gaming

Epic Games has launched its next-generation video game engine, Unreal Engine 5. Arriving almost two years after it was first announced, the engine is now released for developers to download and promises a slew of new tools and hyper-realistic graphics. In its release, the company called Unreal Engine 5 “the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool.” Alongside easy-to-use UI, the engine contains Nanite, a “virtualized micropolygon geometry system,” allowing developers to build worlds with meticulous geometric detail. It also has a new Virtual Shadow Map system to help process details while sticking to a real-time frame rate. Lumen is another key feature of the engine. A fully dynamic light studio, Lumen enables developers to adapt lighting and geometry, for example, if a do...

Hasbro has just released the classic Monopoly board game in a special Sanrio Hello Kitty & Friends edition. This playful set features characters connected to the world of Sanrio and sees locations like Hello Kitty’s Hotel, My Melody’s Flower Shop, Kuromi’s Candy Shop, DokiDoki’s Burger Shack, and Sunshine Park. Metal game pieces arrive as the characters: My Melody, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru, Chococat, Cinnamoroll, and of course, Hello Kitty. Priced at $39.99 USD, the Hello Kitty & Friends Monopoly set is available now over at The OP. In other gaming news, the Original Angry Birds is back. Read Full Article

It might’ve taken Ubisoft a little longer than Activision with Call of Duty Mobile, but the studio is finally bringing its beloved Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six franchise to mobile platforms. Led by Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, the new title will re-create “true’ Rainbow Six Siege gameplay on your mobile device, offering 5 vs 5 PvP matches where you’ll get to pick your operator, skills, weapons and tech gadgets. Of course, the game will also feature some of the franchise’s most popular maps, including Bank and Border, while its game modes will reflect its PC and console counterparts as well with the likes of Secure Area and Bomb. Most importantly, Rainbow Six Mobile will be completely free-to-play. There’s no precise release date just yet for Rainbow Six Mobile, but those inte...

DOOM has provided modders with seemingly endless possibilities — from snapping photos of NFTs to running on a calculator powered by 100 pounds of potatoes — and now, one hacker has managed to blend the 1993 classic with the latest graphics technology, creating a version of the game with ray-tracing enabled. Created by modder sultim_t, the new mod gives the first three episodes of DOOM a gorgeous makeover, with its real-time path tracing adding a whole new dimension to a game that now looks relatively flat given our modern graphics standards. Unfortunately, those using AMD graphics cards won’t be able to run this version of the game for now since it currently only supports NVIDIA GPUs, but you can still have a taste of what DOOM would be like with ray-tracing in the short cli...

A leaker has shared that the protagonists of Grand Theft Auto VI could be a brother and sister duo. In translated tweets shared by @Matheusvictorbr on Twitter, the rumor states that the brother and sister duo were separated after their parents were killed during the prologue, which is set in 2003. The game will also supposedly feature destructive environments and a changing map based on the course of the story. Finally, the leaker states that Rockstar Games will begin marketing the game soon as it prepares GTA VI for a 2024 release date. In early February, Rockstar Games confirmed that the next title in the GTA franchise is finally in development. “With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered—and we are pleased to co...

Dominant South Korean esports team T1 has defeated Gen.G Esports 3-1 in the 2022 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) to round out its historic undefeated Spring season, winning 20 straight matches throughout the regular season and playoffs. After an undefeated regular season of 18 wins, T1 automatically secured the top position in the playoffs. T1 proceeded to sweep the Kwangdong Freecs 3-0 to advance to the finals in which they were able to put an end to the series in four games. The victory marks LoL superstar Midlaner “Faker”‘s record-breaking 10th LCK title on the 10th anniversary of the tournament, which is held twice a year. This season, Faker also recorded his 2,500 career kill, 1,000th game, and 70th champion played. All members of the T1 team were awarded a Tiffany & Co. c...

Logan Paul has just set a new Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale. The card he now owns is the elusive Pikachu Illustrator — a PSA 7 sold last month for $900,000 USD — graded PSA 10. Having already owned a PSA 9 version of the card, Paul traded his PSA 9 along with $4,000,000 USD to Matt Allen where the trade amounted to a record-breaking $5,275,000 USD in total value. Out of the 39 of these cards which were produced in 1998, only one has ever reached a perfect PSA 10. Swapping out his Charizard, this new PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator, Paul wore in his diamond-encrusted card necklace as he and The Miz walked down the ramp for their Tag Team match at WrestleMania 38. Not only did he win the match but he was also awarded the Guinness World Re...

Speedrunners are now managing to finish Elden Ring in less than 30 minutes, but none have managed to complete the game entirely without taking any damage — at all until now. The feat was achieved by Twitch streamer Seki, who managed to complete the game without taking a single hit from enemies or suffering any other environmental damage at all over three hours. While the run itself took a relatively short time, he says he spent more than 130 hours in-game to master all its mechanics. There were also several traits he relied on, such as dexterity and intelligence build, the Moonveil katana, and the Rock Sling spell. “The hardest part of the run by far is the final boss: Elden Beast,” Seki told Kotaku. “It has a specific move that is infamously unfair: Elden Stars. One of the only ways ...

13 years after the original game launched on Apple‘s iOS, Rovio has now brought back the immensely nostalgic, original version of Angry Birds. Now releasing under its Rovio Classics banner, the remastered version of the 2009 mobile hit has been completely rebuilt from the ground up using Unity, so you’ll still be able to experience that signature gameplay while using newer, more modern devices. The developer explained to fans last year that it had to phase out some of its older titles given how quickly technology is advancing, saying that “Today’s mobile technology and games landscape has evolved to a place where supporting them was untenable.” Luckily for fans, it has now found a new way to bring that nostalgia back after a “big outcry” for the game. For now, Rovio hasn’t announ...

Almost two years after the game was originally announced, Games Workshop and Fatshark have now finally announced a release date for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Slated to arrive this September, the new title builds on Fatshark’s previous success on both Warhammer: Vermintide and Warhammer: Vermintide 2, adopting a similar four-player Left 4 Dead-styled gameplay where players will have to cooperate to fight through various levels against hordes of oncoming enemies. Unlike the previous two installments, however, Darktide will be based in the futuristic Warhammer 40K universe instead of the fantasy world of the Vermintide, so you’ll be using very different characters with new abilities and weapons. This time around, you and three friends will be fighting for the I...