game | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 20 Mar 2024 10:48:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png game | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land now has a free demo on PC, Xbox and PlayStation https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/akira-toriyamas-sand-land-now-has-a-free-demo-on-pc-xbox-and-playstation/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/akira-toriyamas-sand-land-now-has-a-free-demo-on-pc-xbox-and-playstation/#respond Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:00:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=651989 Last year, Bandai Namco surprised us all with the announcement of Sand Land, a new game based on Akira Toriyama's short, 1-volume manga. Fans were immediately drawn in at the sight of Toriyama's distinctive character designs, and now, we can try the game out for ourselves thanks to a free demo.  A demo for Sand …

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Last year, Bandai Namco surprised us all with the announcement of Sand Land, a new game based on Akira Toriyama's short, 1-volume manga. Fans were immediately drawn in at the sight of Toriyama's distinctive character designs, and now, we can try the game out for ourselves thanks to a free demo. 

A demo for Sand Land is now available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, allowing players to explore a portion of the map with characters Rao, Beelzebub and Thief, each of which have their own unique skills.

The full gsame will release on April 26th, promising an action-packed adventure in the desert. As an action RPG, players will also have lots of customisation options, including upgradeable weapons and an upgradeable vehicle.

The game's release comes at a sad time, as Akira Toriyama unfortunately passed away earlier this month. Toriyama was best known for the Dragon Ball manga, but he was also heavily involved with games like Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, alongside many other projects.

Sand Land originally released as a manga in the early 2000s. The 14 chapter-long series was published in the weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan, before being collected into a single book. A film adaptation of the series released last year and soon, a new anime series based on the manga will debut.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I've always been a huge Dragon Ball fan, having discovered the series in my childhood. Toriyama's art style eventually drew me towards games like Dragon Quest. I'm looking forward to checking this game out, although I may hold off on the demo and wait for the full release next month. Are any of you planning on picking up Sand Land when it drops? 

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Intel expands Application Optimisation compatibility to older CPUs and more games https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/intel-expands-application-optimisation-compatibility-to-older-cpus-and-more-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/intel-expands-application-optimisation-compatibility-to-older-cpus-and-more-games/#respond Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:00:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=651661 Intel Application Optimisation is a tool designed to optimise the performance of specific games by using intelligent thread scheduling. While this tool has proven to significantly enhance performance in specific games, its list of supported games and CPUs has been limited. That is now changing, as Intel is adding 12 new games and a new …

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Intel Application Optimisation is a tool designed to optimise the performance of specific games by using intelligent thread scheduling. While this tool has proven to significantly enhance performance in specific games, its list of supported games and CPUs has been limited. That is now changing, as Intel is adding 12 new games and a new mode that lets you enable APO on unsupported games.

Although the software initially only supported Metro Exodus and Rainbow Six Siege, it now supports 12 additional titles. The new titles include Final Fantasy XIV, Red Dead Redemption 2, World of Tanks, Dreams Three Kingdoms 2 (PRC), F1 22, Guardians of the Galaxy, Serious Sam 4 (VLK), Strange Brigade (VLK), Watch Dog Legion, World War Z, Dirt 5, and World of Warcraft.

Intel APO can be set up to automatically switch on for specific applications and you can also opt to disable it, which might be helpful if the results are unexpected. It's worth noting that Intel doesn't promise that all CPUs will produce identical results.

APO's Advanced Mode will be supported by 12th and 13th Gen Core desktop and mobile SKUs from Core i3/i5/i7 and i9 series. However, such CPUs will have to be explicitly activated using Advanced Mode. Additionally, the tool requires users to install Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology software and make modifications in the BIOS. Moreover, the Advanced Mode allows users to enable APO on untested games. Intel notes that on these games, results may vary, including possibly reducing performance.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Do you have a CPU that supports Intel APO? Have you already tested the tool? What about Advanced Mode?

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Gameloft is creating a new survival Dungeons and Dragons game for consoles and PC https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/gameloft-is-creating-a-new-survival-dungeons-and-dragons-game-for-consoles-and-pc/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/gameloft-is-creating-a-new-survival-dungeons-and-dragons-game-for-consoles-and-pc/#respond Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:00:26 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=651662 Gameloft, known for the development of various popular mobile games and Disney Dreamlight Valley, has recently announced a partnership with Hasbro to create a new Dungeons & Dragons game set in the Forgotten Realms universe. The game promises to be a combination of survival, life simulation, and action role-playing, focusing on an immersive, story-driven campaign …

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Gameloft, known for the development of various popular mobile games and Disney Dreamlight Valley, has recently announced a partnership with Hasbro to create a new Dungeons & Dragons game set in the Forgotten Realms universe.

The game promises to be a combination of survival, life simulation, and action role-playing, focusing on an immersive, story-driven campaign packed with adventure, camaraderie, and danger. The game's first promotional image depicts a group of adventurers gazing at a distant castle from a hilltop, setting the tone for the journey that awaits.

According to the developer, the game will feature unique cooperative gameplay that blends real-time survival mechanics with the rich narrative elements of the Dungeons & Dragons series. Players can expect a campaign that challenges them to persevere through difficult encounters, relying on their companions for support and assistance at every turn.

Developed by Gameloft Montreal, the studio behind Disney Dreamlight Valley and LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, the new game is currently being developed for PC and consoles. A release date has not been announced yet.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you a fan of Gameloft Montreal's previous work? Do you think they will be capable of delivering a good D&D video game?

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GAME UK to end its trade-in service https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/game-uk-to-end-its-trade-in-service/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/game-uk-to-end-its-trade-in-service/#respond Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:00:02 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=643969 For many, a staple part of their childhood gaming habits would have been to trade in older games in order to buy the latest and greatest new releases. With the rise of digital media, we have seen retailers cut back on their in-person presence. One way in which UK retailer GAME looks to be downscaling …

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For many, a staple part of their childhood gaming habits would have been to trade in older games in order to buy the latest and greatest new releases. With the rise of digital media, we have seen retailers cut back on their in-person presence. One way in which UK retailer GAME looks to be downscaling is by ending their long-running trade-in service.

As reported by Eurogamer, the UK’s largest gaming retailer ‘GAME’ is set to cease a majority of their trade-ins from next month. While the retailer itself has yet to officially announce the news, the company’s staff have reportedly been informed, with trade-ins said to no longer be accepted after the 16th of February.

While video game trade-ins have never been the most cost-efficient way to sell old games, they are a convenient way to do so, and as such it is a shame to see the practice slowly but surely fading into obscurity.

Fortunately, GAME will continue to accept trade-ins for consoles and other gaming hardware – though who knows how long that will last. While it is a great shame that gaming retailers continue to shrink with each passing year, at the very least the rise in Facebook’s marketplace (and other equivalents) means you can still buy and sell pre-owned games for relatively cheap.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of GAME’s decision? Do you sell games you no longer play? How long before GAME goes online-only? Let us know down below.

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Hogwarts Legacy 2 is reportedly on the way https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/hogwarts-legacy-2-is-reportedly-on-the-way/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/hogwarts-legacy-2-is-reportedly-on-the-way/#respond Mon, 04 Sep 2023 14:45:55 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=629079 Despite controversy around the launch, Hogwarts Legacy released earlier this year to huge success. The game sold more than 12 million copies in its first two weeks and the numbers have only grown in the months since thanks to the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One versions, with a Switch port still to come. …

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Despite controversy around the launch, Hogwarts Legacy released earlier this year to huge success. The game sold more than 12 million copies in its first two weeks and the numbers have only grown in the months since thanks to the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One versions, with a Switch port still to come. Now it would seem that a sequel has been greenlit. 

Hogwarts Legacy was released as a complete game, with no plans for post-launch DLC. We may still get some DLC eventually but nothing has been announced so far. However, that doesn't mean there isn't more work being done behind the scenes. According to a reputable leaker, a Hogwarts Legacy sequel “is in the works“.

The leaker in question is MyTimeToShineH, who is mainly known for leaking details about upcoming superhero films. While they may be a reputable source for these types of leaks, they don't have as much of a track record for leaks in the gaming space. However, given that this person has been known to have sources at WB, which handled the Harry Potter films as well as publishing Hogwarts Legacy, I'd say there's a good chance of them being right.

With all of that said, it wouldn't take much for someone to predict a sequel for Hogwarts Legacy. It has been one of this year's best sellers and there is still room for it to grow with the impending Switch version, opening the game up to millions of more players.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While I thought Hogwarts Legacy was good, there is room for improvement. The world could stay the same but I would like to see all of the RPG stuff expanded upon in a sequel, with more meaningful decision points and perhaps a more in-depth character creator. 

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Baldur’s Gate 3 breaks into the top ten most played games on Steam https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/baldurs-gate-3-breaks-into-the-top-ten-most-played-games-on-steam/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/baldurs-gate-3-breaks-into-the-top-ten-most-played-games-on-steam/#respond Mon, 07 Aug 2023 13:29:15 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=625625 After spending a couple of years in early access, Larian officially launched Baldur's Gate 1.0 last week to great success. Over the weekend, the game rose to the top of the Steam charts, garnering a hugely impressive 800,000 concurrent players over the launch period.  Larian founder, Swen Vincke, admitted that the number of concurrent players …

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After spending a couple of years in early access, Larian officially launched Baldur's Gate 1.0 last week to great success. Over the weekend, the game rose to the top of the Steam charts, garnering a hugely impressive 800,000 concurrent players over the launch period. 

Larian founder, Swen Vincke, admitted that the number of concurrent players has caught the studio off guard. Swen expected around 100,000 players at max, but the final figure came in at 814,000 players.

This peak concurrent player number puts Baldur's Gate 3 in the top ten most played games on Steam of all time, coming in just behind Hogwarts Legacy, and a bit further behind the likes of Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. The top four spots are dominated by free to play titles like Dota 2, Lost Ark, CS:GO and PUBG.

Baldur's Gate 3 has very impressive graphics but it is ultimately an old-school style cRPG with D&D mechanics, including dice rolls. Games like this have been popular in the past but are still considered to be niche. With that in mind, Baldur's Gate 3 has blown away all expectations, and that's just with the PC version. Next month, the game will also come to PS5 and at some point, it should land on Xbox too after some extra development time.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Baldur's Gate 3 appears to be a huge hit so far. Have any of you picked up the game already? What do you think of it so far? 

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Square Enix drops teaser trailer for Symbiogenesis, the publisher’s first NFT game https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/square-enix-drops-teaser-trailer-for-symbiogenesis-the-publishers-first-nft-game/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/square-enix-drops-teaser-trailer-for-symbiogenesis-the-publishers-first-nft-game/#respond Wed, 15 Mar 2023 16:47:31 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=596992 Square Enix has been talking about experimenting with blockchain technology and NFTs for quite some time. In late 2022, the publisher announced its first step into this market with Symbiogenesis, a “digital collectable art project” designed for “Web3 fans”. Now, this “game” has its first official trailer.  The teaser trailer is just over 40 seconds …

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Square Enix has been talking about experimenting with blockchain technology and NFTs for quite some time. In late 2022, the publisher announced its first step into this market with Symbiogenesis, a “digital collectable art project” designed for “Web3 fans”. Now, this “game” has its first official trailer. 

The teaser trailer is just over 40 seconds long and doesn't really show much. We see some world art, but no specific characters were revealed. Given that this NFT-driven game is supposed to be about collecting NFTs of individual characters, I would say that this isn't a great first showing.

While the trailer doesn't show us much, Square Enix has offered a few other details about this project. For instance, it is supposed to have over 10,000 ‘collectable artworks' that provide ‘real game utility' once picked up by the player. These NFT characters will have unique designs showing characters of “various races and professions”.

Square Enix plans to sell 10,000 character NFTs as each chapter of the game is revealed. So not only is this an NFT game, it is an episodic NFT game with limited-quantity ‘drops'. There will be six chapters in the Symbiogenesis story.

We should get more details on this game on the 17th of March, when Square Enix plans to go live with the game's official website.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Perhaps Square Enix will find an audience with this but the publisher is going to have to show something a bit more compelling if it wants to draw in anyone outside of the NFT-bro crowd. 

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EA is working on multiple Marvel projects https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/ea-is-working-on-multiple-marvel-projects/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/ea-is-working-on-multiple-marvel-projects/#respond Wed, 21 Sep 2022 17:00:20 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=575220 We recently reported that EA will be publishing an Iron Man video game developed by Motive Studio. This is not the only Marvel project coming from EA however, with the publisher confirming it has multiple games in the works. As part of the Iron Man announcement press release, EA teased that fans can expect to …

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We recently reported that EA will be publishing an Iron Man video game developed by Motive Studio. This is not the only Marvel project coming from EA however, with the publisher confirming it has multiple games in the works.

As part of the Iron Man announcement press release, EA teased that fans can expect to see more Marvel games from the publisher beyond the aforementioned Iron Man title, saying “This is an exciting new collaboration between Marvel and Electronic Arts, with Iron Man being the first of several new games.”

The publisher did not elaborate on what those games might be, however with hundreds of Marvel characters at their disposal, the possibility is nearly endless. With the likes of Insomniac Games working on Wolverine and Spider-Man; Skydance making a Captain America and Black Panther title and Square Enix having published Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers games, there are some characters which we can assume EA’s games won’t be based on.

The recent string of Marvel video games have been somewhat hit-or-miss, with Spider-Man being the biggest hit – and Avengers most likely being the greatest ‘miss’.

We know very little about the Iron Man game, and even less about these other titles in the works. As such, there is little use in speculating, however it will be interesting nonetheless to see how EA treats the Marvel license, and where their games will ultimately end up on the Marvel Games tier list when all is said and done.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for more Marvel games? Which EA studio would you like to see work on which Marvel character? What has been your favourite Marvel game so far? Let us know down below.

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Unannounced Avatar: The Last Airbender game leaks via Amazon https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/unannounced-avatar-the-last-airbender-game-leaks-via-amazon/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/unannounced-avatar-the-last-airbender-game-leaks-via-amazon/#respond Mon, 15 Aug 2022 08:15:21 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=570823 Avatar: The Last Airbender is still loved by fans to this day, but it has been quite some time since we last saw a video game based on the series. That could change soon, as an unannounced Avatar game has leaked via Amazon, and it may be releasing in November.  As spotted by VGC, you …

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Avatar: The Last Airbender is still loved by fans to this day, but it has been quite some time since we last saw a video game based on the series. That could change soon, as an unannounced Avatar game has leaked via Amazon, and it may be releasing in November. 

As spotted by VGC, you can find four listings of the new Avatar title on Amazon Japan. This includes listings for Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox One. A listing for the Xbox Series X|S hasn't been found, but we assume it will also be available for Microsoft's latest consoles.

In February, Avatar News claimed that a new console RPG was in development. Whether or not Quest For Balance ends up being that game still remains to be seen. There is also a rumoured MMO in the works, but nothing further has been revealed.

Besides the console game, Avatar fans will soon be able to try Avatar: Generations, a mobile game for Android and iOS devices. A soft launch is scheduled for this month in Canada, South Africa, and Sweden, with more countries to follow in the next months.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the Avatar animated series? Have you tried any of the previous Avatar games? Would you like to see more of them?

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Ubisoft pulls the plug on its Battle Royale shooter ‘Hyper Scape’ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/ubisoft-pulls-the-plug-on-its-battle-royale-shooter-hyper-scape/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/ubisoft-pulls-the-plug-on-its-battle-royale-shooter-hyper-scape/#respond Thu, 27 Jan 2022 17:43:50 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=548113 Over the course of 2020, Ubisoft tried to break into the Battle Royale genre with its own game, Hyper Scape. The game found some success and popularity initially but swiftly fell off. Now, 18 months later, Ubisoft is pulling the plug.  After a successful beta, launch and three seasons of post-launch content, Hyper Scape is …

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Over the course of 2020, Ubisoft tried to break into the Battle Royale genre with its own game, Hyper Scape. The game found some success and popularity initially but swiftly fell off. Now, 18 months later, Ubisoft is pulling the plug. 

After a successful beta, launch and three seasons of post-launch content, Hyper Scape is shutting down. The game's servers will be switched off on the 28th of April, making the game inaccessible. The title will also be removed from console and PC stores.

In a blog post addressing the shutdown, Ubisoft said: ” We have made the difficult decision to end development of Hyper Scape and shut the game down as of April 28th. We set out to create a vertical, close-quarters, and fast-paced shooter experience and we are extremely grateful to our community for joining us on our journey. We will be taking key learnings from this game into future products”.

The post also goes on to thank fans of the game for their support. Unfortunately, no further details were shared on exactly why the game is shutting down, but it likely comes down a lack of sustained popularity across platforms.

KitGuru Says: I missed out on the Hyper Scape rush at launch, but heard good things. Did any of you play Hyper Scape at release? What do you think of the game closing down? 

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Rumours claim Sony is working on PS5 exclusive Men in Black game https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rumours-claim-sony-is-working-on-ps5-exclusive-men-in-black-game/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rumours-claim-sony-is-working-on-ps5-exclusive-men-in-black-game/#respond Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:50:19 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=545181 In recent years, Sony and Marvel have been working closely together in the videogame space, with PlayStation developing titles based on Spider-Man and soon, Wolverine. A lesser-known Marvel property could also be in the works at PlayStation though, with rumours claiming that a Men in Black game is in the works.  Marvel isn't all Avengers …

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In recent years, Sony and Marvel have been working closely together in the videogame space, with PlayStation developing titles based on Spider-Man and soon, Wolverine. A lesser-known Marvel property could also be in the works at PlayStation though, with rumours claiming that a Men in Black game is in the works. 

Marvel isn't all Avengers and superheroes, the company's comic empire spans beyond that. While the Men in Black movie license is owned by Sony Pictures, the comic license is owned by none other than Marvel. A few months ago, a mysterious retail listing for a Men in Black game was spotted and this week, more details may have been revealed.

According to a source, the Men in Black game is in the works at Bend Studio, the developer behind Day's Gone. Players will take on the role of an agent, looking to put an end to a number of alien kidnappings. The game will take place in an open world and players will have access to a number of weapons, and the neurolyzer, although wiping the memories of random civilians will be penalised somehow. There will also be a recruitment system in place, so NPCs that ‘stand out' somehow can be recruited to the agency and will reward the player with XP.

Those are all the rumoured details we have for now, but as with any anonymous source, all of the information must be taken with a heap of salt. It is also worth noting that Bend Studio has said that it is working on a new IP, and Men in Black is certainly not brand new.

KitGuru Says: This rumour should be taken with a hefty dose of salt, but it would certainly be interesting. Licensed games seem to be making a comeback at the moment, with big studios focussing on delivering quality, original stories, rather than rehashing movies in video game form. Would you play a game based on the Men in Black comics? Are there any other niche, lesser-known comics that you would like to see adapted in videogame form? 

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The next Dragon Ball game takes inspiration from Dead by Daylight https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/the-next-dragon-ball-game-takes-inspiration-from-dead-by-daylight/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/the-next-dragon-ball-game-takes-inspiration-from-dead-by-daylight/#respond Tue, 16 Nov 2021 15:42:49 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=539835 In a surprise announcement today, Bandai Namco revealed Dragon Ball: The Breakers, a completely different take on the franchise, with inspiration coming from asymmetrical multiplayer titles like Dead by Daylight. In this game, you'll play as one of the main Dragon Ball Z villains, aiming to wipe out survivors in West City before they can …

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In a surprise announcement today, Bandai Namco revealed Dragon Ball: The Breakers, a completely different take on the franchise, with inspiration coming from asymmetrical multiplayer titles like Dead by Daylight. In this game, you'll play as one of the main Dragon Ball Z villains, aiming to wipe out survivors in West City before they can escape. 

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is set in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse universe, which heavily incorporates Time Travel and alternate timeline scenarios. One of those timelines appears to include Frieza, Cell or Majin Buu invading earth to terrorise human citizens, while the Z-fighters are nowhere to be found.

The trailer shows off the concept quite well, with Cell arriving in a city and hunting humans to absorb in order to transform into his perfect form. Each match will include one player in control of the villain, and seven players as survivors, running around the map and evading detection while gathering items to escape the area.

Cell can get more powerful as the match goes on, transforming to his second form and his perfect form upon capturing survivors. The game is set to release on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC in 2022 and a closed beta test on PC should happen very soon.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Modern Dragon Ball games tend to stick to one of three categories, card battlers, 2D fighters and 3D fighters. With that in mind, it's nice to see something entirely different and unexpected for a Dragon Ball video game. Now we'll just have to wait and see if Dimps can deliver this with enough care and polish to garner an ongoing player base. 

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Guardians of the Galaxy PC Performance Benchmark, RT + DLSS https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/dominic-moass/guardians-of-the-galaxy-pc-performance-benchmark-rt-dlss/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/dominic-moass/guardians-of-the-galaxy-pc-performance-benchmark-rt-dlss/#respond Fri, 29 Oct 2021 14:43:41 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=537904 We check out PC performance of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - 60FPS here we come!

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Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy hit shelves earlier this week and we've been hard at work to bring you this extensive performance analysis. If you want to know exactly how well this game performs, we've tested over 25 graphics cards across three resolutions to answer that exact question, with a look at the game's ray tracing and DLSS features also included.

Eidos Montreal is the team behind Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, with the developer opting to use its Dawn engine for this title – the same engine that powered Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It's a DX12-only title, with a choice of five different graphical presets. We did all of our benchmarks using the Ultra preset, but we take a look at preset scaling in the video.

Somewhat frustratingly, the game's display setting menu is home to a refresh rate slider that only goes up to 144Hz. It seems that the refresh rate set here also acts as a framerate limiter in game, so it’s not possible to get more than 144FPS. Based on my testing with ultra settings, that’s only going to be an issue if you’re using an RTX 3090 or RX 6900 XT at 1080p, which is somewhat of a waste, but I still don’t like to see a frame rate cap at all and would hope Eidos Montreal can remove this in a future patch.

Driver Notes

  • AMD GPUs were benchmarked with the 21.10.2 driver.
  • Nvidia GPUs were benchmarked with the 496.49 driver

We didn’t end up using AMD's latest ‘game ready' 21.10.3 driver during our testing, instead we opted for 21.10.2. The simple reason for this is because, using the 21.10.3 driver, shadows are very glitchy in the game – they seem to pop out as you move over or next to them and it’s very distracting (as shown in the video). Reverting back to 21.10.2 completely removes this issue so I’m not sure what has happened there, but right now we think it’s really the only way to play the game, as the glitchy shadows is a noticeable and immersion-breaking issue.

Test System

We test using a custom built system from PCSpecialist, based on Intel’s Comet Lake-S platform. You can read more about it over HERE, and configure your own system from PCSpecialist HERE.

CPU
Intel Core i9-10900K
Overclocked to 5.1GHz on all cores
Motherboard
 ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi
Memory
 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600MHz (4 X 8GB)
CL 18-22-22-42
Graphics Card
Varies
System Drive
  500GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2
Games Drive 2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5″ SSD
Chassis Fractal Meshify S2 Blackout Tempered Glass
CPU Cooler
 Corsair H115i RGB Platinum Hydro Series
Power Supply
 Corsair 1200W HX Series Modular 80 Plus Platinum
Operating System
Windows 10 21H1

Built-in Benchmark vs Gameplay

Before getting to the benchmark data for every single GPU, it's worth noting that we didn't use the game's built-in benchmark for our testing today. As you can see above, the built-in bench delivers frame rates up to 38% higher than what we saw while actually playing the game. Instead, for this analysis we benchmarked a section from the game’s first chapter, delivering data that was much more representative of what I saw over the two hours or-so that I played the game.

1080p Benchmarks

1440p Benchmarks

2160p (4K) Benchmarks

Preset Scaling

We benchmarked the ultra preset on every single GPU we tested – but how much performance can you gain by dropping down a preset or two? The answer is barely anything – even going from the ultra preset to the low preset resulted in a difference of less than 7FPS. This is pretty shocking in my view, and yes I did try this with various GPUs but the scaling was consistent across the board.

I think this is a consequence of only having a handful of meaningful image quality settings – comparing the visuals of ultra settings vs low doesn’t show much difference at all, as you can see in the video. It does mean those with lower-end GPUs may struggle even on low settings however, so I really would’ve liked to see more work done to improve scalability.

VRAM Allocation

VRAM allocation isn't too high for a modern title. 1080p ultra saw our RTX 3090 allocate almost 4.5GB VRAM, which could explain why the 4GB GPUs we tested all suffered somewhat at 1080p, but 5GB VRAM at 1440p isn't so bad. This does increase to around 6.5GB at 4K, while ray tracing of course increases VRAM requirements by a significant amount at every resolution.

Closing Thoughts

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a great-looking game with a fantastic art style. It's not without its fair share of issues though. The essentially non-existent performance scaling is definitely among those and one I hope can be fixed with a future update, as is the annoying 144FPS cap that is imposed for seemingly no reason. I did notice a couple of random bugs during my play-through, including the Star-Lord logo just hanging in mid-air, while AMD’s latest driver actually breaks shadows in the game.

Despite those issues, I've been pretty impressed with the overall frame rates and stability of the engine. I didn't notice any stuttering during my time in the game, and while AMD's GPUs do tend to have slightly more erratic frame times and 1% lows, they still perform well – even on the older 21.10.2 driver.

We can see Nvidia's Ampere GPUs taking the upper hand though, with the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 leading the pack across every resolution tested. The RX 5700 XT is particularly poor performer, coming in closer to the RTX 2060 than the RTX 2070 Super, but again we hope a proper game ready driver – that actually works – can help restore some performance there.

The one caveat in terms of performance is around 4GB GPUs. When testing 1080p ultra settings with an RTX 3090, we saw nearly 4.5GB VRAM allocated and that could explain why the 4GB cards we tested all struggled to hit even 30FPS. The 4GB 5500 XT is significantly slower than its 8GB counterpart for instance, so do be wary.

That said, the game's official recommended specs tout the GTX 1060 6GB as minimum though, and at 1080p ultra settings that card delivered 40FPS on average, so you don't need a beast of a GPU to get a playable frame rate. Particularly low-end cards however, with less VRAM, may struggle.

On the whole, I had a great time playing this game and will definitely be finishing it off this weekend. There are some bugs and issues that need to be ironed out, but considering the visual quality on show, I am pretty happy with what Guardians of the Galaxy can offer.

Update 29/10/21: Shortly after publishing this article, AMD released the Adrenalin 21.10.4 driver, specifically addressing the lighting/shadow issues we pointed out with the 21.10.3 driver. This should help improve performance on AMD GPUs. You can download 21.10.4 HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: It's a beautiful game with a lovely art style, and it runs pretty well on a wide range of GPUs, too.

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Netflix’s Stranger Things 3: The Game to be delisted from GOG and Steam https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/netflixs-stranger-things-3-the-game-to-be-delisted-from-gog-and-steam/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/netflixs-stranger-things-3-the-game-to-be-delisted-from-gog-and-steam/#respond Tue, 31 Aug 2021 15:01:43 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=529840 Netflix is officially getting into the gaming market, starting off with a small number of mobile games that will be available to stream through the service. There is currently a limited-region test, allowing those in Poland to stream two of Netflix's Stranger Things titles. Now, we have news that those games will be delisted from …

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Netflix is officially getting into the gaming market, starting off with a small number of mobile games that will be available to stream through the service. There is currently a limited-region test, allowing those in Poland to stream two of Netflix's Stranger Things titles. Now, we have news that those games will be delisted from other platforms.

Stranger Things 3: The Game will be the first Netflix title to disappear from PC, with the game set to be delisted from both Steam and GOG on the 31st of August. After that date, the game will no longer be available to purchase, although anyone who already owns it will be able to continue downloading and playing it.

In a brief statement, Stranger Things 3 developer, BonusXP, said: “On Aug. 31, 2021, Stranger Things 3: The Game will be removed from sale on Steam. We’re very grateful for all the Stranger Things fans that travelled back in time with us to the Summer of '85 for this adventure through Hawkins.”

No specific reason was given for the delisting. However, given that Netflix has just officially announced plans to offer games through its own platform, it seems likely that there is a connection between these events.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's always a shame to see games delisted from other platforms, although given that Stranger Things 3 was available on PC in DRM-free form, it will still be playable and obtainable even after today.

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A new South Park game is reportedly in development https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/a-new-south-park-game-is-reportedly-in-development/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/a-new-south-park-game-is-reportedly-in-development/#respond Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:00:27 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=526917 We've had two excellent South Park games release in the last decade and it looks like creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, are now working on a third game. This time around, we'll be getting something markedly different, as this upcoming title is said to be 3D and it appears that Ubisoft is not involved.  …

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We've had two excellent South Park games release in the last decade and it looks like creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, are now working on a third game. This time around, we'll be getting something markedly different, as this upcoming title is said to be 3D and it appears that Ubisoft is not involved. 

According to Bloomberg, the South Park team has set up its own game studio, which is working on a “3D video game that is set in the world of South Park”. The previous two titles, The Stick of Truth and The Fractured but Whole, were published by Ubisoft but this time around, everything is seemingly being handled in-house.

Unfortunately, that is all we know about the game for now, so we don't know if this game will also be an RPG, or if it will completely separate itself from the previous games.

This game is part of a new deal that South Park Studios has signed with ViacomCBS, which will also extend the TV series for more seasons, and fund a slew of spin-off movies too.

KitGuru Says: The previous two South Park games captured the look and feel of the show very well, so it'll be interesting to see if that can continue with a 3D game. What would you like to see in the next South Park game?

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WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD 1TB Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-drives/simon-crisp/wd-black-p50-game-drive-ssd-1tb-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-drives/simon-crisp/wd-black-p50-game-drive-ssd-1tb-review/#respond Mon, 22 Mar 2021 09:47:54 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=505912 WD's P50 gave us some problems - but is it still worth buying?

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WD's Black P50 Game Drive SSD combines an NVMe PCIe Gen 3 SSD with a USB 3.2 x2 (20Gb/s) interface, all housed inside a durable and shock-resistant enclosure. Priced around £220 for the 1TB model, what sort of performance is on offer for your money?

The WD Black P50 Game Drive line-up comprises four capacities; the entry level 500GB drive, 1TB (the drive we are looking at here), 2TB and a flagship 4TB model. Internally the drive uses a WD Black SN750 M.2 NVMe drive along with an ASMedia bridging controller. WD quote Sequential performance across the drive range as up to 2,000MB/s for both read and writes.

WD don't state and endurance rating for the P50 but the 1TB Black 750 drive inside it has a 600TBW rating and WD back the P50 with a five year warranty.

Physical Specifications:

  • Usable Capacities: 1TB.
  • NAND Components: SanDisk 64-layer 3D TLC.
  • Interface: USB Gen 3.2 x2.
  • Form Factor: External.
  • NAND Controller: WD.
  • Dimensions: 118 x 65 x 14mm.
  • Drive Weight: 115g.

Firmware Version: 1003.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Reggie Fils-Aimé joins GameStop’s Board of Directors https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/uncategorized/mustafa-mahmoud/reggie-fils-aime-joins-gamestops-board-of-directors/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/uncategorized/mustafa-mahmoud/reggie-fils-aime-joins-gamestops-board-of-directors/#respond Tue, 10 Mar 2020 13:08:18 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=456100 Reggie Fils-Aimé became a household name to Nintendo fans due to his many years of service as the President of Nintendo of America. During his tenure with the company, Reggie became known for such quotes as “My body is ready” and “My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're …

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Reggie Fils-Aimé became a household name to Nintendo fans due to his many years of service as the President of Nintendo of America. During his tenure with the company, Reggie became known for such quotes as “My body is ready” and “My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about making' games”. The former president has now announced his next major venture – joining the GameStop Board of Directors.

The announcement was made in a press release by GameStop themselves, which stated that the announcement “represent[s] an important milestone in GameStop’s transformation as we continue to evolve the Company’s business strategy for long-term success. . . They are each highly qualified and bring significant, relevant experience to our turnaround. We look forward to immediately benefitting from their expertise and perspectives as we navigate the evolving gaming and retail environments, execute on our strategic initiatives and prepare the Company to maximize value-creation associated with the next generation of console launches later this year.”

GameStop has struggled in recent times with maintaining relevance in a world where e-commerce is now so prevalent. The company has seen its shares steadily declining with the retailer having to close multiple stores in order to compensate. The hope, by appointing Reggie, is that he will be able to help turnaround the company, thanks in part to his “more than 35 years of experience transforming companies, revitalizing brands and reshaping industries.”

Commenting on his new position, Reggie stated that “The gaming industry needs a healthy and vibrant GameStop. I look forward to being a part of GameStopCorp Board and helping to make this happen.” Reggie will officially join the Gamestop Board of Directors on the 20th of April – just over a year after his resignation from Nintendo. It’ll be interesting to see whether Reggie Fils-Aimé will be able to help return GameStop to its prime, or if its decline is inevitable.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Reggie’s new position? What do you think of physical retailers? Do you prefer to buy from your local game shop, or simply order online? Let us know down below.

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GAME set to close 40 of its high street stores across the UK https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/james-dawson/game-set-to-close-40-of-its-high-street-stores-across-the-uk/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/james-dawson/game-set-to-close-40-of-its-high-street-stores-across-the-uk/#respond Sat, 11 Jan 2020 11:50:32 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=446150 Purchasing digital copies of PC and console games has become the favoured way for gamers to get their hands on the latest releases, rather than obtaining a traditional physical copy. Retail stores have noticed a huge decline in sales over the past few years which has contributed to many high street stores closing. One of …

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Purchasing digital copies of PC and console games has become the favoured way for gamers to get their hands on the latest releases, rather than obtaining a traditional physical copy. Retail stores have noticed a huge decline in sales over the past few years which has contributed to many high street stores closing.

One of the latest retail outfits that have been affected by this downturn of sales is GAME. The company announced a couple of days ago that it plans to close 40 of its high street stores. According to Eurogamer, GAME has already served notice on 13 of its stores, including retail outlets in Mansfield, Canterbury, Watford, Glasgow Fort and Leicester.

Just a couple of days ago, GAME  announced another 14 store closures with sites at Derby, Norwich Chapelfield, Lakeside, Bexleyheath and Carmarthen having notices served. GAME has announced these store closures as part of what it calls a “store rationalisation programme” and the company intends to serve notice on additional stores in the near future. However, a note to press from GAME led to some confusion about whether the stores will actually close, which Eurogamer has asked the company to clarify.

“We are working closely with landlords throughout the UK to ensure that we do not have to vacate the 40 locations which could lead to a number of job losses. However, we are facing a challenging retail market and GAME with its extensive retail footprint, needs to restructure and landlords need to work with us in setting realistic, fair rents.”

Sports Direct who own GAME said in July 2019 it was sceptical that the company could get through the current industry pressure it faces alone. “To get the GAME retail and Belong concepts right will also require a higher degree of flexibility than has proven possible under the current collaboration agreement,” Sports Direct said. “In a challenged market, the collaboration agreement simply does not go far enough to address the issues GAME faces as a standalone business.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Personally, ill be sad to see GAME disappear from the high street as it has provided a great outlet for gamers to pick up brand new game releases for many years. However, with home internet speed getting faster all the time, its so easy to download new titles in advance and play them as soon as they release these days. What do you guys think of this announcement from GAME?

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Sports Direct is taking over GAME in deal worth £52 million https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/sports-direct-is-taking-over-game-in-deal-worth-52-million/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/sports-direct-is-taking-over-game-in-deal-worth-52-million/#respond Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:00:52 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=415075 Update (15.07.19): Last month we heard that Sports Direct was looking to save UK retailer GAME with a takeover bid worth roughly £52 million. Now just over a month later, it looks like the takeover is all set to go forward, with Sports Direct set to own 84 percent of GAME shares. Regulatory filings last …

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Update (15.07.19): Last month we heard that Sports Direct was looking to save UK retailer GAME with a takeover bid worth roughly £52 million. Now just over a month later, it looks like the takeover is all set to go forward, with Sports Direct set to own 84 percent of GAME shares.

Regulatory filings last week showed that Sports Direct is acquiring 145,057,695 shares in GAME, bringing its total stake over 80 percent and making it the majority stake holder. Sports Direct is owned by Mike Ashley, who has made several high street retail takeovers in recent years. GAME already has a relationship with Sports Direct, as GAME stands can be found in several stores, with Sports Direct set to take over the gaming retailer, we can likely expect this partnership to expand considerably.

Due to the takeover, GAME will be removed from the London Stock Exchange in August, giving minority shareholders a chance to sell their shares now prior to being de-listed. Moving forward, Sports Direct will be evaluating GAME's business and make changes to boost profitability, which will likely involve some stores closing and jobs being cut.

Original story (06.06.19): It is no secret that UK retailer, GAME, has been in trouble over the last five years. The gaming store has struggled financially as physical game sales continue to decline and more people turn to shopping online instead of the high street. GAME’s most recent money-making attempt saw the company set up video game stands in Sports Direct stores across the country and now, it looks like Sports Direct may take over GAME entirely.

Sports Direct has made an offer to buy GAME for £0.30 per share, which would equate to around £52 million in total. The company began showing interest in GAME back in 2017, when it acquired a 25 percent stake in the company. That stake has since been increased to 38.5 percent, which means Sports Direct needs to make a mandatory takeover offer.

GAME has issued a notice to investors to inform them of the bid but so far, a final decision has yet to be made. We should hear more on that front very soon.

If the deal goes through, there will likely be some wide changes taking place at GAME to cut costs and improve profitability in an increasingly digital world.

KitGuru Says: At the very least, a takeover like this would ensure that GAME remains alive in some capacity moving forward. However, this does make me wonder if there will be an increased focus on selling sports games and blockbuster shooters within Sports Direct, rather than having big all-encompassing dedicated GAME stores.

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Rumour: WB preparing to announce DC-universe ‘Destiny-like’ game in June https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rumour-wb-preparing-to-announce-dc-universe-destiny-like-game-in-june/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rumour-wb-preparing-to-announce-dc-universe-destiny-like-game-in-june/#respond Thu, 18 Apr 2019 17:17:39 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=410619 Earlier this year, an internal marketing plan document leaked much of Warner Bros pre-release plans for Mortal Kombat XI. As time went on, the leak was proven to be completely accurate. Now, a very similar leak has seemingly given us a look at an unannounced DC game, which will seemingly combine multiplayer elements with the …

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Earlier this year, an internal marketing plan document leaked much of Warner Bros pre-release plans for Mortal Kombat XI. As time went on, the leak was proven to be completely accurate. Now, a very similar leak has seemingly given us a look at an unannounced DC game, which will seemingly combine multiplayer elements with the universe set up throughout the Batman Arkham games.

Throughout the Arkham series, there have been numerous hints to the larger DC universe. Many have speculated that Rocksteady is working on another DC universe game, with rumours pointing to Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman Beyond and even Suicide Squad.

We don't know if Rocksteady is working on the game talked about in this leak. What we do know is that the project will be announced with a CG trailer in early June, followed by reveal trailers for specific characters and locations featured throughout the game. The leak specifically points towards playable versions of Gotham and Star City, with Arrow and Ra's Al Ghul being the characters mentioned.

There will apparently be a playable demo available at E3 and a live gameplay video ready to release. The goal of this footage will be to convey the core mechanics of the game, which include team work, customisation options, combat, super powers and loot.

Various cities will act as hub areas, similar to the Tower in Destiny. The game will be online/multiplayer but there will also be ‘multiple story lines' and paths to follow.

There have been rumours in the past hinting towards a ‘Destiny-like' loot based multiplayer game set in the DC universe. It is possible that someone took that information and crafted fake marketing plan documentation based on that. With that in mind, do consider all of this information to be rumour. If it does prove to be true, then there will likely be more concrete leaks as we get closer to June.

KitGuru Says: At the moment, many big publishers are chasing the ‘live service' game model, as it paves the way for a lengthier revenue stream compared to many single-player titles. With that in mind, I would not be surprised if Warner Bros was planning something similar to Destiny or The Division based in the DC universe. Although I do hope that Rocksteady also has a single-player story-based game in the works too. What do you guys think of this rumour? 

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SCUM (PC) – Gameplay https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/kgstorm/scum-pc-gameplay/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/kgstorm/scum-pc-gameplay/#respond Fri, 14 Dec 2018 09:07:10 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=398180 Scum aims to evolve the MMO survival scene with insane levels of customisation, where your knowledge of the environment and efficiency with survival will be the difference between life and death. So how long will you survive? Gamepires and Croteam are the studios behind Scum, released on 29th August 2018 this Early Access game has …

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Scum aims to evolve the MMO survival scene with insane levels of customisation, where your knowledge of the environment and efficiency with survival will be the difference between life and death. So how long will you survive?

Gamepires and Croteam are the studios behind Scum, released on 29th August 2018 this Early Access game has received some very mixed reviews on steam. Published by Devolver Digital, who have an impressive list of games behind them, I was very keen to get stuck in.

Just like in any MMO, you can customise your character before you jump in, although since this game is still in early access, there are some options yet to be added. Currently, you have complete control over your characters age, size and ‘flaws’ that all play a part in how well your character will survive in the wild. Made them too heavy? You’re going to struggle to outrun threats. Did you make them skinny? They’re probably going to get over encumbered quickly.

I didn’t encounter any controller support so far, but on keyboard and mouse you have the familiar set up of WASD to move, space to jump, LMB to attack RMB to block and so on. Most of it is standard if you’re used to this setup, except for the running speed being mapped to the scroll wheel, that was a new one for me!

I struggled a bit with the UI. When it came to the crafting menu, it was really overwhelming at first, particularly when it came to figuring out what was in my inventory, how I can equip new items and so on. A small tutorial wouldn’t have gone amiss here, but after enough trial and error, you're able to work it out.

After bringing up your inventory you’ll be met with another curious tab- the metabolism. That’s right, you have to keep an eye on your hunger, but not just feed your little criminal, they give you the detail on everything; bladder capacity, calory intake, vitamin break down. There’s even an EKG! In my short run through I’ve found that food is scarce, so you’re going to have to resort to cannibalism… yes, that's a thing in this game too.

Scum is being built with Unreal Engine 4 and I think it shows, it looks great. Only a few times did I notice any lag when I loaded into a new area, There’s an ample amount of visual options you can tweak to suit the power of your PC, but in all, I think this has the very early makings of a great game.

Despite some of my struggles and the learning curve I did really enjoy SCUM, but that is coming from someone who enjoys games that often have a huge time investment (Monster Hunter springs to mind). In other words, SCUM is right up my street. This is definitely not for you if you’re looking for a pickup and play title, it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to want to spend quite a bit of time to learn all the mechanics, crafting and environments to really get the best out of the experience. The dev’s are still very much active on the steam page, posting every few days with community updates, patch notes and bug reports.

You can find SCUM on Steam Early Access, here.

KitGuru Says: At the very reasonable price point of £15.49, you certainly going to get your money's worth if you are into survival games. SCUM might be in Early Access but the potential is already high. What do you think of the insane levels of customisation? Too much? or an interesting gameplay element?

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Sources confirm Harry Potter RPG is real https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/sources-confirm-harry-potter-rpg-is-real/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/sources-confirm-harry-potter-rpg-is-real/#respond Wed, 03 Oct 2018 08:39:54 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=389284 Yesterday afternoon, an out of the blue leak appeared, showing off trailer footage for an upcoming Harry Potter game built for modern consoles. Graphically and animation-wise, the game was looking great but questions still loomed surrounding the studio behind the game. Now, we seem to have some answers thanks to various insider sources, we also …

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Yesterday afternoon, an out of the blue leak appeared, showing off trailer footage for an upcoming Harry Potter game built for modern consoles. Graphically and animation-wise, the game was looking great but questions still loomed surrounding the studio behind the game. Now, we seem to have some answers thanks to various insider sources, we also have a potential title for the full game.

The Harry Potter game will of course be published by Warner Bros. At first, it was believed that Rocksteady might be behind the game as the studio has been quiet ever since shipping Arkham Knight in 2015. However, sources speaking with Eurogamer confirmed that this was not Rocksteady's next game. Instead, Harry Potter is said to be in the works at Avalanche Software,  a Utah-based studio formerly responsible for Disney Infinity. The studio initially closed after Disney Infinity's cancellation but was then acquired by Warner Bros.

Avalanche Software has left some hints towards its next project in various job postings. The studio has been searching for staff with a “deep understanding of British culture and grammatical presentation”. The studio is also after people with experience with “gaming narrative and branching storytelling, particularly in the realm of RPGs”.

According to BBC News reporter, Lizo Mzimba, this game is rumoured to be called ‘Harry Potter: Magic Awakened'. The game is apparently still at least a year from release, so we might not see an official unveiling for a while.

KitGuru Says: Harry Potter has lacked a proper presence in gaming since the movie tie-ins stopped. It will be interesting to see how this new game shapes up. 

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Briony Plays (Livestream) Ep 2: First impressions of Two Point Hospital https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/briony-hannam/briony-plays-livestream-ep-3-first-impressions-of-two-point-hospital/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/briony-hannam/briony-plays-livestream-ep-3-first-impressions-of-two-point-hospital/#respond Fri, 14 Sep 2018 17:44:25 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=386482 In the third instalment of the ‘Briony Games’ series – reviewer and gaming addict Briony tries out ‘Two Point Hospital', the spiritual successor to Bullfrog's Theme Hospital from 1997. Briony hadn't tried the game before filming this video, so come and watch as she designs her own hospital and endeavours to cure some unusual ailments, including Bed …

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In the third instalment of the ‘Briony Games’ series – reviewer and gaming addict Briony tries out ‘Two Point Hospital', the spiritual successor to Bullfrog's Theme Hospital from 1997. Briony hadn't tried the game before filming this video, so come and watch as she designs her own hospital and endeavours to cure some unusual ailments, including Bed Face, Lazy Bones and Mock Star disease. 

Two point Hospital Gameplay begins with a simple hospital with a small number of patients and as the levels advance it gets tougher with more patients and harder challenges.You have to Improve your facilities, upgrade machines, staff and layouts to bring in money at a faster rate. You can hire new staff members with specific abilities and train current staff members with new ones.

To help you make the right decisions, the game includes a ton of statistics to show off the strengths and weaknesses of your hospital. This includes everything from the amount of patients cured, to visitor satisfaction and staff happiness. If money ends up becoming tight, you can take out a loan or jack up the prices of treatments. The idea is to find the right balance, which becomes trickier as you start tackling larger hospitals with more patients. All while striving to turn a profit. Of course, all of this is done with Bullfrog's classic sense of humour.

Make sure to check out the video above to get Briony's first impressions!

KitGuru says: Let us know what you think of two point hospital so far! Briony will be doing another video in the near future to give a final review after she puts in some more hours. 

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GAME sells Multiplay Digital unit to Unity for £19 million https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/game-sells-multiplay-digital-unit-to-unity-for-19-million/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/game-sells-multiplay-digital-unit-to-unity-for-19-million/#respond Tue, 28 Nov 2017 09:48:24 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=355811 Just over two years after first acquiring the company, GAME has sold off part of Multiplay to Unity in a deal worth £19 million. The struggling high-street store initially bought Multiplay for £20 million back in March 2015 to help bolster its presence in the gaming world, which is moving more towards digital. Multiplay Digital …

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Just over two years after first acquiring the company, GAME has sold off part of Multiplay to Unity in a deal worth £19 million. The struggling high-street store initially bought Multiplay for £20 million back in March 2015 to help bolster its presence in the gaming world, which is moving more towards digital.

Multiplay Digital handles server hosting for plenty of games, including Titanfall 2 and Killing Floor 2. The Multiplay division also handles Insomnia gaming event, the biggest LAN event in the UK.

As part of the deal, GAME will be keeping the esports and events side of the business. Meanwhile, the server hosting side of it will be handed off to Unity following an initial payment of £17.1 million, with the additional £1.9 million coming in 19 months time.

According to GAME CEO, Martyn Gibbs, this will allow GAME to simplify the Multiplay group and “fully capitalise on the strong growth potential” of esports and events.

KitGuru Says: Server hosting is an expensive business and its not exactly something that GAME is known for, so selling that side of Multiplay off makes sense. It will be interesting to see how Unity expands it in the future, after all, Multiplay already hosts some pretty big games as it is.

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Titanfall devs are working on a virtual reality game https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/matthew-wilson/titanfall-devs-are-working-on-a-virtual-reality-game/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/matthew-wilson/titanfall-devs-are-working-on-a-virtual-reality-game/#respond Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:00:31 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=350121 It seems that Respawn Entertainment is keeping itself very busy at the moment. Aside from continuing to support Titanfall 2, the studio is also working on a Star Wars game for EA and now, it has also taken on a secret virtual reality project for Oculus. The announcement was made last night during the Oculus …

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It seems that Respawn Entertainment is keeping itself very busy at the moment. Aside from continuing to support Titanfall 2, the studio is also working on a Star Wars game for EA and now, it has also taken on a secret virtual reality project for Oculus.

The announcement was made last night during the Oculus Connect event, during which we received announcements for a permanent Oculus Rift price cut, the launch of the Oculus Go headset and a sneak peek at a new upcoming headset codenamed ‘Santa Cruz’.

Respawn isn’t sharing much on its VR project right now but it is not based on Titanfall or Star Wars. It is going to be a “first-person combat experience” and there is a 1:43 long video featuring the developers talking about it, all while revealing surprisingly little information.

Respawn is looking to put you in the shoes of a soldier in combat in a more “fully fleshed out and realistic way”. The game isn’t scheduled to launch until 2019, so there is quite a wait but judging by the video, it is going to require Oculus Touch and potentially even a Room Scale set up with three sensors.

KitGuru Says: Titanfall is one of my favourite shooters around, so to hear that the folks at Respawn Entertainment are making a VR game is quite exciting. Unfortunately, it is still way too far from release to really show anything off, which is a shame.

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GAME blames lack of Nintendo Switch stock for being back in the red https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/damien-cox/game-blames-lack-of-nintendo-switch-stock-for-being-back-in-the-red/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/damien-cox/game-blames-lack-of-nintendo-switch-stock-for-being-back-in-the-red/#comments Fri, 30 Jun 2017 20:22:16 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=339370 GAME has faced a number of troubles across the years, with the UK retailer hitting bankruptcy in 2012 and bouncing back in 2015 with its acquisition of Multiplay. Fast-forward to 2017 and the company is hitting another financial low, this time blaming low profit margins on the lack of Nintendo Switch stock and slowing sales …

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GAME has faced a number of troubles across the years, with the UK retailer hitting bankruptcy in 2012 and bouncing back in 2015 with its acquisition of Multiplay. Fast-forward to 2017 and the company is hitting another financial low, this time blaming low profit margins on the lack of Nintendo Switch stock and slowing sales of the Xbox and PS4.

Another set of bleak financial results are expected to hit GAME this year, as its profits are “substantially below previous expectations”, reports GamesIndustry.biz. It seems that GAME put all of its eggs in one basket in hoping that the Nintendo Switch sales would save its 12-month total, however the company notes that while the demand for the Switch has been “very strong”, supply has been “lower than expected”. More blame has been attributed to the “continued softness” in its “core Xbox and PlayStation markets” as sales are continuing to slow down on the four-year old consoles.

Console shortages near launch aren’t uncommon, with Nintendo’s bestselling console, the Wii being out of stock for most of the console’s first year and Sony struggling to keep up demand for its PlayStation 4. It’s not only brick and mortar retailers suffering from the lack of Switch sales, with online traders such as Amazon UK also sitting with none left.

With all of this in mind, it’s difficult to see where GAME’s expectations are coming from and even stranger that the company makes no mention of the impact its own (pricey) initiatives such as the new Elite Rewards scheme have made.

More information will be revealed following the full financial results next month, with stock having fallen almost 30% after the original statement was made. In the meantime, the retailer is looking ahead, hoping for the Xbox One X, high profile games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and more Switch stock to change the tide.

KitGuru Says: I can see the frustration across all retailers and especially fans with Switch stock being so low but whether it is entirely to blame for low profits is another thing altogether. What are your experiences with the GAME store? Did you manage to get hold of an elusive Nintendo Switch?

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Twitch streamer dies after 22 hours straight gaming https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/twitch-streamer-dies-after-22-hours-straight-gaming/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/twitch-streamer-dies-after-22-hours-straight-gaming/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2017 09:07:56 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=322585 Although gaming isn't as harmful for you as the tabloids would suggest, marathon sessions do seem to have some potential for health concerns. In the case of one Twitch streamer, fatally so, as 22 hours into a 25 hour gaming marathon, he died from what are currently considered unknown causes. The 35-year-old World of Tanks …

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Although gaming isn't as harmful for you as the tabloids would suggest, marathon sessions do seem to have some potential for health concerns. In the case of one Twitch streamer, fatally so, as 22 hours into a 25 hour gaming marathon, he died from what are currently considered unknown causes.

The 35-year-old World of Tanks streamer, Brian “Poshybrid” Vigneault, was taking part in a 25 hour livestream of various games as a culmination of many 20 hour+ streams he'd completed over the preceding week. All money generated during the event was going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation charity and he had pledged several hundred dollars of his own money to bump up donations.

At around 22 hours into his stream, Vigneault went outside for a smoke, but never returned. While he appeared to sign in to Discord the next day, it was discovered that the person doing so was a police officer investigating his death.

Source: Vignealt/Facebook

Since the news of his passing spread, many tributes have poured in from fans and his fellow streamers, including the FAME gaming clan, of which he was a part.

Vigneault is far from the only streamer to stay up for an ungodly number of hours to please fans and gain notoriety among the hotly competitive game streaming scene. As Kotaku reports, many feel the pressure to stream for longer and longer periods and it can put their mental and physical health at risk.

This is also far from the first time we've heard that a gamer has died after a lengthy session of play. Although there isn't much research on it, there appears to be a correlation between sleep deprivation, lack of adequate nutrients and the poor circulation caused by sitting for long periods, that really stresses a body distracted by the lights, sounds and challenges of gaming.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Be safe out there guys. Marathons aren't for everyone and even if you can do it, make sure you're hydrated, well fed and take plenty of breaks. Your life may very well depend on it. 

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Dishonored 2 PC Game Analysis https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/dishonored-2-pc-game-analysis/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/dishonored-2-pc-game-analysis/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:27:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=311285 Dishonored was a surprise hit for Arkane Studios and Bethesda back when it first launched in 2012. The stealth-action game quickly went on to become one of the best games of that year and now we can finally get our hands on the sequel – Dishonored 2. This time Arkane Studios is using an updated …

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Dishonored was a surprise hit for Arkane Studios and Bethesda back when it first launched in 2012. The stealth-action game quickly went on to become one of the best games of that year and now we can finally get our hands on the sequel – Dishonored 2. This time Arkane Studios is using an updated version of the Void Engine and has expanded the in-game world quite a bit. How does the sequel hold up on PC? Let's find out.

dishonored-2-options-1 dishonored-2-options-2

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Click images to enlarge.

If you just take the options menu alone at face value, things don't look too bad. You can choose whether or not to enable HBAO+ and you can set up Adaptive Resolution, which will lower your resolution by a set percentage to try and keep frame rates up. Setting this option at 100% means the game will run at full resolution at all times. However, you can set it to drop by up to 50% during intense scenes. Unfortunately, this option doesn't appear to really make much of a difference right now so it may need a patch to get working properly.

Aside from that, you get your standard options across the board, with options for textures, the environment, view distance and more. You get two forms of anti-aliasing, FXAA and TXAA. The only thing that appears to be missing is motion blur.

While I don't normally dive into control options, I think it is worth pointing out that this game comes with the mouse sensitivity set really low by default. I had to go into the options and bump sensitivity up to 70-80 for decent mouse movement. Controller sensitivity, on the other hand, seemed to be fine by default.

dishonored-screen-2 dishonored-screen-1

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Click images to enlarge.

Dishonored 2 ditches Unreal Engine 3 and switches over to the Void Engine, which in itself is a tweaked version of the ID Tech 5 engine. This is the same engine used for games like Rage and Wolfenstein: The New Order, rather than the updated ID Tech 6, which debuted with DOOM this year.

Despite the engine change, the same art style carries over, with much of the world looking like an interactive oil painting. Due to this unique aesthetic, it is difficult to compare Dishonored 2 to other Triple-A games in terms of graphics as this game goes for a very different style. That said, the game looks good, you can tell some effort has been put into nicer textures and character models overall. The game world also feels a bit more vibrant than it did in the first game, with more splashes of colour.

dishonored-1440p-screenshot-2 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-1 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-3 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-8 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-7 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-6 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-5 dishonored-1440p-screenshot-4

Click thumbnails for 1440p screenshots.

For our performance tests today I will be running Dishonored 2 on the following system:

  • CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K with 4.2GHz boost clock.
  • Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Hero.
  • RAM: G.Skill 16GB 3200MHz DDR4.
  • Storage: 1TB Samsung 850 Evo SSD.
  • OS: Windows 10: Anniversary Update.

For graphics cards, I will be running the following:

  • MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X.
  • Asus GTX 1060 Strix.
  • MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G.
  • AMD R9 Fury X.
  • Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X.

I previously had a Sapphire RX 480 for game testing but that sample has been sent off to someone else for the time being. I will hopefully be able to get my hands on another sample at some point in the near-future. Unfortunately, I am also having some critical issues at the moment with my XFX R9 390x sample, so I have chosen to exclude it from this test until we can get it sorted.

gtx-970 gtx-1060 gtx-1080

r9-290 r9-furyx

All of the graphics cards included in this test were run with the latest drivers installed. In Nvidia’s case that would be Driver Version 375.70 and on the AMD side, we are using Radeon Software 16.11.3. Both of these drivers were released with optimisations for Dishonored 2. Our results were obtained using FRAPS to record average and minimum frame rates. Our benchmark takes place during the first proper level of Dishonored 2 while running through the city streets of Dunwall and taking out all of the guards before the docks.

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dishonored-2-1440p-graph

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Dishonored 2 has some serious issues on PC. Frame rates are far too low across the board and while you can get some decent average frame rates, the minimums are much lower than we would like and really disrupt the experience overall. As you can see from our graphs, it is also very clear that this game heavily favours Nvidia graphics cards. Even the R9 Fury X failed to hit a 60 frames per second average at 1080p, which is crazy.

I would like to tell you that the situation dramatically improves by lowering graphics settings, but it doesn't. Even on medium settings I still observed some hefty frame rate drops, which is a real shame, particularly since the original Dishonored did a fine job on the PC back in 2012.

Aside from frame drops, the game has crashed on me several times. I have barely been able to get through an hour of play without the game locking up, forcing me to either force close it in task manager or restart my system entirely. Back in August I ranked Dishonored 2 as my most anticipated game of 2016 and going by my experience so far, it is my biggest day-one disappointment of the year.

At the time of writing, a few of the developers at Arkane Studios have acknowledged Dishonored 2's PC issues and are investigating them. If you were planning on grabbing Dishonored 2 on the PC, I would hold off until a patch has been released and we have had the chance to see how much it improves.

Discuss on our Facebook Page HERE.

KitGuru Says: I had high hopes for Dishonored 2 but it looks like Arkane Studios has had some issues getting to grips with a new engine this time around. Hopefully some patches can fix it up soon but for now, I wouldn't recommend Dishonored 2 on PC.

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GAME to start selling games inside WHSmiths https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/game-to-start-selling-games-inside-whsmiths/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/game-to-start-selling-games-inside-whsmiths/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2016 08:56:10 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=311311 As the world of gaming downloads more and more games and retreats ever further from the high-street, outlets like GAME are looking to remain relevant. Its latest effort includes teaming up with fellow real-world shopfront, WHSmith. Although the book seller stopped shifting games itself back in 2010, GAME will now offer small selections of video …

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As the world of gaming downloads more and more games and retreats ever further from the high-street, outlets like GAME are looking to remain relevant. Its latest effort includes teaming up with fellow real-world shopfront, WHSmith. Although the book seller stopped shifting games itself back in 2010, GAME will now offer small selections of video games in particular outlets.

WHSmith used to stock and sell games itself, but halted the practice in 2010 as along with increased sales of games online, it lost out to more dedicated stores like GAME itself, HMV and to some extent, Blockbuster. However perhaps now with the latter company closed and HMV much less involved in game sales, there's some relevance to be had with the book seller offering a selection of titles once again.

whsmith

Source: DorsetDude/Wikimedia

“Alongside our 300 high street stores it means easier access to top video games, accessories and merchandise for our community of gamers nationwide,” a GAME representative said in a statement to GamesIndustry.

GAME's strategy over the past couple of years has been to shift its focus to offer a lot more hardware in store, as well as more gaming stations, offering more to do if people wander in. Because of this it's closed a lot of smaller outlets and consolidated efforts in the larger and more profitable stores. The partnership with WHSmith may be its way of still catering to smaller shops, without having to foot the bill for them itself.

GAME may really need this move to pay dividends too. Its sales have fallen by a few per cent points year on year and over an 80 per cent dip in profits in the same period.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I don't live near any big GAME stores, but I haven't bought a physical game in a real shop for years. I'd imagine most PC gamers are that way at this point?

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Here is why GAME is charging customers to try the PlayStation VR https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/matthew-wilson/here-is-why-game-is-charging-customers-to-try-the-playstation-vr/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/vr/matthew-wilson/here-is-why-game-is-charging-customers-to-try-the-playstation-vr/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:45:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=309546 With PlayStation VR now out in the wild, interest in the new technology has risen once again. However, with the headset sitting at £350, a lot of people are going to want to try before they buy. Doing that may not be cheap, though, as UK retailer, GAME, has decided to start charging customers just …

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With PlayStation VR now out in the wild, interest in the new technology has risen once again. However, with the headset sitting at £350, a lot of people are going to want to try before they buy. Doing that may not be cheap, though, as UK retailer, GAME, has decided to start charging customers just looking to try the PSVR, setting a rather worrying precedent for the future.

Right now in several GAME outlets across the country, PlayStation VR “pods” are being set up so that customers can book a demo experience. However, the pricing is pretty hefty, with the retailer charging £5 for ten minutes, or £15 for half an hour of play. With the PlayStation VR already sitting at £350, putting a short demo of the device behind another paywall isn't exactly encouraging.

psvr

KitGuru got in touch with a GAME representative to find out what was going on. We were told that “the cost to use the in-store PS4 pod is entirely refundable for customers that go on to buy either the headset or a PS4 console”. However, if you aren't looking to lay down £350 there and then, you will need to pay the demo cost.

Why does GAME need to charge for demos at all? Well, the statement we received goes on to say: “The payment allows us to ensure that we have dedicated staff manning the PlayStation VR pods who have been fully trained to adhere to best practice demo guidelines”.

I asked whether or not GAME had any immediate plans to adjust the pricing model on these timed demos following the negative reception but unfortunately at this time, I could not get a concrete answer.

KitGuru Says: To be fair, what GAME is doing here isn't too different to what you would find at an arcade. However, I think the pricing model GAME has chosen to run with has made this situation much worse. What do you guys think of GAME's latest money making scheme? Should they be charging customers to try VR before they buy? Personally, I feel a system like this is the wrong approach as it could do more to hinder casual interest in VR, rather than promote it. 

 

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