gaming

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss recently appeared for an interview with The Verge to discuss their thoughts on the new Unreal Engine 5 game The Matrix Awakens. The conversation touched upon a breadth of topics including the metaverse, doing a reimagined Matrix video game based on the films, cryptocurrency, their upcoming The Matrix Resurrections film, VR pornography and more. In The Matrix Awakens. Reeves and Moss play ultrarealistic digital versions of themselves. The duo found it “interesting,” and “trippy,” leading to a conversation of what’s real and what’s not, and rights to digital IPs. Reeves joked that they could just stay home and just have their avatars do the work, and told a story of how some of the younger generations simply don’t care if it’s “real” or not. “I feel like it’...

Analogue is now reopening orders for its highly coveted Pocket handheld console. Taking to Twitter to announce the news, the company is now going to take fresh orders started December 14, saying “It is our goal for everyone who wants a Pocket to be able to secure an order.” Though you’ll be able to put in orders tomorrow, it’ll still be on a first-come-first-serve basis split into three main groups. Group A will receive their Pockets in Q1 of 2022, with group B getting theirs in Q4 of the same year. Finally, Group C will receive their orders sometime in 2023. On top of reopening orders, Analogue has also announced a price increase for the device. Originally at $200 USD, the handheld will now go for $220 USD “due to industry-wide component price increases,” although all of its other accesso...

One of the most widely known multiplayer modes in the Halo franchise, the Slayer playlist, is headed to Halo Infinite on December 14. As first reported by Windows Central, 343 Industries community lead Brian Jarrard has confirmed that the multiplayer mode will arrive as part of the game’s next update. The Slayer playlist will come in a “basic” mode, as opposed to a variant model that the developer had planned to release following the holidays. However, 343 plans to “bolster and expand” the Slayer playlist for future updates. According to Jarrard, the “update will also include adjustments to challenges including removing some particularly frustrating mode-specific ones, reducing some requirements for others, making the weekly ultimate challenge less intensive (getti...

Epic Games‘ Unreal Engine has officially released The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience, a tech demo showcasing the future of interactive storytelling and entertainment. The game reveals shockingly ultra-realistic visuals and open-world environments utilizing cutting-edge technology from UE5 such as World Partition, which automatically divides large maps into grids and streams, Nanite, which renders the city environment in unprecedented detail down to the nuts and bolts, Lumen, which simulates light bouncing off surfaces, MetaHuman Creator which populates the world with thousands of next-gen digital humans, and Chaos, which delivers cinematic-quality explosions and destruction in real-time down to the movement of cloth and hair. The trailer above begins with an introduction fro...

The long-rumored Star Wars video game has finally been revealed over at The Game Awards 2021. Titled Star Wars Eclipse, the new title is being developed by Quantic Dream, the studio behind other hits such as Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Unlike their previous projects however, the upcoming game will be an action-adventure experience set hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga at a time known as the era of the High Republic, where you can “play as a diverse cast of charismatic characters, each with their own story, abilities, and role to play in the tapestry of events that could alter the carefully balanced peace of the Outer Rim.” Unfortunately, other details remain scarce at the time since the game is still in “early development,” and no platforms for it have b...

The hit game Among Us is coming to the world of Virtual Reality. The announcement was made at The Game Awards 2021, where the game’s creators unveiled a trailer for the forthcoming stand-alone VR edition. Among Us debuted on PC and mobile devices in 2018 and received a Nintendo Switch version in late 2020. The adaptation is being developed by Schell Games, the studio behind Until You Fall and the I Expect You To Die franchise. Though Schell has yet to share a release date, the VR edition will launch on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR and SteamVR. A post on the Oculus blog describes that the plot and social deception aspect of the game will remain the same “but in first-person and more immersive than ever.” In the meantime, fans of Among Us can look forward to playing the non-VR version of ...

The original PUBG will be free-to-play beginning next month. Announced at The Game Awards 2021 by developer Krafton, newcomers can play PUBG: Battlegrounds for free starting on January 12. The news arrives nearly five years after PUBG launched in March 2017 in beta on Xbox and PC, followed by a rollout on PlayStation and mobile devices the year after. Since then, players have clocked in 14 billion hours of play across the game’s eight maps — the largest amount available in the battle royale genre — Krafton reported. Once PUBG becomes free-to-play, it will offer a new premium account option called Battlegrounds Plus for a one-time purchase of $12.99 USD. The supplement will unlock a ranked mode, additional XP, in-game gear and more. Players who owned PUBG prior to the free-to...

After a closed beta back in 2020, Meta has now officially launched Horizon Worlds to kickstart its Metaverse. Now available for Quest owners across the U.S. and Canada that are 18 or older, players will be able to enter the new virtual reality playground and hang out and interact with other users across the region. The social space currently features a minigame called Arena Clash which is basically laser tag but you’ll also have the capacity to create new games and more experiences while collaborating with others in the world. “With new worlds in the making, you can join together with people around the world in ever-expanding adventures and amazing experiences,” says Meta. “Discover new places with friends, solve interactive puzzles or form teams to compete in action-packed games...

Warhammer 40K fans will be delighted to learn that after a full decade since the release of the original installment, Space Marine 2 is finally in the works. Now helmed by World War Z developer Saber Interactive instead of Relic Entertainment, the upcoming title will once again bring players back into the shoes of the legendary Ultramarines’ Captain Titus, now thrust into battle against hordes of Tyranids alongside his battle-brothers following the events of the first game. While other details revolving around the sequel remain scarce at this point, its announcement trailer did offer a small glimpse into its gameplay near the end, and it is very much reminiscent of the original title, with its signature third-person hack-and-slash style combined with a bunch of interesting weapon...

If you’re lucky enough to have gotten your hands on a PlayStation 5 but are looking to upgrade your controller option this holiday season, Scuf is now here to help with its latest Reflex series. Designed to offer players a premium gaming experience, the new Scuf Reflex PS5 controllers provide a big step up from the standard models. Three tiers are offered depending on your needs. The first starts at $200 USD and boasts four removable and programmable rear buttons, another button that allows you to switch between three controller profiles when you’re loading different games, and support for both swappable faceplates and thumbsticks. Of course, it also has adaptive triggers. The mid-tier Reflex Pro model will then go for $230 USD and provide everything the aforementioned option carries with ...

Ubisoft is now taking the plunge into the world of NFTs. Named Ubisoft Quartz, the publisher’s new platform will allow players to purchase various NFTs — which it calls “Digits” — through a proof-of-stake currency named Tezos. These Digits will come in the form of in-game items such as weapons, vehicles and cosmetics, and those who purchase them won’t only get to use them during their gaming sessions but also subsequently sell them via their own cryptocurrency wallets. The service is being introduced today and will make its debut in 2019’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, with the first three items arriving on December 9, 12 and 15. There’ll be a special combat mask, combat pants, and decked-out rifle you can purchase and use in the game itself, but note that all three will only b...