The latest news from games, film, technology and digital culture. The stories that matter, without the noise.
A superficial glance at November’s gaming schedule might easily lead you to believe that Xbox players are receiving only a single title this month: Grand Theft Auto 6. While that blockbuster is undeniably the lone heavyweight anchoring the Xbox Series X lineup, the opening weeks of November are surprisingly packed. A robust selection of indie...
As Marvel Studios’ release of Avengers Endgame: Encore proves, blockbuster movies can still dominate the box office after a multibillion dollar run. Sony plans a rerelease of Spider-Man: Brand New Day to bring audiences back to movie theaters. Similar to Endgame: Encore, the studio adds new footage of Spider-Man‘s latest flick as an incentive. According...
The shooter simply is not in Game Pass. The new installment of Call of Duty launched on Xbox notably worse than its predecessor. According to TrueAchievements data, the audience for Modern Warfare 4 on the platform is 32% smaller than last year’s Black Ops 7. Despite generally positive reviews for the campaign and multiplayer modes...
It is no secret that visuals play a massive role in video games. For decades, raw graphical fidelity served as a primary selling point for new hardware generations and high-end gaming rigs. Yet, a rich history of titles succeeded without chasing cutting-edge aesthetics. Long before massive audiences could be reliably captured by eye candy alone,...
As the popularity and financial stakes of the Pokémon trading card hobby continue to soar, enthusiasts and collectors face a growing menace: sophisticated counterfeit cards. While amateur fakes were once easy to spot, the massive influx of capital into the market has incentivized forgers to refine their craft. Consequently, distinguishing genuine articles from clever replicas...
Epic Games is actively integrating artificial intelligence into Unreal Engine development, with neural networks already helping to fix bugs that had lingered for a decade and accelerate engine optimization. Two weeks ago, Epic Games head Tim Sweeney announced a large-scale shift toward artificial intelligence tools. Now, Unreal Engine 5 Chief Technology Officer Markus Wassmer has...
Mike Flanagan is having a moment this year. After the success of Prime Video’s Carrie — and its season two renewal — more eyes are on him and his works than ever before. He has a solid backlog of TV shows and films for viewers to peruse. Hardly anybody is creating consistent, high-quality horror for...
Your web browser is arguably the most accessible gaming rig you own. Free, browser-based games often carry an undeserved reputation; a quick search for “free online titles” usually yields an endless parade of identical Wordle knockoffs. (No disrespect to the puzzle enthusiasts, but one variation is quite enough.) Delve past the surface, however, and you...
On November 18, 1985, the very first comic strip of Calvin and Hobbes appeared in newspapers. “So long, pop! I’m off to check my tiger trap!” Calvin, wearing a safari helmet, said to his dad in the first panel. Calvin went on to explain that he rigged the trap with a tuna fish sandwich, something...
Phantom Blade Zero intentionally lowers its default image resolution, which causes the visuals to appear blurry. Content creator Daniel Owen analyzed the technical side of the Unreal Engine 5 game. Despite praising the PlayStation 5 version for its attractive graphics and stable 60 FPS, PC players raised questions regarding image quality. When selecting a 1440p...
