Gadgets 360 News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Sony has finally confirmed release dates for its wireless audio devices, announced during the PlayStation Showcase in May. The Pulse Explore wireless earbuds will be out December 6, followed by the Pulse Elite wireless over-ear headphones on February 21, 2024. Both devices follow a similar PS5 white-and-black theme and will be initially launched in the US and other European countries before slowly rolling out worldwide in the following months. Pre-orders go live on November 9 at 10am local time and as usual, there are no concrete details on India availability yet.

Destiny 2 maker Bungie is among the latest video game studios to be hit with layoffs. First reported by Bloomberg, the downsizing is part of a wide restructuring across Sony Interactive Entertainment, with no official numbers available yet. Based on social media posts from affected workers, the communications, social media, and publishing departments at the studio were hit the hardest. Sony acquired Bungie in January 2022 in a $3.6 billion (about Rs. 29,973 crore) deal, enabling them to function independently and push forward the former's plans for more live-service games. The studio is also delaying its upcoming titles — a Destiny 2 expansion called The Final Shape and a reboot of Marathon, Bungie's first-person shooter title from 1994.

Insomniac Games released Marvel's Spider-Man 2, its eagerly awaited sequel to 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, on October 20 to critical acclaim. The first-party title has also become the fastest selling PlayStation Studios title in PlayStation history, shipping over 2.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, Sony Interactive Entertainment confirmed. On the back of the success of Spider-Man, Insomniac is already looking ahead to its future releases. The Sony-owned studio had announced via a reveal trailer in 2021 that it was working on a Wolverine game. Now, Insomniac has confirmed that the title will be set in the same universe as Spider-Man 2.

Valve has launched its much-awaited SteamVR 2.0 update, following a one-month beta testing period in September. While it's unclear whether the company is laying the groundwork for a new virtual reality headset, the update brings a complete overhaul to the user interface, in a way that matches the current Steam Big Picture mode. The store prioritises new and major VR releases at the top, in addition to making it easy to navigate through a consistent experience across the desktop app, the Steam Deck, and other devices. The update was originally supposed to drop in 2020.

Sony's slimmer and revamped PS5 console will reportedly need an online connection to set up its removable disc drive. As images of the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 console bundle, slated for release on November 10, started popping up online, fans have spotted an interesting detail at the back of the box. First reported by the ‘Does it Play' Twitter account, the disclaimer reads: “Internet connection required to pair Disc Drive and PS5 console upon setup” — it's not clear whether it's simply for the initial setup or whether the process has to be repeated every time the drive is removed and attached back.

Apple is once again raising the prices of its subscription services, including Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and more. For now, this hike has only gone into effect in the US and select international regions like the UK, where new subscribers will be immediately treated to the new prices. The company didn't disclose a reason for the price hike, but seeing as it's set to reveal its fourth-quarter earnings later this week, we can assume Apple plans to bump up revenue numbers in the future. 9to5Mac was the first to report on these price changes, with an Apple statement noting that it will continue to deliver the best content on the platform.

Assassin's Creed Red's female protagonist has seemingly leaked online. As per Eurogamer, Ubisoft writer Pierre Boudreau inadvertently set his LinkedIn header image to feature the unnamed lead, who is seen wearing the iconic hooded cloak against a red background, while wielding a katana. The original photo featuring the signature logo has since been replaced with an image of Eivor, Assassin's Creed Valhalla's protagonist. This aligns with the studio's own claims from a 2022 presentation, where it confirmed that players will be sent into feudal Japan for its upcoming instalment, which is said to revisit open-world RPG elements.

India's online gaming industry has received show-cause notices amounting to Rs. 1 lakh crore say sources. The notices come even as the industry has raised concerns on the applicable GST Rates.

The Fallout TV series finally has a release date. In a tweet, Amazon Prime Video confirmed that the live-action adaptation of the eponymous Bethesda video game franchise will premiere April 12, 2024, exclusively on the streamer. The news comes in celebration of the annual Fallout Day — October 23 — which marks the day when the retro-futuristic in-game world was turned into a nuclear wasteland, causing survivors to scavenge and live off irradiated junk. HBO's Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are developing the series under their Kilter Films banner — billed as an original story set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and will be included as Fallout universe canon.

Spider-Man 2 will receive a New Game+ mode as part of a post-launch update, later this year. As per Insomniac Games Community Director James Stevenson, just like the 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, those looking to replay the title and mop up all the side quests might have to wait a bit, though for now, simply beating it once grants access to an ‘Ultimate' difficulty setting for a fresh playthrough. For the uninitiated, a New Game + mode generally allows players to plunge back into a game's campaign in an overpowered state, as the in-game character carries over all unlocked abilities, tools and weapons, and gear upgrades.

The release date for the slimmer and lighter mid-gen refresh of the PS5 has seemingly leaked online, alongside details about its first bundle. As per reliable tipster Billbil-kun — notorious for accurately leaking monthly PS Plus games ahead of time — the new PlayStation consoles with smaller form factor will go on sale November 10 in the US before spreading out to other regions; both disc and digital versions. A bit before that, on November 8, Sony would be bundling it with the newly launched Marvel's Spider-Man 2 at $559.99, which is the same amount as the existing standard edition bundle. While not explicitly mentioned, the content should be the same, with a digital voucher for the game, alongside a themed controller.

Smartphone technology moves at a blistering pace, at least, on the Android side of things. Folding smartphones has been out for several years, but Samsung has been the face of it in India even though brands like Motorola, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have also been experimenting with this category. It's only over the past two years that we have started seeing some of the Chinese clamshell foldables getting launched in India. This is mainly because Samsung has been the only smartphone brand to bring every single foldable model it announced globally, to India.

Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games won't appear on Xbox Game Pass until next year. On the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer claimed that players wouldn't be seeing a big drop of those titles immediately, due to the lengthy regulatory challenges the company faced in its buyout attempt. Since it was uncertain whether the acquisition would be approved by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) until recently, Xbox wasn't able to do the groundwork for adding the catalogue to their gaming subscription service. Ahead of the deal's closure, Activision Blizzard confirmed on Twitter that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and newly-launched Diablo IV won't be coming to Game Pass soon, but Spencer's statement covers older titles as well.

Netflix's annual Geeked Week digital showcase is back, offering glimpses at its upcoming projects. The virtual event kicks off November 6, marked Stranger Things Day, and continues throughout the week until November 12, with news and sneak peeks from highly anticipated projects such as Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon, Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation, and more. In addition to the official Geeked Week website, the show will be available to stream on Netflix's YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook accounts. With the streamer's gradual pivot into gaming, fans can expect some exciting development on that end as well — presumably, the ability to cloud stream games onto a TV.

Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar Games' long-awaited sequel to 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5, has left gamers parched, with no official announcement about its release from the developers. If you've been waiting for the next GTA title, however, there might be good news for you. It's not GTA 6, but a new report claims that streaming giant Netflix is looking to add a Grand Theft Auto title to its games portfolio. There are no details on the game itself or its launch date, but a GTA release on the Netflix Games platform would likely be a mobile title.

What makes a good Spider-Man story? Aside from capturing the mythology of the quippy, affable, web-swinging hero, it also must present great adversity for him, and not just when he's wearing the mask. It cannot be a Spider-Man story without Peter Parker. Unlike other superheroes who can wear a cowl and leave their identity behind, the two are inseparable. Spider-Man swings into a fight, but it's Peter who takes the punch. It must also ground Spider-Man in the fragility of human experience. The wall-crawler is strong, but he must learn that we all break. A great Spider-Man story must also deal with personal tragedy. No matter how many times Spider-Man wins the day, it's his loss that defines him. Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac Games' first attempt at telling such a story, succeeded on most, if not all, of these parameters. Aside from being incredibly fun to play — with polished web-swinging, an incredibly detailed New York City to explore, and butter-smooth, flowing combat — the first game understood the essence of a Spider-Man story, serving one of the best narratives for the hero perhaps seen across all forms of media.

Mortal Kombat 1 has debuted its first post-launch character Omni-Man from the Robert Kirkman comic book Invincible. NetherRealm Studios dropped the gameplay trailer during the New York Comic Con 2023 event, revealing a set of brutal moves that were pulled straight from the eponymous animated series adaptation on Amazon Prime Video. The villainous character will be available as a standalone fighter in November, accessible to those who bought the Premium Edition of the game or the Kombat Pack DLC separately. Actor J.K. Simmons is also reprising his role and voicing Omni-Man for Mortal Kombat 1.

Xbox maker Microsoft closed its $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,75,620 crore) deal for Activision Blizzard on Friday, swelling its heft in the video-gaming market with best-selling titles including Call of Duty to better compete with industry leader Sony.

At this point, FIFA, EA's long-running and ridiculously successful sports video game franchise, is perhaps just as big as football itself. In fact, FIFA games are inseparable from the sport; spoken of together, complementing each other, and influencing and informing each other as both the video game and the sport continue to change and churn. EA Sports FIFA is also deeply tied with football culture. People who watch football, play FIFA. Heck, professional footballers play FIFA. Elite players who make it to the cover of a FIFA game consider it as a career achievement. Football entities are invested in the franchise, which wields the irreplicable marketing strength to bring footballers, leagues, football clubs and competitions to a truly global audience. It is a mutual, symbiotic relationship between the biggest sport in the world and the biggest sports video game franchise in the world, where the balance of power and exchange of identity continuously shift. One thing is clear, that both have been incredibly and immeasurably instrumental in each other's successes, keeping each other fed and fat.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 — out next Friday on PS5 — is easily one of our most anticipated titles of the year, building upon Insomniac Games' original blockbuster tale to weave a new line for our spandex-wearing web crawlers. Yep, true to the name, this time we get to play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, as they team up to neutralise various new threats to New York City, which include the monstrous symbiote Venom and the beast-like Kraven the Hunter. In addition to refining web-swinging and chained flowy combat — a selling point for 2018's Spider-Man — the sequel has nearly doubled the size of its open-world playground, albeit in ways that traversal never feels tedious.

Sony is launching cloud streaming for the PS5 console, later this month. The feature will be available to PS Plus Premium — highest-tier — members only, letting them stream select Game Catalog titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima, and more, without having to download or actually own them. Unfortunately, it's getting a staggered rollout, first launching in Japan, Europe, and North American regions, promising ‘hundreds' of PS5 games in the future. The company confirmed the addition and testing of cloud streaming in June, as part of its pivot towards the technology, further solidified by its PlayStation Portal handheld device.

Gotham Knights leads the pack of new titles coming to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe/ Premium game catalog, this month. Starting October 17, all higher-tier PS Plus members can hop onto their Batcycles and ride around the streets of Gotham City, beating up all kinds of volatile criminals in the hopes of unmasking the enigmatic Court of Owls. Players can switch between Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and the Red Hood throughout the story to investigate Batman/ Bruce Wayne's death, and build out their character via a gear system. Gotham Knights wasn't nicely received at launch due to a myriad of performance issues across console and PC, in addition to having a repetitive gameplay loop. It will be available on the PS5 only.

The Amazon Great Indian Festival sale is into its fourth day, bringing discounts on a wide range of products and devices. The e-commerce giant is also offering an additional discount of 10 percent on SBI credit and debit card transactions. The Amazon sale features deals on smartphones, tablets, laptops, electrical appliances, and more. Your gaming needs are also taken care of, with offers on accessories, consoles, and gaming laptops.

Sony is all set to refresh its PlayStation 5 lineup for the holiday season, with the long-rumoured slimmer redesign of the PS5 confirmed to release next month. Sony unveiled the new PS5 models late Tuesday, showcasing design changes that have helped the console become smaller and lighter. While the PS5 slim's processing power and graphical capabilities remain the same as the original PS5, the mid-gen console refresh, which has a slightly smaller form factor than its infamously bulky predecessor, does get slightly bigger internal storage, up from an 825GB custom SSD to 1TB. The PS5 slim also brings the option to add an external UHD Blu-ray disc drive to its digital edition console. Notably, the disc edition of the redesigned PS5 slim maintains its pricing at $499.99 (roughly Rs. 41,615), but the digital edition gets a $50 price bump and will cost $449.99 (roughly Rs. 37,452), up from $399.

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) has launched its new 2.8 update, bringing a zombie-themed game mode called ‘Zombie's Edge.' The update is available for free download now, on Android and iOS, with the mode being unlocked on the Erangel, Livik, and Miramar maps. The Aerolith Lab and its surrounding areas serve as the hotspot during the event, teeming with countless ‘mutants' to kill, alongside an occasional Berserker and Ripper variants, which will prove more challenging. The former is of a muscular stature, whose right arm can seamlessly transform between a sharp blade and an armoured fist. Meanwhile, the Ripper is slender and uses its agility to close in and perform slash attacks.

Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2023 is well underway, offering deep discounts across product categories. The e-commerce giant is also offering an additional discount of 10 percent on select products for SBI debit and credit card transactions. The Amazon sale brings value for money deals on smartphones, large electrical appliances, PC accessories, gaming consoles, and Amazon devices.

Fighting games are not my forte, but I'm always enthralled by their ability to suck you in with an easy-to-learn yet hard-to-master formula. It's a trait that NetherRealm Studios has embraced by including over-the-top violence and flashy animations, so scrubs like me can jump in and have a jolly good time ripping spines with jellified innards clinging to them. From its arcade origins over 30 years ago, Mortal Kombat has evolved drastically, veering into the 3D era and differentiating itself from competitors like Street Fighter and Tekken by slowly sculpting the larger lore. So, it's not surprising to see a lot of confused faces when their 12th and latest entry is titled ‘Mortal Kombat 1,' a nomenclature decision that can easily clash with the 2021 live-action movie, the original 1992 game, and its 2011 reboot. Yep, this marks the second soft rejig for the franchise, but sadly, NetherRealm's latest fighting playground does little to explore new avenues.

The Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2023 is live right now for all users, bringing discounts on a wide variety of products and devices. Electronics is, of course, the big draw here, with plenty of deals on mobile phones, electrical appliances, TVs, laptops and more on offer. Amazon is also offering an additional 10 percent discount on select items for SBI credit and debit card transactions. The sale also brings great discounts for gamers.

The Last of Us Part II might be getting a remaster, as accidentally stated by a developer at Naughty Dog. First spotted by Resetera users, Lead Outsource Artist Mark Pajarillo referenced the version in a now-updated LinkedIn experience post. “Responsible for overseeing the production of all outsourced environment art assets, weapons and interactive props for two iconic titles The Last of Us: Part One and The Last of Us 2: Remastered,” the original post read, proving its existence. Hints of an enhanced PS5 version first dropped in July, when composer Gustavo Santaolalla alluded to some new features being added to the remaster.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is dropping in November and before that, Activision has unveiled a brand-new map coming to its battle-royale counterpart. Dubbed ‘Urzikstan,' the large-scale metropolis will be available in Warzone 2.0, sometime in December, as part of season 1 content. The region was first featured in the reimagined 2019 MW game and is playable on the endless respawn-enabled Plunder mode, as well. Set on the eastern border of the Black Sea, this map comes with 11 unique points of interest, peppered with horizontal ziplines and drivable trains for better traversal.

OnePlus does not just make smartphones anymore and over the years, it has experimented and expanded its range of products. It now has a fairly wide ecosystem of devices, which recently also saw the addition of a tablet. From an ecosystem point of view, it is only missing a computer. Adding to this long lineup of smartphones, TVs, monitors, smartwatches, audio gear, clothing accessories (which also includes a fanny pack), is a mechanical keyboard called the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro. OnePlus tied up with the mechanical keyboard specialists at Keychron to design it.

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a live-action adaptation, developer CD Projekt Red has announced. The project is being developed in collaboration with Anonymous Content, the independent media company best known for producing Emmy-winning shows like True Detective and Mr. Robot. It's unclear if this take will be a feature-length film or a TV series, but the hunt for a screenwriter has commenced, with plans to tell a brand-new story set in the futuristic neon-lit world, where sex, body modifications, and political chatter are commonplace. The developer also stressed that the adaptation is at an ‘early developmental stage,' so it'll be a while before we receive any further updates.

October is here and the month brings a non-stop train of game releases. It is perhaps the busiest month in gaming this year, with major titles fighting for space in the tight window of four weeks. Kicking off things on October 5 is Assassin's Creed Mirage, Ubisoft's next chapter in the long-running assassin's saga. This time, the game opts to shrink its scope and return to its roots with a more stealth and assassinations-based approach. The last three AC titles had adhered to a Witcher 3-style expansive RPG style, drawing criticism for open-world bloat.

It's difficult to translate the complexities of cricket into the cadence of a video game. Where the moment-to-moment dynamism of football and basketball lends itself naturally to arcade-style sports games like FIFA and NBA 2K, cricket's languid delights don't quite fit the formula. The usual sports sim approach, which is based on a 12-minute exercise in instant gratification, cannot capture the experience of a sport where a large chunk of a match is spent standing around. That's where Big Ant Studios' Cricket series takes a different route.

Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition is reportedly the first two-disc PS5 game. As per an image posted by the ‘Does it play?' Twitter account, the base game, its Burning Shores expansion, and some digital goodies all total out to 121GB, and will be available on the two discs included in the physical edition. The game is slated to launch Friday, October 6, and with that, it has beaten the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth to the punch, which was also planned for release on two discs. This move is a big win for console owners who value physical media — or rather, the ability to access games anywhere and anytime without restrictions such as a constant internet connection.

Diablo IV is coming to Steam, merely four months after its multi-platform launch. The devilish loot RPG is headed to Valve's game storefront on October 17, keeping with creator Blizzard's promise to bring more of its PC catalogue to the commonly preferred choice of platform. You see, all PC games from Blizzard are restricted to its proprietary Battle.net launcher, making it a nuisance for players to jump between and log into different accounts. It's a hot topic among the community, who'd much rather have their entire library on Steam, for easy access. The free-to-play shooter Overwatch 2 was the first to break this tradition in August, albeit that ended poorly.

Cricket 24, dubbed ‘the most licensed cricket game ever,' is out now on PlayStation and Xbox consoles — both current and old-gen — alongside PC via Steam. Developer Big Ant Studios had also promised a Nintendo Switch port, though it won't be available until late November. It's not far-fetched to assume that developer Big Ant Studios rushed to put the game out right in time for the real-life ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which also kicks off today. As a result, we have an uneven launch, with Sony PlayStation trying to capitalise on India's love for the sport by unveiling a Cricket 24-themed PS5 bundle.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is prepping to release this week, and before that, we've received global launch timings for the same. Ubisoft tweeted an infographic listing different timezones that point toward a staggered release — meaning the game unlocks at different times across the world. On console, the ninth-century Baghdad-set title goes live at midnight local time on October 5, which means the more impatient players can try changing their system's location to New Zealand to try and get in early. So far, the release schedule is straightforward, with preloading already live across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. However, the PC unlock is a tad confusing, with some regions getting a headstart by as much as a day.

The Last of Us maker Naughty Dog is reportedly among the latest game studios to be hit with layoffs. As per Kotaku, the first-party PlayStation studio is cutting off at least 25 developers, with the most affected members being quality assurance (QA) testers, whose contracts have been shortened. Affected workers are expected to continue working until the end of October, and they allegedly won't be receiving any severance payments. Turns out, the full-time staff — last recorded headcount being 400+ in July — are not being laid off, with employees in general being ‘pressured' to keep the news internal.

Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar Games' long-gestating, manically anticipated sequel to Grand Theft Auto 5, has reached an almost mythic status in gaming. A decade after the release of GTA 5, we don't yet have an official teaser or trailer for GTA 6, even as the hype for the game shoots beyond orbit. There have been several leaks and rumours, most notably the infamous hack last year that released in-development footage from the game. Now, a promotional post from Rockstar has fans speculating over a GTA 6 announcement.

Jim Ryan, PlayStation head and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is leaving the company after an almost 30-year stint. In a press release, Sony confirmed that he will be retiring in March 2024, with COO Hiroki Totoki being appointed as the interim CEO of the company from April 1, 2024. Ryan merely served four years as CEO, having replaced John Kodera in 2019, and most notably oversaw the launch of the PS5, which has sold over 40 million units worldwide, as of July. It's unclear who will eventually be taking over as the new CEO, but for the time being, Totoki will assume the role of SIE chairman in October.

PlayStation Plus' monthly free games for October 2023 have been announced. The three titles will be available to members of PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Deluxe/ Premium plans, starting October 3. PS Plus members can sneak their way through the horrifying confines of a gory space prison in The Callisto Protocol, build out large-scale prosperous lands in Farming Simulator 22, and dive into the world of Weird West, which throws gunslingers on an unforgiving land teeming with dark fantastical creatures. These games can be added to your PS4 and PS5 games library until November 6, after which you'll need to hold on to your PS Plus subscription for continued access.

Counter-Strike 2 is finally available on Steam, after spending months in limited testing. Billed as the ‘largest technical leap' in the perennial shooter's history, CS2 replaces the original CS:GO and is ready for download on the platform. Running on the Source 2 Engine, which powered the acclaimed Half-Life: Alyx, the successor now gets a graphical facelift with redesigns to certain maps, alongside some technical upgrades that strengthen the overall gunplay. Interestingly, while Valve never openly announced a release date, the official Counter-Strike Twitter account updated its header image with cryptic phrases like “Dawn of the Final Day” to signal its imminent launch.

Meta announced its newest Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset back in June, promising twice the graphical performance of its predecessor, the Quest 2. Now, with increased competition in the mixed reality segment from Apple, the company has revealed more details about its next-generation headset at its Meta Connect 2023 annual conference on Wednesday, including an official launch date. The Meta Quest 3 will start shipping October 10, with pre-orders for the headset live right now. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also showed off immersive virtual reality capabilities of the headset, while keeping your physical surroundings in sight with full-colour passthrough.

Actor Cameron Monaghan casually confirmed that a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is in development. During the Ocala Comic Con event, the voice and motion capture artist behind the protagonist Cal Kestis said, “We're working on the third. We're in the process of doing it right now.” The news comes as a surprise, considering the series director Stig Asmussen, who rebuilt and instilled faith in single-player Star Wars games, recently left EA/ Respawn Entertainment. However, he always expressed interest in furthering and concluding Cal's arc through a trilogy, with discussions of a sequel dating back even before 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was out.

Listings for Resident Evil 4 remake's iOS and iPadOS ports have gone live, showing a placeholder date of December 31. However, the mobile version is rather expensive, costing Rs. 3,599, matching the same default price tag as the mainline PC port. The game will be available with support for Universal Purchase, meaning the same app can be accessed across other Apple products you own, including the Mac. Similar to other Capcom titles, players will be granted a free trial/ demo before being asked to purchase the game for full content, hence it says ‘Free' download on the App Store page.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorise a new strike against the video game industry, with an overwhelming 98.32 percent in favour. The union claims that 34,687 members cast ballots, representing 24.49 percent of eligible voters. Bear in mind that this authorisation does not guarantee the strike will happen, but that the union members are serious about stopping work if the unions fail to reach a fair agreement with the companies. The voting period began on September 5 and ended on Monday, September 25, ahead of new negotiations that kickstart on September 26 (PT). If it goes through, this would mark the second video game strike since a similar action took place in 2016 — lasting nearly a year.

Baldur's Gate 3 is prepared to receive its massive third patch, which will finally allow players to change their in-game character's appearance. Fans have been desperately requesting this feature since launch, and it's scheduled to go live later tonight, September 22, alongside fixes for the performance issues in the densely-populated Act 3 segment. When the update goes live, the game will add a Magic Mirror to our camp, a stationary tool that can be interacted with to presumably open up a limited version of the creation menu. Patch 3 was originally due on Thursday, but developer Larian Studios decided to take an extra day for ‘thorough testing.'

Xbox announced a slew of new titles coming to its Game Pass subscription service this year. At its Tokyo Game Show segment, held Thursday, the publisher confirmed that Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will be available to members for free on day one i.e., November 9. In it, Kazama Kiryu, the famous Yakuza who faked his death to protect his family, slips into the black suit once again and works as a bodyguard codenamed ‘Joryu.' His cover is soon threatened when a mysterious figure with ties to the past comes to haunt him, spawning a crazed frenzy across the streets of Japan, as we punch our way through hordes.

It's no secret that Starfield — out now on PC and Xbox Series S/X — is hands down one of the most monumental game launches of the year. For Bethesda, it's a gamble in uncharted territory as they undertake their first new universe in 25 years, set across the stars in a futuristic civilised corner of the Milky Way galaxy. For publisher Xbox, it's an opportunity to bounce back from a lacklustre 2022 slate and dominate the gaming conversation for a long time — probably years, given the staying power director Todd Howard's RPGs are notorious for. With over a thousand planets to explore, dashing factions to align with, and cosmic mysteries bubbling with political intrigue, Starfield aims to be the most complex spacefaring adventure of our generation. As such, it soars gracefully, but not without some turbulence.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is prepping for its October 5 launch and ahead of that, Ubisoft has dropped system requirements for the same. Unlike the norm with AAA PC games these days, this ninth-century Baghdad-set title appears to be rather forgiving on hardware, essentially going back an entire graphics generation. Running the game on Ultra settings does not require AMD's latest 7000 or Nvidia's 40 series cards. That said, the accompanying ‘PC Features' trailer shows Intel as its official partner, assuring that it's been optimised for the Arc GPUs and the respective 13th-Gen processors. This feels like a weird choice since it's not a really popular graphics card in the PC gaming community.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer considered buying Nintendo at one point, a leaked 2020 email revealed. Multiple documents from Microsoft's trial with the US FTC were leaked Tuesday, with one showing a casual discussion about buying the Mario maker, where Spencer called it a “career moment” and implied that a collaboration would be a ‘good move' for either company. It's worth highlighting that this conversation happened in August 2020, before Microsoft acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion (about Rs. 62,431 crore). The leaks also disclosed Bethesda's release schedule, alongside details for Microsoft's planned mid-generation console refresh.

Microsoft is planning a mid-gen refresh for its Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, eyeing a release in 2024. A series of leaked court documents from the Microsoft vs. US FTC trial revealed a roadmap and concept images for its upcoming set of gaming systems, which also includes a new controller with gyro and haptic feedback. Codenamed ‘Brooklin,' the all-digital Xbox Series X boasts the same horsepower as the existing version, albeit lacking a disc drive. The console is cylindrically shaped and comes with a generous 2TB storage — up from 1TB — which I'm guessing is an SSD. It'll bear the same price tag of $499/ Rs. 54,990 and is slated to drop in late October, next year.

Insomniac Games has had busy couple of decades. The American developer has been making beloved video games since 1994 — the hands and minds behind early PlayStation classics like Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank — but past few years have seen the studio take on a different beast altogether. It started with 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, a Game of the Year nominee that brought back the iconic web-crawling superhero into the gaming spotlight. Outside of its legacy in comic books and films, Spider-Man is a video gaming icon in its own right, and Insomniac's take on Peter Parker's story re-established the franchise at its rightful place.

It's perhaps difficult to grasp — especially for younger fans — how vibrant the legacy of Spider-Man, the world's favourite web-crawler, is in video games. Over the years, we know Spider-Man from his many incarnations in animated TV shows, films, and comic books. Sam Raimi's take on the character propelled it to new heights of popularity. More recently, Spider-Man films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony Pictures' Miles Morales animated features have established their own identity. But the web-swinging, quippy superhero has a long and illustrious history in video games, too. Before Rocksteady's Arkham games rewrote the superhero games playbook, an iconic lineup of Spider-Man games from Activision were some of the best that the genre had to offer.

Spider-Man 2 just got a new gameplay trailer at the PlayStation State of Play event, held late Thursday, dropping new details about its exploration, side quests, and new tech. Game director Bryan Intihar kicked things off by comparing its open-world experience to the 2018 prequel, noting how the map has nearly doubled in size, expanding past the East River to include the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs. To compensate for the distance, both Spider-Men — Peter Parker and Miles Morales — are equipped with deployable Web Wings that let them swiftly glide across the city. Indeed, these can be used in tandem with web-swinging by alternating between the two for increased momentum.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… leads the pack of new titles coming to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe/ Premium catalogue, this month. Starting September 19, all higher-tier PS Plus members can delve into a post-apocalyptic realm where machines and androids are stuck in a proxy war, and follow a brother's quest to cure his sister Yonah from a life-threatening disease. Fight back sickness-ridden monstrosities through a customisable blend of magic and swordplay, all the while accompanied by a talking book. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… will be available on the PS4. Another standout this month is Unpacking, a calm puzzle game where you pull possessions out of cardboard boxes and decorate homes — jumping in time and across houses to slowly unspool an intimate story. It's out on PS4 and PS5.

Unity, the cross-platform game engine, announced big changes to its fee structure, enraging indie developers around the world. The company has introduced a new ‘Unity Runtime Fee,' that will charge studios a cost every time a game built on their engine is installed. The new pricing structure goes into effect January 1, 2024, with different install costs being levied based on its multiple subscription tiers. Understandably, developers are upset and confused and have begun speaking out against the rules and their lack of clarity, which could easily make them bankrupt. While this only applies to a certain group of developers who've hit a prescribed threshold of sales or download numbers, a revenue share model would've been ideal.

Starfield is getting support for Nvidia DLSS in a future update. In a blog post, Bethesda claimed that it will address some of the highly-requested features and make quality-of-life improvements through a series of regular updates. These include an in-game FOV slider, which so far, players have been adjusting by editing a .ini text file, alongside brightness and contrast controls, and an HDR calibration menu. But before that, the developer has dropped a small hotfix today, to help iron out any ‘top blocker bugs' that are interfering with the general experience in the beloved space RPG. Dubbed version 1.7.29, the hotfix brings improvements to Starfield's performance on the Xbox Series S/X by reducing crashes. It also fixes some quest-ending bugs.

About two weeks before the release of Immortals of Aveum, EA's new first-person spell-shooter action title, Baldur's Gate III released to rapturous acclaim. Larian Studios' Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG - with its deeply rewarding quests, robust gameplay systems, and its evocative characters and storylines - became a global phenomenon, racking up over 800,000 concurrent players on steam. A strong contender for Game of the Year, Baldur's Gate III offers meaningful choices, compelling narratives, and hundreds of hours of immersive experience in the Forgotten Realms.

As Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion inches closer, developer CD Projekt Red has warned PC players to test their cooling systems beforehand. In a tweet, lead scene programmer Filip Pierściński claimed that both the game's paid expansion and the version 2.0 update will be heavy on CPU usage, essentially squeezing every bit of performance out of the chip. As such, a 90 percent workload on an 8-core processor is easily expected, which could lead to thermal throttling. It's unclear as to what aspect of the update is making the game so CPU-demanding, but past patches heavily focused on ray-tracing features.

Apple unveiled its new iPhone 15 lineup at its Wonderlust event on Tuesday, announcing plans to bring some AAA console and PC games to the mobile platform. That is if you purchase an iPhone 15 Pro, which is powered by the cutting-edge six-core A17 Pro chipset that allows for the games to run natively on the device with ray-tracing enabled. Games like Resident Evil 4 remake, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and the upcoming Assassin's Creed Mirage will be out on the iPhone 15 Pro later this year and into early 2024. The company has historically boasted about its mobile devices' gaming performance, but this would be the first time we ever actually get to see it in action.

Borderlands developer Gearbox is reportedly up for sale by parent company Embracer Group. As per Reuters, the Swedish conglomerate is looking to restructure following a $2 billion (about Rs. 16,586 crore) deal with Saudi Arabia government-funded Savvy Games Group that fell through, earlier this year. The fallout resulted in the former cutting down on spending, in addition to closing down studios and laying off its employees. Having been acquired merely two-and-a-half years ago, Gearbox is now the latest victim, with some alleged third-party publishers expressing interest in acquiring the developer. No names were mentioned, though they were described as “international gaming groups.”

XDefiant, Ubisoft's upcoming cross-over arena shooter, still does not have a solid release date and now we know why. In a blog post, producer Mark Rubin confirmed that the game failed its console certification with PlayStation and Xbox, and therefore has been delayed from its original American summer window. It is now eyeing a release sometime between mid-September to the middle of October, depending on any required day-one patches. It's worth mentioning that not passing a certification test is incredibly common for games, but we hardly ever hear about them since it's taken into consideration by publishers when setting a release date far in advance.

Starfield is getting official mod support in 2024, game director Todd Howard confirmed in an interview. Since the expansive space RPG's debut in early access, thousands of unofficial mods have been made available online, ranging from ones that enable Nvidia's DLSS upscaling system to making the inventory more compact and user-friendly. However, official modding tools make it easy to add fresh, custom content such as new planets and story quests, essentially opening the playing field for more experimentation. This has been the custom for Bethesda games at launch, where the modding community has been deeply involved with eliminating bugs or enhancing the experience, thanks to a deep understanding of the engine.

Nintendo reportedly showcased the Switch 2 behind closed doors at Gamescom last month. As per Eurogamer, select game developers got an early peek at the Switch successor, alongside tech demos highlighting its improved performance. One such demo is described to have shown an improved version of 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, targeting a higher framerate and resolution when compared to the original's 30fps. That said, it's unclear whether the game will be re-released for the new console, which is eyeing a launch in the second half of 2024. Back in August, Nintendo also sent development kits to certain studios for testing, with a promise of a portable mode.

Baldur's Gate 3 finally dropped on the PS5 last night, and with that developer Larian Studios has confirmed that cross-play will be coming to the game eventually. Speaking to Eurogamer, director of publishing Michael Douse claimed that cross-platform co-op has always been on the roadmap, but the team never planned it as a launch feature. Just like the tabletop roleplaying game it's based on (Dungeons & Dragons), Baldur's Gate 3's immersive story can be enjoyed with friends in online co-op, albeit for now it is limited to those on the same platform/ system.

September promises to be a blockbuster month for gaming, with a stellar lineup of heavy hitters set to release this month. Kicking off the show is Starfield, Bethesda's epic sci-fi space fantasy RPG, which has been in development for eight years, apparently. The studio's first original IP in 25 years, Starfield, as director Todd Howard puts it, is essentially Skyrim in space. Hundreds of hours of spacefaring adventure await, with a side helping of nostalgic Bethesda style. The game is out now on PC and Xbox Series S/X. It's also a big month for RPGs, as CD Projekt Red's much-awaited Cyberpunk 2077 expansion hits the shelves on September 26. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty promises a ton of upgrades from the base game, including an overhauled skill tree, a new wanted system, and gameplay tweaks. There's a brand new story, too, with Idris Elba joining the cast, and Keanu Reeves returning.

Stray, the smash-hit feline simulator platformer, is getting an animated film adaptation. As per Entertainment Weekly, Annapurna Animation is kickstarting its next lineup of movies, starting with 2022's award-winning title from BlueTwelve, wherein you play as a drone-equipped ginger cat lost in the neon-lit alleys of a forgotten cyber city, trying to get back home while dodging machines and robots. Robert Baird, who co-leads the division with Andrew Millstein, described the film's style as having a ‘hopepunk' vibe that relies on optimism as a weapon, with the latter adding that Stray was the first pick simply because it was ‘wildly popular.'

Arcane, the League of Legends spin-off series, is reportedly returning for its second season in late 2024. As per content creator LeagueOfLeaks, the window was revealed during the Video V Vision Conference held by Riot Games' parent company Tencent with a Q4 2024 date, marking a debut sometime between October to December next year. Fans of the franchise, however, have been speculating that it's likely to drop in early November, so it matches with season 1's release and aligns with the 15th anniversary of the uber-popular MOBA game. The first chapter was widely regarded for its steampunk aesthetic and emotional storytelling, even leading to an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2022.

Starfield officially arrives September 6, but it has already begun breaking records on Steam. The expansive space RPG hit an all-time peak of 248,632 concurrent players, at the time of writing, which goes to show how impatient players have been for Bethesda's latest. For the uninitiated, those who aren't willing to wait for the official launch can purchase the Rs. 6,699/ $100 Premium Edition of the game and play it early. This is applicable across both Steam and Xbox platforms, with even Game Pass members willing to fork over $31.49/ Rs. 2,519 for early access, despite the title being essentially free for them.

Lenovo Legion Go was launched during the IFA (Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin) 2023 in Berlin on Friday (September 1) as the company's first Windows gaming handheld device. It features an 8.8-inch QHD+ display with up to 144Hz refresh rate and is powered by the new AMD Ryzen Z1 series of processors. The handheld gaming console runs on Windows 11 Home with Legion Space software on top. It comes with Hall Effect joysticks for improved responsiveness and accuracy during gaming sessions. The Lenovo Legion Go will compete with the likes of Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and Asus ROG Ally (Review).

Starfield is now available to those who pre-ordered the Premium Edition, and it's being received fairly well — even more so on the performance front, which is unusual for developer Bethesda, whose titles have historically debuted with inconsistent framerates on consoles. As per Digital Foundry's breakdown, the much-anticipated space sci-fi RPG runs at a solid 30fps on both the Xbox Series S and Series X, exactly as the studio advertised. At a glance, there doesn't seem to be a concerning amount of disparity in visual fidelity between the two versions, though the higher-end Series X does appear to have more geometric detail.

What are the biggest TV shows and web series in September 2023? Sex Education season 4 leads the pack of new releases this month, alongside Gen V, a college-set spin-off series based on The Boys. The former sees everyone's favourite sex therapist Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) finally in college, hoping to set up his new clinic while trying not to come across as a loser to his new peers' awkward glares. Marking the final chapter in the lives of the Moordale Secondary's sex-obsessed gang, Sex Education returns September 21 on Netflix. Chase that down with a healthy dose of Compound V, as a group of gifted students at Godolkin University compete for the top ranking in Gen V. It premieres September 29 on Amazon Prime Video.

The Elder Scrolls VI is now in early development, Bethesda has confirmed. Speaking to Spanish publication Vandal, Bethesda's Head of Publishing Pete Hines confirmed that while the hype for Starfield draws ever so close, some developers at the studio have been working on the Tamriel fantasy sequel, which has now left the pre-production stage. Both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 were revealed at the 2018 E3 event, with the former sci-fi RPG being way ahead in the release pipeline. For now, Bethesda is fully focused on its launch and potential post-launch support, and therefore, it'll be at least a few years before we hear any new details about TES 6.

PlayStation Plus is getting a price hike soon. Sony has confirmed plans to raise the prices for its PS Plus yearly subscriptions, starting September 6, across all three tiers. The news was buried underneath their monthly blog post, which lists the new free games coming to the service. As D-day nears, the base PS Plus Essential plan will cost $79.99 (about Rs. 6,611) for a 12-month subscription, going up from the current $60 (about Rs. 4,959) price tag. Due to regional pricing, however, Indian prices should be significantly lower — currently, a yearly plan of PS Plus Essential costs Rs. 2,999 in the country. The increase hasn't been announced in INR, so to get a good estimate, I think it'd be best to compare it to the Japanese cost, which will soon rise to JPY 6,800 (about Rs. 3,850).

Baldur's Gate 3's second patch is right around the corner, with Larian Studios suggesting that it's a ‘chonky' one. In a community update post on Steam, the developer revealed that the patch will be focused on improving performance issues, specifically in Act 3, where players have reported laggy cutscenes and stutters when the camera pans around. In addition to fixing bugs that halted quest progression, our companion, the cheerful Tiefling Karlach, will be getting a new optional ending — a closure that is described as ‘fiery' and ‘poignant'. The lengthy blog post also touches upon some cut content that was discovered recently by data miners, some of which have now been revealed as a consequence of bugs.

Starfield is just days away from launch and ahead of that the Bethesda RPG has seen several leaks. Copies of the game are currently in the hands of select reviewers and even some players who obtained it illegally, before sharing a plethora of screenshots and gameplay videos online. One such clip that's now causing concern for fans about Starfield's scope was first leaked on a Chinese forum, over the weekend, which suggested that a player could run non-stop in one direction for 40 minutes, before being met with a ‘Boundary Reached' message. The videos have since been removed, though players are now questioning the legitimacy of developer Bethesda's claims.

The beauty of Dungeons & Dragons lies in its immersive role-playing structure that bestows upon you the role of an author, but you never truly know where the story is headed. It's quite humane in that sense, where no matter how well-prepared you are, fate's inevitable gnarly fingers might have different ideas for us. Larian Studios' latest Baldur's Gate III explores the Forgotten Realms, a dark fantastical corner of D&D that's brimming with devils, deities, and the supernatural. A highly dynamic world that reacts to the digits on a polyhedral dice to weave an emotional tale about a group of broken people, gambling their lives against sinister forces that ooze Lovecraftian vibes. On the other hand, you can take a backseat and watch it all fade to misery, as you scroll through Astarion fan art and look up the quickest ways to romance bears in-game.

Baldur's Gate III will be coming to Xbox consoles this year after all. In a tweet, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke confirmed that he and Xbox head Phil Spencer had found a solution to bring the critically acclaimed CRPG to Microsoft's current-gen consoles. There's one catch though: the game won't support split-screen co-op on the less-expensive Xbox Series S — a feature the developer has been struggling to enable for months now, thanks to the technical limitations of the console. In fact, to maintain parity of features between Baldur's Gate 3 on the Xbox Series S and X, Microsoft even sent engineers from their side to help out Larian.