Overwatch launched in 2016, but it’s getting a significant feature soon. Blizzard Entertainment is releasing a cross-play beta that will let PC and console gamers play in matches together. The developer says the update is coming “soon.”
Until now, the communities on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch were segmented, but this update should make it easier to find online matches to join, whether it’s with your friends or with random players. Some of the most popular online titles feature cross-play support, like Fortniteand Call of Duty Warzone, and it bodes well that this feature may be supported earlier on in the game’s upcoming sequel, Overwatch 2.
Cross-play is a welcome, if overdue, feature to have in Overwatch, but it might not be all that you’re hoping for. The update doesn’t enable cross-progression between multiple copies of the game that you might own. So, your collection of skins and XP level on, say, Nintendo Switch, won’t carry over to other platforms and vice versa. Though, that might not be the case in the future. In a recent Reddit AMA, Overwatch technical director John Lafleur said “given the additional complexities of cross-progression, it would probably make most sense to tackle cross-play, first and then explore progression as a potential add-on, if we go this route.”
Blizzard says that in order to jump into the cross-play beta, you’ll need to make a Battle.net account, if you haven’t already (it’s been a requirement for PC players, but it has been optional on console). You’ll then need to link your respective console account to Battle.net within your account settings. Doing this will allow you to play with friends you have added on Battle.net instead of friends that exist within your console’s own friends list.
If you get a Battle.net account and log into Overwatch by the end of 2021, you’ll receive a “golden” loot box, which guarantees a legendary-tier in-game item.
Correction: An earlier version of this article said the cross-play beta was available now, but Blizzard says it instead will be coming “soon.” We regret the error.
We now have evidence that staying home to game or stream and chill during the pandemic was pretty much a first-world problem (or privilege, depending on how you look at it). The proof is in a new report published today by the United Nations University and UN Institute for Training and Research that looks at where drops in electronics sales and associated e-waste took place.
The report looked at electronics consumption in the first few quarters of 2020, and then used that to estimate future e-waste. It projects that worldwide, we’ll have discovered that 4.9 million fewer metric tons of e-waste were generated compared to a “business as usual” scenario without the pandemic. But that drop was uneven across the globe, the authors found. Electronics sales are estimated to have fallen 30 percent in low and middle-income countries, compared to just 5 percent in richer nations.
“The so-called digital divide is increasing,” report co-author Ruediger Kuehr said in a statement. “The ability to adapt to digitisation and earn a living or simply to own and benefit from electronics is decreasing in some parts of the world.” Countries in Northern Africa, Western Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia will be the hardest hit, according to the report.
On the other hand, high-income countries are projected to be solely responsible for a slight global uptick in game console, cell phone, laptop, and electrical oven purchases last year. In those countries, it seems people did indeed turn to screens (and maybe baking?) to while away their time during pandemic lockdowns.
Tech companies still managed to profit during the hellscape of 2020. Microsoft and Apple raked in the dough from gaming and computers. Samsung made more money last year than it did the year before. Amazon doubled its profit near the onset of the pandemic. And the 2020 lull in tech spending among low and middle-income countries is expected to be temporary.
As more people buy more gadgets, e-waste piles up, and can leach harmful materials like mercury into the environment. E-waste reached a record high in 2019, and just 17 percent was recycled. A lot more can still be done to prolong each gadget’s lifespan, increase recycling, and make companies responsible for collecting the products they generate so that e-waste doesn’t trash the environment, advocates say.
(Pocket-lint) – The Ratchet & Clank series has been a PlayStation stalwart for almost two decades. But we’ve not had an original outing since Into the Nexus in 2013 – and that was on the PlayStation 3.
Yes, developer Insomniac Games remade the first game for PS4 in the shape of 2016’s Ratchet & Clank, but it has rather focused its attention on Sunset Overdrive and the superb Marvel’s Spider-Man games instead.
That’s why we’re thrilled to see the return of everyone’s favourite Lombax and his robot chum. And, thanks to the leap to PlayStation 5 proper, they have never looked – or arguably played – better.
Next-gen necessity
Insomniac cut its next-gen teeth on Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, plus a dolled-up remaster of its predecessor, but Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is its first PS5 exclusive. That has given the studio free rein on a featureset of tools and talents only the latest in Sony’s kitbag can provide.
The entire premise of the game is only possible thanks to clever compression techniques and superfast SSD loading speeds. The graphics drip with ray-tracing and other wizardry from every pore. And the tricks afforded by the PS5’s DualSense controller are exploited to the max. In many respects, this is the first truly next-gen game on any console and has us salivating for what’s possible in the future.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves though. Technical bells and whistles aside, this is a Ratchet & Clank game through and through, so we’ll start there.
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Like most others in the series, this is essentially a shooter-meets-platformer with a keen sense of humour and stunning, Pixar-like visuals. It is split across a fair few planets and regions, each with their own puzzles, secrets, bosses and, in the case of some, open-world landscapes.
Favourite elements return, such as crazy, often hilarious weapons, hover boots, rail riding, the weapons shop (which is now in shape of Mrs Zurkon – an enemy in the 2016 remake), and plenty more besides – but there are some key differences too. Not least the fact you play as two Lombaxes this time around.
That’s because, after Dr Nefarious gets his hands on the oft-featured Dimensionator and accidentally opens up huge dimensional rifts, our eponymous heroes are split up. That leads Clank to meet with Rivet, a female Lombax who is new to the series, and Ratchet, to eventually hook-up with an alternative robot pal named Kit.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
This allows for missions to be split between them all – and provides variety in both gameplay and dialogue. You will often swap characters when choosing which mission to undertake from the navigation screen and likely not return until it is complete – certainly for the first part, anyway.
There are also other-dimensional versions of many recognisable friends and foes, to add extra weight and humour to the story. Certainly, as fans of the series, we loved the references and a few Easter Eggs. However, if you’re new to it, you’ll still get plenty from it – you might even end up seeking older outings elsewhere, such as on PlayStation Now.
Dimensionally speaking
Levels in the game will often require a lot of blasting, but are reasonably varied. Some are based on massive open areas that can be explored, a la the R&C remake, others tighter and largely on rails. One thing that ties them all together is the ability to jump through dimension portals to reach different areas in a zone.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
For example, a small rift might appear on an otherwise hard-to-reach patform, so you just focus at it, tap a button, then are instantly zipped over to that location. It certainly helps you get around a map during a battle, zipping through portals to keep ahead of enemies.
Traversing different dimensions is also used cleverly too, with one level in particular requiring you to hop between an existing, thriving world and a destroyed version in another dimension. By jumping between the two, you can get past barriers in one, or solve an otherwise impossible puzzle.
It is here where the PS5 exclusivity becomes obvious. Travelling through rifts or swapping between dimensions is instant – you certainy don’t notice any loading time, even when everything in the landscape has completely changed or you are on a totally new part of the map. Insomniac has previously said that this needs both the SSD and Sony’s clever loading shenanigans to work, and it’s easy to see why.
The DualSense controller is also a necessity for gunplay, as the game uses both haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers as effectively as Returnal (a very different game, but an amazing one – as we said in our review).
Not only do you feel every shot – with the gamepad’s speaker also utilised for some elements – you get different shot options on the right trigger. Press it down halfway and you get one weapon mode, pull it harder and the other activates. It takes a little getting used to, but is intuitive and immersive when you do.
So, so pretty
The last, obvious reason why this is a PS5-only game lies not in its gameplay but in its look. This is quite simply the most gorgeous next-gen game yet. Easily the best use of high dynamic range (HDR) that we’ve seen.
As with Miles Morales, the developer has provided three graphics modes: Performance, Performance RT, and Fidelity.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
The prettiest – Fidelity – runs at 30 frames-per-second (30fps) but is in 4K resolution with HDR and features ray-tracing, enhanced lighting, additional VFX, and increased scene density. This is the way we preferred to play, even with the lower frame rate. It looks incredible. The different worlds are bursting with details and creativity, so having the enhancements make it for us.
Performance RT keeps some of the options, such as ray-tracing, but drops the resolution and some of the effects in favour of 60fps. While, Performance mode offers 60fps with an increased resolution over the last, it ditches the ray-tracing entirely.
Whichever you opt for, the game is still a stunner. We played it on a 65-inch OLED telly, where the colours popped out of the screen so vividly, but we’d expect it’d look great whatever your TV or display tech. There are also so many instances of neon lighting in the game – not least cascading from your weapons – that it would even be a great reference test for a new HDR TV.
Sound is superb, too, especially the excellent voice acting. And the use of Sony’s 3D Audio tech is great if you have compatible headphones. The spacing in open-world segments is especially good.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Indeed, our only minor quibbles with the game is that there is a fair amount of repetition in bog standard enemy types and, like with previous outings, it’s a little short.
Still, there are sub-quests on most of the worlds, and there is a decent enough challenge here, with some bosses that will take you multiple tries to defeat. Also, it’s refreshing to have a game that doesn’t take over your life for a month once in a while.
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Verdict
Rachet & Clank: Rift Apart is an excellent return for the franchise. It is steeped in invention and it wrings every ounce out of the PlayStation 5’s capabilities.
We’ll no doubt see more complex, even better-looking games over this generation of gaming, but considering we are still relatively at the beginning, this is highly impressive stuff.
Also, don’t be fooled into thinking that, because it looks like a cartoon, this is a kids game. Like previous R&C adventures, there’s plenty to enjoy here for young and old, with ample challenge too.
Throwing new playable characters into the mix is also inspired, because it both breaks up the narrative and gameplay a touch. There’s a fair amount of repetition, which is par for the course, but apart from that, this is top-level stuff.
Let’s just hope it doesn’t take Insomniac eight years and a new console generation to deliver another slice. But then when it’s this good, it’s worth the wait.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart takes great advantage of the PlayStation 5’s SSD and offers creative third-person combat, but a second playable character doesn’t do much to change the formula.
For
+ Fast level changes enabled by SSD
+ Grinding levels are particularly fun
+ Creative weapons for hectic combat
+ Plenty of collectibles and side quests
Against
– Goes overboard with DualSense haptic features
– Ratchet and Rivet have no gameplay differences at all
– Glitch puzzles don’t connect
When the PlayStation 5 arrived about six months ago, we were promised a number of improvements under the hood that would change the way people play games. One of the big ones was that consoles finally moved to solid state drives for faster loading.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Available on: PlayStation 5
Developer: Insomniac Games Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Genre: Platformer, Action, Third-person shooter ESRB Rating: E10+ Release Date: June 11, 2021 Price: $69.99 ($79.99 for Deluxe Edition)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart takes full advantage of that upgrade. The latest game in the franchise, exclusive to Sony’s latest console, throws the heroes through multiple dimensions, often at a moment’s notice to show off that speed. But it also expresses it through chaotic combat and some zany platforming.
Still, it slows down just enough to examine the main characters’ thoughts and vulnerabilities when it comes to heroism, their own confidence and which questions about your life are worth asking, making for some strong character moments amidst all the havoc.
Talk About Distant Relatives…
Rift Apart serves as a sequel to 2013’s Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, but, at the beginning, at least, it serves as a fine entry point to the series. The game finds Ratchet, the last Lombax in the galaxy, and his robot compatriot Clank, being celebrated for most of their major achievements (cue the history lesson for newer players). And Clank has a surprise for Ratchet — he has repaired the Dimensionator, a device that opens rifts to other, well, dimensions, in the hopes that Ratchet can find one where the Lombaxes still exist and meet his family.
Ratchet is hesitant about this. Life is good. He’s getting a parade. Why mess up a good thing with questions he’s always had at the back of his mind? But there’s a bit less of a choice when their enemy, Dr. Nefarious, steals it to find a dimension in which he’s always the victor.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The chase to stop Dr. Nefarious leads Ratchet and Clank to a dimension where a small group of freedom fighters are led by Rivet, the last Lombax in the galaxy (that is, in her dimension). The game switches between Ratchet and Rivet, both of whom suddenly are partnered with someone very different, but also very familiar.
From there, the game hops between planets and dimensions, some of which are alternate versions of levels from earlier games in the franchise.
Rivet and Ratchet are similar beyond their heritage. Both are quick to take action and like to crack jokes. Rivet is a bit more competent than her interdimensional counterpart, but she’s not used to working with others, robot or otherwise. Of course, meeting each other turns everything Ratchet and Rivet know upside down, and leads to alternate realities that flip what you may know about the franchise, too, with references to other games in the franchise taking a bit of turn.
Much of the game, especially its quieter moments, focuses on introspection and self doubt. Ratchet isn’t sure how long he can keep the hero thing up. Rivet isn’t sure if she can overcome her loner tendencies. Heck, even Dr. Nefarious’ plan is based on the fact that he feels he’s not good enough in his own dimension.
Two Different Lombaxes, Same Crazy Gameplay
Rift Apart is a single-player third-person shooter with heavy platformer elements. Much of the game consists of sections in which you transverse different planets on foot. But to get to your goals, you’ll also wall-run, jump between platforms, stick to magnetic platforms, grind on rails and race with rocket boots.
The other big part is combat, where waves of enemies attack as you fight them off with increasingly bizarre weapons that you obtain from Mrs. Zurkon, a robot with enough southern charm that I’m sure she has a good cornbread recipe. These include the executor (a double barrelled shotgun), the lightning rod (yeah, it shoots lightning) and my personal favorite, the topiary sprinkler, which temporarily stuns enemies in place and turns them into landscaping. The game is heavy on the gunplay, but the violence is cartoony, making it more than appropriate for its E10+ rated target audience.
By time you’re done with the game, you’ll be shooting rockets, bullets, lasers and have tons of little minions at your command. As you move on and get more powerful, the combat shines more and more, with wackier weapons and higher stakes. Additionally, certain battle and puzzle areas have rifts that you can “tether” to in order to pull yourself around the stage, instantly loading the new area around you. It’s disorienting and a bit gimmicky, but ultimately provides some novelty in each part of the game.
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(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Beyond their species, Ratchet and Rivet are incredibly similar in that no matter which of them you’re playing as, the game feels exactly the same. The two share gadgets, controls and even weapons. Buy something as Rivet, and Ratchet will have it next time. On the one hand, this makes the game seamless. You never lose something you just saved up for because you switched to another character. But it also creates a bit of sameness when you’re playing as a new, interesting character.
Most of the missions contribute directly to moving the story forward, but there are some that branch out to encourage you to explore, and those tend to reward you with collectibles. Throughout the game, there are two other types of puzzles. The first, which largely features Clank, requires you to explore a level and use a number of powers (speed, antigravity, etc.) to move alternate-dimension “possibilities” throughout the level. It doesn’t make huge amounts of sense to the story, but they’re a fun way to put the spotlight on Clank. The others are worse. Early in the game, Ratchet meets a spider-like robot named Glitch, who can enter computers and fight viruses. Glitch has a small side-story, but it ultimately doesn’t affect the main narrative, and I found that it pulled too much attention from the plot that I actually cared about.
My other personal favorites, which I completed as soon as I could, were a series of combat challenges that provided tons of in-game unlockables and money for further upgrades. These fights have unique gimmicks, like randomizing weapons or changing gravity.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In combat, switching between weapons requires opening a menu and picking new arms. This has the effect of pausing fights often, and varieties of enemies, like some with shields that require attacks that don’t hit from the front, encourage you to switch. I personally liked the little pauses, as they gave me time to plan, but the game also lets you assign four weapons to the D-pad for quick switching. However, those four didn’t seem to serve enough, as I ultimately ended up using the larger menu.
All-in-all, my initial playthrough lasted about 16 hours per the PlayStation 5’s clock. (I don’t believe you should necessarily judge a game’s worthiness by it’s length.) That was with some, but not all, of the optional quests, nor did I find every single collectible or piece of armor, so there’s still plenty to go back for. For those looking to squeeze every bit out of their $70, there’s also a Challenge Mode that makes the game more difficult, provides new weapon upgrades and lets you earn far more bolts, the in-game currency.
I suspect some diehard fans will wish that the game were longer, though the story doesn’t necessarily require it.
The PS5’s SSD Makes the Difference
Rift Apart is the first major exclusive in the back-half of the PlayStation 5’s first year, and, in some ways, takes the most advantage of the system’s new features, both to its advantage and to its detriment.
We reviewed the game using pre-release code from Sony. For this review, we played primarily in Fidelity mode, which promises a stable 30 frames per second with ray tracing and other enhanced effects using a high quality image derived from a 4K base. We had less time with the day one patch, which adds Performance RT mode, which aims for 60 frames per second with fewer effects and a lower resolution; and performance mode, which eliminates more effects for a higher resolution 60 fps. It also fixed a few bugs from our first playthrough.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the game, with its mix of colorful, lush environments and the darker, grimmer environments was beautiful. There’s some nice fur effects, primarily in cutscenes. And no matter how much was happening on screen during the most intense battles (and they got pretty crazy towards the end), the game was stable.
Ultimately, though, I preferred playing at the higher frame rates. The 60 fps made combat and platforming puzzles, like pocket dimensions, look and feel smoother to play. It simply felt right to be playing it that way. Unless you’re gaming on a 4K TV, you shouldn’t even consider Fidelity. Even then, I think the sacrifice for frames is worth it.
But the star of the show here is the SSD. For most of the game, it feels as if there’s no loading at all, which is surprising when you’re pulled through multiple, complicated environments in just a few seconds as Ratchet, Rivet and Clank travel through rifts. This happens for the first time fairly early in the game, and it was clear then that the SSD, not the graphics, is the most important reason for a console owner to upgrade. Sure, PC gamers have had SSDs for years. But now we’re starting to see what happens when a game is designed around it.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
This wasn’t complete, though. There were a few sections where it felt like the game was slowing down to enable the game to load, which put those parts at odds with the rest of the game’s tempo. On one mid-game planet, I got into an elevator several times, and waited the entire ride while the characters had small-talk. After so much speed, everything, for a little bit, screeched to a halt until those rides were done.
Sure, when we saw Spider-Man: Miles Morales (and Spider-Man Remastered), it was surprising how quickly one could fast-travel around New York City. But here, it’s not just a feature – it’s integral to the story. That’s really cool.
The DualSense controller was a real mixed bag. While I was initially wowed — and sometimes continue to be — by the controller’s enhanced rumble and trigger features, it sometimes felt like Insomniac lacked restraint when using them. Every single effect in the game does something with the rumble, as does each gun. During combat, it’s a cacophony in your hands, as the controller vibrates and the triggers lock and unlock almost constantly. I did, however, get some joy out of the built-in speaker as I used the ricochet, a button which lets you fire and then bounce ammo off enemies. It made an arcade pinball sound that burst from the controller, which gave me a laugh.
You can turn down the rumble by switching to a “functional” mode that provides gameplay cues and nothing else, or shut it off altogether. This sometimes felt like it went too far in the other direction, as not every action you would expect provides feedback.
Bottom Line
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a chaotic thrill ride through space and, well, space in other dimensions. While the storytelling is not especially deep, it’s enough to make for a game that enables some creative platforming setpieces and intense combat.
(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Even when the game dips into the dark world of a facist leader, has heroes hide from tortured monsters or simply asks them to be introspective about their flaws, its soul is ultimately zany and upbeat. With the exception of a handful of side-puzzles, it’s a tight, fast-moving game with room for the cast to shine.
While the game doesn’t always feel like it’s taking full advantage of the PS5’s power, the near-instant changes in scenery powered by a game designed by an SSD is exciting. The developers would be well-served by being more conservative with the DualSense controller, though. The game has a lot of rumble, and sometimes it’s too much to be immersive.
Those looking for a moderately-sized family-friendly romp that takes advantage of the latest PlayStation’s features will likely enjoy Rift Apart and all of the bonkers experiences it provides.
There were times during Rift Apart, the latest entry in the Ratchet & Clank series, when I felt like treasure hunter Nathan Drake. Buildings collapsed around me as I made my way through perfectly tuned action set pieces, and I’d manage to jump out of the way of each explosion at just the right second. The only difference, of course, is Rift Apart is much cuter — think of it like a sci-fi, family-friendly take on Uncharted.
A combination of shooter and platformer, Ratchet & Clank has always been a series closely associated with PlayStation, and the last game — a 2016 reboot of the original — showed that it could also be a technical showcase. Rift Apart, meanwhile, might just be the most pivotal entry in the franchise to date. Thanks to cross-generation releases, true PS5 exclusives still remain vanishingly rare, even months into the console’s life. But Rift Apart is exactly that: a game you can only play on Sony’s next-gen console and one that actually takes advantage of the new hardware. It also happens to be an extremely fun adventure.
Though the series dates back to 2002, Rift Apart is largely a standalone story. It stars a fuzzy little fox creature named Ratchet (he’s actually an alien called a Lombax, believed to be the last of his kind) and his adorable robot companion Clank. As a nice intro for new players (and a refresher for longtime fans), the game starts with the pair being honored for their past achievements in a parade-like setting in front of a huge crowd of adoring onlookers. It even serves as a clever mini-tutorial — but it’s not long before the celebration is interrupted when longtime villain Dr. Nefarious attacks.
The core of Rift Apart is a device that can open up portals between dimensions. After yet another defeat, Nefarious uses the device to go to a dimension where he always wins — and he accidentally brings Ratchet and Clank along in the process. The two become separated. Ratchet is on his own for a while before befriending a tiny bot named Kit, while Clank teams up with another Lombax named Rivet. It’s a clever setup that has the new duos jumping across planets, searching for sci-fi MacGuffins to fix the device and return the dimensions back to normal. The setup is also great because it allows you to play as both characters in a way that feels organic; often, you have a choice of which planet to explore, and you’ll control whichever Lombax is closest.
Ratchet & Clank isn’t exactly a series known for its narrative, but Rift Apart pushes things quite a bit forward. The new characters, in particular, are a great addition, turning it from a wise-cracking caper into a story with real heart (though there are still lots of wisecracks). Rivet starts out as a pessimistic loner, but you get to watch her slowly learn how to trust and work with people, thanks to Clank’s calming presence. Likewise, for most of the game, Kit has a hard time connecting with anyone for reasons that become clear once you learn her surprisingly dark backstory. But this leads to some heartbreaking moments. At one point, in a fit of frustration, she yells, “Why do none of you understand? I am broken. I will always be broken!” This is not the level of emotional awareness I expected from a series with a character named Skidd McMarx. There are even side missions where you can learn more about Lombax lore.
The film-like quality of Rift Apart is heightened by the visuals. Simply put, the game looks incredible. I’ve said this about past games in the series, most notably the 2016 release on PS4, but it’s even more true now: playing Rift Apart is like being inside a gorgeous animated film. There’s a level of detail that you rarely see in games. You’ll venture through a densely packed sci-fi city that puts anything in Cyberpunk 2077 to shame and glide across desert wastelands, creepy underwater research facilities, and an incredibly charming gas station in space. It’s all rendered in a kid-friendly way but also with a sense of realism, whether it’s the gleam of a metallic robot or the fuzz on an alien sheep. Every time I saw Ratchet’s furry ears up close, I wanted to give him a pet and tell him he’s a good boy.
Rift Apart doesn’t just look great, but it runs incredibly well, too. I didn’t experience any slowdown during my time with the game, despite the fact that battles get pretty wild, with dozens of enemies on-screen and all kinds of projectiles flinging about. Ratchet is a series defined in part by its inventive weaponry; you’ll have guns that shoot razor blades, encase enemies in blocks of ice, and — my personal favorite — a grenade that launches a sprinkler, covering everything it touches in beautiful green foliage. Battles involve constantly switching between weapons and firing off all kinds of strange bombs and bullets, and yet I didn’t experience a single hiccup or stutter while playing. (Rift Apart also offers three different graphics options: “fidelity,” which runs at 30fps and features ray tracing, better lighting, and 4K support; “performance RT,” with 60fps and ray tracing, but lower resolution and fewer details and visual density; and “performance” which runs at 60fps but features increased resolution in place of ray-tracing.)
Perhaps even more impressive is that this happens with barely any noticeable load times. When you venture to a new planet, there’s a brief clip showing your ship taking off, but once you’re in a level, there’s no loading whatsoever. Likewise, the game transitions between cutscenes and gameplay seamlessly, to the point that sometimes I didn’t realize I had to pick the controller back up. One of the most impressive things in the game are the titular rifts. Essentially they’re cracks between dimensions, and you can see — and often enter — them to head to a completely different world. It’s wild standing in front of one and just staring through at a totally different location and then jumping into it without any friction whatsoever.
At its most basic, Rift Apart is a fairly standard action platformer. There are some nice diversions, including a side story involving a spider-bot that kills computer viruses, and a series of tricky puzzle rooms that reminded me a bit of the shrines from Breath of the Wild. But for the most part, you’re running around and shooting things. It’s straightforward, but it works: the gunplay is fun, there’s an almost overwhelming amount of variety in the weapons, and lots of cool spaces to move around in. At one point, you’re even riding a dragon. But all of this is elevated by how beautiful the game looks and how well it runs. Rift Apart is the kind of game where I keep stopping just to ogle at seemingly simple things like waves in water or the reflection on a glass cockpit. It shows the importance of aesthetics and style.
That said, the game is relatively linear. For the most part, that’s not an issue. The levels are big enough that you can still poke around and you never really feel boxed in. It also helps keep you from getting lost. (If you do, you can see your destination with a simple click of the right stick.) But what this does mean is that, much like in Uncharted, the big action set pieces follow a very specific path. When it works, it’s incredible, like you’re controlling an action movie sequence in real time. But if you miss a step or are unsure of what to do, everything falls apart. There were multiple times where I had to replay the same sequence a whole bunch of times because I missed the best way to time a jump or didn’t see a ramp with a speed boost on it. These moments are relatively rare, but they stand out because everything else is so seamless.
I should also note that Rift Apart makes great use of the PS5’s controller. In fact, aside from launch showcase Astro’s Playroom, it might be the best DualSense game so far. In one early sequence, for example, you have to find a dance club in a bustling alien city, and you’re able to do it by following the music through vibrations you feel in your hands. I especially loved how some of the weapons made use of the two states of the controller’s triggers; one lets you give a slight press to activate a shield, but when you push it all the way down, that shield turns into a destructive blast. It’s an intuitive way to add depth to the controls.
For the most part, Rift Apart doesn’t stray far from what has made Ratchet & Clank so enduring. The formula remains the same: silly characters, great graphics, and lots of interesting guns to play with. But virtually every element is better than it’s ever been, from the touching-if-goofy story to the frantic action set pieces. And through this Rift Apart becomes a showcase for why someone might go through all the trouble to secure a PS5. It shows how more detailed worlds and faster load times can elevate a tried-and-true formula — and it might even make you care about Lombax lore in the process.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart launches on the PlayStation 5 on June 11th.
Just in time for E3 2021, the next edition of the Future Games Show is set to air. Run by our sister site, GamesRadar+, with sponsor WD_BLACK, the Future Games Show will feature game announcements, trailers and updates from more than 40 new PC and console titles when it airs on June 13th at 7 pm ET.
Airing on GamesRadar+ and social networks Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the show will be hosted by Last of Us 2 voice actors Laura Bailey and Troy Baker. Participating game publishers include SEGA, Team17, Private Division and XSEED Games.
“Last year was arguably the most challenging year for games development,” Baker said. “Now we’re starting to see the games that will emerge this year and beyond. I’ve gotten a small peek behind the curtain and I can’t wait to pull that curtain back even further for you on June 13.”
(Image credit: Future)
The three previous Future games shows drew an audience of 45 million viewers combined. An official partner of E3, the show takes place on the same day as the PC Gaming Show, run by our other sister site PC Gamer. Starting at 2 pm ET, the PC Gaming show will feature 39 new game trailers and be hosted by Frankie Ward and Mica Burton.
“GamesRadar is thrilled to bring the Future Games Show to its widest audience yet as an official partner of E3 2021 and The /twitchgaming gathering,” said Daniel Dawkins, Content Director of Games and Film at Future Plc. “Our amazing hosts Troy Baker and Laura Bailey look forward to sharing some of the most exciting, quirky and anticipated games of 2021 and beyond; followed by unrivalled post-show coverage and deep-dives on gamesradar.com.”
Floyd ‘Money Man’ Mayweather is set for a blockbuster showdown with YouTube ‘personality’ Logan Paul at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sunday 6th June. Mayweather has called the eight-round exhibition bout “legalised bank robbery”. It’s a $50 pay-per-view in the US but only £17 in the UK. Follow our guide on how to watch a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world.
Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream
Date: Sunday 6th June 2021
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL, USA
Start time: 1am BST / 8pm ET / 10am AEST
Mayweather vs Logan Paul: 4am BST / 11pm ET / 1pm AEST
UK stream: Sky Sports Box Office (£16.95)
Watch anywhere: Try ExpressVPN
US stream: Showtime ($49.99)
AUS stream: Main Event ($49.99)
Rest of world: Fanmio($49.99)
So, can one of greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time beat one of social media’s biggest stars? Mayweather vs Logan Paul: Bragging Rights certainly got off to a spicy start this week when Mayweather allegedly punched Logan Paul’s brother at the press conference.
“It’s one thing to sell a fight, and people can say what they want, but one thing no one is going to do, is disrespect me,” Mayweather fumed. “The boxing was the mashed potatoes. I guess these guys now are the gravy.”
Mayweather is undefeated (50-0, 27 KOs) having ended his professional career with a 10th-round stoppage of UFC star Conor McGregor back in August 2017. The Money Man might be a 44-year-old dad of five, but his famous speed and accuracy makes him clear favourite to take this bout.
That said, 26-year-old Logan Paul will be 30lb heavier when he steps into the ring and has a 4-inch reach advantage over his opponent. Paul returns to the ring for the first time after losing to fellow social media star KSI in November by split decision.
It’s an exhibition, so there will be no judges and no official winner. Knock outs will be the referee’s decision. The eight three-minute rounds will be boxed without headgear. The packed undercard features former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson making his boxing debut against Brian Maxwell.
Sunday’s unmissable PPV is much cheaper in some countries than in others. Here’s how to find a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world…
Watch Mayweather vs Logan Paul for only £16.95
(Image credit: Sky Sports Box Office)
UK boxing fans can catch this weekend’s big fight live on Sky Sports Box Office for £16.95. Some have grumbled at the price but it’s less than half what it costs in other countries. So, in that sense, it’s a bargain.
If you’re a UK citizen trying to watch from the US or Australia, you can always use a VPN to access a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream from anywhere in the world. We recommend ExpressVPNas it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
You don’t have to be a Sky subscriber. You can watch Mayweather vs Logan Paul online through the Sky Sports Box Office app and website. Simply set up a Box Office account, buy the fight, and you’re good to go.
Mayweather vs Logan Paul: Get the big fight for £16.95
Sky Sports has the rights to the epic Mayweather vs Logan Paul exhibition boxing match. Non-Sky customers can stream the event live for only £16.95 across a range of mobile devices including the iPad. Order in advance and ready for the big fight!
Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream anywhere in the world using a VPN
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Mayweather vs Logan Paul rights holders, you won’t be able to access these streaming services when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN.
Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch Canelo vs Saunders on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There’s 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up.
US: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream
(Image credit: Showtime)
US boxing fans looking for a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream will need to pay-per-view. Showtime has the exclusive and is charging $49.99. Ouch.
UK boxing fans who find themselves in the States this weekend can use a VPN to watch the boxing via Sky Box Office for only £16.95. We recommend ExpressVPN as it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
Brian Custer, the veteran sportscaster, will host the Showtime event and will be joined by Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, hosts of the hit late-night Desus & Mero show. The duo will provide their brand of off-the-wall commentary throughout the night.
The Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream will be available through Showtime’s website and apps (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, Apple TV 4th Gen+, Xbox One).
Australia: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream
Aussie boxing fans can order a Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream through Main Event. The price? A one-off fee of AU$49.95.
UK boxing fans who find themselves in Oz this weekend can use a VPN to watch the boxing via Sky Box Office for only £16.95. We recommend ExpressVPN as it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
Rest of the World: Mayweather vs Logan Paul live stream
Not in the UK, US or Australia this weekend? Fanmio has you covered. The streaming site is charging $49.99 for pay-per-view access. It’s not cheap but the price does include a limited edition Mayweather vs Logan Paul T-shirt (you have to the pay the shipping, though, so it’s not entirely ‘free’).
Mayweather vs Logan Paul free live stream
Sadly there are no opportunities for get yourself a Mayweather vs Logan Paul free live stream. The cheapest option is Sky Sports Box Office in the UK (£16.95)
Mayweather vs Logan Paul fight card
(Image credit: Sky Sports Box Office)
Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul – Exhibition
Badou Jack vs Dervin Colina – Light Heavyweight
Jarrett Hurd vs Luis Arias – Middleweight
Chad Johnson vs Brian Maxwell – Cruiserweight
Jean Carlos Torres vs Zack Kuhn – Junior Welterweight
Adrian Benton vs Pedro Angel Cruz – Lightweight
Micky Scala vs Adam Ramirez – Junior Middleweight
Dorian Khan vs Jonathan Conde – Featherweight
Jalil Hackett vs Angelo Diaz – Welterweight
Viddal Riley vs Quintell Thompson – Cruiserweight
Mayweather vs Logan Paul tale of the tape
Name: Floyd ‘Money Man’ Mayweather – Logan ‘The Maverick’ Paul
Nationality: American – American
Date of birth: 24th Feb 1977 – 1st April 1995
Height: 5ft 8 inches – 6ft 2 inches
Reach: 72 inches – 76 inches
Total fights: 50 – 1
Record: 50-0, 27 KOs – 0-1, 0 KOs
Floyd Mayweather on Logan Paul
“It’s going to be fun. It’s what I do. There’s a difference between being a YouTube fighter and an elite fighter. I’m a fighter, and I don’t worry about anything. I’ve been a professional for 25 years, and I’ve fought the best and seen every style, and I always came out on top.
“Why not fight Logan Paul? He’s huge on YouTube. He has a huge following. Before I even knew about YouTube, I was huge in boxing. And when you bring his world with my world, man, it’s going to be crazy.
“I never worry about the height or size. It’s all about the skills. That’s one thing about Floyd Mayweather. I’ve got skills.
“The boxing was the mashed potatoes. I guess these guys now are the gravy. I retired from boxing, but I didn’t retire from entertainment or from making money.”
Logan Paul on Floyd Mayweather
“I didn’t choose boxing; boxing chose me. I got challenged to box, and I answered that challenge. I kind of fell perfectly into the sport. Truthfully, boxing is easier on the body than MMA. MMA is hard. I got bad knees. I’m old now. I’m ageing. My upper body is strong, and I have dense bones. My strength is all in my upper body.
“I’m going in there with that energy, and he’s got everything to lose. There’s a lot on the table for him, not a lot on the table for me, and that’s a dangerous man… It’s a fight, so anything can happen.”
(Image credit: Future / The Boy From Medellin, Amazon Prime)
Sony is giving away a £50/€50 PlayStation Store voucher with select Bravia XR TVs.
The promotion is already up and running in seven European countries: UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. All you need to do is pick out a Bravia XR TV (LED or OLED) at a participating retailer between June 1st and July 31st 2021.
According to the official announcement on Sony’s website, you can redeem the £50/€50 gift card for, “anything on PlayStation Store: games, add-ons, subscriptions and more”.
Not familiar with Bravia XR? The range boasts some of the best TVs in the Sony 2021 TV line-up and featues the Japanese giant’s “cognitive intelligence” tech, which aims to optimise every pixel, frame and scene to produce the most lifelike picture possible.
As you’d expect the Bravia XR range is a decent match for a next-gen console such as the PS5. The presence of HDMI 2.1 with support for 4K@120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) should help you max out the PS5’s capabilities.
The XR line-up covers Sony’s top-tier models. The 55-inch A80J starts at £1999/€2299 (around $2800, AU$3600) while the A90J Master Series, the firm’s top 4K OLED for 2021 costs from £2699 ($2800, around AU$3700). Not cheap, but recently we called the 55-inch XR-55A90J “simply one of the best TVs we’ve tested”.
The Bravia XR models also come with free access to Bravia CORE, Sony’s high-bitrate video streaming service, which promises lossless Blu-ray-quality “streaming up to 80Mbps.”
MORE:
Your guide to the Sony 2021 TV line-up
Samsung 2021 TV lineup: everything you need to know
We recently noticed that Alienware’s just-announced X15 and X17 thin andvaguely light gaming laptops are conspicuously missing a port — and it’s not because they’re thin-and-light, it turns out. Alienware has just confirmed to The Verge that it has discontinued the Alienware Graphics Amplifier external GPU, and so these laptops won’t need that proprietary port anymore. The company isn’t saying whether it’ll offer a future eGPU, but pointed us to off-the-shelf Thunderbolt ones instead.
The Alienware Graphics Amp was first introduced in 2014 for $299 and designed to be a companion to the company’s midrange Alienware 13, giving it the vast majority of the power of a desktop graphics card plus four extra full-size USB ports when docked. I liked the combo well enough. But over the years, Alienware added the port to practically every laptop (and some of its more compact desktops, like the Alienware X51 mini-tower and Alienware Alpha R2 console-sized PC) it released, including the company’s flagship Area-51M which was designed to have built-in upgrades of its own.
With an included 460W power supply devoted entirely to the GPU, and a price that dipped to $199 and occasionally $150, the Amp managed to stay competitive for quite a while in the fairly niche market of eGPUs, which generally use manufacturer-agnostic Thunderbolt 3 ports instead of proprietary cables (and can often charge your laptop as well).
It’s not clear when Alienware discontinued the Amp. The Wayback Machine shows it was still live as of November 2020, and Dell last updated its support page in April 2021 — without adding compatibility for the latest wave of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards.
The new Alienware M15 R5 and M15 R6 also omit the Graphics Amplifier port. It’ll be interesting to see if this is the end for Alienware’s dreams of upgradable laptops; certainly the Amp lasted a lot longer than the idea of offering new chips for the giant Area-51m laptop.
The Rimac C_Two concept has evolved into a production-ready electric hypercar called the Nevera, and it’s still just as absurd as it was three years when it first broke cover at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.
Powered by a 120kWh battery pack, the Nevera uses four electric motors — one for each wheel — to put down an almost unbelievable 1.4MW of power, which Rimac says is roughly equivalent to 1,914 horsepower. The quad-motor setup can push the car to 60 miles per hour from a standstill in just 1.85 seconds. It has a top speed of 258 miles per hour.
What’s more, Rimac says one of the things it worked on over the last three years was improving the battery pack’s liquid cooling system, meaning drivers can use that peak power for longer before the batteries start to complain.
To make sure drivers have a fighting chance at controlling that amount of power, Rimac developed a new all-wheel torque vectoring system that basically acts as both an electronic stability and traction control system. The software can make “over 100 calculations per second to tailor the level of torque to achieve the desired driving style,” Rimac says in the press release for the Nevera. Braking in a car like this is also important, and Rimac has designed the Nevera to be able to dynamically adjust the balance of the braking force between the friction brakes in the wheels and the regenerative braking made possible by the electric motors.
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
Image: Rimac
If that’s not enough, Rimac has developed an “AI driving coach” feature that leverages the Nevera’s 12 ultrasonic and six radar sensors, as well as 13 cameras to help “optimize and enhance the driver’s on-track performance.” It does this by providing track-specific audio and visual cues for when to brake for, where to turn into, and when to accelerate out of a corner.
Of course, very few people will have to worry about whether they can properly pilot a Nevera. Rimac is only making 150 of them, and they’ll each start around $2.4 million.
A big part of that price tag is Nevera’s lavish tech. The monocoque is the largest single carbon fiber piece in the automotive industry, according to the company, dramatically cutting weight and improving safety. The H-shaped battery pack is structurally integrated into that monocoque, too, keeping the center of gravity low and adding to the overall structural stiffness. To keep the ride smooth, the Nevera has a double wishbone suspension that uses electronically controlled dampers, which also makes for easy ride height adjustments.
Inside the cockpit, there are three screens: a driver display, a horizontal touchscreen in the center console, and a passenger display. There’s also an accompanying mobile app, which offers live track data, and the ability to download telemetry so drivers can analyze their performance.
The other part of the price tag is that Rimac will customize basically every other aspect of the Nevera hypercar for buyers:
No two Neveras will leave the Rimac factory looking the same or bearing the same specification, thanks to customers’ ability to choose from a comprehensive range of bespoke trims and material options. In addition to the company’s premium individual personalization program, Rimac will offer its flagship in various editions: GT, Signature, Timeless or the customers can choose to go Bespoke.
Each buyer will even be “invited to Croatia to design his or her car to their exacting requirements,” Rimac says.
As if that isn’t enough to convince someone to pony up $2 million and change, the company says founder Mate Rimac will personally test each Nevera that gets built.
The funny thing about a car like the Nevera is that it’s not alone. There is a growing stable of absurdly priced electric hypercars that can make nearly 2,000 horsepower. Lotus has the Evija, while Pininfarina has the Battista. (There are a few hybrid options in this class, too.) What’s made Rimac unique is that it really was a sort of go-it-alone effort, one that Mate Rimac built from the ground up.
That said, Mate Rimac says in the press release for the Nevera that it “is the car I had in mind when I embarked on the ‘impossible’ journey ten years ago.” His company now has backing from Porsche, which is reportedly working with Rimac to make electric hypercars for the German automaker’s sibling brand, Bugatti. Hyundai has also tossed Rimac some coin. While the Nevera looks like a truly thrilling electric hypercar, the most exciting thing about what Rimac’s been doing for the last decade might be whatever comes next.
Remember when Elon Musk claimed you’d be able to play The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 on a 10 teraflop gaming rig he’s stuffing into the new Tesla Model S and X? AMD is officially providing the guts — during its Computex 2021 keynote, the chipmaker just revealed that the new Tesla infotainment system consists of an AMD Ryzen processor paired with an AMD RDNA 2 GPU.
“So we actually have an AMD Ryzen APU powering the infotainment system in both cars as well as a discrete RDNA2-based GPU that kicks in when running AAA games, providing up to 10 teraflops of compute power…. we look forward to giving gamers a great platform for AAA gaming,” says AMD CEO Lisa Su.
And if you combine that information with another piece of news AMD revealed today, plus a earlier leak in January, we may now have a passing idea of how powerful that “10 teraflop” infotainment system could theoretically be: likely a little less than Sony’s PS5.
You see, leaker Patrick Schur dug up a Tesla block diagram in January that singled out an AMD Navi 23 GPU specifically for Tesla’s new vehicles, and today AMD announced the new Radeon 6800M, 6700M and 6600M laptop graphics chips — the weakest of which just so happens to use Navi 23, AnandTech reports.
As we learned today, that Radeon 6600M chip comes with 28CUs and 1792 shader units— compared to the 36CUs and an estimated 2304 shader units worth of RDNA 2 GPU in Sony’s PlayStation 5, which also claims to be a 10-teraflop gaming rig. While it’s not quite apples-to-apples, it’s largely the same technology beneath, and a smaller number of cores on the same GPU architecture suggests we should expect slightly less performance from a Tesla compared to Sony’s console. (The higher-end Radeon 6700M / Navi 22 has the same number of CUs as the PS5, for what it’s worth.)
Performance depends on the software platform, though, as we’ve seen with the 10-teraflop PS5 and the 12-teraflop Xbox Series X — and a recent job posting by Tesla suggests game developers may actually be building for Linux if they want to target the new Tesla in-car gaming rigs.
Linux isn’t necessarily a benefit when it comes to gaming performance, though. Google’s Stadia cloud gaming also boasted 10 teraflops of performance from its AMD GPUs, but ports of games from Bungie and Square Enix didn’t look nearly as good as they did on weaker Xbox and PC hardware at the service’s launch.
The most important question is probably still the one I asked back in January, though: Who is going to sit in their $80,000 sports car and play a triple-A video game?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that the Model S Plaid, which includes the new AMD system, will start deliveries on June 10th.
Acer is growing its Predator lineup of its best gaming monitors with some extreme specs that should appeal to both console and PC gamers who enjoy the finer things in life. The company announced three upcoming 4K gaming displays today, including a 42.5 inch model with HDMI 2.1 and a 37.5 incher with the Nvidia’s G-Sync ESports Mode, which was originally released for 360 Hz monitors.
Acer Predator CG437K S
Starting with the largest of the screens, the Acer Predator CG437K S is 42.5 inches and will compete with the best 4K gaming monitors for console gamers, thanks to its HDMI 2.1 port. The glory of HDMI 2.1 over the old HDMI 2.0 is that with the newer port, you can enjoy uncompressed 4K video at up to 120 Hz, instead of 60 Hz. You can also use a variable refresh rate to fight screen tearing when the console and monitor’s speeds don’t match up.
Acer Predator CG437K S’ RGB strips (Image credit: Acer)
This is particularly appealing to owners of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which don’t have any DisplayPorts and, thus, need HDMI 2.1 for you to enjoy 4K gaming at the fastest refresh rates. In January, Acer introduced its first HDMI 2.1 monitor, the 28-inch Nitro XV282K KV, but clearly Acer is going bigger now.
PC gamers aren’t left behind though. The Predator CG437K S has G-Sync Compatibility too. It also boasts a handy USB hub with two USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports each and even USB-C delivering power at up to 30W. But 30W is low compared to the 240W maximum introduced yesterday (before then, the max was 100W). A KVM switch is handy for those who want to use the monitor with multiple PCs, and you also get HDR with the same level of certification as some of the best HDR monitors: VESA DisplayHDR 1000.
According to Acer, the Predator CG437K S will debut sometime in November for $1,800.Starting with the largest of the screens, the Acer Predator CG437K S is 42.5 inches and will compete with the best 4K gaming monitors for console gamers, thanks to its HDMI 2.1 port. The glory of HDMI 2.1 over the old HDMI 2.0 is that with the newer port, you can enjoy uncompressed 4K video at up to 120 Hz, instead of 60 Hz. You can also use a variable refresh rate to fight screen tearing when the console and monitor’s speeds don’t match up.
This is particularly appealing to owners of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which don’t have any DisplayPorts and, thus, need HDMI 2.1 for you to enjoy 4K gaming at the fastest refresh rates. In January, Acer introduced its first HDMI 2.1 monitor, the 28-inch Nitro XV282K KV, but clearly Acer is going bigger now.
PC gamers aren’t left behind though. The Predator CG437K S has G-Sync Compatibility too. It also boasts a handy USB hub with two USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports each and even USB-C delivering power at up to 30W. BUt 30W is low compared to the 240W maximum introduced yesterday (before then, the max was 100W). A KVM switch is handy for those who want to use the monitor with multiple PCs, and you also get HDR with the same level of certification as some of the best HDR monitors: VESA DisplayHDR 1000.
According to Acer, the Predator CG437K S will debut sometime in November for $1,800.
Acer Predator X38 S
Acer Predator X38 S (Image credit: Acer)
The Predator X38 S more targets PC gamers with competition-level skills. The 37.5-incher includes Nvidia’s G-Sync ESports Mode. The image preset debuted with 360 Hz monitors in September and, according to Nvidia, “ensures the lowest latency by turning off variable backlight,” makes blacks look darker and tweaks gamma “to offset darker contrast areas, allowing players to better distinguish objects in dark areas.” Nvidia also says the mode is specifically made for competitive titles, like CS:GO. We haven’t seen it in action, but you can check out a demo form Nvidia (so take it with a grain of salt) here.
Further appealing to gamers looking to squeeze out as much performance as possible, the Predator X38 S has a 0.3ms GTG response time coupled with a refresh rate that can hit as high as 175 Hz if you overclock it. There’s also Nvidia’s Reflex Latency Analyzer for checking if your system is competition-ready and G-Sync Ultimate.
This is an ultra-wide, 2300R curved monitor, which Acer claims will really help “immersive gameplay.” HDR also drops a certification level compared to the Predator CG437K S to DisplayHDR 600, (which requires a minimum peak brightness of 600 nits), but that should be fine for gaming.
All that makes the Predator X38 S cost even more then the Predator CG437K S: $2,000.
Acer Predator X28
Acer Predator X28 (Image credit: Acer)
The 28-inch Acer Predator X28’s refresh rate can climb as high as 155 Hz with overclock, and it has a 1ms GTG response time. It’s also supposed to be color-accurate. Acer is claiming a color error of under 1 Delta E (dE) with its IPS panel, which would make its color accuracy on par with expensive monitors geared toward creative professionals.
HDR performance will probably not be a big advantage of though, as Acer opted for DisplayHDR 400 certification here.
This smaller, 28-inch screen is a little cheaper than the aforementioned screens. Acer says the Predator X28 will arrive in August for $1,300.
The 105th Indy 500 date is set and the race underway this Sunday, live from the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The biggest oval race of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series will see 135,000 fans (in face masks, of course) cheer on defending Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and pole-sitter Scott Dixon as they compete for the Borg-Warner Trophy and a bottle of ice-cold milk.
Ready to lay down some rubber at the Brickyard? Carb day (final practice) starts at 4pm BST on Friday, followed by the epic, 200-lap Indy 500 race on Sunday for an Indy 500 start time of 5.45pm BST (12.45pm ET). Make sure you know how to watch an Indy 500 live stream wherever you are in the world.
Indy 500 live stream
Start time: 5.45pm BST / 12.45am ET / 2.45am AEST
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana
US streams: NBC Sports | FuboTV (free trial)
Watch anywhere: Try ExpressVPN risk-free today
UK stream: Sky Sports F1 | Now
AUS stream: KayoSports
Buy tickets: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
This year’s 500-mile extravaganza will take about 3 hours to complete, depending on pitstops, crashes and safety cars. The 33-car field will be led away by six-time IndyCar champ – the greatest driver of his generation – Scott Dixon. The Iceman secured pole last weekend by just 0.03 seconds in a thrilling Fast Nine.
“It was pretty hairy, glad it’s over. It was definitely pretty tense,” Dixon told Fox News. “I could see the mechanics working on the car as we rolled through, adjusting the wings. I asked them not to tell me. It’s definitely a roller coaster of emotions for everybody and I’m actually really relieved that that’s all over.”
Colton Herta captured second place. The 21-year-old Andretti Autosport driver put in a monster lap to bump 20-year-old Dutchman Rinus VeeKay into third place. The aptly-named Will Power smacked the wall on the final lap but will still make the race. Simona de Silvestro will get her first start since 2015 (last year’s race lacked a female driver for the first time in 20 years).
Anything can happen in IndyCar, but with Dixon set for his sixth front row start in his 19th Indy 500, the No. 9 Dallara-Honda is now odds-on favourite to the take the honours once more.
The 2021 Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge starts at 5.45pm UK time on Sunday. You can even stream the action on your TV and a host of devices including Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS and Android devices.
Make sure you know how to watch an Indy 500 live stream from anywhere in the world.
Feast your eyes on the best TVs you can buy
Indy 500 live stream for only €9.99
(Image credit: Wikipedia / TPSDave – indianapolis-motor-speedway-1848561 archive copy)
Those in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus and Israel can watch an Indy 500 live stream using DAZN, the subscription-based sports streaming service. The price varies from region to region and there’s also a free trial which means you could watch the Indy 500 for free!
Those in the Czech Republic will be able to sign up for €9.99 per month to watch the Indy 500 live stream. There’s no lock-in contract, so you can cancel anytime.
Going to be outside the CR this weekend? Simply use a VPN to access your chosen Indy 500 live stream without being blocked. Try ExpressVPN risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Free trial available
Indy 500 live stream on DAZN for €9.99
DAZN has the rights to the Indy 500, UFC, Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, US Sports, Fightsports, and much more live and on demand in selected countries. Try for 1 month. Cancel at anytime.
The DAZN app is available on Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Sticks, as well as selected smart TVs including Android TV, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Philips.
If you have a games console, look for the DAZN app on Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. You can also download the DAZN app for Android and iOS mobile devices.
Watch an Indy 500 live stream using a VPN
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Indy 500 rights holders, you won’t be able to access them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN which offers a 100 per cent risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There’s 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up. Try it – you’ll be surprised how simple it is.
How to watch the Indy 500 in the USA
(Image credit: Wikipedia / Greg Hildebrand from Plymouth, IN – 2011 Indy 500874)
The Indy 500 race will air on NBC. Pre-race coverage starts at 9am ET on NBCSN, moving to NBC at 11am and finishing at 4pm. It also will be available to stream via the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com.
Not got cable? US fans also have to option to watch the Indy 500 via FuboTV, a streaming service that carries NBC and offers a free 7-day trial.
FuboTV supports Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Android phones/tablets. You can also use FuboTV to watch the Indy 500 on your TV using Google Chromecast or Apple Airplay.
After the FuboTV trial ends, you’ll be bumped onto the $65 a month plan, which includes access to a host of premium TV channels. There’s no lock-in contract, so you can cancel at any time – and before the free trial ends, if you so wish.
Can I watch the Indy 500 in 4K?
FuboTV is a great way to watch the the occasional sporting event in 4K Ultra HD, but, sadly, not the 2021 Indy 500.
How to watch the Indy 500 in the UK
(Image credit: Sky)
Sky has the rights to show the Indy 500 in the UK. You can watch live on Sky Sports F1, or via the SkyGo app. The build-up starts at 3.45pm with the race set to get underway at 5.45pm.
Not a Sky subscriber? Anyone can enjoy the Indy 500 using Sky’s pay-per-view platform, Now. Now is available on all good smart TVs and set-top-boxes. A one-day pass costs from £9.99 gets you live coverage of F1, football, golf and more.
Now Sports Pass Watch the Indy 500 from just £9.99 A day pass for sports on Now can cost as little as £9.99, with a monthly pass coming in at £33.99 for those wanting to see the Indy 500 plus a few F1 grand prix, as well as football, golf and tennis.
How to watch the Indy 500 in Australia
(Image credit: Kayo)
Fox Sports has the rights to screen the 2021 IndyCar Series down under. Aussies seeking an Indy 500 live stream should click onto Kayo Sports.
The streaming platform’s premium package costs AU$35 per month but you can grab a free 14-day trial here.
Indy 500 schedule
5am ET – Garage opens
6am ET – Gates open
6.30am ET – Tech inspection
8.15am ET – Cars pushed to pit lane
10.30am ET – Cars on the starting grid
11:47am ET – Driver introductions
12.38pmET– Command to start engines
12.45pm ET – Green flag for the 105th Indy 500
Why does the Indy 500 winner drink milk?
The tradition dates to 1936, when Louis Meyer won his third Indy 500. It’s said that Meyer used to drink buttermilk to refresh himself on hot days, and when a photographer snapper a picture of him guzzling from a glass bottle in victory lane, the picture appeared in several newspapers.
It wasn’t long before a canny marketing executive representing the Milk Federation realised that ‘winners drink milk’ was a great way to sell the American public yet more milk. Ever since then, aside from a short hiatus between 1946-55, the winner of the Indy 500 has been presented with a bottle of ice-cold milk (actually it was a whole churn last year).
There was uproar in 1993 when contrary Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi mugged off the milk in favour of a bottle of orange juice. Some sections of the audience booed but Fittipaldi had the last laugh when he was revealed as the owner of a 500,000-acre orange grove in Brazil. Fittipaldi was later forced to issue an apology.
Nintendo could announce its OLED Switch console in the next couple of weeks. Sources have told Bloomberg that the portable games console could be unveiled ahead of the E3 gaming conference which kicks off on 12th June.
Assembly is planned to start in July, with the console going on sale in September or October, they added.
An announcement ahead of E3 would let publishers showcase their full range of Switch games at the conference.
The new machine is likely to be more expensive than the current model, which it will eventually replace, leaving the OLED model and Switch Lite as the two models in Nintendo’s line.
The new console is thought to be called the Nintendo Switch Pro, though its official name is only known to a handful of people within Nintendo.
Its main selling point is the screen. According to leaks, it will be bigger than the current model’s (7in vs 6.2in) and use OLED technology to offer better contrast and colour (the current model has an LCD display). OLED is also more energy-efficient, which could mean better battery life – crucial for a console you can play on your travels.
It’s also thought to boast a new Nvidia chip with 4K upscaling, which would make game graphics look far better on a big-screen TV without the need for huge file sizes.
Next-gen games consoles are in the midst of a chip shortage caused by the pandemic, meaning the PS5 and Xbox Series X have been in short supply since launching in November 2020. Hopefully, the situation will be a distant memory by September, or will the Nintendo Switch Pro be another console that struggles to meet demand?
MORE:
Next-gen console showdown: PS5 vs Xbox Series X: which is better?
Find your Xbox: Xbox Series X stock update
And the same for the PS5: Sony PS5 stock and where to buy
In February, Sony revealed it was selling the PlayStation 5 at a loss — but that’s imminently about to change. The PS5 should hit break-even in June, and become profitable the very same month, according to a presentation the company shared with investors (PDF) during its investor day today.
Needless to say, that’s fast — happening before the company has even managed to catch up with demand, in the midst of a global chip shortage. (We bemoaned the needless drama of buying a PS5 just days ago!)
Mind you, this is for the standard PS5, the one where Sony has to supply a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive and pay as much as $8 per console in licensing fees, and charges you an extra $100 at retail. It’s not clear if Sony’s driveless PS5 Digital Edition is more or less profitable.
Profitability isn’t the only intriguing disclosure in Sony’s presentation, though. Buried in the filing is the excellent news that an incredible game is coming to PC — the previously PS4/PS5 exclusive Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, a blockbuster action game that we loved enough to write both spoiler-free and multiple spoiler-iffic reviews.
Sony had previously promised more PlayStation exclusives would come to PC, and Sony’s presentation makes it clear why the company is interested. See that little “ROI 250%+” note? If I’m reading it correctly, that means the iffy PC port of Horizon: Zero Dawn nonetheless managed to make more than double the money that Sony invested in bringing it to gaming computers.
It makes me wonder, very strongly, about the mysterious circumstances that surrounded Sony’s announcements of Demon’s Souls and Final Fantasy XVI.
Oh, by the way: sure looks like Sony just confirmed that God of War: Ragnarok is the official name of that upcoming game! Could be a mistake or a juxtaposition of two vaguely related logos, though.
Also genuinely surprising to see them maybe just confirm God of War: Ragnarok as the next game’s official title?
After we’ve all spent so long calling it that, makes sense to lean in, I suppose! pic.twitter.com/7YYm6cngZ9
— Jonathon Dornbush (@jmdornbush) May 26, 2021
Correction: Sony’s presentation today came from its Investor Day, not its Corporate Strategy Meeting. The Corporate Strategy Meeting was yesterday.
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