Consoles Hub

Microsoft has come through on its commitment to release the Xbox Series X Mini Fridge in time for Christmas. Officially called the Xbox Series X Replica Mini Fridge Thermoelectric Cooler, the mini fridge will be available to pre-order in Europe, the US and UK from next week for two-figure sums.

The surprisingly high specifications, with a GeForce GTX 970 as the recommended GPU, raise questions about optimisation and how significant Rockstar’s remastering efforts are.

It turns out that Nintendo has made quite a few changes to the Switch with the new OLED model. A major one relates to the cooling system, which is smaller than the LCD model.

Crytek employees showcased Crysis 2 gameplay on Twitch, with the game slated to arrive on October 15th. A detailed list of new enhancements was also shared: Crysis 2 will be receiving SVOGI, hardware ray-tracing, and a raft of other features. However, RT will be limited to PC.

Acer has unveiled the Predator GD711 as its new "smart projector" for gaming. It is rated to throw HDR10 content at "high dynamic contrast" and a wide color gamut, at a brightness of up to 4,000 LED lumens. The projector is compatible with PCs or consoles, offering a high refresh rate on either platform.

The classic game from the Xbox 360 era looks significantly better in higher resolutions on modern consoles, which is why Alan Wake Remastered is a worthy title with only a few flaws according to a review by Digital Foundry.

It turns out that the Nintendo Switch OLED Model comes with a 4K and 60 Hz-capable dock. Available to purchase separately, the new Switch Dock also has an integrated LAN port.

An Apple-focused website is claiming as an exclusive that Apple is currently working on its own portable gaming console in the vein of the hybrid Nintendo Switch. The purported console is said to be almost ready for launch with game titles that could challenge the Nintendo titles like 'Breath of the Wild' and 'Mario Odyssey'.

The sixth entry in Ubisoft's popular shooter series is unfortunately not the most polished game from a technical point of view. A new tech review video by Digital Foundry now visualizes the reasons for Far Cry 6's technical shortcomings.

The Yuzu and Ryujinx Nintendo Switch emulators on PC have made great leaps over the past few years of development. Yuzu’s at the point where newly-launched flagship titles like Metroid Dread are already running on PC at 4K/60 FPS with an entry-level i5-8400/GeForce GTX 1060 combo.

Today (October 8, 2021) is the day the OLED version of the Nintendo Switch goes to general release following pre-orders. However, this new display variant of the popular console is, of course, facing stock outages in many markets. Some platforms may have units for sale, but are declaring weeks-long delays before they can be delivered.

MSI has launched three new Optix monitors with enough differences between them to cover the needs of even the most demanding gamer. The MSI Optix MPG341QR, Optix MPG321UR-QD, and Optix MPG321QRF-QD offer high refresh rates, low screen response times, and 100 mm x 100 mm VESA mounting.

Valve has disassembled the Steam Deck in a teardown video. However, the company hopes that the video will serve as a deterrent, rather than as a teardown guide. Nonetheless, replacing the machine's M.2 2230 looks relatively simple.

After Sony has finally activated the long-awaited gaming feature via a firmware update on last year's Bravia LED TVs, the release of an according VRR update for the PS5 seems imminent.

Available in open and closed variants, the EPOS H6PRO acoustic gaming headset targets PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, as well as Xbox users. Both variants have similar specs, such as 42 mm drivers, 20 to 20,000 Hz frequency response, and 28 Ohm impedance, but slightly different sensitivity and THD values.

A tech blog claims to have uncovered evidence of a new portable gaming device developed by Lenovo. This putative answer to the Nintendo Switch or Sony PSP goes under the Legion brand and runs Android - or, rather, it would have, had the OEM not chosen to cancel it ahead of its launch. Should it have made it to the market in 2021, it may have worked as a cloud and streaming machine too.

The colorful action adventure The Touryst is making history. At least on paper, it is the first ever console game to run at a 8K resolution and 60 frames per second. A new video by Digital Foundry has now explored the technical details of this historic occasion.

A patent filed by Nintendo has offered up a potential clue as to what a possible Switch successor could offer in terms of features. The patent describes an “information processing method” that would allow owners of a Switch 2 or Switch Pro to appropriately switch from one game to another like Xbox Series X users can with the Quick Resume feature.

A recent Bloomberg report stated that Nintendo was working on a 4K-capable Switch. Nintendo took to Twitter to deny the existence of any such console. It reiterated that only the Nintendo Switch OLED would be launching this year (2021) on October 7.

It is common knowledge that the Raspberry Pi can play old retro games with a software emulator, but a group of ingenious tinkerers based in the U.S. state of Ohio have now even turned the Raspberry Pi Pico into a micro retro gaming console for your keychain that also looks suspiciously familiar.

We are still a few months away from the official Steam Deck release, so the dev kit performance could actually be improved in the meantime. Still, demanding games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Cyberpunk 2077 appear to be hitting 30 fps even on high settings thanks to the included LPDDR5-5500 quad channel RAM.

As it happens so often, Sony's free PS Plus Games for October 2021 have apparently been unveiled in a French forum prior to the official announcement. Among the three free games for next month are two action focused titles as well as a current sports game.

Nintendo has expanded its Nintendo Switch Online offering with N64 and SEGA Mega Drive games, or SEGA Genesis games as they are known in North America. Nintendo has recreated classic controllers for both systems that run to US$49.99 each. N64 and Mega Drive games will only be playable once you pay for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, a second monthly subscription for Nintendo's online platform.

In a Q&A the developer of the highly anticipated shooter has revealed that raytracing will be a PC exclusive feature in Far Cry 6. For the next-gen console versions of the game, Ubisoft had a different technical approach and objective.

Notable features include non-Steam game compatibility for Proton, ext4 and exFAT file system support for the SD cards, user-accessible BIOS with multi-boot option along with SD card OS boot, plus PC game controller mode through Remote Play. The updated FAQ also confirms that external GPUs are not supported and the console is not specifically optimized for VR games.

Sony has pretty clear requirements when it comes to the read speed of SSDs that can be used to expand the storage of its next-gen PlayStation 5 console. In a new video, Digital Foundry has now tested what exactly happens to the console's gaming performance when you install a PCIe 4.0 SSD that does not meet Sony's required specs.

Nintendo's famous gaming character from the Mario universe has surprisingly been spotted in an unreleased, exclusive racing game for the Sega Dreamcast console, which is why the implementation of Luigi was apparently an easter egg or inside joke among the developers.

A cryptic tweet by @_Tom_Henderson_ from Dualshockers seemingly hints that Quantic Dream’s next title after Detroit: Become Human will be a narrative focused Star Wars game.

Many users have complained about degraded performance on their consoles after installing the latest PS4 System Software Update 9.00. While many consoles are unaffected, a few have been rendered unusable. Sony is yet to issue a statement on the matter.

Underneath all the garbage and cockroaches, a small group of brave YouTubers have found original and factory sealed video games from the Nintendo GameCube and PS2 era. Their combined collector's value was supposedly in the six-figure range.

Just because Sony requires an SSD with a heat spreader for the PS5 storage expansion, it does not mean that you actually have to buy one of the more expensive M.2 SSDs that feature a stock heatsink, most of which are currently out of stock anyway.

Sony has announced the addition of the Midnight Black Pulse 3D wireless headset to its lineup of official PS5 accessories. The black Pulse 3D headset follows on the heels of the recently released Midnight Black and Cosmic Red DualSense controllers. This latest accessory overhaul could point to a black PlayStation 5 console being on the cards.

Nintendo has started rolling out firmware version 13.0.0 to the Nintendo Switch family. Version 13.0.0 adds two important features to Nintendo's latest consoles, and one that has been missing since the Switch debuted in 2017.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 is finally getting its eagerly awaited update that will bring with it support for its currently dormant M.2 SSD internal drive bay. The update also includes some other goodies with 3D audio support being added for built-in TV speakers and new UX features and customization options.

Arkane Studio's new shooter offers three different graphics modes on PlayStation 5, and there is a noticeable difference in performance for each one of these settings. According to a new video analysis, there is a clear winner when it comes to the best graphics mode for Deathloop running on the PS5.

Igor Jhuly, a C++ developer and data miner appears to have accidentally discovered a Steam listing for God of War, strongly hinting that the PlayStation 4 exclusive might make its way over to PC.

Nintendo does not reduce its prices often, even years after a console's release. The original Switch console has had its guide price cut in the Eurozone and the UK though, with Nintendo citing a 'variety of factors' behind its decision.

Refuting YouTube Austin Evans's claims that the new Sony PS5 console has worse thermals, igor'sLab and Hardware Busters have concluded from detailed testing that the new, "smaller" heatsink in the PS5 revision actually helps in lower APU temperatures and allows for higher boosts, though this comes with the side effect of slightly warmer NAND.

The delayed release of the next-gen version of Grand Theft Auto 5 has been officially announced via a trailer during Sony's PlayStation showcase yesterday. For fans who are anxiously waiting for GTA 6, Rockstar Games' latest delay is not exactly good news either.

The Spine PlayStation 4 emulator on PC recently received a major update. Spine’s v20210901 version significantly increases the emulator’s compatibility with commercial PlayStation 4 games. While performance still isn’t anywhere near playable in 3D titles, Spine can now actually run over 300 PlayStation 4 games.

Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was officially unveiled in a trailer that has been released as a part of Sony's PlayStation showcase today. While this may be exciting news for fans, the trailer could also cause some disappointment for people who are really looking forward to playing the new Spider-Man game for the PS5.

Santa Monica Studios finally showed off the upcoming God of War Ragnarok via its first-ever trailer. It sheds light on some new gameplay elements, the game's antagonists, i.e. Freya and Thor, and a few in-game locations. There's no telling when God of War Ragnarok will be launched, but we can expect it to happen sometime in 2022 or 2023.

A well-known leaker has provided information about the PlayStation 5 Pro, Sony's presumed mid-cycle refresh. Reputedly, the console will receive a new AMD GPU that consumes more power with the advantage of offering significantly better performance, perhaps enough to bring about true 8K gaming.

YouTuber Moore's Law Is Dead has heard from his sources that Microsoft has a new Xbox Series S in store for us. It is slated to use an APU based on TSMC's 6N node, which will ship with additional CUs. The console will allegedly hit shelves in late 2022 for around US$350.

After years of technical adjustments and even a name change, the interesting all-in-one retro console combines many classic gaming systems in one and is finally scheduled to be released in just a few days time.

The formerly exclusive Xbox 360 game will supposedly receive a visually improved remaster for current Xbox Series consoles, the PC and for the first time ever will make its way to Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles.

Labeled 2.9 “Direct Hit” and released earlier today, the latest update to War Thunder sports a rich collection of new aircraft, ships, armored vehicles, and more. Its highlights include the MiG-27M (also the first aircraft in the game to carry guided bombs), two new battlegrounds, as well as visual updates for some older models (the B-17 bombers, for example).

The old but still good game by Crytek completely overwhelmed PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles when it was released back in 2011. But on the Nintendo Switch, the Crysis 2 remake runs surprisingly well and thus presents a good opportunity for fans to experience the first-person shooter once again.

The game will be released in two separate versions for Sony's last and current-gen console, and only the more expensive special editions for the PlayStation 4 will receive a free upgrade to the PS5 version. For many fans of the game who are affected by the current shortage of PS5 consoles, this means that they would have to buy the game twice should they finally snatch a PlayStation 5.