Month: January 2019

EA has claimed the first UK No.1 of 2019, as FIFA 19 sells better than any other physical game for the week ending January 5. The sports sim rises one place from last week, replacing Red Dead Redemption 2, which falls one position to No.2.

In another barren week for new releases, it’s the old reliables that chart best, according to sales monitor GfK Chart-Track. The four places below FIFA and Red Dead are all unchanged from last week, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Battlefield V, and Forza Horizon 4 all remaining in their respective No.3 – No.6 positions.

There are no major titles launching until later in January, so the chart will likely remain similar until New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story launch for Switch and 3DS, respectively. The former launches on January 11, while the latter comes to Europe on January 25 (January 11 in North America).

You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of UKIE and Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.

1. FIFA 19
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
5. Battlefield V
6. Forza Horizon 4
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
8. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
9. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
10. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Nvidia revealed a new video card, the GeForce RTX 2060, during its live press conference to kick off CES 2019. It joins the RTX 20-series family next week on January 15 and pricing for RTX 2060 cards will start at $350–prices will varying depending on model and manufacturer.

Many claims were made about the performance of the RTX 2060, and it is said on par with or better than the GTX 1070 Ti (see our review of the 1070 Ti to get an idea of its performance). According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the GeForce RTX 2060 can handle Battlefield V at 1440p resolution with an average of 60 FPS. Several benchmarks and metrics were shown; compared to the GTX 1060, last generation’s mid-range card, the RTX 2060 can perform between 1.4 to about 1.9 times better at 1440p with high settings (depending on the game).

Still image from Nvidia’s CES 2019 keynote.

Nvidia’s RTX line of video cards boasts the ability to efficiently perform real-time ray tracing, which translates to reflections, lighting, shadows that more accurately resemble the real world. Previous video cards have difficulty with ray tracing because of how demanding it is, but GeForce RTX cards feature RT Cores that specifically perform ray tracing as to not impact overall framerate. RTX cards can also use an AI-based antialiasing method called DLSS, which offers a cleaner image with minimal performance loss.

A closer look at the GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition

To sweeten the deal, Nvidia is included some high-profile games along with the purchase of an RTX video card. If you buy an RTX 2060 or RTX 2070, you can choose either Battlefield V or the upcoming shooter Anthem in a bundle. Those who buy an RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti will get both games bundled.

The GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti were first launched in September last year, and we reviewed both cards. Be sure to check out our RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti review to see how these new cards stacked against the previous generation’s GTX 1080 Ti.

To kick off CES 2019, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage in Las Vegas to remind everyone about the company’s new line of AI- and ray-tracing capable graphics cards, which now includes the GTX 2060–a new $350 mid-range GPU just announced during the press conference.

To help entice interested customers even further, Huang announced that anyone who buys a GTX 2060 for a limited time (in “most regions around the world”) can receive a free PC copy of either Anthem or Battlefield V. This deal kicks off when the new card goes on sale on January 15. For more details about the GTX 2060, which is said to be on par with the GTX 1070 Ti, check out GameSpot’s coverage of the GTX 2060 announcement here.

Huang also announced that any customer who purchases a GTX 2080 will receive both games for free, although it’s worth noting that Nvidia’s prices the GTX 2080 at $800.

Nvidia is also at CES with its first partner for what it calls the Big Format Gaming Display–a 65-inch, 4K, 144Hz monitor with G-Sync support from HP. Check out CNET’s coverage of the announcement, and stay tuned to both CNET’s and GameSpot’s coverage of CES 2019 throughout the week.

A brand-new trailer for BioWare’s upcoming action game Anthem premiered tonight during Nvidia’s press conference at CES 2019. The new video shows off some new enemies and gorgeous locations from the game, while it also spotlights some of the new Javelin exosuits.

Additionally, Nvidia confirmed that the AI-based antialiasing DLSS technology will be available for Anthem. Check out the lovely-looking trailer below. Note that it was likely captured on a high-end PC, so that’s why it looks so impressive.

This trailer premiered during the Nvidia CES keynote where the company also announced a new GeForce RTX 2060 video card. It promises to deliver “next generation” gaming.

The GPU launches on January 15, and the price tag, $350 US, is lower than what you might have guessed. Check out more coverage here on GameSpot and on sister site CNET.

Nvidia also announced a nice new deal for the RTX 2060. Everyone who buys the card, or a new desktop PC with the card inside it, can get their choice of Anthem or Battlefield V for free. The promotion is available in “most” regions globally.

GameSpot and CNET will have lots more coverage of CES 2019 in the days ahead.

Fortnite is serving up a new tournament at the Australian Open later this month in Melbourne. The high-profile tennis tournament announced today that it will hold a $500,000 tournament during the Australian Open finals weekend January 26-27.

It’s being called the Fortnite Summer Smash, and it’ll feature a professional solos tournament, as well as a proam duos event featuring 100 “personalities” from the entertainment, gaming, and sports worlds. $400,000 is up for grab in tournament prizes, while $100,000 is being provided for charitable donations.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley said in a statement that Fortnite is a “global phenomenon,” so he’s excited to have the game at the tournament to help the event “reach more people.” Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein added, “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring the fun of a competitive Fortnite event to fans and players in Australia.”

You can register for the Fortnite solos tournament through this website starting at 12 PM AEDT on January 9. At the actual competition, players will go through qualifying rounds, earning points based on how they finish. For example, a victory royale gets you 3 points, while 2nd through 3rd gets 2 points, and so on. You don’t necessarily need to win or finish close to the top to earn a lot of points, as 3-4 eliminations gets you 1 point, 5-6 eliminations earns you 2 points, and 7 or more eliminations gets you 3 points.

The first-place prize is $100,000 AUD, with $50,000 AUD going to second and third place. 4th through 6th place gets $25,000 AUD, while 7th through 10th gets $5,000 AUD. 11th through 15th gets $3,000 AUD, while the 16th through 20th place finishers gets $2,000 AUD each. Those who finish 21st through 100th get $1,000 AUD each. The $100,000 AUD in winnings from the Duos tournament will go to charity.

You can visit the Fortnite Summer Smash website to get all the important details on the tournament. In other news, Epic Games is opening an office for Australia and New Zealand.

The Space Jam movie from Warner Bros. was a big hit. The wacky basketball film from 1996 successfully mixed live-action and animation to bring together real people like Bill Murray and Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny and others.

It made more than $230 million worldwide, and this success no doubt encouraged Warner Bros. to move ahead with another film that mixed live-action with CG Looney Tunes characters, Looney Tunes: Back In Action. The 2003 film was a box office disappointment, however, making only $68 million against a reported production budget of $80 million.

Now, it’s been revealed that Warner Bros. was thinking about yet another live-action/CG hybrid movie. Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk revealed on Instagram that Warner Bros. approached him to make a skateboarding movie with the tentative title “Skate Jam.” Hawk presumably would have starred in the movie as himself, alongside Bugs Buggy and other Looney Tunes characters just like Space Jam and Back In Action.

The meeting between Hawk and Warner Bros. executives took place before the release of Back In Action. There were discussions about the story and shooting schedules, and Hawk said the studio offered him $1 million up front just for signing on. He said he thought it was as close to a sure thing as ever, but after Back In Action tanked at the box office, Warner Bros. put Skate Jam on hold. It never got mode.

Here’s Hawk’s full statement on the matter:

“In 2003, I was requested to meet with Warner Brothers about doing a film with the Looney Tunes characters that was tentatively titled ‘Skate Jam.’ Their plan was to bring back Bugs, Taz, etc into the cinema with a current release called “Back In Action” and then immediately start working on my project. I was about to leave for a skate trip in Australia so they met me at that iconic dome-shaped restaurant in the middle of LAX before my flight that evening. They were SERIOUS. We talked about storylines and shooting schedules, and they casually mentioned that I would get $1 million up front for signing on. I flew to Sydney that night with a sense of wonder and excitement; I had never met with Hollywood heads and felt so sure about something happening.

“During my week-long trip, ‘Back In Action’ was released in theaters and bombed. By the time I got home, Skate Jam had been “indefinitely postponed” and I never heard about it again. I still think it would have been a hit considering skateboarding’s popularity at the time, and the reverence kids (now young adults) had for Space Jam. This drawing was given to me at a skate demo that Looney Tunes sponsored years before our movie talks began; with Marvin fittingly on a hoverboard.”

While Skate Jam never happened, Warner Bros. is now making Space Jam 2 with LeBron James starring as the equivalent of Michael Jordan from the original, it seems.

Space Jam 2 is being directed by Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness), with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler attached to produce.