Microsoft has announced that the Games with Gold for August 2021 include Darksiders 3, Yooka-Laylee, Lost Planet 3, and Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
As detailed on Xbox Wire, all Xbox Live Gold members and those with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will gain access to these games when they become available, beginning with Darksiders 3 and Lost Planet 3.
Darksiders 3 will be part of Games with Gold from August 1-31 and lets players become Fury, one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, as she hunts down the Seven Deadly Sins.
In our Darksiders 3 review, we said that “it is a straightforward action game that isn’t afraid to throw some serious old-school challenges at you.”
Lost Planet 3 will be available from August 1-15 and, although it is the third entry in the Lost Planet series, it is actually a prequel that follows Jim Peyton as he reveals the hidden truths within the environments of E.D.N. III.
In our Lost Planet 3 review, we said that “it tells a good story and mixes up combat with a giant mech, but [it] is just too inconsistent.”
Yooka-Laylee, which was developed by former core members of Rare as a “worthy spiritual successor” to games the team built like Banjo-Kazooie, will be available from August 16 to September 15. As the buddy duo Yooka & Laylee, players will embark on an epic quest to stop the corporate villain known as Capital B and his scheme to absorb all the world’s literature.
In our Yooka-Layee review, we said that it “is a good reminder that this genre, once thought to be dead, still has some life left in it.”
Lastly, Garou: Mark of the Wolves will be available from August 16-31 and is the last entry of the classic Fatal fury series. Players can select over a dozen fighters to participate in the King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem tournament.
In our Garou: Mark of the Wolves review, we said that although “it may have an unfortunate name, Fatal Fury: Garou – Mark of the Wolves is a fantastic old-school fighter.”
Nickelodeon All Star Brawl is an upcoming, absolutely bonkers, game pitting some of Nickelodeon’s most beloved properties against one another in a Smash Bros-like fighting tournament. Nickelodeon All Star Brawl comes out October 5 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and you can preorder it starting right now for $49.99. If you’ve ever wanted to have Spongebob fight Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles, this is the game for you. Even if you haven’t wanted to see them fight, what’s not to love here?
So far there are no preorder bonuses available for Nickelodeon All Star Brawl, but that could change. Best Buy and GameStop in particular are great at adding in a little something extra to entice you to preorder from them, whether that’s a physical collectible, some sort of in-game reward or even a bundled deal. When and if preorder bonuses do come up, we’ll update this article to reflect it.
Is Nickelodeon All Star Brawl Just Smash Bros. With Nick Characters?
Yep. Smash Bros. isn’t the only character-fighter on the block, although it has been the only one in a while (and it’s still the top series for disparate characters punching each other off platforms). Basically Nickelodeon All Star Brawl takes the Smash formula and replaces video game characters with Nickelodeon characters. So instead of Mario duking it out with Solid Snake, you can have Sandy Cheeks fight Zim from Invader Zim.
What Characters are in Nickelodeon All Star Brawl?
We don’t have the full character list just yet, but here are the Nickelodeon characters we know for sure are coming to All Star Brawl when it launches October 5:
Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox Games with Gold lineup for August 2021. As always, there are a pair of Xbox One games and two titles that are playable with backwards compatibility. Next month’s freebies include Darksiders 3, Yooka-Laylee, Lost Planet 3, and Garou: Mark of the Wolves. You still have until the end of the month to claim two of July’s freebies, Planet Alpha and Midway Arcade Origins. Meanwhile, Rock of Ages 3: Make and Break will be free until mid-August.
Developed by Gunfire Games, Darksiders 3 is an action-RPG that will appeal to those who miss the days when open-world games didn’t dominate the AAA game space. As a more linear action game, Darksiders 3 has stylish combat that is surprisingly challenging (sometimes to its detriment) and a great atmosphere. Though it’s certainly the weakest entry in the series, it’s worth checking out for yourself. Darksiders 3 will be available to claim for free all throughout August.
Yooka-Laylee is a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, and it definitely pays homage to the formula of the classic platforming series. Yooka-Laylee is a collectathon platformer that rewards players for searching every inch of its worlds. While Yooka-Laylee doesn’t add anything new to the genre, it’s an enjoyable platformer with colorful characters and worlds that will likely appeal to the youngsters in your home. Yooka-Laylee will be up for grabs from August 16 to September 15.
You don’t need any prior knowledge of the Lost Planet series to dive into Lost Planet 3. As a prequel to the first game, Lost Planet 3 tells the story of Jim Peyton’s expedition to solve the world’s energy problem. Lost Planet 3 is mission-based but the levels are semi-open world, allowing for exploration between third-person combat encounters. Like Darksiders 3, Lost Planet 3 is the weakest entry in the series, sadly. Lost Planet 3 will be free to claim until August 15.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is part of the Fatal Fury fighting game series and features more than a dozen fighters. It originally released for Neo Geo back in 1999 and was ported to Xbox 360 in 2009. Garou can be claimed from August 16 to August 31.
The next big Marvel movie is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and now a new clip from the superhero film has arrived. It shows off main character Simu Liu saying things you’d expect like, “All I ever wanted was a normal life” and diving into some epic CGI sequences where Shang-Chi uses his ten rings to fight enemies across a variety of locations.
“I thought I could change my name. Start a new life,” he says in the video. Unfortunately for him, he can’t, and he’s forced to confront his past (and take off his shirt). Check out the trailer below:
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters on September 3. It also stars Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh, both of whom starred in Crazy Rich Asians.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be followed by Eternals (November) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (December) later in 2021. After that, Marvel has lots more films lined up for 2022 and 2023, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels, among others.
The one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, previously owned by controversial pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been resold – and virtually nobody knows who has it now.
The single-sale collector’s album – which contained a 31-track record, a hand-carved box and an accompanying 174-page parchment-paper book bound in leather – was originally purchased by Shkreli at an auction in 2015. At the time of the auction, IGN reported that Shkreli could do with the album whatever he pleased, so long as it was never made commercially available. The former executive is thought to have paid around $2 million for it.
Shkreli, who became infamous for drastically increasing the price of the antiparasitic drug Daraprim in 2015, later handed the album over to the US government amongst a range of other seized assets in 2018 after being convicted of securities fraud. Proceeds from the sale of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin will be used against the $7.4 million Forfeiture Money Judgment that Shkreli was sentenced to pay in 2018.
As reported by the BBC, the US government has now subsequently sold the one-of-a-kind album – and reportedly for “substantially more” than the $2 million originally paid for it. According to the US Department of Justice, the “contract of sale contains a confidentiality provision that protects information relating to the buyer and price” meaning that it is unclear who now owns the coveted record.
What’s also not clear is whether an original sale clause still remains in effect after the resale. When Shkreli bought the item, the contract of sale originally stipulated that either Wu Tang or actor Bill Murray could take the record back at any time in the next 88 years by means of “one heist or caper to steal back” the record.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which apparently contains two appearances by guest singer Cher, features contributions from every living member of the Wu-Tang clan. RZA apparently came up with the concept of the album as a reminder that music can still be viewed as a depiction of fine art. RZA, alongside his co-producer Cilveringz, is one of the few people known to have listened to the record in its entirety.
For more on the Wu-Tang Clan, why not check out our review of the 2019 Hulu-produced series Wu-Tang: An American Saga which we said was “a top-notch tale about the origin of hip-hop’s most famous game-changers.”
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Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
The RTX 3070 Ti has been out for more than a month, but thanks to the GPU shortage we haven’t been able to take a look at very many third-party options. Gigabyte has come to our rescue with the RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC 8G, a triple-fan take on Nvidia’s latest graphics card. It promises cooler temps and, more importantly, a price that matches the $599 MSRP of the Founders Edition. Let’s take a closer look and see if it’s worth picking up over the competition.
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC 8G – Design and Features
The Eagle OC 8G plays it safe. With its simple, triple-fan design and basic grey, rectangular shroud, it’s not going to win any awards for groundbreaking design, and isn’t intended to. Gigabyte’s Eagle line-up is less about flash and more about improving on the reference model without driving the price up. You do get some flair, however, with some angled cuts on the shroud, blue rings on the fans, and a bit of glossy plastic covering the Eagle branding.
Once installed, you’ll find that there’s even a bit of RGB. A blue slash angles its way along the side behind the Gigabyte logo. According to the product page, this should be customizable with the company’s RGB Fusion 2.0 app, but I couldn’t get the software to recognize the card, so it stayed blue. That’s probably for the best because it ties together the blue and grey color scheme which carries through to the back of the card.
Around the back, you’ll find a nice metal backplate to help dissipate heat. It’s not light on branding but I stopped noticing once it was installed in my case. A backplate is a small touch, but I’m happy to see it nonetheless. On the right side, a sizable vent has been cut to allow air passthrough to further keep temperatures down.
Like the Founders series from Nvidia, the Eagle uses a shortened PCB and longer heatsink to draw heat further from the GPU. The third fan is positioned directly over the rear vent, allowing air to blow across its fins and out the back. When the case fans are oriented properly, the warm air hits the path of airflow crossing the CPU and is whisked out of the case. Even though it has an extra fan compared to the Founders Edition, Gigabyte did a good job of keeping size in check coming in at just over 11 inches (or half an inch longer than the FE). It is thicker and takes up 2.5-slots, so you’ll want to bear that in mind if you have an add-in card directly below it.
These elements are all part of the Windforce 3X cooling system we first saw on the RTX 3080 Eagle 10G. Apart from just being triple-fan, Gigabyte has enhanced their function with 3D texturing to guide airflow with reduced acoustics. The fans spin in opposing directions to increase air pressure and reduce turbulence. The heatsink has also been shaped to maximize direct contact with the heat generating components.
With the exception of a small factory overclock, the Eagle 8G is identical to the reference RTX 3070 Ti. That means 6144 CUDA cores and 8GB of GDDR6X memory, the same ultra-fast variety found on the RTX 3080 and higher Nvidia GPUs. Running on a 256-bit bus, that gives the Eagle a memory clock of 19GHz and total bandwidth of 608GB/s. The core clock has received a modest boost to 1800MHz, a 30MHz overclock over reference. This isn’t the kind of overclock that will create a meaningful, or usually even perceptible, difference in games but, paired with the thermal performance, points toward the possibility of additional overclocking headroom.
The result of this design is a card that runs cooler and quieter than the original but whose out-of-the-box performance is nearly identical in games. At peak, my sample hit 77C in an open case and usually hovered between 74-75C. That’s a five degree improvement from what I recorded with the Founder’s Edition in identical circumstances. The card also ran quieter and could barely be heard at these temperatures. Perhaps thanks to this headroom, the card also managed to clock higher and peaked at 1965MHz during testing while usually holding steady closer to 1890MHz. Interestingly, this is a higher peak (the FE topped out at 1950MHz) but a lower average speed by the same 30MHz as the overclock. The factory overclock, then, was a bit of a wash on my sample and plays out exactly as you would expect in frame rates. Still, with its thermal and acoustic performance, this is a card that begs to be overclocked.
Around the back of the card, you’ll find your array of video outputs. Gigabyte does change things up compared to the Founders Edition, delivering two DisplayPort 1.4 ports and two HDMI 2.1s. The total resolution supported is 7680×4320 (or 8K).
As an Nvidia 30-series GPU, you can also look forward to the unique benefits that architecture brings to the table. The three-core Ampere processing system – composed of a shader core for traditional rasterization, a tensor core for AI functions, and an RT core for ray tracing – allows the GPU to segment game rendering into distinct parts for improved features and performance.
DLSS is core among these, intelligently upscaling games using temporal anti-aliasing with motion vector data to render near-native results at much higher frame rates than would otherwise be possible. This feature opens the door to ray-traced gaming at playable frame rates, even at demanding resolutions. Nvidia has a sizable lead on AMD with the integration of its upscaling tech in major games and shows no signs of slowing with recent additions to Red Dead Redemption 2 and Doom Eternal.
Streamers, esports players, and Netflix lovers all have something to look forward to here. For streaming, the card supports the latest version of Nvidia’s high-efficiency video encoder. The Nvidia Broadcast suite also leverages the Ampere architecture and opens the door to neat features like virtual background removal for a digital greenscreen and AI noise removal and voice tracking. First-person shooter fans can enable Nvidia Reflex and Nvidia Boost in supported games to reduce input lag. For video streaming, the card supports AV1 decoding to enjoy the latest and greatest from Netflix and other major streaming platforms.
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC 8G – Performance
With background out of the way, it’s time to dig into performance. To assess the Eagle OC 8G, I put it through our gamut of real-world and synthetic tests to see how it stacks up against the competition. Unless otherwise noted, all games were tested at ultra settings.
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC 8G – Benchmarks
Beginning with synthetic tests, the Eagle OC 8G offered extremely similar results to the stock RTX 3070 Ti. In 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra and Unigine Heaven, it improved performance by 1%. It fell short of the MSI RTX 3070 Ti Suprim X by 3% in each test; however, bear in mind that the Suprim is priced $100-150 over MSRP when it can even be found. Compared to the RTX 3080, the Eagle was 12% slower in 3DMark and 12% slower in Heaven. Against the RTX 3070 Founders Edition, it performed 7% faster.
Turning to ray tracing synthetics, the story is much the same. In 3DMark Port Royal, the difference is less than 1% between the Eagle and Founders Edition. Compared to the RTX 3080, it was 23% slower in Port Royal, 21% slower in Boundary, and 27% slower in 3DMark’s Ray Tracing test. Against the RTX 3070, it was 7% faster, 8% faster, and 5% faster respectively.
In our first selection of tests, the RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC 8G performs right alongside the Founders Edition. It edges it out slightly, but the frame rates are typically so close that you would have a difficult time noticing. At 4K and 1080p, the card performed 1% faster, and at 1440p, it averaged less than one percent difference. The comparison to the RTX 3080, then, will also be nearly identical but for context it is 15% slower at 1080p, 18% slower at 1440p, and 19% slower at 4K. Pitted against the RTX 3070, it was 3% faster at 1080p and 1440p, and 4% faster at 4K.
Turning to our expanded round of 4K testing, the results are just about as you would expect. The Eagle is 1% faster than the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition and 19% slower than the RTX 3080. Compared against the RTX 3070 FE, the Eagle was 10% faster.
While it would have been nice to see the Eagle punch up, performing on par with the FE is acceptable given that this is one of the few cards that isn’t being drastically marked up in price. If you can find it in stock and have your heart set on an RTX 3070 Ti, this isn’t a bad one to buy at MSRP.
That said, we can’t recommend purchasing any RTX 3070 Ti. The performance uplift compared to the RTX 3070 Founders Edition is just too small. For another $100, the RTX 3080 offers a much more substantial improvement. Conversely, for $100 less the original RTX 3070 performs relatively close. Either card feels like a much better value for the money.
In celebration of both Xbox Game Pass and the upcoming premiere of Free Guy in theaters, Xbox and Ryan Reynolds have teamed up to present the first-ever Xbox Game Pass Non-Player Character (NPC) Awards.
Free Guy, which stars Ryan Reynolds as a bank teller who realizes he is an NPC in an open world video game that will soon go offline, is set to be released in theaters on August 13, 2021, and Guy himself is one of the lucky nominees. Alongside Guy in the voting is Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal’s Samuel Hayden, The Outer World’s Parvati Holcomb, and Sea of Thieves’ Chief Trader Mollie.
All of the previously mentioned characters, minus Guy, are from games that are currently available on Xbox Game Pass. The full descriptions of each nominee is as follows, in case you are unfamiliar;
Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds – Everyone’s favorite shy and empathetic mechanic. She’s the heart of the ship and the crew, and she’s the NPC for you.
Guy, Free Guy – Portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, Guy is a creature of habit. He has the same daily routine and has never done anything all that extraordinary. Outgoing and perpetually cheerful, but a tad naïve, Guy is a teller in a big city bank who is a fan of mid-90s pop divas.
If you want the chance to vote for your favorite NPC, be sure to vote in Xbox’s Twitter poll that is now live until August 3.
For more on Free Guy, check out our IGN Premiere exclusive clip from the film below.
Madden NFL 22‘s ratings rollout continued on Wednesday with the announcement of the next 99-rated player, Travis Kelce, along with the top 10 tight ends in the professional football game.
Leading the group is Kelce (99 OVR), followed by George Kittle (96 OVR), Darren Waller (93 OVR), Mark Andrews (88 OVR), and Hunter Henry (87 OVR). Others tight ends making the top 10 list this year included Austin Hooper (86 OVR), Rob Gronkowski (86 OVR), Mike Gesicki (85 OVR), T.J Hockenson (85 OVR), and Dallas Goedert (84 OVR).
You can see the full top 10 list for highest-rated tight ends below, while more Madden NFL 22 player ratings are available further down the page.
Madden NFL 22 launches on August 20 across console, PC, and Stadia, with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes sharing the cover. For more, check out GameSpot’s Madden 22 preorder guide.
Developers from Call of Duty, The Last of Us, and PlayStation have formed a new studio to make AAA games, and they’ve received $100 million in funding for their first project.
The team is called That’s No Moon Entertainment Inc (a reference to Star Wars), which is not to be confused with the UK studio No Moon–the latter was founded in 2016. South Korean studio Smilegate (CrossFire) invested more than $100 million into That’s No Moon for the new game, which is described as an “ambitious, new action-adventure game that will push the limits of both gameplay and story.”
In a post on the company’s website, That’s No Moon alluded to the possibility that its new game will be a single-player experience. “We believe in the importance of single-player narrative games and that story and gameplay are not two distinct ideas, but rather extensions of one another,” the post says. “Our shared vision is to craft captivating stories and relatable, emotionally resonant characters that are not only entertaining, but thought-provoking. We want to make experiences that will stick with you for long after you put down the controller.”
The website also teases that whatever That’s No Moon creates, it might not be just a game, and the company is laying the groundwork to make this a reality.
“We want to create characters and worlds that begin in our games, but will eventually extend into linear media–whether that’s TV, film, or beyond. To achieve this, we’re building a state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles with a dedicated, in-house virtual production stage that will be home to our team when it’s safe to do so.”
Some of the talent working on the game includes former Infinity Ward and Naughty Dog narrative lead Taylor Kurosaki as its creative director; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare design director and The Last of Us lead game designer Jacob Minkoff as its game director; and other developers who worked on games like God of War, Fortnite, Destiny, and Uncharted 4.
In terms of the management team, Michael Mumbauer, the former head of PlayStation’s visual arts group, is the CEO. Tina Kowalewski, the former boss of Sony Santa Monica, is the chief strategy officer at That’s No Moon. Other business leads include Nick Kononelos (chief operating officer, formerly senior development director at EA), Barry Genova (chief technology officer, formerly foundation engineering nead at Bungie), and George Allison (chief financial officer, formerly a finance executive at PlayStation).
“We started That’s No Moon with a singular vision of creating unforgettable stories and characters that will define and extend beyond our medium,” Mumbauer said. “I’m proud to share that ambition with such a talented team of creators and our incredible partners at Smilegate.”
“We look forward to working with them and continuing to invest in visionary development teams seeking to bring bold new ideas and innovation to gaming,” Smilegate VP Harold Kim said.
That’s No Moon is based in Los Angeles and San Diego. The company is hoping to grow its team to almost 100 developers by 2022.
Back 4 Blood’s upcoming early access beta will officially start on August 5 through August 9, with access coming from preorders of the game. An open beta will be held from August 12-16, with both betas being playable on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.
As for the content, Back 4 Blood’s betas will feature two co-op maps where you can fight back against the Ridden and the PvP mode Swarm, a competition that has players battle it out as the Cleaners versus the Ridden to see which team can last the longest against the infected hordes.
Since it was revealed earlier this year, developer Turtle Rock’s has been dropping details on its cast, modes, and generous system for handling DLC purchases to its spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead. Back at E3 2021, the studio confirmed that DLC such as maps and gameplay additions will be available to all party members as long as the group leader owns it.
PC players can also look forward to a number of supported features for the co-op first-person shooter, such as 4K resolution, an uncapped framerate, and more.
