Monthly Archives: February 2018
These Bluetooth Earbuds Will Connecting to Anything and Everything
Bluetooth—the great unifier. Back in the 90s, the Bluetooth protocol was created so different electronics could talk wirelessly to one another. It’s named after a tenth-century king, Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, who unified a bunch of Danish tribes into a kingdom and no, that is not a joke. And it does precisely what its namesake did, but with electronics instead of tribes.
The right pair of Bluetooth earbuds will let you listen to music, podcasts, movies, games and more playing from your gaming PC, laptop, smartphone, game console, or basically any device you want. if this all sounds good to you we'll help you find the right pair of Bluetooth earbuds for you.
Netflix Surprise Announces New Chris Rock Stand-Up Special
Netflix has announced another surprise reveal, and this one is a new Chris Rock stand-up special called Tamborine.
The comedian's first stand-up special in ten years, in which he covers the gamut of contemporary issues, premieres on Netflix tomorrow, February 14. Chris Rock: Tamborine is directed by Bo Burnham and filmed at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Rock posted a short video announcement on Twitter, which you can watch below:
Tomorrow. Tamborine. @netflixisajoke pic.twitter.com/RPVhPv5mmq
Dragon Ball FighterZ: PC Player Base Drops By 80%
Dragon Ball FighterZ released a little over two weeks ago, and quickly became the most-played fighting game in Steam's history, with 44.3k active players at launch. Since then, however, the player base has quickly plummeted, dropping by 80%.
GitHyp reports that the concurrent player count for the last weekend was just over 9,000 on Steam, meaning that 80% of the PC player base dropped off in two weeks post-launch.
By comparison, the previous Steam record holder, Tekken 7 - which amassed 18.k players on Steam at launch - lost the same percentage of players over the course of two months.
Bandai Namco to “Aggressively” Create Original IP
Bandai Namco's future plans include "aggressively" creating new and original IP.
In the company's Q3 financial report it announced the creation of a new "IP Creation Unit", which will sit alongside divisions for toys, videos and music, amusement, and games. The unit will "invest aggressively in IP creations," and won't just focus on video games.
To facilitate the creation of new IP, Bandai Namco is investing 25 billion yen (approximately $232 million USD) over the next three years "on top of its normal investments".
The upcoming Code Vein is the company's next new IP - and it sounds like it's just the beginning. The company is also currently rumoured to be working on Ridge Racer 8 and Metroid Prime 4 for Switch.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 Black Panther DLC Revealed
Before Black Panther hits theaters, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 players can dive into content based on the latest MCU film starting today.
IGN can exclusively reveal a first look at the Black Panther Movie Character and Level Pack, available today for the game on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Available for $2.99 (£2.49 on PS4 and Steam, and at £2.39 on Xbox One) or as part of the game's season pass, the Black Panther pack's level is set in the Kingdom of Wakanda. Black Panther and his sister SHuri set out to battle Erik Kilmonger and his army.
PC Requirements for Sea of Thieves Revealed
Microsoft and Rare have released the PC system requirements for the upcoming Sea of Thieves, ranging from the "Mythical" 4K 60 FPS all the way down to the "Cursed" 540p 30 FPS.
designed to support a wide range of PC setups and ensure many gamers are able to enjoy the game" the developer said in a press release.
Check out six different sets of specs, and how well they can output your game, in the chart below (click to enlarge):
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Sea of Thieves Has a Very Smart Approach to Server Size
It's never been quite clear how many players will be able to fit in a Sea of Thieves server, and it turns out there's a very good reason for that - Rare's approach to servers is very different to most online games, meaning there's no definitive answer.
The developer's focus is on keeping player encounters regular, but not too frequent - the magic number is apparently to see another ship, on average, every fifteen minutes to half an hour, making every encounter different, as well as giving non-violent players the chance to escape.
But in a map as large and spread out as Sea of Thieves', a high number of players might still be too spread out, or a small group too bunched together, to keep that magic number in check. The solution for Rare is to focus on the distance between players in a server, not just how many players are on that server.
Sea of Thieves Dev Explains Why the Maximum Crew Is 4 Players
Sea of Thieves will launch with a maximum crew size (and therefore party size) of four.
Lead designer Mike Chapman confirmed to IGN that the party size from the game's beta would continue into the full game, saying that the key element for Rare was in how larger groups would (or wouldn't) communicate:
"The biggest ship was designed for four," Chapman explained when asked why that became the maximum. "We've looked at feedback and of course there's people who want an 8-player ship, a 10-player ship. The thinking there, as with everything in this game, is really intentful.
"If the two of us were to go out to the pub together with two other friends, you've got that intimate relationship, you're all getting on together. If it becomes six or eight people, you start getting people splintering off and it's really hard to communicate - four seems like the magic number."
Sea of Thieves Will Add Microtransactions Around 3 Months After Release
Sea of Thieves will launch without microtransactions, but will add them in its first major content update, planned for around three months after release - but they'll be for cosmetic rewards only, and won't feature loot boxes.
During a visit to Rare, executive producer Joe Neate told IGN:
"Our focus at launchon a great game experience. When we deliver this first major update, that's when we'll turn on the ability for players to spend money optionally.
"We thought long and hard about what's right for our game experience, and the key thing we think is that it has to add to the fun, social nature of the game. So anything in this area will not impact power or progression, and you'll always know what you're getting - so that means no loot crates."