Month: January 2021

PS5/Series X: New Study Examines Environmental Impact Of Latest Consoles

With climate change being one of the greatest existential threats looming over humanity’s survival, gamers may wonder what role they play in the fate of the environment. A new study seeks to answer that question, and the findings don’t look all that reassuring.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, a US-based non-profit dedicated to climate advocacy, published a study looking at the environmental impact of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The organization found that both consoles use between 160 and 200-plus watts of energy–more than previous generations. They also need roughly the same energy as the TV they’re likely plugged into, which uses between 120 and 200 watts depending on size.

Of course, the energy used dips pretty low when either console is low-power mode or on standby. In fact, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S use less than 1 watt in these states, according to the NRDC. However, that changes with Xbox’s “Instant On” setting enabled by default and PlayStation’s inability to smartly adapt to console inactivity. As a result, the wattage used by both consoles can jump to double-digits if gamers forget to turn them off.

The Energy Needed To Game

Hours of play is just as important when it comes to energy consumption. According to a report done by GameSpot sister site CNET, if 100,000 PlayStation 5 owners beat Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales‘ estimated 15-hour campaign, the carbon emitted would equal about 230 tons or, as stated by the EPA, the equivalent of 45 cars driven for a year. Just an hour of Spider-Man: Miles Morales gameplay is the same as charging a smartphone 18 times. And if 70 million PlayStation 5 owners played a AAA exclusive for two hours per week, over 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide will be created. While CNET didn’t specify the numbers for the Series S and Series X, the site stated that Microsoft’s Xbox consoles “would see similar numbers.”

CNET tested others games–including Dead Cells, Fortnite, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild–to see how playtime in these titles affects energy consumption. Dead Cells is low across the board because it isn’t as technologically demanding as most games. Breath of the Wild is the same, which would generate the carbon dioxide equivalent of 2.3 cars for a year if 100,000 people played for 15 hours. Fortnite, however, is an energy hog, consuming between 170 and 220 watts of energy on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Fortnite on Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S fares much better, using up about 14 watts and 76 watts, respectively.

A Game’s Generation Determines Energy Consumption

One of the biggest factors that determines power usage is a game’s graphics. More specifically, the energy used on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S varies depending on not just the game that’s played but also the generation the game was developed for. According to the NRDC’s testing, playing NHL 2021 on PlayStation 5–the latest hockey simulator that was designed for the PlayStation 4– uses between 80 and 104 watts. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 exclusive Astro’s Playroom eats up anywhere from 180 to 200-plus watts of energy.

Xbox seems to do much better in this regard, with NRDC saying that games downloaded from Xbox Game Pass and played on a Series S use up to 57 watts. Though it’s not a Series X exclusive, CNET’s reporting found that Gears 5 consumes about 209 watts of electricity.

Streaming Needs (More) Power

Gameplay isn’t the only activity consoles can perform, as they’re all equipped to stream content by using apps like Hulu and Netflix. As expected, streaming requires energy–and lots of it. The NRDC study found that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S can consume 10 to 25 times more electricity when streaming than dedicated streaming boxes. For comparison, an Apple TV only uses 2.8 watts, while an Amazon Fire TV needs between 3 and 4 watts.

To break it down, NRDC tested the wattage required to stream a show on Amazon Prime and Netflix. While the organization didn’t clarify how many hours it was testing for or what show it was watching, the results found that the Xbox Series S consumed 31 watts on Netflix and 41 watts on Amazon Prime. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 used 68-70 watts to stream the same show on both platforms. The Xbox Series X couldn’t be tested because the NRDC didn’t have one on hand, but it estimated that the console needs between 40 and 53 watts of energy.

Below is a comparison between the current- and last-generation consoles and their approximate energy consumption:

  • PlayStation 5: 50-220 watts
  • Xbox Series X: 45-220 watts
  • Xbox Series S: 25-100 watts
  • Nintendo Switch: 10-18 watts
  • PlayStation 4 Pro: 75-160 watts
  • PlayStation 4 Slim: 55-110 watts
  • PlayStation 4: 90-150 watts
  • Xbox One X: 65-180 watts
  • Xbox One S: 35-90 watts
  • Xbox One: 70-120 watts

All of this signals that while Microsoft and Sony have created consoles that don’t require much energy when not in use or while inactively idling, there’s still more work that needs to be done.

Rami Malek Joins The Next David O. Russell Movie, Adding To Its Impressive Cast

The next movie from director David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook) continues to add to its impressive cast. Deadline reported that Oscar-winner Rami Malek has signed on for a role in the untitled movie.

Malek, who won an Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, joins a cast that includes Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, and Zoe Saldana.

The movie is an original idea that Russell came up with. The plot is being kept a secret for now, however, so we don’t know what it’s about.

Russell has been nominated for five Academy Awards in his career, two each for American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, and one for The Fighter. His latest feature film was 2015’s Joy, which starred Jennifer Lawrence.

Russell was at one point attached to direct the Uncharted movie, but he eventually dropped out as part of the video game movie’s Development Hell.

There is no word on when Russell’s next movie will begin filming or when/how it will release. Given the cast that the director has assembled, it’s certainly a project we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Pokemon Go February 2021 Community Day Details Announced

Pokemon Go‘s January Community Day is only a few days away, but Niantic has already shared details about next month’s event. February’s Community Day will take place on Sunday, February 7, and the featured Pokemon next month will be the Grass/Poison type Roselia.

Throughout February’s Community Day, Roselia will appear in the wild much more frequently than normal, while its pre-evolved form, Budew, will hatch from 2 km eggs. You’ll also have a chance to encounter Shiny Roselia in the game, and there will be Timed Research tasks to complete. These will reward you will Sinnoh Stones, which you’ll need to evolve Roselia into Roserade.

If you do manage to evolve Roselia during the event, your Roserade will know two special moves: the Fast Attack Bullet Seed and the Charged Attack Weather Ball. The latter’s typing typically varies, but Roserade’s Weather Ball will deal Fire-type damage. You’ll have up to two hours after the Community Day ends to evolve Roselia and learn the special Community Day moves.

Finally, Niantic will offer two in-game bonuses during February’s Community Day. Any eggs you place in an Incubator during the event will hatch at a quarter of their normal distance, and any Incense that you use will remain active for three hours. The studio will also sell a special Community Day box in Pokemon Go’s in-game shop. The box will cost 1,280 PokeCoins and includes the following:

  • 1 Elite Fast TM
  • 4 Incense
  • 4 Super Incubators
  • 30 Ultra Balls

February’s Community Day runs from 11 AM to 5 PM local time. You can read more about the event on the official Pokemon Go website. As usual, Niantic will also offer a paid Special Research story during the Community Day. A ticket for that costs $1 USD, but thanks to an early purchase bonus, you can get a ticket for free if you purchase a Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto ticket by February 3. You’ll also get a ticket for January’s Community Day Special Research if you purchase a Kanto Tour ticket by the end of today, January 13.

January’s Community Day takes place this Saturday, January 16. The featured Pokemon this month is Machop, and if you can evolve it all the way into Machamp up to two hours after the event ends, it’ll learn the Dark-type attack Payback. A Sinnoh Celebration event is also underway right now, and it features the Gen 4 Legendary Heatran.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield ‘Aren’t Affected’ By Todd Howard Producing the Indiana Jones Game

Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines has said that Bethesda Game Studos director Todd Howard’s work on the MachineGames Indiana Jones project will not affect his “main focus” on directing Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6.

As part of the announcement that MachineGames and Bethesda are working on an Indiana Jones game, it was also made clear that Todd Howard would act as executive producer for the project. However, Howard is also director on Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 – which we expect to be huge projects for the company.

Replying to a Twitter thread noting Howard’s involvement in multiple Bethesda projects at the same time, Hines reassured fans of his priorities. “Todd is currently EP on many BGS and other projects, such as the Fallout TV show,” the tweet reads. “His main focus remains directing the upcoming Starfield and TES6 games, which aren’t affected by today’s news.”

That involvement in the Indiana Jones game seems to come down in part to Howard’s love for the franchise – to the point where we thought he may have been actively teasing the Indiana Jones project months ago. As it turns out, he just has a lot of Indy merch on his shelves.

“Todd is a lifelong Indy fan, and has been trying for over a decade to make this game,” wrote Hines about the annoucnement. “He’s beyond excited to work with the award-winning MachineGames team, a perfect fit for Indy.”

For more about MachineGames’ Indiana Jones project, check out our writeup of the game’s announcement, and our epiode of Podcast Unlocked where we question whether it could be an Xbox exclusive.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/13/will-bethesdas-indiana-jones-game-be-an-xbox-exclusive-unlocked-477″]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Learn How to Build Mobile Games In Unity and Blender with This $29 Course

Partner content by StackCommerce

Once the neglected children of the gaming world, smartphone users in 2021 can now play titles like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Genshin Impact. That means that everyone with a reasonably powerful phone and ample power can enjoy a full-fledged gaming experience without investing in a PC or console, handheld or otherwise. 

Needless to say, this gives mobile game devs the opportunity to appeal to a much wider customer base that doesn’t necessarily identify with gamers. There’s a ton of money to be made too; for example, Genshin Impact grossed $50 million in its first week alone. Needless to say, the mobile gaming market is growing, and you can learn how to create your own mobile games with this $29 coding and design course.

In this course, you’ll learn how to make a ninja survival game using Unity and Blender. The mastermind behind this course is John Bura, a game dev with decades of experience both creating games and teaching about game development. He’s instructed over 300 thousand students to date, and some of his games have even topped the App Store’s top ten mobile game charts, making him a trustworthy resource in all things gaming.

What’s great about this course is that it covers every aspect of game development, including design, coding, and even modeling. The first few chapters of this course will introduce you to Blender, Unity, and coding in C#, which are necessary to create 3D models, design your game’s functionality, and build game levels. From there, you’ll learn how to define enemy logic, add jumping animations, design turret aiming, and much more. 

By the end of this course, you’ll be a proper game designer with a game under your belt, and this course by John Bura will guide you every step of the way. The course costs $200 at retail, but you can get it today for just $29. That’s an 85% discount.

 

Make a Ninja Survival Game for Mobile in Unity and Blender – $29

See Deal

Prices subject to change.

10 courses on how to become a real-life (ethical) hacker for $39

Partner content by StackCommerce

Movies and games like Watch Dogs: Legion have glamorized hacking for decades, but most of us know that it doesn’t exactly look the way the entertainment industry portrays it. However, that isn’t to say that hacking and cybersecurity can’t be exciting. 

For the past few years, it felt like there were new data breaches every single day, so white hat hackers — IT professionals who specialize in cybersecurity — are in heavy demand. If you’re interested in a career that involves hacking into networks and exposing vulnerabilities (within the confines of the law, of course) then we highly recommend this 10-course bundle by CyberTraining 365 for $39.

The Ethical Hacker Master Class Bundle is packed with over 180 hours of educational content on how to neutralize cyber threats. CyberTraining 365, the course provider, is an online academy that specializes in cybersecurity training and certification and has taught over 150 thousand students via Udemy alone. Their aim is to teach professionals how to defend their organizations at every layer, including the perimeter, internal network, applications, memory, and binary levels. 

If you’re an ethical hacker in the making, you need to get certified in IT first, and this bundle features three courses dedicated to CompTIA A+, Network +, and Security +. These will get you acquainted with computers and systems in general, covering everything from setting up a computer and installing an operating system to troubleshooting your network and performing risk management.

Once you’ve earned your certifications and built up a few years of hands-on work experience, you can finally branch out into cybersecurity, and there are plenty of courses in this bundle to help you decide which area you enjoy best. Ethical Hacker Training is the most comprehensive, covering ethical hacking topics like intrusion detection, DDoS attacks, and perimeter defenses. Meanwhile, Security Analyst Training will teach you how to identify and fix vulnerabilities through penetration testing.

As an ethical hacker, you won’t be able to hijack peoples’ drones or compromise slot machines, but your work will be valuable and meaningful nonetheless. The Ethical Hacker Master Class Bundle contains all of the knowledge you need to pursue a career in cybersecurity, and you can get all six courses today for just $39.

 

The Ethical Hacker Master Class Bundle – $39

See Deal

Prices subject to change.

Start Your Coding Career with 97% Off This Javascript Bundle

Partner content by StackCommerce

As long as people have something to sell or memes to share, there is going to be a need for websites. Ideally, websites that don’t just look good but deliver content quickly. That means people are going to need web developers – which means people who can code in Javascript.

Javascript has been around nearly as long as the internet itself, and it’s still one of the building blocks of a dynamic website. As the web has evolved, this versatile language has come to be used in everything from the hottest new apps to the most basic vlog pages.

The best part is, it’s still surprisingly easy to learn. Especially with the help of an online boot camp like the Javascript Masterclass Bundle. There are few better places to start your web development career than by diving into this series of eight classes, and you’ll come away learning a few other applications of this popular language.

No matter what your skill level, you’ll be able to pick up some marketable skills. Instructor Laurence Svekis isn’t just an experienced programmer, he’s a marketing and user experience guru with nearly 2 decades of experience, and you’ll benefit from it all.

His beginner’s courses teach you the core concepts of the language, from basic commands to the way that conditions and objects interact. And since Javascript plays well with others, you’ll learn a bit of HTML and CSS along the way. By the time you’ve completed the intermediate courses, you’ll be able to create fully functional websites from scratch.

If you want to dive deeper, you can get up to speed on ES6, the latest update to Javascript. Combine that with courses that cover tools like JSON or the AJAX development techniques and you’ll have a resume that’s essential for any web entrepreneur.

Can’t wait to get started? IGN readers can get access to the full Javascript Masterclass Bundle for $39, down $20 from the previous price and 97% off the original MSRP.

JavaScript Masterclass Bundle – $39

See Deal

Prices are subject to change.

Little Nightmares 2 Demo Now Available

A demo for Little Nightmares 2 is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

The demo is also available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S users as well, and it’s available on PC through Steam and GOG.com. According to Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, the demo allows players to “discover the spooky world of Little Nightmares II and get a glimpse of Mono’s journey discovering the Wilderness level on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.”

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/13/little-nightmares-ii-lost-in-transmission-demo-release-trailer”]

The news of this demo dropped alongside a brand new trailer for the game, which you can view above. Digital preorders for the Switch version of the game are now live as well. Preorders on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and PC, were already live before today. Physical preorders for the Day One Edition and the TV Edition, which is only available in Europe, are still available on the Bandai Namco Entertainment Store.

“The TV Edition will add, in addition to the Nomes’ Attic DLC and Mokujin mask, the complete soundtrack of the game as well as an exclusive diorama of Mono & Six, an artbook, a steelbook case…and stickers for the game,” according to Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe.

If you haven’t yet played the first Little Nightmares, it’s available to download for free on PC from January 13 to January 17 on the Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe store. An Epic account is require to download the game. For those on Xbox, the game is part of the January lineup for Xbox Games With Gold so anyone with a Xbox Live Gold subscription can play the game for free now.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=little-nightmares-2-screenshots&captions=true”]

The game has also been adapted in comic book form: “In an effort to continue telling the story behind the lost children of the Little Nightmares word, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe has worked on a digital comic book, whose first chapters are available on Android and iOS,” Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe said in a press release. “The comic book will go into the story between Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares II.”

For more Little Nightmares II, check out this gameplay trailer released last year and then watch this Halloween trailer released last October. Be sure to read our thoughts on the game after going hands-on with it after that.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A Man Has Two Attempts To Unlock a Hard Drive with $240 Million in Bitcoin

We’ve all had the experience of forgetting a password, but one programmer named Stefan Thomas has lost his password to a hard drive containing $240 million worth of Bitcoin, and he only has two password attempts left before he is locked out forever.

As reported by The New York Times (via BBC), Thomas was given 7,002 Bitcoins more than 10 years ago for making a video how cryptocurrency works. At the time, his collection of Bitcoin were worth only a few dollars each, and he decided to store them in an IronKey digital wallet on a hard drive. He wrote the password to that drive on a piece of paper that he ended up losing, and now his Bitcoin are worth $240 million and he can’t remember what password he wrote down all those years ago.

Thomas has already tried eight possible passwords, and he only has two left before the password will “encrypt itself, making the wallet impossible to access.”

Image Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Image Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

There are those, like ex-Facebook security head Alex Stamos who have offered to help Thomas unlock the hard drive, but he is asking for a 10% cut.

“Um, for $220M in locked-up Bitcoin, you don’t make 10 password guesses but take it to professionals to buy 20 IronKeys and spend six months finding a side-channel or uncapping,” Stamos said on Twitter. “I’ll make it happen for 10%. Call me.”

Later, Stamos mentioned that he was joking when he said he would unlock it, but that it is “something that should be investigated.”

Thomas is not alone in being locked out from his Bitcoin fortune, as there is currently $140 billion worth of Bitcoin that is either lost or left in wallets that cannot be accessed, according to cyrptocurrency-data company Chainanalysis.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/17/bitcoin-101-everything-you-need-to-know”]

The New York Times article even mentions a particular case where an entrepreneur lost about 800 Bitcoins when a colleague of his reformatted a laptop that happened to contain the private keys to his wallet.

This whole situation has left Thomas wary of cryptocurrency in general.

“The whole idea of being your own bank – let me put it this way, do you make your own shoes? The reason we have banks is that we don’t want to deal with all those things that banks do,” Thomas said.

Image Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Dexter Revival Adds More Cast, Leaks A Clue About Its Setting

Showtime’s new Dexter revival is increasingly taking shape and starting production soon, with filming getting underway in the Boston area later this month. As the new season that’s intended to give the series a proper sendoff is releasing more and more details, Deadline is reporting that a cast has finally been set.

Joining Michael C. Hall (who plays antihero Dexter) and Clancy Brown (who will be playing the new main villain)–also known as Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob–will be Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Alano Miller (Sylvie’s Love), Johnny Sequoyah (Believe), and Jack Alcott (The Good Lord Bird). The revival is a limited series that will span 10 episodes and is reportedly intended to make things right after Dexter wrapped in 2013 without showrunner Clyde Phillips’ involvement.

“We basically do get to start from scratch,” Phillips said on a recent episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s TV Top 5 podcast. “We want this to not be Dexter Season 9.”

The revival series is expected to pick up close to 10 years after the finale and will “have no resemblance to how that original finale was.” However, Phillips has promised it will not retcon everything by insisting it happened in a dream, for example. But it’s safe to guess, for example, that Dexter is no longer a lumberjack in an Oregon logging camp. Jones’ casting choice offers the sole clue–she is playing Angela Bishop, the first Native American Chief of Police in her town in upstate New York.