security risks inherent in CPUs and that the patch to fix the issue may affect overall performance. Researchers at Google Project Zero team shed light on the issue that affects a wide range of processors. It can get very technical, but we've highlighted the five things you need to know about these CPU flaws and how it could impact gaming.
Personal Information Is Vulnerable
There is a feature that's fundamentally built into a majority of processors, and prominent in Intel CPUs, that poses a security risk. At the core of the issue, memory is leaking through a chip's kernel which leads to potential personal data exposure and increased vulnerability to malicious software attacks. Sensitive information is a sitting duck to malware, particularly what's called Meltdown and Spectre.
A Hardware Flaw Solved Through Software
The security flaw was found to be inherent in the CPU itself. It affects the kernel, which is a non-physical entity between the CPU and operating system that controls communication between applications and the hardware itself. While the feature that causes the issue is in CPUs out on on the market today, software updates have been released to mitigate the problem.
A closer look at Intel's Core i7-8700K CPU.
Install OS Security Updates ASAP
Since chip manufacturers can't really do anything about the design flaws, solutions came from the makers of operating systems. Security updates to Apple's MacOS and Microsoft's Windows are now available. Additional computational instructions are patched into the operating systems to seal the leaks that leave PCs vulnerable. It's strongly advised to install these updates as soon as possible.
An Impact On Gaming Performance
By nature of placing additional instructions between the CPU and OS, the overall workload is increased and will slow down processor performance. A Reddit user on /r/pcgaming said they ran their own benchmark tests before and after the Windows 10 security update to see how much performance was impacted in a handful of games. The claimed loss in framerate ranged from as little as 1.5% to as large as 13.1% depending on the game and benchmark. These numbers came from a system equipped with an Intel Core i5 4690K CPU at 4.4GHz, 16GB of RAM and an AMD RX 580 video card.
The publication Techspot ran its own benchmarks using an Intel Core i7-8700K and GTX 1080 Ti before and after the Windows update. What they found was that the performance differences were negligible, amounting to almost no difference in framerate or a slight improvement in a few cases.
Of course, the two cases were using drastically different hardware, so it could be that the impact on performance depends on your PC's specs.
Affects A Wide Range of Users
The security risks posed affect desktop users, server-based systems, and even mobile users. Pretty much every Intel CPU has this bug, and Apple has said that every MacOS and iOS device does too, but claim there aren't any exploits out there yet. AMD claims that their CPUs aren't nearly as vulnerable tor this exploit by nature of their architecture.
Each company has released official statements regarding this widespread problem. You should note that this story is developing and the details could change as companies dig deeper into the implications of the issue.
After discovering that Resident Evil VII: Biohazard wasn't exactly what she thought it was, former GameSpot producer Mary Kish continues exploring the abandoned tanker in the Louisiana bayou.
In what may be the penultimate episode of Resident Kinevil, Mary and producer Mike Mahardy take on farty bloated molded men, an over-abundance of remote bombs, and Eveline herself. They're approaching the end of the Resident Kinevil journey, and they want you to join.
If you need to catch up on previous episodes of Resident Kinevil, in which Mary and Mike play through every numbered Resident Evil game, you can watch it on the show's page here, or on its YouTube channel here.
Epic Games' Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale may see some service issues over the following days due to cloud updates. While you might be having some issues logging in or playing the game for a little while, the upside is your information will be more secure in the long term.
Announced via Twitter yesterday, Epic Games' cloud systems are lagging due to updates intended to address Intel's Meltdown vulnerability. The two titles may be impacted by these updates for as long as a week; Epic has not detailed if this is an exclusive problem to PC, or if it also affects consoles.
PSA: Our cloud services were affected by updates required to mitigate the Meltdown vulnerability. We rely on cloud services to run our backend and we may experience further service issues in the next few days due to ongoing updates. Additional info: https://t.co/89nG9wEh8J
Meltdown, and one other vulnerability called Spectre, were discovered by researchers earlier this week in all Intel processors released since 2011. Very simply, these hardware bugs go largely undetected by anti-virus software and are capable of stealing user information. According to Wired, the updates needed to get around these vulnerabilities are already here for Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, Chrome OS, and Linux.
Epic shared this website for more detailed information on what exactly Meltdown and Spectre actually are, who discovered them, and what companies are involved or may have been affected. PCGamer also has a detailed report of these vulnerabilities and how they affect you, your information, and your PC.
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