September 2020

Cyberpunk 2077 and COD Cold War's new ray tracing trailers make me long for darkness

3 years 6 months ago

Hot off the heels of last night’s [cms-block] reveal, we also got new ray tracing trailers for Cyberpunk 2077, Minecraft, Watch Dogs Legion, and the newly announced Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. I’ve collected them altogether below, but the Cyberpunk 2077 one is particularly shiny, if only because it’s a new “max settings 4K trailer” showing CD Projekt Red’s upcoming RPG at its very best. Let’s take a look

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Author
Katharine Castle

Magic: The Gathering Zendikar Rising - 4 New Cards Exclusively Revealed

3 years 6 months ago
Magic: The Gathering's Zendikar Rising - the legendary card game's 85th set - will be released on September 25, and we have 4 new cards to show off. One of Zendikar Rising's new mechanics is the "party" system, built around the classic fantasy set-up of Warrior, Rogue, Cleric and Wizard - and we have a full party to show off. Check out the Kor Blademaster, Seafloor Stalker, Kitesail Cleric and Ardent Electromancer - as well as an art card which will be available in Zendikar Rising's new Set Boosters. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=magic-the-gathering-zendikar-rising-exclusive-card-reveals&captions=true"] The party mechanic revolves around offering benefits to decks that are able to play at least one each of a Warrior, Rogue, Cleric and Wizard. As you can see from the cards above, some cards will directly benefit from a full party, while others wil lsimply contribute to that count. Expect to see decks that revolve around specific party compositions to reap major rewards from the effects each card can have. As for the art card, that will be a part of the new Set Boosters, which have been designed to make a booster opening more exciting, offering an art card on top, followed by a set of interconnected cards and rarities. Zendikar Rising is the first in a run of cool-sounding Magic sets on the way, which includes a full Dungeons & Dragons crossover coming next year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.  
Author
Joe Skrebels

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Xbox confirms 'no new next-gen news' at TGS 2020

3 years 6 months ago

Xbox has announced that will have no new next-gen news to offer during its Tokyo Game Show (TGS) presentation later this month.

As reported by VGC, Xbox outlined its itinerary for the annual trade show event in a tweet and accompanying blog post. Xbox clarified that its TGS presentation will consist of a 50-minute live stream "celebrating Japanese game developers and games" and will feature updates on both Minecraft and Flight Simulator. The stream will be broadcast in Japanese only.

"Our presence at Tokyo Game Show will celebrate the visionary creators and vibrant players in the region," reads a statement on Xbox.com. "Tune in to see the latest on games, content from our Japanese partners and players, and further details on Xbox services."

While Xbox has always struggled to maintain a strong presence in Japan, the lack of any next-gen news whatsoever still comes as a surprise, given the rapidly approaching launch season. Xbox's reluctance to announce a release date, price, or to confirm the existence of the industry's worst-kept secret, Xbox Series S, continues to frustrate the publisher's fanbase.

Tokyo Game Show 2020 takes place the week of September 23-27.

Xbox confirms 'no new next-gen news' at TGS 2020 screenshot

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Author
Chris Moyse

Kate Bishop joins Marvel's Avengers in October

3 years 6 months ago

Marvel's Avengers will add Hawkeye herself, Kate Bishop, to its growing roster of heroes in October.

Bishop's story missions will also introduce Clint Barton, who will then become playable in November.

Both characters are, of course, also known as Hawkeye. It remains to be seen how similar their two movesets will be.

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Luftrausers studio Vlambeer closes doors on 10th birthday

3 years 6 months ago

Indie studio Vlambeer hit an important milestone yesterday, marking 10 years since it was established in 2010 by founders Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman. Yet the studio decided to mark the occasion in a somewhat unusual way, as the developer revealed it's shutting up shop.

As announced via Twitter, the studio felt it had "a beautiful run, made incredible games, and worked with amazing people", but decided it was "time for new things".

"It's not a sad day for us, but the happy conclusion to a whirlwind decade filled with screenshake," Vlambeer stated. "It feels like we've achieved what we set out to do - as a studio, as a voice, and as individuals, and we are extremely grateful for these past years."

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Someone should make a game about: that weird house in St Moritz with an underground lake

3 years 6 months ago

The greatest horror series on television is Secret Lives of the Super Rich. It's a truly eldritch documentary show about the things that people with a lot of money inflict on themselves. Rich people, it suggests again and again, are odd. They don't just want a garage full of Lambos - it's always Lambos - they want a house in which the garage doubles as the dining room, where you can eat breakfast next to the parking turntable. They don't just want endless access to Patron, they want a specially modified motorbike that runs on Patron. They want to eat gold leaf on absolutely everything - even grilled cheese sandwiches. And when night comes they want to retire to a house lined with mink fur.

The mink fur was one of those moments that I actually sat up straight while watching this show. Robert Frank, the host and Mephistopholes of the Secret Lives world, has a wonderful tone to him - he's mocking the super rich but he's also fascinated by the bizarre things they get up to. The mink fur house was almost too much though. I swear he briefly ran out of ways to describe what he was seeing.

And yes: the mink fur house is truly hellish. It's dug into a mountain in Switzerland, and it has a huge ornate staircase that serves as its spine. Alongside mink fur in one room, it also has white fox fur in a bedroom, I think, and the whole thing culminates in an underground lake filled with Swarovski crystal lights. After that it gets properly Lovecraftian. There's an egg sculpture in the dining room that cost $145,000. There's a Himalayan Salt Chamber. There are secret doorways and levers that do weird things. The whole place is yours for a little under 200 million.

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New Sakura Wars Game Sakura Revolution: Blooming Maidens Announced by Sega

3 years 6 months ago

Today Sega and Delightworks revealed the previously-teased Project B.L.A.C.K. via a livestream from Japan. As suspected, it’s a Sakura Wars game titled Sakura Kakumei: Hanasaku Otome-Tachi, which translates as Sakura Revolution: Blooming Maidens.

You’d think after Valkyria Revolution, Sega would steer clear from “Revolutions,” apparently they’re going down that path again.

The game is a “dramatic RPG” and it’s coming for iOS and Android in Japan in 2020. For the moment, no western release has been revealed.

This time around our protagonist is named Sakura Shido, a girl raised on the island of Aogashima.

You’ll likely notice in the introduction video below that the series’ popular mecha look quite… different this time around. They have been turned into Ryoushi Dress, or Spiricle Dress to go with the western localization.

The setting is the 100th year of the Taisho era, which means 2011. That’s 88 years after the original Sakura Wars and 71 years after the latest game of the series.

Below you can see the announcement trailer and the protagonist herself alongside her childhood friend Fuuka Aoshima and Asebi Mikohama. They will form the core of the Imperial Floral Revue. 

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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The first post-launch Marvel's Avengers character is Kate Bishop, the other Hawkeye

3 years 6 months ago

Superman and his Super Friends slip on their spandex for the launch of Marvel’s Avengers on Friday (though pre-orderers already have access), then after that Square Enix plan to update the action-RPG with new characters and content in that ‘live service’ way. Last night’s ‘War Table’ stream confirmed the first character coming after launch will be Kate Bishop, the other arrow-plinging hero known as Hawkeye. She’s a decent character in the comics, having a fun double-act with the original Hawkeye – who I should stress isn’t a wank like he is in the films. Anyway! Come meet Kate.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Valorant's latest patch accidentally makes Omen invulnerable

3 years 6 months ago

Valorant

‘s latest big patch is live, with loads of buffs, nerfs and tweaks for agents and gameplay mechanics alike. Riot’s tactical FPS has had a few issues with hit registration since it came out, and this update has some changes to the game’s visual effects to give a bit more clarity as to where your bullets are actually going.

We’re also getting buffs for characters like Viper and Breach, and nerfs for the likes of Sage and Killjoy. On top of that, Omen has also bagged himself an… unintentional buff (read: bug) that allows him to go invulnerable sometimes after using his Ultimate.

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Author
Imogen Beckhelling

Only Nvidia's RTX 30 Founders Edition GPUs will have dual axial fans and 12-pin power cables

3 years 6 months ago

A photo of Asus' GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 graphics cards

Official images of third party Nvidia RTX 3000 cards show that the unusual dual axial fan and 12-pin power connector design shown off during last night’s [cms-block] reveal will only be found on the Nvidia Founders Editions of each card. The double-sided fans of the RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 are arguably one of the most striking features of Nvidia’s next-gen graphics cards, but anyone buying a card from one of Nvidia’s traditional third party partners will likely get one that looks very similar to their old one. The good news, though, is that you won’t have to throw out your old power supply just yet, as these third party cards also seem to use the same 8-pin power connectors as their RTX 20-series predecessors.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Dead By Daylight is getting a huge makeover, starting next week

3 years 6 months ago

The 1v4 multiplayer horrorshow Dead By Daylight is getting a new look, developers Behaviour have revealed, with a big graphical overhaul coming across a series of free updates. They’re redrawing textures, rebuilding buildings, relighting lighting, tweaking animations, and generally making maps look more than actual places than the current loose scatterings and assemblies of garbage. It’s looking pretty nice, as you can see in this before/after trailer.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Gyruss Remixed Bach, Then NES Remixed Gyruss

3 years 6 months ago

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s new, daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re checking out Gyruss, which impressed early arcade-goers with its switched-on Bach, then sounded even better on the NES and its Japan-only disk add-on.

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Author
Alexandra Hall

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Xbox Is Coming Back To The Tokyo Game Show, But Without Next-Gen News

3 years 6 months ago

In years past, Microsoft had massive Xbox booths at the Tokyo Game Show, going head to head with the likes of Sony. But, as it turns out, Japanese gamers aren’t really into Xbox! So, as well as missing the 2012 show, Microsoft really went M.I.A. starting in 2015. Now that this year’s TGS is virtual, Microsoft is back.

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Author
Brian Ashcraft

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Cyberpunk 2077: CD Projekt Red Clarifies the Game Won't Be 200GB

3 years 6 months ago
CD Projekt Red has clarified that Cyberpunk 2077 won't take up 200GB of hard-drive space. Global Community Lead Marcin Momot took to Twitter to address claims which originated on Reddit, where a fan had taken a screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 from Nvidia's RTX 3000 GPU reveal event. A vista from the game is accompanied by a tag that mentions "200GB Games," which has led some to surmise that the game may take up 200GB of hard-drive space. "The game won't take up 200GB when installed," notes Momot. "You can expect the required HDD space to be on par with other modern titles." Momot didn't reveal exactly how big the game is, but he did note that system requirements for Cyberpunk 2077 are "coming soon."
Author
Jordan Oloman

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Gods & Monsters Officially Renamed Immortals: Fenyx Rising

3 years 6 months ago
Ubisoft's open-world Greek myth adventure, Gods & Monsters, has officially been renamed Immortals Fenyx Rising. Announced on Twitter with a new logo, the reworked game will be shown at the next Ubisoft Forward broadcast on September 10:
Author
Joe Skrebels

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Dead by Daylight announces free next-gen upgrade for current players

3 years 6 months ago

It's that time of the year when developers start explaining their plans for the move to next-gen devices, and the latest to do so is Dead by Daylight - the asymmetrical horror survival multiplayer by Behaviour Interactive. Yet it seems players won't be getting any nasty shocks when it comes to cost, as current players will be able to access the game on next-gen consoles for free.

Behaviour Interactive announced the game will arrive on next-gen consoles in holiday 2020 with "improved graphics over current gen versions", and will run at 4K with 60 FPS. Dead by Daylight is now entering the first stages of a major graphics overhaul, which Behaviour Interactive says will ultimately lead "to an entirely remastered edition of the game".

"The lighting and VFX will be vastly upgraded, as well as the modelling, textures and animations," Behaviour Interactive explained in a press release. "More props will be added to the maps, and proper functions will be given to rooms to make them more identifiable." The rework will be implemented through regular updates, with visual improvements arriving every six weeks following the current Chapter and Archives roadmap - starting with next week's patch.

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Raji: An Ancient Epic review - a gorgeous adventure through architecture and myth

3 years 6 months ago

It's always nice to meet a tree, but so often with games it's the same tree - or one of a small handful of favoured trees. Sometimes it's the Great Deku Tree, slumbering in some Hyrulian wood. Always a pleasure, Deku Tree! Often it's Yggdrasil, the great tree from Norse mythology. Yggdrasil, so wizened and melancholy. Don't get me wrong. I love these trees. Who doesn't love Yggdrasil? Who doesn't love the Deku Tree. But in Raji: An Ancient Epic, I met a new tree. First time, I'm certain of it.

At least, I think it's a tree. There are faces in it - they definitely look like faces - and there are sections to rotate and fit together. Its roots! Its roots, as they say, must hold the sky. Turn the sections, make the tree whole again. A lovely thing to toy with in between action and exploration.

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Zombie Army 4 has two new seasons coming

3 years 6 months ago

Undead shooter Zombie Army 4: Dead War has laid out a rough plan for two new seasons of content, which will shuffle into the game over the next year or so.

The game's second season is on track for launch later this year, so expect new campaigns, skins and weapons - both paid for and free. Season three will then follow in 2021.

You can take a peek at some of the locations headed to the game in its second season below, as developer Rebellion offers a quick peek. There's no word yet on how much the new premium content will cost to buy, though the first season pass was priced at £29.99.

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art of rally gets a release date

3 years 6 months ago

Funselektor's exquisite looking art of rally has a final release date, with the top-down off-roader coming to Steam and GOG on September 23rd.

It will mark the end of a busy month for arcade racers, with Hotshot Racing and Inertial Drift releasing next week while wipEout spiritual successor Pacer - from some of the same team behind Psygnosis' classic series - is out on September 17th.

art of rally offers a different perspective though, its top-down camera reminiscent of arcade classics such as Thrash Rally and Power Drive. I was smitten when I played it last year, and can't wait to sample the final thing.

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Magic: The Gathering reveals 2021 roadmap and recommits to Arena mobile

3 years 6 months ago

Wizards of the Coast has revealed a Magic: The Gathering roadmap detailing releases through to the end of 2021.

It also recommitted to a mobile release of 'really rather good actually' online game Magic: The Gathering Arena. The plan is apparently to release it this year, a spokesperson told me, but when this year and on which mobile ecosystem they couldn't say.

As for the road ahead, the most imminent release will be new set Zendikar Rising, which arrives 17th September in Arena and 25th September for tabletop. It's based on the Zendikar set of old but has new cards in it.

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World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Release Date and Animated Series Now Live

3 years 6 months ago
The first episode of Blizzard Entertainment’s newest pre-expansion animated series is now live. Shadowlands Afterlives showcases famous figures from each of the four Covenants that players can choose to join in World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands. Shadowlands Afterlives: Bastion shows what happens to the famous Paladin Uther Lightbringer after his death. Three more videos …

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Release Date and Animated Series Now Live Read More »

The post https://thegamefanatics.com/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-release-date-and-animated-series-now-live/ appeared first on The Game Fanatics,.
Author
Aidan Farley

PlayStation Now just got two big names: Resident Evil 7 and Final Fantasy XV

3 years 6 months ago

It's hard to believe that PlayStation Now kicked off at the start of 2014. Hell, I can't believe PlayStation Plus was implemented in 2010.

Sony has a lot of little programs (just like Microsoft, with Game Pass Ultimate!) so it can be hard to keep track of everything, but PlayStation Now (otherwise known as PS Now) is their cloud-based subscription service that's not quite as enticing as Game Pass; given that Microsoft's program includes huge day-one first-party releases. This week, PS Now is getting a few more games though.

In addition to WWE 2K19 (the prior, not-completely-broken-one) and Observation, Resident Evil 7 and Final Fantasy XV are arriving on the service. While Resident Evil 7 is pretty much the new darling of the series, beloved by everyone, FFXV is a bit more polarizing. But take heart! If you're a JRPG fan and have a lot of extra time to get sucked into a world, you may enjoy it yet. Go in with an open mind and give it a shot.

PS Now's September Lineup [PlayStation Blog]

PlayStation Now just got two big names: Resident Evil 7 and Final Fantasy XV screenshot

Author
Chris Carter

Sega's Project B.L.A.C.K. is new mobile title Sakura Revolution

3 years 6 months ago

Well, I called it. Sega has revealed that its previously teased "Project B.L.A.C.K." is indeed a new Sakura Wars mobile title. Sakura Kakumei (or Sakura Revolution) is currently in development for iOS and Android platforms and will launch in Japan this fall.

Produced by Sega and Delightworks, Sakura Revolution is a spin-off title set within the melodramatic, mech-battling Sakura Wars universe. While story details are still a little thin-on-the-ground, a 20+ minute anime from studio Clover Works gives us our first look at the new game's cast of characters. Unfortunately, the anime is currently only available in Japanese.

Sega's Project B.L.A.C.K. is new mobile title Sakura Revolution screenshot

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Author
Chris Moyse

What? Super Smash Bros. Ultimate allegedly almost had rollback netcode

3 years 6 months ago

So Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is pretty great, and it's somehow still getting content and has remained relevant (checks calendar)...nearly two years after launch. That's pretty great! But you know what's not great? Its netcode and online play experience.

While you can chalk this up as "classic Nintendo," new details from an upcoming Famitsu article seem to claim that rollback netcode was once planned for Smash Ultimate. The news comes from Nintendo insider and translator PushDustIn, who explained on Twitter that rollback netcode was "looked into during development," but due to some "adverse side effects," it was dropped. More info is said to be coming once the full Famitsu column is available.

In other Smash news, more "adjustments" will be coming to 1v1 modes in Smash Ultimate, and Sakurai confirms that Smash has peddled over 20 million copies. Given that it's sitting at 19.9 million right now on Nintendo's official site, that checks out.

If you're curious, you can find more info on how rollback netcode works here, or watch the below video! The short of it is, rollback netcode is harder to implement in many circumstances (but not all), so we don't see it as often as the industry standard: delay-based netcode. 

Smash Ultimate [Famitsu via PushDustIn]

What? Super Smash Bros. Ultimate allegedly almost had rollback netcode screenshot

Author
Chris Carter

New Gameplay Today – The Outer Worlds: Peril On Gorgon DLC

3 years 6 months ago

Click here to watch embedded media

The Outer Worlds was one of our favorite games last year, with Obsidian delivering an experience that was reasonably sized and perfect for repeat plays. Its first of two announced DLC packs, Peril of Gorgon, is adding some new places to explore and things to, well, kill. 

Check out today's NGT for a look at the asteroid Gorgon, where things may not be what they appear to be. OK, fine. It's a video game. Of course, everything is going to be all messed up. Otherwise, what would you be doing there? Sheesh!

Peril on Gorgon is coming out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 9. It's $14.99 by itself, or you can grab the season pass for $24.99 and get Peril on Gorgon and the upcoming Murder on Eridanos DLC. It's coming to Switch eventually, but not for a while.

Author
Jeff Cork

After 20+ Hours, Paper Mario: The Origami King’s Combat Doesn’t Hold Up

3 years 6 months ago

I’m well aware that it has been way over a month since Paper Mario: The Origami King launched on the Nintendo Switch, but I was pulled away by Ghost of Tsushima over on the PS4 –it’s incredible and amazing and such a good ol’ chill time. And I haven’t been able to give Paper Mario the attention it deserved when it launched.

But we’re here to talk about Paper Mario: The Origami King and its shortcomings in the combat department. It’s not that Origami King has bad combat per se, but it does get tiring after some time.

For starters, the combat in Origami King suffers from a lack of variety and general excitement. Lining up basic enemies (aka Goomba’s and Koopa’s) and placing them into groups and then either jumping on them or hitting them with Mario’s hammer can only go so far for a game that can take over 30 hours to fully complete.

Am I one of those die-hard Paper Mario fans that won’t play a new entry in the series unless it has a traditional turn-based combat system? No, that’s not entirely the case here but on the other hand, it’s a fact that Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door is the best game in the franchise, and it did have that turn-based battle system that critics and fans adored, I’m just saying, there’s a reason it’s the best one.

Author
Greysun Morales

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Project Athia Developer Luminous Productions Reveals Impressive World Editor in New Video

3 years 6 months ago

Square Enix’s internal studio Luminous Productions revealed a new video showcasing its world Luminous Engine World Editor.

The editor appears to be capable to populate an open world in a natural but artist-driven way, and it’s the Luminous Engine’s approach to procedural generation. 

The video was presented during a panel at CEDEC 2020, which is basically Japan’s version of the Game Developers Conference.

You can watch it below.

Here’s how the developer describes the tool.

“Auto-generating the world using our proprietary engine, Luminous Engine, as demonstrated by Luminous Productions at CEDEC2020. Filling an Open World in a Natural yet Intentional Way This showcase walks you through the Luminous Engine’s approach to procedural generation.”

At the moment Luminous Productions is known to be working on the game for PS5 and PC code-named Project Athia, which was teased during the Sony-hosted presentation of the games for its console on June 11. 

Here’s how Square Enix describes the mysterious game.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Ubisoft Forward stream next week will show what Gods & Monsters has become

3 years 6 months ago

Ubisoft have announced another one of their Ubisoft Forward streams for September 10th, blasting more announcements and trailers. Along with the promise of a few surprises, it’ll bring news on games including Watch Dogs: Legion and the cheery Zelda-lookin’ action-adventure game Gods & Monsters. And yup, as rumoured, Ubisoft have indeed renamed Gods & Monsters with the infinitely-inferior moniker Immortals Fenyx Rising. Oh dear.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Asus, Acer, MSI and Alienware all have 360Hz gaming monitors on the way

3 years 6 months ago

A photo of four 360Hz gaming monitors coming from Asus, Acer, Alienware and MSI

Late last month, Asus announced that their first 360Hz gaming monitor, the ROG Swift PG259QN, was coming this September for £629 / $699, and now it’s going to be joined by a load more from Acer, Alienware and MSI. All of them are going to be full-fat G-Sync monitors, and they’re all going to employ next-gen IPS dual-driver panels from AU Optronics to help deliver the speed, low response time and high colour accuracy demanded by today’s gaming elite. Let’s take a look.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Lana Del Rey, The Flaming Lips, and 21 other albums we can’t wait to hear in September

3 years 6 months ago

Summer may be coming to a close and the schools bells may be ringing once more—virtually, we hope—but the season of music is perpetual and unchanging (okay, admittedly there’s a slight shift around the Yuletide so that Mariah can once more storm the charts). As we roll into September, there are again a bevy of great…

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Author
Alex McLevy, Gwen Ihnat, Erik Adams, Katie Rife, Laura Adamczyk, Randall Colburn, Baraka Kaseko, Cameron Scheetz, and Shannon Miller on Music, shared by Riley MacLeod to Kotaku

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