Steve Thomas - IT Consultant

The latest trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds has just been shown off at Gamescom 2024's Opening Night Live presentation. During the trailer, we get a look at two more brand new monsters, one of which might just be the game's flagship creature.

The first large monster on the docket was a large spider-like creature, not dissimilar to Nerscylla from Monster Hunter 4. It appeared to use spores on its body to attack the hunters surrounding it.

The second monster was a large lightning-infused wyvern with horns jutting horizontally from its face. It looks like the kind of large monster that you'd expect to be the game's flagship creature - i.e. the one you'll need to take down to start scraping the endgame content afterwards.

During the Monster Hunter Wilds trailer, we also got a look at a sandy hub town - likely where we'll get to prepare our equipment and eat stat-boosting meals before we head out on each hunt. Some more story beats are present too, but still not much to piece together a more cohesive whole.

Other gameplay elements shown include setting up a portable camp out in the world, using stealth to approach large monsters covertly, and more of a look at various weapons including the great sword and dual blades. It's a lot packed into a fairly compact two and a half minute trailer, but it's all looking fantastic.

There's still no concrete release date for Monster Hunter Wilds, but it's currently set to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC (via Steam) sometime in 2025. The game is available to wishlist now, too.

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Dune Awakening just received a brand-new gameplay trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 and an early 2025 release date for PC.

The 30-minute exclusive trailer starts out by giving us our first look at the game's in-depth character creator, where players will be able to choose their appearance and background before taking their first steps on Arrakis.

As an mass multiplayer online game (MMO), the world appears to be massive and we get to see how the planet's harsh weather conditions will impact players. Staying out in the direct sunlight will greatly impact your health by giving you sunstroke, so players need to stick to the shadows as they navigate the dunes.

Players will also get to meet NPCs along their journey, that you can "befriend or betray", expand their influence through combat, spice flow, building and upgrading bases, crafting vehicles, and trade, and also develop their character through five classes, including Mentat, Trooper, Planetologist, Swordmaster or Bene Gesserit.

Factions also play a huge part of the Awakening experience. Players will be able to join a guild and align with House Harkonnen or Atreides, and "clash for the precious spice in dynamic guild versus guild battles involving a range of vehicles, tech, and specialized combatants."

"This is your Arrakis. The most dangerous planet in the universe, where the machinations of guilds and powerful houses devour the unprepared as easily as the ancient sandworms that prowl the open deserts," the Steam description reads.

"Survive, scavenge, and build a home to protect yourself from enemies and the elements. Seek fortune and spice through combat, exploration, trade, and crafting."

Funcom has also worked closely with the Herbert Estate and Legendary to create an alternate history in which Paul Atreides was never born, giving players the chance to  experience Arrakis for themselves.

"Revealing gameplay for the first time is alwaysa bigmoment, especially in a game wherethe interplay between all thesesystems can createcompletely unexpected moments, but the team has done an incredible job and we can’t wait to seehow the community reacts," said Creative Director at Funcom, Joel Bylos.

For those wondering when the MMO will be coming to PlayStation and Xbox, developer Funcom has now confirmed that Dune: Awakening will get a console release at a later date.

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A particularly cool surprise has been unleashed at Gamescom 2024's Opening Night Live presentation, as developer Techland announced Dying Light The Beast with a debut trailer.

This spin-off seems to be a shorter experience clocking in at around 18-20 hours. The game sees the return of protagonist Kyle Crane, who seems to have developed some new beastly powers. Besides that, the game seems to maintain the high-quality parkour action and zombie-slaying combat the series is known for.

According to a Techland press release, Dying Light: The Beast is "a thrilling standalone zombie adventure set in a tightly-crafted rural region." The region, Castor Woods, has predictably been overrun with zombies and all manner of beasties. Techland says that with "natural landmarks, small villages and industrial complexes, the setting offers diverse traversal options, whether it’s using your parkour skills to gain the upper hand on your enemies or hopping into an abandoned 4x4 to outrun the horrors of the night."

This story is developing, more information is to follow...

2K Games has officially announced that Borderlands 4 is in development.

During Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024, 2K Games and Gearbox Software confirmed that the next major title in the Borderlands series will launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5Xbox Series XXbox Series S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. You can also wishlist the game on Steam now.

The short announcement trailer, which you can watch below, didn't give much away, but did more or less confirm that players will be heading to a mysterious planet that has seemingly been overcome by disaster. 

The final shot of the trailer also showed off someone with a bionic arm picking up the iconic Borderlands Psycho mask, suggesting the faction will make a return. It's unclear at this time if we'll see the return of more familiar faces from the series.

"In this next installment of the definitive looter shooter, players will assume the role of a legendary Vault Hunter as they blast their way through hordes of enemies in search of new treasures to loot on an all-new planet," the trailer description reads.

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford actually hinted at the fourth installment ahead of the game's official announcement.

Following the launch of the Borderlands movie last week, which was received poorly after debuting at 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, Pitchford attempted shift the negative attention away from the film by teasing the studio's next project (via GamesRadar).

This is when the CEO first hinted at the now confirmed Borderlands 4, saying on X/Twitter, "We're working extra hard four you on what's next…" 

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Gamescom 2024's Opening Night Live presentation has kicked off with an extended look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The campaign mission, known as Most Wanted, sees operators infiltrating a building to rescue a hostage. Soon after, a Juggernaut-style enemy breaches in, clad head to toe in heavy armor and wielding a massive minigun. Just like the '90s, eh?

The gameplay trailer also shows off plenty more besides gun play. The player character unleashes a remote-controlled drone which explodes, killing the threatening target instantly. From there, we get more infiltration and dialogue beats as the group ascends an elevator shaft. But of course, even that quickly goes awry as the mission transitions to the streets above.

The explosive mission culminates in a pretty stunning car chase. As you'd expect, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's campaign seems to be as bombastic as they always are from developers Treyarch and Raven Software. Much like previous games in the Black Ops subseries, the pacing overall seems to be really on point, and I'm looking forward to what's likely to be an unpredictable shooter. At least when it comes to locations visited and set piece variety.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is launching on October 25, 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. Call of Duty games are notoriously large in file size, but Activision has previously debunked the notion that the game will total over 300GB in size. That said, the publisher has yet to confirm just how much space players should expect to reserve when the game launches this October.

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Ubisoft has shared the full PC system requirements ahead of the launch of Star Wars Outlaws

The publisher shared the specs in a new blog post, where it also revealed additional features PC players can expect when the game releases in early access on August 27, alongside the official PC gameplay trailer.

Star Wars Outlaws will require 65GB of free space on an SSD and, at minimum settings at 1080p and 30FPS, will require at most an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, or Intel Arc A750 GPU, paired with either an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 4600 processor, along with 16GB of RAM.

For the recommended settings, which will run the game at 1080p/60 FPS with the "High" preset, users will need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card, an Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, and 16GB of RAM.

There's also "Enthusiast" settings - for 1440p/60FPS at a High preset - that will require an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, an Intel Core i5-11600 or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, and 16GB of RAM. 

As for Ultra settings, players will need a high-end GPU to run the game at 4K/60FPS and a Ultra preset with 16GB of RAM, including an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, an Intel Core i7-12700K or the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

You can take a look at the full PC specifications below. 

The PC version of Star Wars Outlaws boasts a number of features, including ray-tracing, NVIDIA RTX dynamic illumination (RTXDI) support, NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, Intel XESS 1.3, and AMD FSR 3.0 support, as well as an uncapped frame rate, a 21:9 Cinematic Display mode and multi-monitor and ultrawide support.

Star Wars Outlaws PC systems specifications:

Minimum 

  • Visual settings: 1080p/30 FPS/Low preset with upscaler set to quality
  • GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 6GB / AMD RX 5600 XT 6GB / Intel Arc a750 8GB (ReBAR ON)
  • CPU: INTEL® CORE™ i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600 
  • RAM: 16GB (dual-channel mode) 
  • OS: Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12 
  • SSD Storage: 65GB 

Recommended 

  • Visual settings: 1080p/60 FPS/High preset with upscaler set to quality
  • GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 8GB / AMD RX 6700 XT 12GB
  • CPU: INTEL® CORE™ i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 
  • RAM: 16GB (dual-channel mode) 
  • OS: Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12 
  • SSD Storage: 65GB 

Enthusiast 

  • Visual settings: 1440p/60 FPS/High preset with upscaler set to quality
  • GPU: GeForce RTX 4070 12GB / AMD RX 6800 XT 16GB
  • CPU: INTEL® CORE™ i5-11600K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 
  • RAM: 16GB (dual-channel mode) 
  • OS: Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12 
  • SSD Storage: 65GB 

Ultra 

  • Visual settings: 4K/60 FPS/Ultra preset with upscaler set to quality
  • GPU: GeForce RTX 4080 16GB / AMD RX 7900 XTX 24GB
  • CPU: INTEL® CORE™ i7-12700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 
  • RAM: 16GB (dual-channel mode) 
  • OS: Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12 
  • SSD Storage: 65GB 

Star Wars Outlaws officially launches on August 30 for PlayStation 5Xbox Series XXbox Series S, and PC, but those who pre-ordered the Gold Edition or Ultimate Edition, or have a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription, will gain early access three-days prior on August 27.

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A World of Warcraft edition of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 wireless gaming headset has been announced, alongside a limited edition mouse, mousepad, and set of keycaps. All products in the collection will be available to purchase from September 24, 2024, from both SteelSeries and Blizzard's online stores.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 World of Warcraft Edition bears all the same features of the original model including 360-degree spatial audio support, 35-40 hour battery life, and multiplatform support for PC, PlayStation consoles as well as Nintendo Switch.

The headset's aesthetic is certainly pretty eye-catching. It features a gold-hued headband and the iconic World of Warcraft 'W' on the ear cups. If you're interested, it'll run you $199.99 (likely around £194.99) which is $20 over the $179.99 retail price of the base model. As an added bonus, this World of Warcraft edition includes the Grinning Reaver mount for use in the game.

The collection also features a World of Warcraft edition of the SteelSeries Aerox 9 Wireless Gaming Mouse. This will be available for $159.99 (around £129.99) and comes packed with the Lil'Flameo in-game pet item. Want a mouse mat to go along with that? The collection features the QcK XXL mousepad. Measuring a giant 900mm x 400mm (and coming in at 2mm thick), it looks perfect for large desks, includes the Battle Turtle mount for use in-game, and comes in at $39.99 (around £29.99).

Interestingly, a limited edition keycap is also part of this collection. Inspired by World of Warcraft's Sword of Sargeras, SteelSeries notes that: "Each individual key cap has been resin-casted and hand-painted to depict the Sword which is a monument to the Burning Legion’s defeat that pierces the crust of Azeroth." They also mention that the keycap will be in very limited quantity, costing $79.99 (around $59.99).

Finally, SteelSeries booster packs for the Arctis Nova 7 have also made their way into the World of Warcraft collection. Alliance and Horde speaker plates and headband sets will be available, costing $39.99 (around £29.99) each. Both the booster packs and the limited edition keycap also come with the in-game Battle Turtle mount as an extra.

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Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 16 will finally be released on PC next month.

Over one year since its exclusive PS5 launch, the critically acclaimed action role-playing game (RPG) will be making its debut on Steam and the Epic Games Store on September 17. 

A free demo is also now available to play on both platforms, allowing users to experience the first hours of the game, as well as the 'Eikonic Challenge' mode made specially for this demo, after completing the opening section of the story. 

Save story data will carry over to the full version, which will also require 170GB of free space. 

The announcement also arrived alongside a brand-new trailer, which you can watch below:

Final Fantasy 16's Standard Edition is available to pre-purchase right now, as well as the Complete Edition, which comes with the base game and the two downloadable content (DLC) chapters, Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide, both of which released on PS5 post-launch.

Players can choose to purchase the DLC chapters individually or with the Final Fantasy 16 Expansion Pass, which includes both.

Those who pre-order on either Steam and Epic Games Store will receive additional in-game DLC items, including the Brave Blade Weapon, a Cait Sith Charm (Gil Boost Accessory), and the “Sixteen Bells” Orchestrion Roll.

Earlier this year, Final Fantasy 16's producer Naoki Yoshida said that the RPG will have better performance on high-end PCs than PS5, and that the development team was seeing "over 100FPS" on some hardware.

In TechRadar Gaming's five-star review, we called the game "a shining example of narrative-focused games at their best, boasting immersive storytelling and cinematic action that invites you into its richly detailed world."

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Gaming hardware manufacturer Turtle Beach has announced a new product in its lineup of Stealth gaming headsets. Additionally, PDP (now owned by Turtle Beach) has confirmed new Realmz and Afterglow controllers, and all are launching very soon.

First up is the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 gaming headset. This will be a multiplatform headset that's compatible with PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as PC, Steam Deck, and mobile. Its Bluetooth connectivity option means it should work with the Nintendo Switch, too. Three versions will be available for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox users and each will have unique colorways to set them apart.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 seems to be a pretty premium gaming headset, launching on September 22, 2024, for $199.99 / £179.99. Turtle Beach says the Stealth 700 will feature its proprietary 'CrossPlay dual wireless transmitter system,' allowing users to swap between audio sources at the press of a button. Other high-end features include 60mm drivers, AI-powered noise cancellation, and a whopping 80 hours of battery life.

Next on the docket is a new addition to the PDP Realmz lineup of Nintendo Switch controllers. Realmz controllers are very kid-friendly, featuring an officially licensed aesthetic with a collectible figure embedded in its transparent shell. Previous Realmz controllers featured Sonic the Hedgehog and Pikmin variants. This new one, though, will be Minecraft-inspired and known as 'Forest Biome'. Available from September 12 for $29.99 / £19.99, this new Realmz controller is wireless and packs in up to 40 hours of battery life. Pretty impressive for its budget price.

Lastly, a new set of PDP Afterglow Wave controllers, headsets, and accessories are on the way. A pretty big expansion to the Afterglow Wave lineup, the new controllers are Nintendo Switch-compatible, and add a number of color options including black, white, blue, and purple. They'll be available from September 22, costing $54.99 / £49.99.

The Afterglow Wave family is also expanding with new wireless gaming headsets. Compatible with Xbox, PC, and mobile devices, these will also be available from September 22 at $99.99 / £79.99. 

If that wasn't enough, there is also an Afterglow Wave Dual Charger on the way. There will be versions for both PlayStation and Xbox, allowing you to dock your PS5 controller or Xbox controller for a quick charging solution. Expect these to arrive on October 1 at the price of $29.99 / £24.99.

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is reportedly coming to PlayStation 5 next year.

This comes from Nate the Hate, an industry insider known for sharing reveals ahead of official announcements, who reports that the upcoming MachineGames title will be making its way to PS5 in the "first half of 2025" after first releasing on Xbox Series X|S and PC in December as a timed exclusive. It will also be available on day one on Xbox Game Pass.

"After this timed-exclusive window expires, Indiana Jones & the Great Circle is planned to come to PlayStation 5 in the first half of 2025,” Nate the Hate said on X / Twitter. 

The news comes ahead of Gamescom's Opening Night Live presentation tonight, where we could potentially hear the official announcement from Bethesda or MachineGames during the showcase, as well as a firm release date for the game.

It was reported back in February (via The Verge) that Microsoft was considering bringing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to PS5 months after its Xbox and PC launch, in a bid to push its new multi-platform approach.

Windows Central also reported last week that Microsoft was planning on bringing another Xbox exclusive game to PS5, perhaps Indiana Jones, with the reveal slated to arrive at Gamescom. 

Announced in January and developed by the studio best-known for Wolfenstein: The New Order, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person action adventure game and will feature an original narrative that draws from the iconic film franchise. It currently has a release window of 2024. 

Xbox confirmed earlier this summer that it will be bringing its "biggest booth yet" to Gamescom 2024 and shared some of the upcoming games that will be available at the convention, including World of Warcraft: The War Within, Avowed, and Age of Mythology: Retold.

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There's a new trailer for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket mobile game, and it confirms the highly-anticipated app's release date.

Announced at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships in Hawaii, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is coming to both Android and iOS devices on October 30. Pre-registration is also available now on the App Store and on Google Play. You can also sign up to the free newsletter on the app's official website to stay up to date in the run-up to launch.

While the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket app will be free to play, TouchArcade notes that it'll feature a premium currency known as 'Poké Gold'. It's not yet known what the currency will be used for, but it seems there is also going to be a monthly premium pass costing $9.99 / around £7.99. It's likely that the pass and premium currency will be used to earn limited booster packs.

The store pages for the app also confirm that players will be able to open two free booster packs per day, not dissimilar to other mobile card games like Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel. Again, we're not quite sure on how cards will be categorized, but there's a likelihood it'll be a rotating selection of cards here, with rarer cards being more likely to drop in premium packs.

Lastly, the trailer ends on a tease for an 'immersive' card featuring Mewtwo. These cards appear to be the cream of the crop in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket and play out animated scenes when tapped. Going off of gacha standards, there'll probably be one or two of these cards available to pull for on a rotating basis.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard's release date trailer is officially here, giving us a brand-new look at the upcoming role-playing game (RPG).

Although the release date was leaked ahead of time, we finally have official confirmation that The Veilguard will launch on October 31 for PlayStation 5Xbox Series XXbox Series S and PC. 

Alongside this announcement, we also received a new story details following the first 20-minute gameplay demo that debuted this summer. In the trailer, we see the playable protagonist Rook on a quest to recruit their companions in order to fight back against the ancient elven gods they mistakenly let loose, with spliced-in scenes of some third-person gameplay.

Perhaps one of the most exciting reveals of the trailer is the confirmation that fan-favorite character Morrigan will be making a return, with a new wardrobe fit for a mage. We also get so see Solas seemingly in his Dreadwolf form taking on a dragon, something fans have waited to see for a decade.

"As someone who’s been working on Dragon Age for over 15 years, I know just how much our community has been looking forward to this day, and I’m equally excited to share and celebrate that the game will officially launch on October 31," said creative director, John Epler. 

"We wanted to give you the choice to really express yourself, and do that in a world full of adventure and danger. So whether you’re a Warrior, Rogue or a Mage, we can’t wait for you to gear up, gather your party, and set out for another thrilling adventure through Thedas this Halloween."

Pre-orders have also gone live, with pre-order bonus details, and there are several options to choose from, including a Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, and a special Rook's Coffer Edition, which comes with all sorts of collectible goodies, including a replica of the Lyrium Dagger highlighted in the trailer. 

Now that we finally have the release date, fans can look forward to even more spotlights in the coming weeks thanks to the latest roadmap, which will offer a more in-depth look at The Veilguard in the lead up to its official launch.

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