Month: January 2021

Lenovo’s Prototype Handheld Computer Is Basically A Nintendo Switch

Computers come in all shapes and sizes these days, but they all have the exact same problem in their design: None of them resemble a Nintendo Switch. Chinese hardware manufacturer Lenovo has tackled this dilemma head-on with its latest prototype, the LaVie Mini.

Revealed at CES 2021, Lenovo’s concept machine imagines what one of its laptops would look like if it were pocket-sized and on the verge of receiving a legal takedown notice from Nintendo.

Like the Switch, the LaVie Mini features detachable controllers on the side, a docking station that can display to TV, and can also function as a portable device. Its theoretical specs are also impressive, as the 8″ WUXGA touch panel display has a 1920 x 1200 resolution, internal storage is a 256GB SSD, and the computer is powered by an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 mobile processor. With Intel Iris Xe graphics on the chipset and 16GB of RAM, it’d be more than capable of playing any of your favorite indie games and also running a few work apps.

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LaVie Mini

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Lenovo’s not the first company to chase the dream of a PC take on the Switch, as Alienware also unveiled its UFO concept last year. A powerful Windows 10 gaming PC with a handheld form factor, it never managed to move beyond the prototype stage. Razer also unveiled a portable gaming device of its own at CES this year, the Junglecat gaming controller which turns your Android phone into a Switch-influenced gaming console.

Now Playing: Biggest PC Games To Play In 2021 And Beyond

Prolific Video Game and Anime Voice Actor Brad Venable Dies, Aged 43

Brad Venable – who provided his voice acting talents to Devil May Cry 5, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, multiple anime series and more – has died aged 43.

Multiple members of the voice acting community have today posted tributes to Venable, having been given permission to share the news by Venable’s wife. No cause of death has been announced at time of publish.

Among many other parts, Venable played V’s familiar Griffon in Devil May Cry 5, as well as playing roles in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Wars, the recent Demon’s Souls remake, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. He also played Daz in the English dub of Attack on Titan, and played roles in My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, and Dragon Ball Super.

IGN sends its condolences to Venable’s family and friends.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News.

PS5 Exclusive Returnal Channels Housemarque’s DNA In New Footage

Returnal, the latest PS5-exclusive from arcade-shooter veterans Housemarque, is launching in a few months, and the latest developer diary from the studio shows off more elements of its rogue-lite.

Housemarque is known for its fast and frenetic 2D shooters, namely Resogun, Nex Machina, and Super Stardust HD. The transition to 3D is a big leap for the studio, but it’s evident from the footage that the DNA of its previous work is there. There are enemies firing off waves of projectiles, blisteringly fast movement, and bright neon effects everywhere. Check it out below.

In addition to the new footage, Returnal game director Harry Krueger explained how the addition of a new dimension is letting the team at Housemarque experiment with something entirely new to them.

“Naturally, there’s been quite a few interesting challenges on that road,” Krueger explained. “I think it comes down to … yes, most of our games during this last ten-year period, during the arcade era, have been mostly 2D experiences, right? So usually confined to a simple 2D playfield and lots of clean obstacles and challenges to overcome, lots of explosive action. Now we just have this extra dimension– literally an extra dimension–of both ambition and complexity to the mix.”

Krueger also mentioned that the PS5’s new DualSense controller has allowed the team to come up with new ways to experience the third-person shooter action, specifically with regards to how half-presses of triggers will do different things. Returnal’s control scheme will be entirely customizable, however, if you enjoy something more traditional.

Returnal launches on PS5 on March 19. It’s the first PS5 exclusive expected to launch this year ahead of the sequel to God of War, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon Forbidden West.

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Quibi’s Shows Will Live On, As Roku Acquires Streaming Rights For Under $100 Million

Confirming rumors, Roku has announced that it acquired the global distribution rights to Quibi’s programming after the short-form streaming platform shut down late last year.

According to Deadline, “most” of Quibi’s shows will move over to Roku, but “some daily news shows” are not making the jump. The official announcement said there will be 75+ shows available from Quibi on Roku. The acquisition price was not named in the report, but WSJ reporter Ben Mullin said it was less than $100 million.

Roku executive Rob Holmes explained to Deadline that existing agreements with the creators of the shows will remain in place. “We’re excited about that. It’s great, high-quality, top talent, and high-quality content,” Holmes said.

On Roku, the shows will be free to watch with ads. All of the content will live on the Roku Channel from within the service.

The actual viewing experience will be different, however. On Quibi, the shows lasted only about 10 minutes, but it appears Roku plans to splice them together for longer-form viewing.

“I think their premise was, you have 10 minutes, you would watch it. Our view is, this is TV, someone’s going to spend half an hour or an hour or two hours watching it because it’s just that compelling,” Holmes said.

The acquisition of Quibi’s content comes at a high point for Roku, which recently exceeded a massive user milestone as people flock to streaming during the pandemic.

Quibi attracted some very big names for TV shows and movies. Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz star in the movie Most Dangerous Game, while Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner appears in the Quibi movie Survive. Chrissy Teigen hosts Chrissy’s Court, while Rachel Brosnahan stars in the show Golden Arm, which is about a woman with a golden arm.

Nvidia Releases GPU Driver To Address Serious Security Vulnerabilities

Nvidia has released a new driver for its whole range of graphics cards, addressing several security vulnerabilities that could expose your PC to a variety of attacks.

The update, which is available to download now, prevents exploits that could result in denial-of-service attacks or escalation of privileges. Nvidia ranks some of these security loopholes as high risk, even though an attacker would still need local access to your PC to install software that can capitalize on them.

The patch doesn’t feature any traditional game-specific improvements as is custom with new drivers, but it does address some smaller issues that you may have been experience on your GPU. One of the biggest fixes addresses incorrect contrast levels when using HDR with compatible displays–specifically any of LG’s OLED TVs.

You can find the full list of fixes below, and the breakdown of all security exploits addressed in Nvidia’s extensive changelog. You can download the new 461.09 driver using Nvidia’s GeForce Experience or directly from the company’s website.

Now Playing: Nvidia RTX 3070 – Is This The Card To Get?

Watch Halo’s Multiplayer Announcer Perform His Epic Voice Lines: “Triple Kill,” Slayer,” And More

Anyone who has played Halo has likely heard the voice of Jeff Steitzer, even if they don’t know him by name. The veteran voice actor performs the multiplayer voice lines for the Halo series, and he’s delivered some epic words over the years.

In a new video made for a fan (via The Gamer), Steitzer spoke some of his more memorable Halo lines, including “Triple kill,” “Extermination, “Killionaire,” and “Capture the Flag,” along with the very famous “Slayer.” It’s a true delight to watch him perform these lines.

“I hope that does the trick. Coming to you from my little tiny vocal booth,” Steitzer said, showing off his at-home recording studio.

Steitzer has performed the multiplayer announcements in Halo since the start of the series and running all the way up to Halo 5. It’s not confirmed at this stage of Steitzer is returning for Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer, however, though fans would surely want that to happen.

Very little is known about Halo Infinite’s multiplayer element, apart from that it will be free-to-play with microtransactions. The multiplayer is expected to release in 2021 alongside the main campaign, following a delay.

Hitman 3 – The Final Preview

It’s been quite a ride for Agent 47. Over the last 20 years, Hitman has gone from a stealth sandbox masterpiece to a misguided (but still very good) action-adventure to an episodic reboot. And now it’s come full-circle, with Hitman 3 serving as a full-scope capper to the reboot trilogy that set the series back on its best course before developer IO Interactive moves on to its James Bond 007 project, which could signal the end for Agent 47 for the foreseeable future. If Hitman 3’s first mission is anything to go by, our favorite bald and barcoded assassin is going out in style.

Agent 47’s passport has stamps from all around the world in it by now, and Hitman 3’s first mission takes him to Dubai. Hitman, at its best, has always been about its player-driven creativity, and Dubai sets this game off on the right foot as far as that goes. You’re tasked with taking out bad guys Carl Ingram and Marcus Stuyvesant as you stride towards the end of this trilogy’s Providence story arc. I played the mission three different times, which Hitman 3 encourages by once again unlocking new starting locations and gear based on your choices and performance on each successive playthrough. For instance, the first time I went after Ingram, I disguised myself as a contact he was due to meet in his heavily fortified penthouse, went up with his assistant — walking all the way up from the ground floor, right past all of those heavily armed guards in the process — and listened to him salivate over the idea of 47 taking someone on his enemy list out.

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It’s a tense spot. Here I was, face-to-face with my target. I could’ve easily stabbed him, snapped his neck, or shot him, but killing him in full view of several guards and his housekeeping staff would’ve set off a hornet’s nest of trouble. And so I waited. But then our meeting ended and I was asked to leave! Should I cause chaos now or wait to see what happens? AAAH! I opted for the latter and ended up needing to come back later with a new plan: acquire an elite guard uniform to get access to the penthouse, and then in classic Hitman fashion, poison his whisky and wait. Eventually he came back around to that adult beverage while I watched from a few feet away and bolted for the bathroom, where I could follow him in before his guards got wise. I drowned him in the vomit-filled toilet water. Check one kill off the to-do list!

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Along the way, though, I spotted several other ways I could’ve taken him out. I could’ve poisoned his food, just gone in guns blazing and shot my way out of there (not that Hitman really encourages this…), or do what I actually did manage to do on my third playthrough: trap both Carl and Marcus in the same sealed room together after gathering enough intel to know where they were both going to be at the same time. Two birds, one stone.

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For one of my other assassinations of Marcus, a douchebag rich guy who is hated enough to keep security around him full-time, I overheard some guards talking about the new bodyguard due to report for duty with his papers soon. I sought out this new guy in the changing room downstairs, found him arguing with a housekeeper about his uniform not being cleaned, and I swiped his papers from his locker while he stood there in his skivvies. That let me walk right up to take his place, after which I had to prove my bodyguarding worth to Marcus by showing off my knife-throwing prowess on the roof. Once I did and my new boss was suitably impressed, he gave the other guard standing with us the rest of the night off, leaving us alone. From there I just couldn’t help myself – I had to kick him off the roof of the skyscraper. No fuss, no muss. Mission accomplished.

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Even after three playthroughs of the Dubai mission, there are still many ways I didn’t unlock. Hitman 3’s sandbox is vast and filled with many toys. Sure, it still has some cheesy dialogue and voice acting, as well as some goofy animations, but overall I’m extremely impressed by what I’ve played so far. Hitman 3 will be out on January 20. Stay tuned for IGN’s full review.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

How Hitman 3 Expands On The Previous Games | Hands-On Preview

The final game in the Hitman World of Assassination trilogy is nearly upon us. Hitman 3 will be hitting all major platforms, including the PS5 and Series X/S, on January 20, but Jean-Luc Seipke and Phil Hornshaw got an early hands-on preview with the game.

In this video, they talk about their experience with the first two levels, one taking place in a luxurious skyscraper in Dubai and the other involving a classic murder mystery in a European mansion. At its core, Hitman 3 doesn’t stray far from what’s come before, but our experience with these levels show that IO Interactive still knows how to craft some fantastic sandboxes for Agent 47 to play in.

If you’re interested in reading more about Hitman 3, check out Phil’s written preview, where he goes more in depth on the game’s second mission. And make sure to stay tuned to GameSpot for our full coverage of Hitman 3 when the game releases in a few weeks.

Ray Fisher Clarifies Cyborg’s Removal From The Flash Movie

UPDATE: Ray Fisher has clarified details of Cyborg’s apparent removal from The Flash movie.

The actor posted a thread of tweets in relation to The Wrap‘s article that cited insiders (with purported knowledge of the situation) as the main source behind emerging claims that Cyborg has been removed from The Flash movie screenplay, and that the role isn’t going to be recast. The story also asserted that Fisher “publicly stated he did not want to be involved with the project via Twitter.”

Fisher urged the outlet to amend the article immediately, as he discredited the report for being factually inaccurate since he “did not publicly step down from anything.” He then shifted emphasis to the studio, writing: “If Warner Bros. has made the decision to remove me from The Flash, rather than address, in any way, Walter Hamada tampering with the JL investigation—that’s on them.”

He continued: “The Warner Bros. pr team has struggled to regain control of the narrative ever since they failed to bury me and the JL investigation with their September 4th hit piece—which, unsurprisingly, was written by the same reporter.

“The fact is: the Justice League investigation led to WarnerMedia (and it’s affiliates) parting ways with Joss Whedon. Geoff Johns will be following suit. Had Walter Hamada gotten his way, NONE of that would have been possible, and the cycle of abuse would’ve continued.

“My team and I are still in deep conversation with WarnerMedia regarding all these matters and—Flash or no Flash—we fully intend to see this through. I’ll keep you all posted, but in the meantime—thank you for your continued support.”

Shortly after, Variety reported that multiple sources have disputed Fisher’s claim that WarnerMedia will be parting ways with Geoff Johns after the company’s Justice League investigation. According to three of those sources, the company “remains in business” with Johns, who continues to work on The CW’s Stargirl, and several other DC properties.

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ORIGINAL STORY: Ray Fisher’s Cyborg cameo has reportedly been written out of The Flash movie, and there’s currently no plans to recast the role.

According to The Wrap, insiders with purported knowledge of the situation have claimed that Cyborg has been removed from The Flash movie screenplay entirely, which means that the cameo has been cut and that Fisher will not be replaced by another actor in the upcoming DC movie — despite the character’s inclusion in the long-gestating DCEU installment dating back to 2016.

This comes shortly after Fisher stated that he would no longer participate in any productions associated with DC Films president Walter Hamada. “Walter Hamada is the most dangerous kind of enabler,” Fisher tweeted. “His lies, and WB PR’s failed Sept. 4th hit-piece, sought to undermine the very real issues of the ‘Justice League’ investigation. I will not participate in any production associated with him.”

A week later, it was announced that Hamada had renewed his deal with DC, and would be continuing as president of the studio through to 2023.

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Hamada was thrust into the public spotlight after Fisher accused him, along with DC Films co-chairs Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, of enabling an alleged toxic work environment from Joss Whedon, who took over directorial duties on Justice League after Zack Snyder’s departure in 2017. Hamada was not president of DC Films at the time of principal photography.

WarnerMedia recently confirmed that the Justice League investigation had concluded and that “remedial action” had been taken over Fisher’s claims following a months-long investigation into the allegations. It remains unclear what “remedial action” was taken, though Fisher observed on Twitter that it includes “some we’ve seen, and some that is still to come.”

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Fisher’s Cyborg/Victor Stone character may not be appearing in The Flash but he will be back for The Snyder Cut of Justice League, which is expected to debut on HBO Max in March. The movie is said to feature over 150 minutes of unseen footage, and won’t be using a “single frame” from Whedon’s theatrical version of the movie.

As for cameos in The Flash, Michael Keaton previously joked that all “127” previous “Batmen” will be making an appearance in the DCEU movie after he confirmed he had been in discussion over the possibility of reprising his Batman role in the movie, which is now scheduled to hit theatres on November 4, 2022, after being pushed back from its original June 2, 2022 release date.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Mid-Season Update Coming Next Week

Treyarch has confirmed that a mid-season update for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War will arrive on Thursday, January 14, adding new maps and modes to the game’s Multiplayer and Zombies modes.

The January 7 Patch Notes update on the Treyarch blog confirms a few details about the mid-season Cold War content drop.

One of the major introductions is a new Fireteam map called Sanatorium. This map will complement a new Fireteam mode called Dropkick, a 6 v 6 battle where players must “fight for control of the nuclear codes”.

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The new Sanatorium map coming to Cold War on January 14.

Elsewhere, Zombies players can enjoy tweaks to the Cranked mode, where “every zombie killed resets the timer counting down to your demise”. In the PlayStation exclusive Onslaught mode, the Black Ops 2 map Raid has been added to the pool, as well as new Dark Aether intel for players to collect as they fight the horde.

In other Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War news, check out our article covering how the game was made from home during a pandemic. If you’re still trying to tackle the easter egg in Die Maschine, check out our handy guide for a walkthrough of all the steps.

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