Marvel Rivals is one of the most beautiful arena shooters I've ever played. However, ??if you don't set your graphics settings just right, this game will look about as breathtaking as a page torn out of a comic book left out?? in the rain.

Precise-maneuvering and split-second decision-making are the keys to building your skills and piling up wins in Marvel Rivals, so you'll want to ensure the game's running at a solid frames-per-second (FPS) rate. I've been fiddling with Marvel Rivals' graphics settings since I started playing it, so I have a decent handle on the best load-out. Here are the best graphics settings for maximum FPS in Marvel Rivals.

Quick clarification: I play Marvel Rivals on PC, so I don't know which settings work for the PS?5 or the Xbox Series X/S versions ??of the game. How??ever, the setups I have listed below should work for those consoles.

How to change your display settings in Marvel Rivals

Before you mess with your graphics, you'll want to adjust y??our display settings so the game can run on your monitor without lagging. Marvel Rivals' user interf??ace is pretty easy to navigate, especially by multiplayer shooter standards.

To pull up the display settings, hit the Escape button to open the option menu, then click the Settings button. The display settings should be the first page you see. My Nitro 17 laptop uses a N??vidia graphics chip, so I set the aliasing and low latency modes to the corresponding setting. Make sure you set those to whatever graphics card your laptop uses.

Best display settings for Marvel Rivals

• Target Display: Primary Monitor
• Display mode: Fullscreen
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Resolution: 1920×1080
• Anti-Aliasing: NVIDIA DLSS
• Super Resolution Mode: Quality
• Super Resolution Sharpening: 80
• Frame Generation mode: Off
• Low Latency Mode: NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency
• V-Sync: Off

How to change your graphics settings in Marvel Rivals

Now that you've got Marvel Rivals looking crisp as a summer breeze, it's time to have fun with the graph?ics settings. The graphics options are on the same screen as the display ones, so grab the sc??roll bar and pull down to reveal them.

Best graphics settings for Marvel Rivals

• Graphics Quality: Custom
• Global Illumination: SSGI â€?Low Quality
• Reflection Quality: Screen Space Reflections
• Model Detail: Medium
• Post-Processing: Low
• Shadow Detail: Medium
• Texture Detail: High
• Effects Detail: Low
• Foliage Quality: Medium

To me, the best graphics set-up for an??y game leaves the game looking as good as possible without slowing down the performance. Preferences can vary, but the options listed below worked best for me. If you're willing to let the visual quality slip for better performance, or vice versa, experiment until you find a combination that works for you.

The post Marvel Rivals Best settings for max FPS appeared first on Destructoid.

A new sheen hits Night City today

A brand-new look for Night City is hitting PC today. Patch 1.62 for Cyberpunk 2077 is rolling out on PC today, with the tech previe??w for Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode arriv??ing as part of it.

This new ray-tracing mode is a hefty bit of tech. It uses fully ray-traced, or path-traced, rendering in partnership with NVIDIA. CD Projekt Red acknowledges that it's early-on, and so it's chara??cterizing this new mode of visuals as a Technology Preview. Basically, if things get weird, it's still a work-in-progress, and CDPR plans to keep working on this mode in the future.

Keep in mind that this specific view is currently supported for a certain subset of graphics cards. The Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode-enabled NVIDIA cards for Cyberpunk 2077 are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series, from 4070 Ti and up, as well as the 3090. The latter will be limited to 1080p / 30 FPS. The mode will also be set to "off" by default. Basic??ally, it's a super-high-fidelity option, for those who have managed to pick up one of the newest cards to hit the marke??t.

To get an idea of just what it looks like, Digital Foundry has a tour of Night City using the new setting and, well, it looks really good! T?he real-time path tracing looks real good.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K8Br6jHkcs

Take a picture

While you may not be able to move around in real-time with the Cyberpunk 2077 Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode enabled, there's still a way to get some of this fidelity for yourself. For ray-tracing-capable cards that have at least 8GB of VRAM, you can render path-traced screenshots in Photo Mode. So while you won't get the in-motion effect, you can still get some gorgeou?s screensh?ots.

Other updates in today's patch include support for NVIDI??A DLAA and Intel Xe Super Sampling 1.1, as well as improvements to the Bench?mark tool.

Despite the initial technical fumbles on PS4 and Xbox One, Cyberpunk 2077 has been a pretty gorgeous game to play on a higher-end PC. With more features arriving, it's really making Cyberpunk 2077 feel like a good medium for showing off your brand-new hardware. Plus, who doesn't love the prospect of Keanu in overdri?ven ray-tracing?

If you're not someone running the latest hardware though, there's still some Cyberpunk in your future. The Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty is expected to arrive sometime this year.

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A Soviet retrofuture in stunning detail

With its uncanny robots, fearsome enemies, and slick style, Atomic Heart has to be one of my most anticipated games of 2023. It somehow manages to reference all of our favorite blockbuster games while still managing to carve a path of its own -- naturally I'm excited to see a game going all out to try something new. We've gotten to see a nice lineup of trailers since Atomic Heart was announced back in 2017, and now we've got one more to add to the list. During Nvidia's CES 2023 showcase, the devs behind the game, Mundfish, let fans in on how amazing the game's ray-tracing a??nd particle effects will look, especially in 4K.

This new trailer came along with an announcement that Nvidia DLSS, or deep learning super sampling, technology will be supported on 33 upcoming games, of course including Atomic Heart. The company describes DLSS as "a revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts performance." That sounds great to me, but I'm also assuming you have to have the latest graphics cards and processors to be able to run it. Not to mention a 4K monitor and all the fixi??ns that go along with it. I'll likely play it on the PS5, because I'm probably the least tech savvy person in all of gaming. I hope the comput??er whizzes out there have fun though.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah74ys4t3Fs

I can say with confidence that Atomic Heart is going to look incredible with top-of-the-line graphics, but I also think it's going to be a gorgeous game regardless of specs. It has such a fun, distinct art style and atmosphere, I think Mundfish will have it locked down regardless of which platform we choose to play the game on. I've certainly been let down before, but if nothing else, it's cool to see a studio putting something out that's so different from what we've seen in the past few years. Nic??e graphics are just icing on the cake.

The post Atomic Heart puts its ray-t?raced beauty on full display in? new trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Multi-monitor support and a bevy of graphics options

The Bat-Family's new escapades aren't far off now. Today, WB Montreal released a new trailer highlighting some of the options PC players will have for their crimefighting ventures in Gotham Knights.

In a special PC trailer, we get to see some more of the crew in action, as well as footage captured using the PC version. Gotham Knights will supp??ort 4K resolution and ultra-high frame rate options, as well as ray traced?? reflections.

WB Games also confirms that Gotham Knights will have Intel's XeSS A.I.-enhanced upscaling as an option. More options are show??n in the trailer, including a menu full of toggles like resolution? render and FPS limits, as well TAA upsample and more.

Particularly cool is the option to support ultrawide and multi-monitor PC setups for Gotham Knight. You know, so you can play the new Bat game on a Batcave-style compu??ter layo??ut.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=REicHG5ZR3U

Ba??sically?, there are a bunch of tools and toggles for making the Bat-family's fight for Gotham look really pretty.

The fight for Gotham

Gotham Knights is the new title from WB Games Montreal. Rather than following Batman like other Arkham-style games, though, thi??s one sees the associated Bat-crew taking up his mantle after Bruce's untimely departure.

Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood are all playable, and the story looks set to focus in on the mysterious Court of Owls. Still?,? today's trailer is a reminder that we won't just be seeing owl masks all the time; other villains like Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn will also be showing up to cause some chaos.

The added PC options are nice to see, especially as Gotham Knights is focusing on the current generation of console hardware. Hopefully it results in a? good-looking Gotham to roam around in.

Gotham Knights lands for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 21.

The post Gotham Knights showcases its PC feature?s in new trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

A train station that looks more real than real life

It feels like every few years, we all marvel at the new game graphics that are coming out and wondering to ourselves, "how could it get any better than this?" Somehow game devs still manage to one-up themselves every time, because I find myself yet again speaking those same words in awe and a little bit of existential dread. You see, I am quite afraid of the uncanny valley, and we have crossed so far into it that game graphics are indistinguishable from reality, thanks to Unreal Engine 5. We've seen some seriously convincing faces, but this is?? the first environment I've seen that has my jaw on th??e floor.

A short video surfaced yesterday on the r/gaming subreddit that featured an abandoned train station �it looks inconspicuous ??at first, which made me wonder what the big deal could be about this train station. The shaky camera pans around toward the tracks??, and then suddenly everything switches to nighttime, and you realize that this entire thing is a digital rendering of a train station in Unreal Engine 5. I'm sorry, what now?

//www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/u??lvnuo/the_??generation_of_games_after_current_one_is/

The way the light streams down the stairs, the way the fluorescent lights shine in the puddles on the ground, the way the flashlight bounces off the rusted metal walls, it's all just a little bit too convincing for me. I've seen some really great graphics over the years, but this is the first time I've truly ?seen a video of something rendered in a game engine that I truly could not distinguish from real life or not.

S??o this train station is really impressive, but what does it mean for games using Unreal Engine 5 moving forward? These are easily the most impressive photorealistic graphics I've ever seen, but thi?s was just a short, most likely pre-rendered video.

Would our consol?es and PCs really be able to run something this advanced without melting through our furniture? Time will only tell, but one certainty still remains �I'm gonna stick to my stylized art styles, becaus?e this stuff gives me the heebie-jeebies.

The post This video of Unreal ??Engine 5?? has crossed into the uncanny valley appeared first on Destructoid.

I can hear my PlayStation 4 Pro roaring just looking at these images

When it comes to graphics, it's always fascinating to see what a development team can eke out toward the end of a console's lifecycle compared to the early days. Horizon Zero Dawn looked great on PS4, and its sequel �which is coming to PS4 and PS5 next year �also shows well visually. How it'll perform on an aging base PS4 model remains to be seen, but Guerrilla Games has shared several PS4 screenshots of Horizon Forbidden West.

Take a look and see what ??you think of Aloy's new surroundings:

While a few non-side-by-side screenshots won't be the end-all-be-all �far from it! �it is nice to have a rough idea of what to expect from Horizon Forbidden West's PS4 version. Of course, the real test will be how it all looks in motion and feels with a controller in ??hand.

For me, beyond image clarity, the water, finer details in the world at a distance, and lighting differences, it mostly comes down to the smoothness of combat and snap??py load times �those are the things that will matter to me more on ??PS5. (Especially after I've had enough time to sit with a game and I've acclimated to the visual fidelity.) I mean, there's a reason I'll always pick a "performance" mode over "quality" if given the choice.

This isn't Guerrilla's first rodeo, so expectations are high for Horizon Forbidden West �folks are hoping for refinements across the board, whether we're talking gameplay or visuals. I?'m curious to see how far the Decima engine can ??go on PS4. I'm hopeful.

For a few months now, I've been meaning to go back and try the 60fps PS5 upgrade for the original Horizon Zero Dawn, which Digital Foundry found to be "nigh-on perfect" in terms of how the performance holds up. I've still got some time for a revisit before the sequel is out on February 18, and something tells me I really should prioritize �I think it'll be harder to get into Zero Dawn again after playing Forbidden West. It looked so slick in the recent Game Awards 2021 trail??er. If yo?u missed it, there's even a giant cobra bot!

The post Guerrilla p??osted?? the first Horizon Forbidden West PS4 screenshots appeared first on Destructoid.

Welcome to the uncanny valley

Gaming technology has been on the cusp of complete photorealism for years, but things seem to have taken a turn recently with Unreal Engine 5. I feel like every day now I'm seeing something from a game engine that is indistinguishable from real life. At first it was just Forza Horizon 5 screenshots, which didn't freak me out as much, but now that we're seeing an increased number of rendered human faces that are so lifelike, it's hard to tell what's real a??nd what??'s not anymore.

//www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/r0f9a?w/realtime_control??led_cgi_puppets_in_unreal_engine_5/

Enter Ziva Dynamics' ZRT Face Trainer, a software that allows game developers and animators to plug in their own face meshes and puppet them into dynamic expressions in real time. A video of the program's demo running in Unreal 5 landed on Reddit, where it'??s been doing some numbers and unsurprisingly freaking everyone out.

The Face Trainer's website boasts some impressive stats, like a database of over 15TB of 4D scan data, over 72,000 unique training shapes, and puppets that can "run at real-time frame rates." The software entered early access today, and there's an a?pplication for the waitlist on the website for anyone who might be interested in the tech.

The video actually reminds me of some behind-the-scenes stuff I've seen before with motion-capture technology, specifically a tech demo for The Last of Us Part II. From what I understand, the?y were able to map the face of Ellie's actress, Ashley Johnson, onto her character's face in real time, and the results look pretty similar to the ZRT Face Trainer. Now they can just do that with faces that are entirely fabric??ated, I guess.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn5_-aZIVlU

Assuming the Face Trainer is going to be widely available to anyone who might want it in the coming years, I'll bet we're going to see huge leaps and bounds in the visual quality of games. This stuff makes what we have now look like PS2 graphics. While I am intrigued by the implications this kind of software has for the future of the games industry, it also makes me pretty uncomfortable. I'm also afraid of monkeys and Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors because ??they're too uncanny for me, so take that as you will.

The post These lifeli??ke faces in Unreal 5 are freaking people out appeared first on Destructoid.

Ray tracing, DLSS, FSR, button remapping, and a chapter select, among other features

It's a treat to revisit your favorite games only to discover they're that extra bit sweeter. Ninja Theory has released a free update for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice on PC with enhanced visuals �and DLSS and FSR support. There are also several new accessibility options including controller remapping, a feature I always feel should be ??a priority.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2o9KRJiOwE

On the visual front, Hellblade now supports ray-traced reflections and shadows (with three quality presets available), there are improvements to materials, particles, and the level of detail, and the game also supports DirectX 12. If you like getting the best of both worlds with performance and visual fidelity, Senua's Sacrifice has DLSS and FSR support, too.

Thankfully, these enhancements are just bundled up in a free PC update (following Ninja Theory's recent work on the Xbox Series X/S versions of Hellblade), so you don't need to buy a new edition or even upgrade your copy. According to the studio, Hellblade's "enhanced" update should be readily av??ailable on Steam, GOG, and the Windows Store.

What about those accessibility options? The big one is the ability to remap the keyboard and gamepad controls, which will have a lot of uses for a lot of different people. Hellblade also has new cus?tomization options for subtitles (the color, size, and background) and color blindness (with presets for Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopi??a).

These accessibility options are in the Xbox Series X/S versions of Hellblade as well. It's pretty cool to see the team go back and touch up the game while we think happy thoughts about the sequel, Senua's Saga, which looks promising but feels very out ?of rea?ch.

I also have to say, I'll take a chapter se??lect whenever possible. Please include them!

The post Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has an enhanced PC update and new accessibility options appeared first on Destructoid.

Ray trace the Metro

Artyom's exodus from the Metro is getting a pretty big overhaul next week. 4A Games has confirmed that the PC Enhanced Edition of Metro Exodus will launch on May 6, 2021.

The upgrade is free for all owners of the original game, whether it's on Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG, or the Microsoft Store. It also requires Windows, so Linux users and Google Stadia or Amazon Luna players won't be able to check this out just yet. (4A notes that Mac users can play the PC version via GeForce Now in its blog.)

The PC Enhanced Edition will also require Ray Tracing capable hardware, and you cannot run it without Ray Tracing on. It's estimated the install size, includi?ng the base game and its two DLC packages (The Two Colonels and Sam's Story) will come in around 80 GB. So what?? are you getting for all that heft and storage?

??Well, according to Digital Foundry, who got an exclusive first? look at the upgraded PC version, it's a "phenomenal improvement" over the 2019 game. And just watching the video, that's pretty easy to see.

The Metro series has been a visual powerhouse for a while; Last Light was one of the first games I played on my first gaming PC build, and it was a wonderful showcase for it. The Ray Tracing requirement might seem a bit over the top, but if you're looking for a way to show off how awesome your rig is—and play a good game—this might be your Crysis.

The post Metro Exodus’ PC Enhanced Edition arrives on May 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

It's 'laying the foundation for all of our projects'

Project: Mara is Ninja Theory's "most ambitious and realistic game setting ever," and in a behind-the-scenes video, we're shown how technology and art are coming together in new ways at the studi?o. Better yet, co-founde??r Tameem Antoniades brought along a few impressive in-engine images.

"Although it is quite a concise project, we're attempting to do lots of things t??hat we've never attempted befo??re," said Ninja Theory's Tameem Antoniades. "One of those things is to capture reality obsessively."

The team gathered wood and carpet from the game's real-world apartment and scanned t??hem using a "home-built scanner" to create references that coul??d be used with "procedural shaders and detail maps to attempt to recreate the materials as true-to-life as possible," according to Antoniades. "Materials for us are no longer simply flat things, they're things that blend between shaders and 3D geometry."

After trying other methods to capture the apartment that weren't hitting the realism threshold Project: Mara is striving for, Ninja Theory turned to Clear Angle Studios – s??elf-described "3D scanning ??specialists" who provided the developers with "some of the best reference we've ever seen."

From there, the environmental artists turned to procedural generation – including their own internal tools with "simple interfaces??" – to scale up the full interior as "there's no way you can do this by hand."

The result i?s pretty dang impressive in these side-by-side comp?arisons:

"There's this shift going on within Ninja Theory," said Antoniades. "Artists are not there just to create an object. They're there to create systems that can create that object – and infinite variations of that object. So, it's an entirely different approach that is laying the foundation for all of our projects across the studio [including Senua's Saga: Hellblade II], and all of our future projects."

As for Project: Mara specifically, we still don't have much to go on other than its single-setting premise, "grounded representation of mental terror," a??nd "experimental" ??nature, but here's another hint.

"We're aiming for an experience that feels real; that doesn't feel like a game and doesn't feel like a movie. There's a power in tricking the mind into believing it's real before then subverting it, so ??that you experience the mind-bending strangeness and horror of the world that Mara inhabits."

With countless outlandishly large open-ended worlds to explore in modern games, I'm excited to poke around something so refreshingly self-contained for a change. Less absolutely?? can be more.

The post Project: Mara looks ??scary good in these new in-engine sh?ots from Ninja Theory appeared first on Destructoid.

Performance RT mode is a great compromise

I'm starting to wish I hadn't burned through my New Game+ playthrough of Spider-Man: Miles Morales so quickly (and deleted the game to free up some precious storage space on my PS5). Insomniac Games updated Miles Morales with an alternate graphics mode – Performance RT – that ticks the right boxes.

If you wanted to see cool ray-traced reflections but you weren't willing to play Miles Morales at 30 frames per second, there's now an "alternate version of the 60 frames per s?econd 'Performance' mode" that adds "ray tracing by adjusting the scene resolution, reflection quality, and pedestrian density."

In other words, Performance RT is trying to give the best of both worlds – fidelity and ??performance. If you can live without 4K (and I believe plenty of us easily ca??n), this should be a great option.

There's no confirmation that Spider-Man Remastered will get a Performance RT update, but I hope so.

@InsomniacGames [Twitter]

The post Spider-Man: Mil??es Morales will let you h?ave 60fps *and* ray tracing appeared first on Destructoid.

Sooo... four cards?

Manufacturer MSI has reportedly had a huge shipment of its new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards stolen from its warehouse in China. As noted by Tom's Hardware, the haul is valued by Chinese press to be in the region of 2.2 million yuan, or roughly $335,000 U?SD.

Police are currently investigating the theft, though it would seem MSI believes that some of its own employees may be involved, given the specifics of the theft and the ability to bypass the warehouse's security systems. An internal memo from MSI is offering a rewar??d of 100,000 yuan ($10,000 USD) to a??nyone who comes forward with information, alongside protection for any in-house whistle-blower.

The latter half of 2020 has seen an increase of hardware thefts within the gaming industry. The missing 3090 cards join a list alongside a string of PlayStation 5 consoles that mysteriously vanished while en route to their unfortunate buyers last month. The Nvidia RTX 3090 card retails for around $1,500 USD, though scalpers have been attempting to sell them for pric?es higher still.

MSI's Nvidia RTX 3090s stolen in China [Tom's Hardware / Eurogamer]

The post Over? $300,000 of Nvidia RTX 3090 cards stolen in warehouse theft appeared first on Destructoid.

Wait, where'd my ostrich go?

In today's contest you can win Jetboard Joust for Steam!

Remember how we used to turn to fantasy? to escape the harsh truth??s of reality? Let's do that. Like, right now. We need it.

Retro, arcadey shooter Jetboard Joust just hit Steam -- and it's a looker! Live out your dreams of destroying intergalactic bugs as the Silver Surfer in this skybound action game. Chant with me: FAN-TA-SY! FAN-TA-SY!

I don't know anyone who expected a sequel to 1989's Skateboard Joust, but hey, anything can happen in 2020. In this jetboard-fueled roguelike, you'll blend the modern trappings of procedural levels with branching paths with old-school aesthetics and design. Manage your altitude while simultaneously avoiding incoming fire as your save the world from intergalactic insects hellbent on enslaving humanity. Collect coins?? from defeated foes to purchase new weapons and armor upgrades to take on five bosses and over fifty enemies across this classics-inspired shooter.

If you're old and rickety like me, you'll feel right at home with this?? one!

To enter to win, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. Click around for ways to earn bonus entries, and be sure to tell us in the comments your favorite fanta??sy world when you need a break from reality.

We have f?ive Steam keys to give away; our winners will?? be drawn next Monday.

Jetboard Joust is available now on Steam.

Contest: Win Jetboard Joust for Steam

The post Contest: Win Jetboard Joust for Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Another PS4 game I'm glad I waited to play

Slowly but surely, we're checking off Sony-published PS4 games that will officially look and run better on PlayStation 5. Days Gone is next on the l?ist with a confirmation from Bend Studio that the gargantuan open-world romp will reach "up to" 60 frames per second with dynamic 4K on PS5.

According to senior staff game designer Eric Jensen, you'll need the 1.70 patch – a recent 25GB download that brought stability improvements, optimizations, and bug fixes, among other things.

That's as good of a reason as any to start up a New Game+ run (when your backlog allows it, of course). For many of us who never made time for Days Gone despite seeing a pretty favorable reception from players, we'll be able to check out the game on PS5 with the day-one PlayStation Plus Collection.

This game has always felt like a big commitment to me – there's only so much room i?n my life for open-world gaming, and I don't like leaving games half-finished – but I still want to circle back eventually.

I hope this 60FPS trend continues. There are more games on th?e PS Plus list I want to hit up.

@BendStudio [Twitter]

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For instance: you can turn off ray tracing to reach 4K/60fps

When it comes to a series like Devil May Cry, you're gonna ??want to crank th?at frame rate as high as it'll go – or maybe not! Maybe you'd prefer to have ray-traced reflections and other bells and whistles.

We knew the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X release of Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition would offer at least a few choices – a godsend for anyone who has strong opinions about prioritizing performance over visuals, or vice ve??rsa – but today Capcom clarified what kind of options we can expect.

Here's a recap, as relayed by Capcom's William Yagi-Bacon on ResetEra:

Ray tracing on

• 4K/30fps or 1080p/60fps

Ray tracing off

• 4K/60fps or "up to 120fps" in High Framerate Mode

As far as these options go for a console release, I'm pretty dang pleased. Ray tracing can be a sight to behold, but it's even better when it's a choice. And when it comes to Devil May Cry 5 specifically, hittin??g 4K and 60 frames per second is going to be so slick. I'm ready to see some Legendary Dark Knight runs.

A bit of housekeeping: ray tracing won't show up in the Xbox Series X version until sometime after launch, and "object rendering is prioritized and ray-tracing is automatically disabled when High Framerate Mode is enabled, or when playing in Turbo or Legendary Dark Knight ga??meplay modes."

Asked about the timing of the Vergil-only DLC for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Yagi-Bacon said that Capcom will have more info to share "in the coming weeks." DMC5SE is releasing digitally for Xbox Series X on November 10 and PlayStation 5 on November 12. A physical version is coming on December 1.

I have to say, despite owning a 4K TV, I'll b??e fine with 1080p gaming for the foreseeable future.

[Via Gematsu]

The post Devil May Cry 5: Special Edi?tion has several f??rame rate and resolution options appeared first on Destructoid.

Ryzen from the ashes

For years AMD processors were known as the "budget" chip when it came to building a gaming PC. If you wanted to truly call yourself an enthusiast, you always went with the Intel chip be?cause it was, by and large, the industry leader. Not content to be second fiddle, AMD set out to claw its way t??o the top of the processor market with its Zen architecture that launched in 2017.

Ever since, AMD's processors have been slowly usurping Intel processors' previous leads in nearly every benchmark. That trend looks to continue when AMD releases?? the 5000 series of Ryzen 3 chips next month.

During a half-hour stream today, AMD rattled off multiple wins for its new chips. With performance boosts against its own previous line as well as competitors' while s?till using the same AM4 socket, the 5000 ??series is looking to be a beast of a processor line for both gamers and content creators.

Some of the highlights include a 2.8x efficiency bonus in performance per watt compared to the upcoming Intel i9-10900K chip and a 26% frame rate performance improvement over the Zen 2 3000 series at 1080p. In a moment that felt like it was stripped right out of Silicon Valley, AMD also revealed that the new Ryzen 9 5?900x was the first processor to break a 600 score on the industry-standard Cinebench benchmarking tool.

Now, this could all be corporate peacocking, but it seems like AMD has finally pulled ahead of Intel's processor offerings and has potential to be the dominant force in both gaming and workstation computers. The new l?ine of chips will be on store "shelves" starting November 5.

There will be four chips released as part of the Zen 3 ??5000 series, and here are their specifications.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (launching at $799)

• # of CPU Cores: 16
• # of Threads: 32
• Max Boost Clock: Up to 4.9GHz
• Base Clock: 3.4GHz
• Default TDP / TDP: 105W

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (launching at $549)

• # of CPU Cores: 12
• # of Threads: 24
• Max Boost Clock: Up to 4.8GHz
• Base Clock: 3.7GHz
• Default TDP / TDP: 105W

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (launching at $449)

• # of CPU Cores: 8
• # of Threads: 16
• Max Boost Clock: Up to 4.7GHz
• Base Clock: 3.8GHz
• Default TDP / TDP: 105W

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (launching at $299)

• # of CPU Cores: 6
• # of Threads: 12
• Max Boost Clock: Up to 4.6GHz
• Base Clock: 3.7GHz
• Default TDP / TDP: 65W

Af?ter the stream, I was talking with my friend and fellow community member TheBlondeBass about how it s??eems like we're really hitting a new pace when it comes to PC component evolution.

Between AMD's news and the announcement of the Nvidia 3000 series of graphics cards, the tech landscape is seemingly on an exponential rise in performance. It's a wonderful time to be a PC gamer and we'll continue to get a better look at the generation to come when AMD reveals the new RX 6000 series of video cards on October 30.

The post AMD reveals new Zen 3 chips that look to overthrow Intel’s previous dominance appeared first on Destructoid.

Two week delay shouldn't bring much dismay

After an overwhelmingly popular launch of its newest graphics cards, which saw people and possibly bots snappin?g up everything available, Nvidia has mad??e the decision to delay the launch of the last card for its 3000 series in order to avoid stocking issues.

Originally scheduled for October 15, ??the new launch date for the RTX 3070 is ?now October 29.

The 3070 is the "budget" model of this year's impressive 3000 graphics cards series. Despite being the weakest card of the three, the RTX 3070 - which will go on sale for $499 - boasts a better performance on paper than the RTX 2080 Ti that launched with a $999 price tag. It's a huge ?step up in regards to "bang for your buck" and Nvidia is expecting high sales numbers, so it listened to its fans and pushed the launch back to make more units available.

Speaking in a press statement, Nvidia said:

Production of GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards are ramping quickly. We’ve heard from many of you that there should be m??ore cards available on launch day. To help make that happen, we are updating the availability date?? to Thursday, October 29th.

We know this may be disappointing to those eager to purchase a GeForce RTX 3070 as soon as possible, however this shift will help our g?lobal partners get more graphics cards into the hands of gamers on l??aunch day.

Those who were hoping to get their new 3070s before the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 better get their F5 fingers ready for October 29, because it's looking to be a close shave in the lead up to the fal?l releases.

The post Nv?idia has? delayed the RTX 3070 launch to avoid stock issues appeared first on Destructoid.

RDNA2 full reveal

After the proverbial mic-drop presentation that Nvidia had last week concerning its GeForce?? 3000 series cards, all eyes have been on AMD to see what it would do next. As it turns out, we'll have to wait quite a bit to see what the return volley looks like from the lead competitor in the PC graphics card war.

AMD announced that it will air a presentation for its next line of video cards on October 28. The conference will cover both the RDNA2 chip architecture as well as the Radeon RX?? 6000 series of cards.

AMD #RDNA2 architecture and Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards will bring the best of Radeon to gamers worldwide. Learn more October 28. pic.twitter.com/CZJRxTBe6m

— Radeon RX (@Radeon) September 9, 2020

It's already known that the RDNA2 architecture will be used in the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox One S/X, with both of the systems having different proprietary cards in them. With the release date for the Xbox One S/X confirm?ed to be on Nov??ember 10, it seems that this will be a good look into the more technical side of the upcoming console releases, just before their launch.

It will be interestin?g to see what AMD has in store for the PC side of things as bagging the two console hardware contracts for a second generation in a row could be seen as a win in any book, but no one can deny that PC gaming is on the rise. With the GeForce cards looking to be well priced for the tech that's inside them, will AMD be able to win over enthusiasts with a more impressive offering of cards?

We'll find out on October 28.

The post AMD will reveal its ne?xt generation of video cards at the end of October appeared first on Destructoid.

Night City Dazzler

CD Projekt RED, in association with Nvidia, has released a short tech video for upcoming RPG Cyberpunk 2077, showcasing its deadly future-noir universe as powered by Nvidia's shiny new range of GeForce RTX 30 graphics cards.

The trailer offers a brief look at several locale?s within the neon-tinged 'berg, with powerful ray tracing and DLSS 2.0 effects presenting the city at its absolute finest. P?redictably, Night City looks absolutely fantastic, with dazzling colour, realistic reflections and shadows, and an abundance of real-time particles, with resolution sharper than a razor blade.

You don'??t have to take my word for it, check out the video for yourself below.

While it's very likely that a souped-up PC will offer the most visually impressive Cyberpunk 2077 experience, it can't be denied that this could prove the most expensive option, especially should you requ??ire a full?-rig overhaul. That said, taking this option would almost certainly future-proof your PC gaming experience for 2021 and beyond... Hopefully.

Ultimately, it's a subjective issue - one that comes down to each individual's personal gaming budget and choice of platform. Fortunately, Cyberpunk 2077 will be a??vailable on a wide variety of consoles, so very few fans will be left without the means to p??lay it at all.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches November 19 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. It will arrive on PS5 and Xbox Series X at some point in 2021. You can read more about the RTX 30 cards right here.

The post Cyberpunk 2077? tech video shows off G??????????????????????????eForce RTX 30 effects appeared first on Destructoid.

And it lights up

In a special conference this morning, Nvidia announced its newest line of graphics cards as well as GeForce-enabled applications. Previously there were lots of swirling rumors about prices and card strength, with the target looking at 24GB of video memory on the card with a price?? tag of $1500. As the stream started today, myself and Dan in the Destructoid chat girded our loins for the?? inevitable pain of a future upgrade. What awaited us was a pleasant surprise.

As expected, the 3000 series was announced with three cards?? coming, all using the new Ampere architecture which will see a marked improvement over the 2000 series. The flagship GeForce RTX 3080 was announced to have 10GB of GDDR6X memory with a 19Gbps run speed, promising 60 frames per second at 4K resolution. With an MSRP of $699, it's a whole lot less o??f a shot to the wallet than initially expected. The "lower-end" card for the 3000 series was also announced as the GeForce RTX 3070. Boasting 8GB of GDDR6 memory, the card will launch with an MSRP of $499.

Then there's the big boy. Geared toward gamers and content creators alike, the GeForce RTX 3090 is a whopper of a graphics card. Boasting the rumored 24GB of GDDR6X memory, the card used 3 (!) PCI slots. The rum??ored cost was also on-point with the price coming in at $1,499. Yowza.

Everyone and their mother is looking forward to the release of Cyberpunk 2077, and Nvidia jumped at the opportunity to show off the most anticipated game of th??e year on its new line of cards.?? To say it's impressive would be an understatement.

The 3080 will be the first of the cards to roll out on September 17. The 3090 – or "BFGPU" as Nvidia calls it – will release on September 24. Finally, the 3070 will release on an unsp???ecified date in October.

For a limited time, purchased cards will come with a free copy of the upcoming Ubisoft game Watch Dogs: Legion, as well as a year's subscription to Nvidia's game-streaming service.

The post Nvidia announces its next gen??eration of GeForce graphics cards and two of them are surprisingly a??ffordable appeared first on Destructoid.

And a Steam copy of the game!

In today's contest you can win an MSI GTX 1660 graphics card and a Steam copy of Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star!

Is your computer in need of a graphical overhaul? Dtoid has ya covered: Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star hit Steam a few weeks ago, and we're giving away the game and an MSI GTX 1660 graphics card! Thin??k of all the?? graphics you'll be able to look at. Just imagine.

Read about the game below!

Nuki is an idealistic young man who comes across Sune, who resembles the Milky Way Prince from his childhood stories. The pair quickly begin a passionate relationship, but this is not a storybook romance. Nuki must balance taking care of and supporting Sune with his mental health issues, while not losing his identity and self-worth to his partner??.

Take in an interactive, branching story with multiple endings, discovered through dialogue choices and the senses system. During ??the pair’s intimate encounters, use Nuki’s sen?ses to trigger different reactions, and discover hidden truths about Sune that take the relationship to dark, unexpected places.

Milky Way Prince is a semi-autobiographical story, created by Italian multimedia artist Lorenzo Redaelli. A graduate of Cinema and New Media in Milan who sought to explore games as an artform, Redaelli created all the core content in? the game, including the script, artwork wh??ich fuses Japanese and abstract influences, and the electropop-meets-baroque soundtrack.

To celebrate this game's release the dev team gave us this MSI GTX 1660 graphics card? to give away! Featuring 6 gigs of video ram you're going to get a ton of power for not only this game, but pretty much anything else for? years to come.

To enter to win, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. Click around in the widge?t ??for ways to earn bonus opportunities, and be sure to explain to me how graphics cards in the comments below because hoo boy I don't know what's happening.

We have one grand prize winner who'll receive the graphics card and a copy of the game; nine runners-up will win a Steam copy of the game,?? itself. Our grand prize winner must have a US shipping address, but anyone can win a key for the game.

Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star is availab?le now on Steam, with a console r??elease planned for later this year.

Contest: Win an MSI GTX 1660 gr?aphics card, courtesy of Milky Way Prince -? The Vampire Star

The post Contest: Win an MSI GTX 1660 graphics card, courtesy of Milky Way Prince – The Vampire Star appeared first on Destructoid.

'I think, display resolution-wise, 4K resolution is enough'

Racing fans can't think about PlayStation 5 without also wondering about the fate of Gran Turismo. What's the next major advancement for this series? What's the biggest priority for Gran Turismo 7?

In a recent interview (as reported by GTPlanet), Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi made a few forward-looking comments about what Gran Turismo could be like on PlayStation 5 and beyond.

"I think, display resolution-wise, 4K resolution is enough," Yamauchi s?aid.

"Rather than a spatial resolution that you're talking about, I'm more interested in the advancements we can make in terms of the time resolut??ion," he said during a roundtable with Australian media. "In terms of frames per? second, rather than staying at 60 fps, I'm more interested in raising it to 120 fps or even 240 fps. I think that's what's going to be changing the experience from here on forward."

It's not a firm commitment or anything, but it's the kind of comment I love to hear as someone who generally cares more about frame rate than visual fidelity. That said, I get the sense that fans are hoping for further refinements and layers to the simulation above all else. GT Sport is super pretty as is.

Obviously, priorities can and will change. I won't be surprised when, one day, after 4K has adequately settled into place, we'll hear that "it's fine, if you're into that sorta thing, but ?it could be so much better."

Gran Turismo's Fut?ure: '4K Resolution is Enough,' But 2?40fps is the Target [GTPlanet]

The post ‘120 fps or even 240 fps’ is the next big goal for Gran Turismo appeared first on Destructoid.

I legit love this game

In today's contest, we're giving away a brand new Switch console or an XFX graphics card, as well as copies of the game, courtesy of Speaking Simulator!

Yes. Oh, yes. I've been waiting for this one for a while now, since when I first reported on it in Getting Weird with Wes (RIP). And ??now, it's finally here. Not only is it finally here, but it's finally here with even more g??ifts: Free shit to give you guys!

Speaking Simulator is finally out. Fi??nally! We've got a brand new Nintendo Switch, as well as an XFX Rx 5700 graphics card, to give away. Oh, and of course, copies of the game. I think I'm in love.

I'm not going to ruin this with too many words -- just watch the trailer. It's pretty got-danged glorious. You're a robot intent on conquering helping humanity, and of course to do this you must infiltrate their ranks. Learn the mysterious skill of vocal communication using your tongue, teeth, and other moist and fleshy robo-bits. Start?? with forming words, move to forging relationships, and maybe even become a world leader with your newfound talking ability! It's all pretty normal?? human stuff.

This is one of those games that if you don't think it's the greatest thing ever, we can't be friends anymore. There's a lot?? riding on this one, dude.

Use yo??ur human s??alivary glands to drip from the mouth over these prizes!

A brand new Switch console, complete with a Speaking Simulator custom skin! Weird! With your brand? new Switch you'll be ab??le to conquer humanity on the go while also weirding everyone out who sees you playing it!

A fancy new graphics card! I don't know much about components or graphics cards or anything, but I'm told this XFX Rz 5700 sure is nifty. Check out the Amazon listing for all the specs and whatnot, but it costs more than the Switch, so I'm sure it's good. It'll help you to pick up that pesky speaking thi??ng, if nothing else, so you can finally assimilate into the humans.

That still not enough for ya? Jesus. Fine. 5 runners-up will receive a Switch NA key for the game, and 10 others will receive a Steam key. LOOK AT ALL OF THESE? PRIZES!

Ok?, to enter to win just apply using the widget below. Name and email, blah blah blah. Just make sure to specify which grand prize and runner-u??p prizes you want. I also like to sprinkle ways to gain bonus entries in there, so just fidget around in that widget.

We have one grand prize winner for the Switch console, one for the graphics card, and the extras for the ke??ys listed above. You must have a United States shipping address in order to win?? the grand prizes -- winners will be drawn Monday, February 10.

Speaking Simulator is my jam, and it's available now for Steam and Switch.

Contest: Win a bra??nd new Switch, or a fancy XFX graphics card,? from Speaking Simulator

The post Contest: Win a brand new Switch, or a fancy XFX graphics card, from Sp??eaking Simulator appeared first on Destructoid.

This isn't your typical Dark Souls II graphics mod

Even if Dark Souls II didn't turn out quite the way I expected, I have a lot of love for the sequel. It's an enchanting, beautiful, ugly, gratifying, surprisingly deep, and occasionally infuriating video game, all at once. Plenty of Souls fans dislike it, but the people who dig it are really, truly enamored with Drangleic.

I always appreciate seeing that passion bubble up into fan creations that benefit the wider community. Whether or not you're into Dark Souls II, modding, or Dark Souls II modding, you've got to check out this work-in-progress mod from a lighting artist and graphics programmer named Stayd. It's so impressive.

Here are a few screenshots of the not-yet-finalized mod w??orking its magic:

And here are some before-and-after comparisons:

I figured it out, the problem was I was dumb the whole time.
Now I can swap back to unmodified files at will, so expect a lot of comparisons in the near future.
Starting with my current favorite, Shrine of Amana.
(Left is before, right is after) pic.twitter.com/cgHlUTtP4l

— Stayd (@Stayd3D) January 17, 2020

Another quick comparison, this time Heide's Tower of Flame. Easily the brightest level in the game now, followed closely by Dragon Shrine.
I just love the look of this place.
(Before <> After) pic.twitter.com/d74gnkLdEf

— Stayd (@Stayd3D) January 20, 2020

What's going on under the hood? "This is not a typical Reshade or SweetFX preset, which simply adds some post-processing effects, but a proper mod that edits the game's lighting files and adds many new dynamic lights to all the maps," explained redditor Katalash. "Character shading?, shadow quality, antialiasing, ambient occlusion, and more are all upgraded with better techniques."

Outside of Twitter, you can also keep tabs on this mod on Twitch, where ??the creator streams their work. The project seems like a painstaki?ng job, but I can already tell the final result will be worth the trouble.

@Stay3D [Twitter via ResetEra]

The post Da??rk? Souls II looks better than ever with this lighting mod appeared first on Destructoid.

An early present from CES 2020

With a new Game Ready driver released in time for CES 2020, Nvidia has given PC players their "number-one community-r??equested feature": the ability to cap the frame rate for 3D apps ??and games.

"This featu?re is particularly helpful when trying to save power, reduce system latency, or keep within a specific Variable Refresh Rate range on a ??G-SYNC or G-SYNC Compatible display," noted Nvidia.

In the past, PC gamers have relied on programs like RTSS to limit their FPS. If you want to try out Nvidia's Max Frame Rate setting, you can find it in the Nvidia Control Panel listed under 3D Sett?ings.

Other features include Variable Rate Supersampling (VRSS) for better image quality in two dozen virtual-reality games – Boneworks, Job Simulator, and Lone Echo, to? name a fe??w – along with support for eight new G-SYNC displays, including the LG OLED 2020 Big Format Gaming Displays.

You can download the Game Ready 441.87 WHQL drivers through GeForce Experience.

CES Game Ready Driver Introd??uces New Gaming Features, Support For Wo??lfenstein: Youngblood Ray Tracing, New G-SYNC Compatible displays, and More [Nvidia]

The post Nvidia added a frame rate limiter with the new GeF?orce driver appeared first on Destructoid.

The full package

Don't look at me like that. Game writers are legally required t??o use that picture when writing about this game. My hands are tied. It's the law.

That's not what you're here for though. You want to know whether the Switch version of The Witcher III is worth your time and cash. You might also be wondering what dark magic CD Projekt RED had to employ to squish their game down, and what corners had to be cut. Or maybe you're just curious how well this incr??edibly massive role-playing game translates to a portable system?.

I don'??t have? all the answers, but I'll share what I do know. For a price. Witchers don't work for free.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Complete Edition (Nintendo Switch [reviewed], PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: Bandai Namco (Europe), WB Games (NA), Spike Chunsoft (Japan)
Released: May 19, 2015 (PC, Xbox One, PS4) October 15, 2019 (Switch)
MSRP: $59.99 (Switch) $49.99 (PC) $39.99 (Other consoles)

Let's just rip off the band-aid, shall we? The Witcher III on Switch simply doesn't ??look as nice as it does on the PC or higher-powered consoles. It's still a good-looking game, but the Switch's hardware isn't up to the task of rendering everything on screen with the same graphical fidelity as the more powerful competition. Draw distances aren't as long, textures are blurrier, and you're limit?ed to 720p docked or 540p in handheld mode.

Those are the top end of the range, by the way. The resolution occasionall??y drops below these targets to preserve the framerate when there's a lot of action on screen. If cutting-edge graphics are what matters most in your life, this new portable version of a four-and-a-half year old game isn't meant for you.

That said, I couldn't find anything else which was compromised for the Switch conversion. Yes, it's certainly a graphical downgrade, but the story, voice work and gameplay are all intact. Combat is smooth, and the frame rate is consistent even when you're being attacked on all sides. The sheer scale of the open world is unbelievable. The body and facial animations of the various monsters and NPCs are still extremely impressive. What's more, Nintendo didn't force CD Projekt RED to compromise any of the content; you'll still see decapitations, bare asses, adult situations, and plenty of swearing w?ithin the first few minutes of booting up the game. 

And it's a damn fine game, even at lower resolutions. If you're willing to accept that you aren't playing the best-looking version, it's still extremely entertaining to roam from town to town, using your medieval Batman training to find, research, and destroy monsters of all shapes and sizes. I haven't yet made my way through the entirety of The Witcher III on Switch (Carter refuses to lend me one of his time-turners), but from what I've played, it's obvious the Switch port of The Complete Edition aims to live up to the high gameplay standards set by the other versions. It's one of the most ambitious single-player games of the generation, one which dominated game of the year lists back in 2015. This is?? CD Projekt's highest-profile franchise, they're proud? of it, and it shows. 

It's really a question of what matters more to you; graphics or portability? That's the trade-off, clear and simple. CDPR and Saber Interactive did an admirable job on the conversion, but there's no hiding that the visuals are where sacrifices were made. The Switch version of The Witcher III is far from an ugly game, but it doesn't look as jaw-droppingly gorgeous?? as it would running on a high-end PC or one of the 4K-capable consoles.

On the plus side, load times seem to be reduced, and if you play Switch games primarily in handheld mode, you might not even notice the downgraded visuals. If you're curious how the different versions of the game compare, screenshots probably won't be much help. Fortunately, Digital Foundry did a side-by-side comparison which demonstrates some of the differences.

What do you get with Wild Hunt: Complete Edition? Apart from the massive world included in the base game, the Complete Edition also includes every bit of DLC which came out after the initial release. Both the Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone expansions are available from the main menu, and you can start playing them with level-appropriate gear before you ever touch the main campaign if you like. There are hundreds of hours of content here in an extremely well-realized open world RPG, absolutely stuffed with monsters to research, people to talk to and side quests to undertake. If you need something to keep you occupied until Breath of the Wild 2 releases, The Witcher III has you covered. 

I did have a couple of quibbles with Witcher III's Switch conversion. Unfortunately, most of the same issues present in earlier versions of the game are still ?here. Your horse may defy several important laws of physics whenever you travel from point t??o point. Animations can be a little stiff, especially when you're trying to line up Geralt with a gathering point. Other minor graphical glitches may show up from time to time, such as weapons floating in midair after dispatching a group of enemies. If you prefer digital editions to physical media, another thing to be aware of is the hefty 32GB install - I literally couldn't download the game onto the MicroSD card supplied with the Switch, even with nothing else installed. 

The Witcher III is unquestionably one of the best games to come out within the last five years, and it's still impressive four years after its release. Yes, the Switch version sacrifices some of its beauty for the ability to take it on the go, but it's still a reasonably pretty game, well worth exploring for the deep gameplay, mature storytelling, and unique world. If you haven't yet experienced The Wild Hunt, then the Complete Edition on ?Switch is a great opportunity to check it out. 

_{[This impressions piece is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition works better than you mi?ght expect on Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

The new game engine, Render Dragon, will bring graphics enhancements to Minecraft on 'most devices'

Mojang recently dropped its plans for Minecraft's Super Duper Graphics Pack and summed up the canceled visual update as being "too technically demanding to implement as planned." But in its announcement, the team teased that it wasn't all bad news – that something else was lined up.

That something, as it turns out, is real-time ray tracing. Take a look at this expensive lighting:

"We couldn't be more excited to take advantage of the new ray tracing technology from Nvidia," Mojang said earlier today. "It'll be playable on Windows 10 with devices that are capable of DirectX R, such as with an Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU (and we plan to expand it to future platforms that support DirectX R ray tracing)." If you're down, keep an eye out: Minecraft will run an RTX beta "in the new year."

For its part, Nvidia showed off several upcom??ing PC titles that will a??lso support ray tracing, from Dying Light 2 to Watch Dogs: Legion to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Even ?if you aren't in the market for this sorta thing, it's admittedly fun to see the before-and-after comparison screenshots.

There's also good news for Minecraft players on other systems. The team is preparing graphical enhancements for Bedrock platforms thanks to a new engine, Red Dragon, including "edge highlighting ??and new lighting techniques, wh?ich is just the start of the visual and performance upgrades."

"Render ?Dragon supports a range of graphics features, depending on what ??your device is capable of. Not all devices will support ray tracing, but we will have some graphics enhancements on most devices."

Render Dragon and Nvidia ray tracing [Minecraft]

The post ??Minecraft is getting visual upgrades, inclu?ding ray tracing appeared first on Destructoid.

19 runners-up will win the game, too

Win Rescue HQ: The Tycoon and an MSi GTX graphics card in today's contest!

I love giving away games. I love giving away physical things to play those games. So today, I get to combine my two loves and give you guys both a video game, AND something that'll help ??you play said game! I'm already in love outside of the internet -- now I get to d??ouble down. It's exciting.

I've got 20 keys for Rescue HQ: The Tycoon to give away, as well as an MSi graphics ??card so you ca?n do graphics-y things on your computer while you play it! Who doesn't like graphics?

There's a lot going on with this one, so maybe you'd be better off checking it out for yourself over on Steam! But in Rescue HQ: The Tycoon, you're tasked with starting up an emergency situation unit, complete with police, ambulance, and fire rescue, to help people in need. You'll upgrade your facilities, train n?ew responders, manage budgets, and do all of the other things we don't really think about when our friend Jared gets drunk and falls off a bus and we have to call the meat wagon to pick him up. Damn it, Jared. Look at what you're doing to our emergency workers! Keep it under control!

So we're giving this game away, but we've also got a graphics card to give you! I don't know dick about computers, but I'm told this one is nice. I'm going?? to list some features here a??nd let you decide for yourself. Do you want a free graphics card or not?!

Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics processing unit (GPU)

With a 1379MH?z clock speed and 1493MHz boost clock speed to help meet the needs of demanding games.

4GB GDDR5 (128-bit) on-board memory

Plus 768 CUDA processing cores provides the memory need??ed to create striking visual realism.

PCI Express 3.0 x16 interface

Offers compatibility with a range of systems.

NVIDIA CUDA technology

Harnesses the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) to optimize ??co?mputing performance.

NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync

Disables VSync when frame rates fall below the locked rate, and re-enables it when they return to the lock??ed rate, to significantly reduce stutter and prevent screen tearing.

NVIDIA G-SYNC technology

Scenes appear instantly, objects look sharper, and gameplay is super smooth, giving?? you a stunning visual experience and a serious competitive edge.

DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5 support

Enhances gameplay by delivering ultrarealistic images, deta??il and texture and improved lighting effects that create lifelike interactivity.

DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs

Enable flexible connectivity.

I don't know what any of that means!

Ok, enter to win by leaving your name and email address in the widget below. You can enter daily for additional chances to win. For bonus entries, follow Dtoid, PCI??, and stillalive studios on Twitter, and share our contest post with your friends.

While you're waiting to see who won, explain computers to me. ?I? need help.

We have one graphics card and game key bundle, and 19 additional keys for runners-up to split between Dtoid and PCI. You must have a United States shipping address to win the? card. Winners will be drawn Friday, August 9.

Rescue HQ: The Tycoon is available now for Steam.

??Contest: Wi??n a new graphics card to play Rescue HQ: The Tycoon

The post Contest: Win a new graphics card to play Rescue HQ: The Tycoo??n appeared first on Destructoid.

And there's a new anti-aliasing option

Right on cue, Capcom has released a High-Resolution Texture Pack for Monster Hunter: World on PC. It's a separate download on Steam, and it's free, so as long as you have the right hardware,? ??it's that simple.

Here's a compa?rison of the game running with and without the high-res textures:

As for system requirements, they're not necessaril?y as demanding as I thought they might be.

Minimum

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: WINDOWS 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (64-bit required)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-4460, 3.20GHz or AMD FX-6300
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon RX Vega56
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 70 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectSound (DirectX 9.0c)
• Additional Notes: 1080p/30fps

Recommended

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: WINDOWS 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (64-bit required)
• Processor: Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz or Intel Core i3 8350 4GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti or AMD Radeon VII
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 70 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectSound (DirectX 9.0c or better)
• Additional Notes: 2160pï¼30fps

Even if your system isn't up to the task, you don't have to feel totally left out. Today's Monster Hunter: World update also fixes?? bugs and includes features like "TAA+FXAA" in the anti-aliasing graphics settings, a meter in the menu to show how much PC VRAM you're using with your current settings, another mouse control type??, and a "Friends Can Join" toggle for private multiplayer sessions.

For more details on everything in the update, consult this Steam post from Capcom.

The post Monste??r Hunter: World looks crisp with the high-r??es texture pack appeared first on Destructoid.

Tallon Canyon never looked so good

Metroid Prime has one of the all-time great openings. After a hectic battle and escape sequence aboard a Space Pirate frigate, you touch down on Tallon IV, the setting for the rest of the lonely adventure. As raindrops roll down your visor, you have a chan?ce to breathe -- an opportunity to take in the natural beauty of an alien world just begging to be explored and cataloged. It's such an awe-inspiring moment.

I've seen a bunch of mildly amusing Unreal Engine mock-ups, but this one takes it. YouTube user MilkyMax shared his "reimagining of the amazing atmosphere of the opening hours of Metroid Prime."

The end result is a must-see for fans.

Watching this footage calls to mind memories of exploring Metroid Prime for the first time, and that's probably the best complime??nt I could ever give it. A lot of love and thought went into crafting this.

We've heard so little about Metroid Prime 4 lately that it hasn't been on my m??ind. That just changed.

[Via reddit]

The post This Unreal Engine 4 tribute to Metroid Prime is out of this ?world appeared first on Destructoid.