AMD this week made select capabilities of its FidelityFX package available to Microsoft Xbox Series X|S developers. For Xbox Series X|S, AMD makes available FidelityFX Contrast Adaptive Sharpening (CAS), Variable Shading, and ray-traced shadow Denoiser technologies, which are already supported by numerous PC games.
AMD’s FidelityFX is a collection of technologies that can greatly enhance visual quality of games or improve their performance without noticeable degradation of image quality. AMD has introduced eight FidelityFX technologies.
AMD’s Luminance Preserving Mapper for HDR-supporting FreeSync Premium Pro monitors
Single Pass Downsampler (SPD)
Parallel Sort (optimized version of the radix sort algorithm)
So far, game developers have implemented support for CAS, CACAO, and SPD on PCs, but eventually AMD expects developers to adopt more technologies from the package. One of the most anticipated FidelityFX technologies is AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), a rival for Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). Unfortunately, this technology is currently not supported either on PC or Xbox X|S.
Making ingredients from the FidelityFX package available on Microsoft’s latest game consoles has a lot of rationale for AMD. Firstly, the consoles come in two configurations and it is easier for developers to make sure everything works on them as they do not have to test over a dozen of different RDNA/RDNA2-based graphics cards that are used by gamers. This is barely important for those 40 games that already support CAS (as well as CACAO and SPD) on Windows PCs, but for those titles that yet have to support CAS, variable shading, and ray-traced shadow denoiser supporting them on consoles first makes quite a lot of sense.
Secondly, at around 4.5 million consoles sold to date, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S have a larger installed base that AMD’s entire RDNA2 lineup, so game developers are more inclined to use the collection of FidelityFX technologies (well, three of them at this point) for the new consoles rather than for the latest graphics cards. Of course, it would make even more sense for AMD to get its FidelityFX to the latest Xbox Series X|S and to PlayStation 5 (i.e., to over 11.5 million systems) to popularize the package, but right now the collection seems to be a more PC centric.
Earlier AMD said that it was going to support arguably the most anticipated FidelityFX Super Resolution technology available on all RDNA/RDNA2 platforms, which includes PCs running AMD’s Radeon RX 5000 and Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S, and Sony’s PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, the company has not disclosed when it plans to roll out its FSR.
Twitter user InstLatX64 has discovered a mysterious AMD 4700S processor that’s evidently part of an AMD 4700S Desktop Kit. It’s plausible that the developer kit is the same one that Microsoft was utilizing to develop one of its Xbox consoles.
Although not officially a member of the Ryzen family, we suspect that the AMD 4700S probably takes after the Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) mobile APUs. If that’s the case, the AMD 4700S should be employing AMD’s Zen 2 cores, meaning this could be an engineering sample of the processor that powers the Xbox Series X or Series S.
The Xbox Series X and Series S utilize a custom octa-core AMD Zen 2 processor. Other than the clock speeds, no official name was given to the chip. The one inside the Series X features a 3.8 GHz clock speed and 3.6 GHz clock with SMT, while the variant for the Series S is clocked at 3.6 GHz with a 3.4 GHz SMT clock.
A Geekbench 5 submission (via Leakbench), which dates back to March 29, shows the AMD 4700S with an eight-core, 16-thread configuration and 8MB of L3 cache. The obscure processor’s specifications coincide with mobile Renoir for sure. The AMD 4700S seemingly sports a 3.6 GHz base clock and 4 GHz boost clock. The desktop kit reportedly comes equipped with 16GB of memory as well.
The AMD 4700S scored 998 points and 8,589 points in the single-and multi-core benchmarks, respectively. For comparison, the Ryzen 9 4900HS, which is the Ryzen 4000 flagship, averaged 1,083 points in the single-core test and 6,994 points in the multi-core test. While the Ryzen 9 4900HS delivered up to 8.5% higher single-core performance, the AMD 4700S offered up to 22.8% higher multi-core performance.
What’s even stranger is that AMD recently released the firmware and corresponding drivers for the AMD 4700S Desktop Kit. There are drivers for the chipset, onboard audio and the Ethernet port. Digging a bit into the firmware, we found mentions of Cardinal, which could be the internal codename that AMD is using for this particular desktop kit. The files are dated yesterday (April 19), so they are very fresh.
Developer kits aren’t typically available to the general public. However, Finnish retailer Tulostintavaratalo has listed the AMD 4700S 8-Core Desktop Kit on its online store for €263.71 (~$317.38) with a delivery time spanning from 14 to 30 working days. While the AMD 4700S remains a mystery, it does appear that AMD is selling it in the retail channels.
Microsoft has started inviting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to test its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service on iPhones and iPads today. The service works through web browsers, allowing it to also run on PCs and Macs on Edge, Chrome, or Safari. We’ve managed to get an early look at this beta and see how Xbox Cloud Gaming works on an iPhone or iPad.
The web interface for xCloud (yes, we’re going to keep calling it xCloud) is very simple to use. It scales across devices like the iPhone, iPad, or even a large monitor attached to a PC to provide quick access to games. Microsoft has even included a search interface, which is something that’s strangely missing on rival service Google Stadia.
You don’t need to install any apps or extensions; it works natively in Chrome, Safari, or Edge. All you need is a compatible USB or Bluetooth controller. Some games even work with Xbox Touch Controls, so a controller isn’t required if you’re happy to tap on the screen and play. I managed to quickly start games using an Xbox Elite 2 controller paired to an iPhone 11 Pro.
Once you launch a game, you’ll have to wait a fair amount of time for it to actually load. Much like xCloud on Android, the backend servers for Microsoft’s Xbox game streaming are actually Xbox One S consoles. This older Xbox hardware isn’t powered by a modern CPU or SSD, so game loads are affected as a result. Microsoft is planning to upgrade xCloud servers to Xbox Series X hardware at some point this year, though.
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming on an iPhone.
I’ve only been playing xCloud via the web for a few hours, so it’s difficult to judge the experience, but I’ve certainly run into a lot of connection issues both wireless and wired with my desktop PC. Microsoft says it’s working on a routing issue with this beta, but it’s worth pointing out this is a test service, and it’s only just launched, so hiccups like this are to be expected.
Once the connection settles down, it’s very similar to xCloud on Android. If you run this through a web browser on a PC or iPad, you’ll even get a 1080p stream. It feels like I’m playing on an Xbox in the cloud, and there’s a dashboard that lets me access friends, party chats, achievements, and invites to games. This is all powered by Xbox Game Pass, so there are more than 100 games available — and even some original Xbox and Xbox 360 titles that can be streamed.
You can search and easily launch Xbox games in a browser.
Xbox Touch Controls can be used for certain games.
Microsoft hasn’t said when the company plans to roll this out more broadly yet, but given the early connection issues, there’s clearly still some work to be done until the web version is available for everyone. Still, it’s impressive how well this scales across multiple devices and opens up the ability to stream Xbox games to virtually any device that has a Chromium or Safari browser.
I also tried this xCloud browser version on the new Edge app for Xbox consoles, but it’s not fully supported yet. Both the service and the browser are in early beta right now, so full support might come at a later date. Either way, I imagine that xCloud will arrive on Xbox consoles through the ability to quickly stream a game while you’re waiting for it to download in the background. That’s really where xCloud makes sense on a console that can already play Xbox games.
This browser-based version of xCloud does open up the service to many more possibilities, too. Xbox chief Phil Spencer has previously hinted at TV streaming sticks for xCloud, and Microsoft has already committed to bringing the service to Facebook Gaming at some point. It’s easy to imagine Xbox Game Streaming apps for smart TVs, coupled with the ability to access the service from web browsers to ensure almost any device can access an Xbox Game Pass subscription. That’s clearly Microsoft’s goal here, and this beta feels like just the beginning.
Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox April dashboard update today that will improve the way games are downloaded. A new feature will now let Xbox owners suspend games to speed up download speeds. Currently, Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S systems throttle game updates and new game downloads if another game is active.
This new suspend option can be coupled with Quick Resume on the Xbox Series X / S to quickly pause a game, download game updates, or download a new game altogether and then resume the suspended game later. It’s a much cleaner option than having to manually quit a game or app to ensure download speeds aren’t getting throttled.
The new suspend option.
Alongside this new dashboard option, Microsoft is finally improving its Xbox mobile app to bring achievements back. The newly designed app launched on Android and iOS back in October, but it was missing achievements functionality and many other features that the mobile app previously included. Monthly leaderboards for achievements are also starting to appear for some Xbox mobile app users, and Microsoft says “everyone will see these updates in the app by the end of the month.”
Xbox Cloud Gaming will come to Windows 10 PCs and Apple iOS devices in a limited beta tomorrow, April 20, the company announced today. For now, the beta will be available to 22 countries, with more being added at a later date.
This beta will be exclusive to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, so if you’re not a member, you won’t be able to participate in the beta. Even then, only “select” subscribers are being invited.
The service will be available at www.xbox.com/play on iPhones, iPads and PCs, where those who have been invited can play more than 100 Game Pas tittlies through Safari, Edge or Google Chrome.
To play those games, you’ll need a compatible Bluetooth or USB-connected controller. Touch controls will also be available for 50 of the 100 games and will work similarly to how they do with Android devices.
Microsoft and Apple previously had public disagreements about Game Pass, where Apple wanted each game to be to be run through the App Store, and Microsoft ultimately had to take to web browsers as a workaround.
If you don’t already have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can sign up for one month of gaming goodness for
just $1
. Otherwise, it is priced at $14.99 per month and provides access to over 100 games for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Windows 10. Recently, Microsoft and Electronic Arts teamed up to add EA Play to Xbox Game Pass as well.
Mustafa Mahmoud 1 day ago Console, Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming
Following last night’s Resident Evil Showcase, Capcom released new technical details for the upcoming Resident Evil Village. As with many games, Village will offer multiple graphics modes. What is unusual however is the fact that some of these modes will lock the game to 45fps.
Ahead of the release of Resident Evil Village, which is just a few weeks away, Capcom have released exact details on the multiple graphics modes available to each console. While this is nothing new, Capcom has made the odd choice to have some of the modes lock at 45fps.
On PS5, the game is available at 4K and 60fps, or 4K and 45fps with raytracing. Xbox Series X gets the exact same treatment. The Xbox Series S meanwhile will run at either 1440p 45fps or 1440p 30fps with ray tracing.
While 45 fps is technically better than 30fps, frame rates which aren’t divisible by the refresh rate of a display can introduce a number of issues, including screen tearing or noticeable stutters. This is why games will often target either 30, 60, or 120 fps. The decision by Capcom to lock a game to 45fps is an odd one – and hopefully for those who are bothered by microstutters and such, Capcom will offer an optional 30fps cap for the ray tracing modes.
The publisher also released specs for the previous gen systems, with PS4 Pro running the game at 1080p 60fps or 4k 30, and the Xbox One X running at the exact same resolutions and frame rate. The PS4 meanwhile will run at 900p and 45 fps, with the Xbox One dropping down to 30fps.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Capcom’s decision to run the game at 45fps? Should they offer a locked 30fps mode? Does screen tearing and microstutter bother you? Let us know down below.
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During today’s Resident Evil Showcase, Capcom announced that a second demo for its upcoming survival horror game, Resident Evil Village, will release on May 1st. That’s six days before the game’s official release date.
Unlike the previous “Maiden” demo, this demo will be playable on all platforms the game will releases on, including PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Windows PC (via Steam), and Stadia. The demo will allow you to play for 60 minutes and explore both the village and castle areas, regardless of the platform.
PS4 and PS5 users will have the option to preload the demo beginning today via the PlayStation Store. Additionally, players on these two platforms will receive early access to the demo on two separate weekends — April 17th at 5PM ET through April 18th at 4AM ET, and April 24th at 5PM ET through April 25th at 4AM ET. Each demo weekend will provide up to 30 minutes of gameplay.
Capcom also released the fourth trailer for the game, which includes new footage and another look at Lady Dimitrescu. Resident Evil Village will launch May 7th on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, and Stadia.
Microsoft’s and Xbox are giving away a gaming PC to celebrate the Microsoft Flight Simulator’s France and Benelux update, and it sure fits the game’s aesthetic. The build looks like a jet engine, or at least part of one.
Putting out of mind the idea of just two-thirds of a jet engine working, you can find more details about the giveaway on the @XboxFR Twitter account (first spotted by our friends at PC Gamer).
Envie de voyager ? ✈️On te fait gagner un PC unique Microsoft Flight Simulator conçu pour le vol à l’occasion de la nouvelle mise à jour France/Benelux ! 🛫Pour participer :➡️ RT + Follow @XboxFR ➡️ Commente avec #MicrosoftFlightSimulator pic.twitter.com/aeDk4nnOWHApril 13, 2021
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The PC includes an Intel Core i7-11700K, Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (no mention of which specific model, though) and a Z590 Aorus Elite AX motherboard. That sounds like a fairly powerful rig, though it may not actually max out the game. Our testing has shown the game stressing top-end parts, especially at higher settings and resolutions.
One other thing to note is that from the images, the build appears to be massive. That motherboard is full-ATX, but it appears that the build is the size of a standard mid-tower, with most of the jet engine look simply being decorative. It would be cool if that front jet engine fan provided some serious airflow, but that would be a bit much–and probably dangerous.
It is unclear if the contest is limited to users in France. To take part, you need to retweet the tweet, follow the @Xbox FR account and comment with the hashtag #MicrosoftFlightSimulator. Microsoft also hasn’t said how long the giveaway will last.
While this desktop may not play the game at its highest settings, it will likely look at home in diehard fans’ setups, which often include a realistic flight stick/HOTAS setup, pedals and multiple monitors to recreate flying as realistically as possible.
This follows a series of other fun designs Microsoft has promoted in contests recently, including a refrigerator that looks like an Xbox Series X (and the mini fridges it will soon make).
The Microsoft Flight Simulator France and Benelux update is available now.
If I were the Microsoft marketing executive pitching a once-in-a-lifetime giveaway of an incredible custom-built Flight Simulator PC, I would do two things:
1) I would probably make it look like a full jet engine, not half an exposed jet engine, to avoid reminding people how airplanes can rarely (but terrifyingly) fail:
2) I would make sure it has the very best parts on the market, both for wow factor and so my one-of-a-kind Flight Simulator PC can hopefully play the notoriously demanding game at max settings someday.
Weirdly, this PC will come with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (not a 3080 or 3090!), as well as a Core i7-11700K rather than Intel’s new flagship Core i9-11900K. We recently tested that Core i9 with an RTX 3090, and it still wasn’t enough to hit 60fps in Flight Simulator at max settings, though I imagine the Core i7 won’t be far off our results with its very similar specs.
Does this PC still have great specs? Absolutely. Should you question them if you’re the lucky winner of this Microsoft France / Gigabyte Aorus collab? Definitely not. That RTX 3070 is worth upward of $1,200 all by its lonesome. I’m just telling you what I would do.
Oh, and 3) I would absolutely make that giant fan go all the way around and spin, so it can serve as an epic, brag-worthy case fan for the entire PC.
Speaking of epic Microsoft giveaway items, do you remember the Xbox Series X fridge? Not only is Microsoft actually now putting a real Xbox Series X mini-fridge into production, the company’s apparently going to be designing them from scratch. That’s according to Xbox marketing head Aaron Greenberg, who dropped the tidbit in a Clubhouse room yesterday evening where my colleague Taylor Lyles was listening.
Due to the global electronic component shortage, it has been extremely difficult to buy any next-gen hardware. Whether you want Sony’s PS5 or Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, the restocks are far and stock is limited. Fortunately, GameStop is restocking a limited number of bundles for both systems today, while supplies last.
The PS5 Digital Edition bundle — which includes the console, plus one-year subscriptions for PS Plus and PS Now, an extra DualSense controller, and a $20 GameStop gift card — is selling for $600, which may sound like a lot until you factor the retail price for each item separately.
The second bundle costs $730. At that price, it nets you one PS5 with a disc drive, two $70 games (Spider-Man: Miles MoralesUltimate Launch Edition and Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War), an extra DualSense controller, and a $20 GameStop gift card. There is also a third bundle for $745, which includes the disc drive console, three games (Marvel’s Avengers, Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Launch Edition, and Hitman 3), an extra controller, plus a $20 gift card to GameStop.
GameStop also has one Xbox Series X bundle, which costs $745. It includes a copy of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Hitman 3, plus a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Additionally, an extra controller and a $20 GameStop gift card are included with the purchase.
Dell has announced four gaming monitors, three of which are curved, that are releasing in the US between late May and late June. It unfortunately isn’t sharing prices for them yet, but the company says that all of them support AMD FreeSync Premium or Premium Pro, as well as variable refresh rate (VRR). VRR should make them as good of a fit for consoles like the Xbox Series X and PS5 (though the latter console hasn’t actually received its promised VRR update yet). This feature limits screen tearing as the frame rate adjusts due to hits or gains to performance.
Starting off big, the company has a new 34-inch ultrawide, curved gaming monitor (pictured above, model S3422DWG) that has a 1800R curve, which won’t envelop your peripheral vision as much as Samsung’s extra-curvy 1000R Odyssey G9 monitor. This model will release first in China on May 7th, then North America on May 27th, and finally on June 22nd in Asia-Pacific regions. It has a WQHD (3440 x 1440) resolution, VA display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Dell touts that it has DisplayHDR 400, though that’s not the spec you should be looking for to provide a bright, vibrant HDR image. This one supports 90 percent of the DCI-P3 color range.
Here’s the 32-inch curved screen Dell will release on June 22nd.
Dell’s also making a 32-inch curved QHD gaming monitor (model S3222DGM) that has a VA panel with a 165Hz refresh rate and a 2ms response time. It’s making a 27-inch version (model S2722DGM) that has the same specs, except it’s actually slightly more curved at 1500R than the 1800R 32-inch model. These will both release in China on May 7th, and availability will open up globally on June 22nd.
Dell’s 24.5-inch monitor seems like an awesome choice, but we don’t know the price.
It might look similar to the last image above, but the fourth monitor being announced today might especially appeal to people who have an Nvidia graphics card. It’s a non-curved 24.5-inch FHD gaming monitor (model S2522HG) with an IPS panel with G-Sync compatibility in addition to FreeSync Premium. It has a 240Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. This one will release in China on May 7th, and it’ll be available in other regions on May 27th.
As usual, each of Dell’s new monitors have have stands that offer a full range of motion, including height, pivot, swivel, and tilt adjustments.
(Pocket-lint) – If you were to pick out a gaming genre that’s hard to break into right now, online looter-shooters would be high up on the list. High-profile attempts like Anthem have shown how difficult it can be to upset the hierarchy.
That’s just what developer People Can Fly is trying to do with Outriders. And to its credit there’s clearly a solid foundation here. It’s built a looter-shooter that feels punchy and rewarding, with an endgame that has promising depth as it stands.
A survival story
Outrider’s framing story is refreshingly straightforward and intelligible. Escaping from a dying earth, your colony ship reaches its destination, a lush new planet called Enoch. However, all isn’t well and, after a scouting expedition on the surface goes awry, you wake up to find that decades have passed.
Enoch hasn’t been the welcoming paradise that was promised, and is instead home to a bizarre anomaly that’s altering the planet and its animals to fight back against the invasion of humans. The world you wake up to is war-torn and fractured, with factions battling over resources and a scarce few mutants gifted extraodinary powers by the anomaly, yourself included.
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It’s hokey stuff at times, but anyone who’s tried to understand just what on earth is going on in the Destiny universe will appreciate that simplicity can be a good thing.
People Can Fly previously made the raucous shooter Bulletstorm, so some of that game’s brash humour can be traced through to Outriders – but it sadly doesn’t always land. Your player character is, straightforwardly, a bit of a misanthrope. That attitude can make for pithy lines, but it can also mean a baffling lack of empathy and/or sympathy for non-playable characters (NPCs) that you’re supposed to care about.
People Can Fly
With acres of extra lore added into your codex at all times, there’s plenty of world-building to dig into here if you like, but keeping things simple in broader story terms is a welcome choice, in short. That said, Outriders could do without so many interrupting cut-scenes, given the hitch in loading that these seem to entail at present.
Class warfare
The core of the Outriders value proposition, though, isn’t really in how it delivers its side quests. It’s in how it feels to play, and this is an area where you can feel People Can Fly’s experience shining through.
Given the studio also worked on Gears of War Judgement, it’s no surprise that this is a third-person cover shooter that feels polished and fluid. After the game’s prologue, which you can later skip to create new characters quickly, you choose one of four classes.
People Can Fly
Pyromancers have flaming abilities that mark enemies for death; Technomancers can create turrets and heal allies; Devastators can tank loads of damage and hold areas more easily; and our personal favourite, Tricksters, can zip around the battlefield slicing and dicing foes.
There’s no swapping between classes other than by changing characters entirely, but running more than one character is very straightforward and well worth trying. This will help you get to grips with which you most enjoy, and each path offers up multiple skills to choose from to tweak your loadout.
Then you’ve got the actual guns, which are multitudinous and offer increasingly enjoyable modifiers as you progress. Things start off grounded but pretty soon you’ll be freezing enemies with bullets, or shooting an SMG that has explosive rounds, or any number of other variables.
These can be relatively easily mixed-and-matched using the in-depth crafting system, too, letting you find your favourite mods and keep them in your arsenal. One miss at the moment is the lack of transmogrification, a big word that basically means letting you keep exotic weapon skins while changing what they do, but it’s reasonable to hope that might come with time.
For now, guns and powers come together to make for a cover shooter than can also be plenty mobile and reactive, and kinetic when you find a power-set that agrees with you. That said, if you’re playing alone, we’d recommend you opt for the Trickster for your first character. Some of the other paths are a little harder to manage early on without backup keeping you healthy.
People Can Fly
There are periodically large bosses to contend with, which do a decent job of offering a different sort of battle, at scale, even if they can tend to be slightly bullet-spongey in practise. These fights still give a climactic feel to key moments.
It’s also up to you to decide what level of difficulty you want to set your game world at, with rewards corresponding to how far you can push yourself. This is another smart choice that lets you easily strap in for a more chilled session if you want to kick back with some friends, or make it tough as nails if you’re in it for top-tier loot.
Playing in solo mode is plenty fun and fairly well-balanced, but the game is really aimed at trios, where three players can pick loadouts that complement each other and dominate the chest-high cover battlefields that most fights take place in. Played like this, Outriders can be frantic good fun.
Smooth in patches
As with many cross-generation releases, the visual side of things is a mixed bag for Outriders, which largely depends on your platform. Playing on PlayStation 5, we had nice quick load times and the whole game plays at a smooth 60fps with only very rare stutters, just as it should on Xbox Series X and S.
On older-generation consoles the game runs at 30fps, something that’s hardly new for those platforms but still feels signficantly more sluggish when you try it. However, there’s no difference in what you can do and how you do it – it’s purely a visual disparity, also reflected by lower resolutions.
People Can Fly
In art direction terms, though, Outriders posts solid results without much to write home about. Enoch might be a raw alien world but the spaces it offers up to fight in, at present, aren’t the most visually ravishing you’ve ever seen.
Its encampments and forts are straight out of Gears of War, as are the chunky oversized weapons and, while you’ll fight across different biomes, none of them are all that fresh. You’ll see ice levels, forested areas, built-up ruins and lava-strewn wastelands, and it’s all serviceable without being memorable.
That’s not helped by the fact that every arena will inevitably need to feature the age-old maze of chest-high walls to fight around, something that really hamstrings any attempt to make levels feel really naturalistic.
Enemy design is also pretty ho-hum, with a whole bunch of burly blokes in armour sets charging at you for most of the game’s span, interrupted by occasional beasties.
People Can Fly
Still, the particle effects that your powers summon up look vibrant and jazz things up, and running on next-gen hardware the game can look great in big battles, especially when you’re in the more colourful locations.
As an always-online title, though, Outriders launched with some technical issues that were disappointing to say the least. With player numbers presumably inflated by its late-notice inclusion on Xbox Game Pass, server outages have been frequent since release, although the situation is improving all the time. Launch problems are nothing new for online titles, but that doesn’t make them acceptable, especially for those who paid full price for a game they couldn’t access.
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By Rik Henderson
·
Verdict
As it stands (and assuming the servers straighten out after the launch troubles), Outriders is a good bit of fun for anyone who’s into third-person shooters or light role-players.
In a time when co-op experiences are thin on the ground it offers up a lengthy campaign you can play through with a couple of friends, and there’s a bombastic, if simplistic, time to be had while doing so.
With a loot and crafting system that can potentially offer up real depth for those who want something to sink into, there’s also plenty of promise in the endgame here, even before you unlock expeditions that offer up high-tier loot for the most dedicated players.
The fact that it’s a complete package is also a tonic compared to a full live-service offering, although whether it’s enough to keep people playing much beyond the campaign will remain to be seen.
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe.
After being removed and replaced by Red Dead Redemption 2 nearly a year ago, Grand Theft Auto V will return to Xbox Game Pass for consoles on April 8th, and it will also be coming to Microsoft’s cloud gaming service, xCloud.
Despite being almost eight years old, Grand Theft Auto V is still widely popular and one of the bestselling games of all time. Since its release in 2013, the game has been ported to PS4 and Xbox One, and it will receive a next-gen port for the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S later this year.
The release on xCloud will allow players to play the game, including the GTA Online mode, on the go without being tethered to their console. xCloud is included for users subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, though the service is only available on Android devices at the moment.
Microsoft also confirmed in a blog post today that more than 50 games available in the xCloud library support touch controls, allowing you to play games on Android devices without a controller. The feature debuted last September with support for Minecraft Dungeons, but now, some of the biggest titles on xCloud, including Gears 4 and Sea of Thieves, support the feature.
The new Apple TV is said to boast support for 120Hz frame rates – a capability you won’t find on any current Apple TV models. Details are thin on the ground, but the development could herald smoother gaming and a more responsive user interface.
According to 9to5Mac, the beta version of Apple’s upcoming tvOS 14.5 software contains multiple references to ‘120HZ’ and ‘supports 120Hz’ – the current Apple TV 4K set-top box is limited to 4K@60Hz resolution.
There have been rumours of a new Apple TV launching as soon as this month for some time. Recent leaks have tipped Apple’s next set-top box for a redesigned Siri remote control, HDMI 2.1, spatial audio, improved Apple Arcade integration and a speedier A14 Bionic chipset.
This latest development adds weight to the rumour that the new Apple TV will double up as a top-tier games console. In fact, some analysts claim Apple’s next set-top box could give the likes of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (both of which offer 4K@120Hz support) a run for their money.
Given that most of the best gaming TVs already support 120Hz and HDMI 2.1, it could be that the forthcoming flagship Apple TV is upping its gaming game, so to speak.
The new Apple TV isn’t the only Cupertino-designed device tipped for a higher refresh rate either. The iPhone 13, which is expected to break cover in September, is said to use a range of LTPO displays with 120Hz support.
The Apple TV 4K hasn’t been updated for more than three and a half years, which is an eternity in technology. But 9to5Mac reports that the new tvOS 14.5 beta references support for 120Hz refresh rates — a capability that no currently available Apple TV models have — which could indicate Apple is working on a new version of its set-top box.
While it’s not clear what Apple may use a 120Hz refresh rate for in a new Apple TV, one of the more intriguing possibilities is for smoother gaming, like what’s offered with 120Hz support on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Apple has been showing increased interest in gaming as of late, so it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if the new Apple TV had more gaming-focused features.
For example, Apple just added a bunch of new games to its Apple Arcade gaming subscription service, which lets you play games on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV and carry your progress across platforms. And the iOS 14.5, macOS 11.3, and tvOS 14.5 betas also all include support for the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller and the Xbox Series X controller — presumably, that support will carry over to the final software releases.
The rumored 120Hz support for Apple TV would also line up with a Bloomberg report from December, which said Apple was working on a new Apple TV for sometime this year with a “stronger gaming focus.” (That report also said the new set-top box would have a redesigned remote, which will hopefully be easier to use.) While we don’t know exactly when Apple will announce this rumored device, or if it will announce it at all, if you’re in the market for a new Apple TV, you might want to wait just a bit.
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