Playstation Mini
A new Retro-gaming mini machine in time for Christmas
The popularity of the console games of the 1980s and 1990s is still growing and Sony is the latest to announce a new release in time for Christmas.
The new mini PlayStation Classic will be available from 3 December and the console will include two original controllers as well as a HDMI socket. However, gamers will have to supply their own compatible USB AC adaptor. The miniature console will be approximately 45% smaller than the original grey PlayStation console.
The mini will come preloaded with a selection of 20 favourite games. The full list includes:
Battle Arena Toshinden
Cool Boarders 2
Destruction Derby
Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto
Intelligent Qube
Jumping Flash
Metal Gear Solid
Mr Driller
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
Rayman
Resident Evil Director’s Cut
Revelations: Persona
Ridge Racer Type 4
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Syphon Filter
Tekken 3
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6
Twisted Metal
Wild Arms
It will cost £89.99 and can be pre-ordered if you want one in time for Christmas.
November release dates for Fallout 76 and Battlefield
Fallout 76 is an online-only game upcoming online multiplayer action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and is due to be released on November 14th 2018.
It is described as a prequel to the series of eight Fallout games and will be available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Players will be able to play as individuals or with up to three others. It will be a real-time game on public servers initially.
It is set in a post-nuclear apocalypse world in the Appalachian and West Virginia areas of the USA and there will be seven categories of player attributes: strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck as well as some “perks”, abilities that will boost their bonuses.
According to the Bethesda website: “Fallout 76 is the first time you’ll be able to explore the Wasteland with other players, and as such, some systems have been adapted to suit this exciting new adventure.
“One of the biggest additions for 76 is the C.A.M.P. (Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform), a personal Workshop you can place almost anywhere in the world and use as a home base as you explore, moving it from place to place for new Fast Travel and Respawn options. When you move your C.A.M.P., all your built structures are stored and Blueprinted just as you designed them so you can quickly rebuild or create copies of your favourite structures. This way, if your settlement is nuked or raided by other players, you won’t have to worry about starting over from scratch.”
The other eagerly-awaited new game out in November is Battlefield V, for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC, due out on November 20.
Players will be able to team up in squads of up to eight people in air and ground combat, including tank battles to fight in single World War II war stories campaigns.
A revolution in gaming realism and performance
Gamers excited by the release of the new RTX games cards
The newest graphics cards released by Nvidia this month have been called “a revolution in gaming realism and performance”.
But, as with any cutting-edge technological revolution it comes with a price, according to some experienced gamers.
The new 20 series Nvidia cards come with built-in support for real-time ray tracing, a rendering and lighting technique for photorealistic graphics. The technology has hitherto only been used by the film industry for visual effects because it is extremely computationally intensive but clearly Nvidia is expecting Game Developers to introduce photo realistic graphics into this year’s new games.
This point is picked up in an extensive review by pcgamesn.com, which questions whether it is in fact such a new innovation that they might wait a while before introducing it into their games. In development terms it is likely to be a costly exercise for them, particularly when their target market is consoles rather than PCs.
The second issue is that the cards are not cheap. The various versions in the series range from $500 to as much as $1200, and that, suggests pcgamesn, may be a lot to shell out before the Game Developers have really adopted the new technology into their new releases.
So far, on the games they have tested using the new cards, performance has been mixed.
It will possibly be a while before gamers see all the promised improvements in their gaming experience.
Latest gaming news for the nostalgic gamer
Sony has announced the release of its Playstation Classic as a mini-console in time for Christmas. So for those now grown-up gamers turned parents who want to pass on the experiences of their “mis-spent” youth to the next generation this is your chance.
Tips for phone etiquette and laptops for students
Mobile phone, love them or hate them it seems we can’t do without them and according to the telecommunications regulator Ofcom we check them on average every 12 minutes.
However, there are times when focusing attention on the phone could be downright rude and the BBC’s tech website has come up with some simple rules of when, and when not, to use your phone:
- Mealtimes
They say it is definitely not OK to be checking your phone at mealtimes, whether you are out in a restaurant with friends or dining with others at home.
- Loud music
Who hasn’t complained about being subjected to the loud, tinny leak of music or video games from someone’s phone when they are on a train or bus? It’s about courtesy to others.
- Walking while looking at the phone
It can be dangerous! You could have an unwanted collision with a reversing lorry, whose driver could well not be able to see you and if you have headphones on you won’t hear its reversing warning beeps.
Then there’s the nuisance factor of people having to get out of your way because otherwise you’ll walk right into them.
- Being on the phone when you should be listening
If your job brings you face to face with the public and you should be focused on them, it can be especially irritating. They may want to ask you a question but they can’t if you’re ignoring them and continuing to chat or message.
It’s rude and in any case it’s you job to be helpful!
And finally, back to school time…
With the holidays nearly over and students preparing to head back to school and college Wired has a handy guide to the best laptops for them.