5G’s interest has been gaining exposure over the past few months with awareness generally increasing across the public tech enthusiast or not. The technology itself matured over 2018 available to only a select users but with the release of the new X50 modem by Qualcomm, the platform took off.
As 2019 begins more and more smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 855 are starting to flood markets in hopes of taking a chunk of what seems to be a future market for smartphones. Latest results by NPD are here about the statistics of the awareness and the general interest of the US public in a survey they held. According to the report, two in every three consumers are aware of the technology and its benefits totally up to 64% in the second half of 2018. This is up 44% from the previous half of the year meaning that 5G has indeed made its place in the hearts of the general public with enthusiastic spirits.
Apart from that the report also claims to calculate the interest of consumers with their unique methodology. The report shows that 33% of smartphone owners show interest in purchasing a 5G ready device which would break multiple barriers of innovation. The ability to download huge files and stream media at insane speeds is undeniably the future which everyone would want to experience. Consumers with unlimited data plans have shown a 43% interest in purchasing the new technology but the most interest is shown by millennials coming in at a solid 49%.
While the results are pretty much positive throughout the chart one thing is for sure and that is the fact that 5G technology will result in sales and a holds potential to form a new market place for consumers. What strikes the most is the fact that the technology itself is in its early stages and has not yet gained ground throughout the globe. It’ll certainly take some time for it to settle down
Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild had a real cartoon-like look to the game. Many players loved it at the time and still do as the game looks gorgeous. The game ran at 720P 30fps on the Wii U and at 900P 30fps on the Switch. Neither did the Switch or the Wii have enough horsepower to run the game at 1080P 60fps let alone 4K 60fps. Nintendo still managed to make this game look beautiful with the limitations of the consoles.
Legend Of Zelda BOTW With No Cel-Shaders
CEMU, which is a Wii U emulator, came in to save the day as Legend Of Zelda BOTW was one of the very first games that ran on the emulator. People were able to run the game at 4K 60fps which was good and all but, why stop there? People have been making mods for the game like character mods, graphical mods, weapon mods etc
One mod pack that has come out of all this disables Cel-Shading among other things. This makes the game look way less cartoony and gives it a more dark look. As a user has demonstrated in a youtube video by installing the graphics pack.
The game looks really dark and less cartoony. It almost looks like a fan-game made in the Unreal Engine 4 or Unity perhaps. The game has this distinct feel to it that you can see just by watching the image. The mod makes the game very dark overall and you can notice the lack of lighting even during daytime.
While you can download the emulator and go through all the trouble so you could mod and experience this for yourself. It isn’t worth it as you may need to grab a whole pack of mods to make it work properly. From what I could gather using the mod by itself made the game very glitchy with textures flying around. People seem to have a collection of mods installed Including some texture packs that may have remedied the situation.
A Quick Overview of Cemu
CEMU is a closed source Wii U emulator for Windows PC’s. It was initially released on October 13, 2015. The Emulator has come a long way since then. At the start, it could not even launch games let alone play them under playable conditions. Massive progress has been made since then. Allowing users to play games like The Legend Of Zelda BOTW at 4K 60fps even. According to the compatibility list on their website, a good 45% of the games run like perfect or are playable with minor issues.
CEMU allows you to enjoy the games in much better quality than could be had on the original console. Allowing you bump of the resolution and install graphical mods that add to the gaming experience. But, it is usually the folks who pirate games that use this emulator to play Wii U games that they don’t own. Regardless, for the folks out there who do the good deed and buy the games they play. This is a good option if you want to experience your favorite Mario game in high definition.
The Wii U GamePad, Pro Controller & Classic Controller can be emulated. The Wiimotes can also be emulated and have native support. This means that you can use a plethora of controllers like the Wiimote, Xbox 360, and PS4 controllers. You can even hook up the Nintendo Joy-Cons and play with those. Needless to say, you have a wide choice of controllers to choose from to your liking.
Xiaomi has just revealed the Redmi Note 7 Pro to the masses earlier this month. Following the release, anticipation for Xiaomi’s upcoming Redmi 7 lineup has begun as Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, has tipped off a few details regarding the upcoming Redmi 7 after revealing its price tag.
Lei Jun has revealed that the upcoming Redmi 7 would start at just CNY 700 (US $104) and would have an additional variant that would go for CNY 800 (US $119). Furthermore, he revealed how the Redmi brand is “proud” of featuring the headphone jack, IR blaster, and 4000mAh battery.
While leaks may have been vague about the Redmi 7, so far leaks have suggested that the Redmi 7 would feature a Snapdragon 632/710 SoC, 3/4GB RAM, 32GB / 64GB internal storage, an HD+ display and more. Additional details regarding the device include the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack, a large 4000mAh battery, a physical fingerprint scanner, a dual camera setup at its rear and an IR-blaster to go along with it.
Redmi Note 7 Pink
And while the specifications may not look a whole lot on paper, the device definitely seems to be enticing, to say the least. Let’s not forget that we’re looking at a $100 device given the special features Xiaomi’s adding to the box.
And while Xiaomi is “proud” of the inclusion of the 3.5mm headphone jack and IR blaster, it definitely seems to be a feature that they’ve included for business reasons that complement their other range of devices that require IR controls to function. And while the Snapdragon 710 definitely seems to be sketchy, if Xiaomi pulls this off, it could be a game-changer nonetheless given that the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro feature the much faster Snapdragon 675 SoC under the hood. However, we could be getting too far ahead of ourselves right now.
What we’re keen to see if whether Xiaomi’s Redmi brand is planning to keep these features a staple moving forward given that the Mi brand seems to ignore the 3.5mm headphone jack outright. Following our correct speculation of the premature release of the Mi 9, can’t wait to see what the Poco F2 would come with now that Xiaomi would have sufficient time to reap in the sales of the Mi 9 family before the device arrives in late August, this year.
Leaks regarding Vivo’s upcoming X27 and X27 Pro have been wandering around the internet for the past few weeks. However, as we get closer towards the launch of the X27 series of devices, new leaks have emerged, revealing details of Vivo’s X27 Pro in the limelight.
Chinese website, Weibo, has been responsible for most of the leaks coming out of China. And in case of the X27 Pro, we finally have a good look at what’s coming ahead from Oppo’s sister company. Based on the details revealed by the leak, it seems like the X27 Pro would be more than an enticing device, that’s for sure. The specifications of the X27 Pro are as follows:
The leak further clears out a few more misconceptions from the X27 leak, suggesting that the front camera on the X27 would be a 16MP unit and would actually sport the Snapdragon 675 rather than the Snapdragon 710 that definitely raises our eyebrows as the Snapdragon 675 is actually faster than the Snapdragon 710. While X27 Pro, Vivo has gone with a 32MP shooter from Samsung, coupled with a flash to accommodate selfie enthusiasts that would be a part of the pop-up camera unit. Furthermore, unlike the X27, the X27 Pro is said to come with a triple camera setup at its rear, with one of the sensors at the back being the all-so-popular Sony IMX 586 sensor at the back.
Both, the X27 and X27 pro would come with clear differences in terms of design and would be distinguishable based on their designs alone. Unlike the strap Oppo has been adding to their F11 Pro this year, the X27 Pro would go with the rather usual approach of placing all three cameras vertically without a strap. However, unlike the X27’s seemingly flat rear design, it seems like the X27 Pro would come with a rounded back for a much more comfortable grip based on the images revealed in today’s leak.
Leaks from last week’s Vivo X27 suggest that these two new devices wouldn’t be cheap at all, especially for the market that they’re both set to be launched in. The Vivo X27 Pro has been rumored to feature a CNY 2999 (US $430) price tag while the X27 Pro has no word of its pricing in the latest leak. If true, we could potentially be looking at the X27 Pro retailing in the CNY 3500 (US $520) range.
Whether the pricing ends up being true is yet to be seen. However, at this moment, Vivo faces the threat of facing harsh competition from Xiaomi’s recently-launched Redmi Note 7 Pro and Mi 9 SE that come with the new Snapdragon 675 and 712 SoCs, that too, at much lower prices. However, we’d love to see that 20.5:9 display in action as it reminds of Sony’s Xperia 1 lineup that features a 21:9 display.
Reports regarding AMD’s upcoming lineup of CPUs have been wandering the internet for a while. And as we dive deeper into 2019, it seems like the launch of AMD’s 3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs may be on the horizon. Amidst the whole hype that has been boiling in the PC hardware community, MicroCenter, a US-based computer hardware store, has begun showing its first effects of embracing AMD’s 3rd-Gen CPUs by offering Ryzen CPUs for bargains.
Thanks to a good catch by a Reddit user, AMD’s Ryzen 5 1600, Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700X are going some some insane prices. At this very moment, MicroCenter is offering the AMD’s Ryzen 5 1600, Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700X for $79, $ 159, and $269, respectively. Several stores have been sold out, with some of these stores requiring you to actually pick them up in-store. These are major discounts on CPUs that were once retailing for $99, 180, and $299 a few weeks ago.
Reports have even suggested that AMD’s new lineup of Ryzen CPUs could end up on store shelves as June, this year. Furthermore, these CPUs have been reported to come with several IPC improvements as well as host an addition of cores and threads to keep up with the computing demands and keep their pressure up on Intel. Reports sourced from Wccftech suggest the inclusion of an additional lineup as well, the Ryzen 9 category. These new CPUs from AMD would range in 6 cores and 12 threads with the Ryzen 3 lineup and would go all the way to 16 cores and 32 threads with the Ryzen 9 lineup of CPUs.
With the third generation of Ryzen CPUs on the horizon, AMD would continue to keep its pressure up on Intel thanks to its excellent performance and pricing strategy as we dive deeper into 2019.
With the launch now imminent, we can’t wait to see more of these deals pouring in as the Ryzen CPUs from 2017 and 2018 have served us well and are very respectable CPUs, even to this day. For the price, AMD’s definitely making a statement here. The question now is, can Intel hit back?
After a series of leaks, it’s about time Black Shark reveals its new lineup. Following the sudden launch of the Black Shark 2 HELO last year, the Black Shark 2 this year definitely seems to be coming with a fresh coat of paint for the year. And to keep you all waiting, Xiaomi has just revealed the debut date for the Black Shark 2.
The Blackshark 2 has been leaking for a while, but not a whole lot. So far, of the BlackShark 2, we’ve seen BlackShark 2’s AnTuTu benchmarks as well as Geekbench specs leaks following MWC 2019. Based on the few details we’ve managed to gather so far, the Blackshark 2 is said to pack the latest and greatest Snapdragon 855 SoC paired with 12GB of RAM. While that may not be much, it certainly isn’t hard to speculate what the Black Shark 2 may come with under its shell.
Given Black Shark’s past and their gamer appeal, Black Shark would most likely come with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 128GB / 256GB of internal storage as well as a 6-inch+ display under the hood. Furthermore, we would expect the Black Shark 2 to feature a 4000mAh+ battery, a much beefier vapor-chamber cooling system, a dual rear camera setup consisting of at least a single 48MP sensor and more.
Reports have also suggested the inclusion of an under-display fingerprint sensor with this year’s Black Shark 2. Furthermore, reports also suggested that Xiaomi’s 27W charging technology may also make its way onto the Black Shark 2.
Given the whole gaming smartphone hype brands have been creating since the inception of the Razer Phone, we would be awed to see the device missing out on a high refresh rate display this year given how much of a difference these high-refresh rate panels offer to the table.
Pricing remains skeptical at this point. However, given Xiaomi’s recent announcement regarding upcoming price increases, we would be skeptical to see those inflations land on the Black Shark 2 already. If we take the Black Shark HELO’s pricing into account, the Black Shark 2 would most probably resemble the same price tag this year as well.
Sony has released a full list of games going on sale today as a part of their “Flash Sale” this month. A total of 37 titles, ranging from Triple-A titles to Season passes for various games are included in the sale for those who have been waiting it our for a while. The sale hits major titles with up to 40% discounts today and would run through the weekends till March the 11th.
Major titles on discount include the likes of Call Of Duty: Black Ops IV along with other major titles such as Hitman 2 joining the sale. Furthermore, a few other notable titles such as We Happy Few and several Lego DC games were spotted in the list.
If you’re planning to pick up a few VR titles, now’s your chance to try out a few titles for that PSVR you have hanging around. Titles as such Prison Boss and Red Matter have made their way onto the list.
This should also be a good time for folks to pickup new triple-A games if you’ve been planning to pickup and take advantage of your PlayStation 4 Pro’s hardware
Here’s the full list of games available in the flash sale today.
428: SHIBUYA SCRAMBLE
$24.99
$49.99
BLAZBLUE: CENTRAL FICTION
$23.99
$59.99
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4
$38.99
$59.99
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4 – DIGITAL DELUXE
$84.99
$99.99
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4 – DIGITAL DELUXE ENHANCED
$109.19
$129.99
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4 SEASON PASS
$39.99
$49.99
DEATH MARK
$24.99
$49.99
DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN – ENHANCED EDITION
$9.99
$39.99
DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 – DEFINITIVE EDITION
$35.99
$59.99
DON’T STARVE TOGETHER: CONSOLE EDITION
$5.99
$14.99
FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: LOST PARADISE
$29.99
$59.99
GENESIS ALPHA ONE
$20.99
$29.99
GUILTY GEAR XRD REV 2
$15.99
$39.99
HELLFRONT: HONEYMOON
$4.99
$9.99
HITMAN 2
$35.99
$59.99
HITMAN 2 – GOLD EDITION
$59.99
$99.99
HUMAN FALL FLAT
$7.49
$14.99
LEGO DC SUPER-VILLAINS
$29.99
$59.99
LEGO DC SUPER-VILLAINS DELUXE EDITION
$44.99
$74.99
LITTLE DRAGONS CAFÉ
$23.99
$59.99
MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS – SPECIAL EDITION
$17.49
$49.99
MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS – THE OFFICIAL VIDEOGAME
$13.99
$39.99
MUTANT YEAR ZERO: ROAD TO EDEN
$24.49
$34.99
PIXELJUNK MONSTERS 2
$7.49
$14.99
PRISON BOSS (VR)
$11.99
$19.99
RED MATTER (VR)
$19.99
$24.99
SMOKE AND SACRIFICE
$9.99
$19.99
STYX: MASTER OF SHADOWS + STYX: SHARDS OF DARKNESS
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is about to launch in a few days and then players shall be jumping in to fight the baddies to protect their beloved Washington DC. The folks over at Ubisoft and Massive getting ready for the game’s launch on March 15th on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. They are probably busy right now with getting the game servers ready for the swarm of players that will populate their game.
The game has a lot to offer over the previous part, mainly in the content department. This game shall be packed with more content you have ever seen before. The game is a seamless online experience where you can play the story-driven campaign missions either Solo or in co-op mode with up to four friends. You can also play the endgame content alone or with friends which unlocks when you complete the main story of the game.
There is also a better and more robust progression system with new factions and activities. In addition to story-driven campaign missions and the endgame content, you have PvP mode with three different dark zones, 4v4 Skirmish, and Dominations modes. All-in-all it seems like Ubisoft does listen to its users. The Story-Driven Campaign is 40hours worth of content on is own, the endgame content only adds to that, factor in the PvP activities and the online experience you get with other players, The Division 2 is shaping up to be a good game.
Everyone shall get the game at the same time as everyone else depending on your time zone except for the people who bought the Gold and Ultimate Edition, they’ll jump into the game a bit earlier. More details have been revealed regarding the games preload process and some game details that users may want to know before downloading.
With the game so close to launching and the preloads happening at different times at different locations, It kinda gets confusing for some people. Plus there is the question about total game size on all the platforms. What about the users who still have the Open Beta. The fact that Ubisoft has Gold and Ultimate Editions of the game that gives players earlier access to the game than others, which is not helping things get any less confusing.
Regardless of all the confusion, Players can start pre-loading the game right now on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Timing will vary on regions, as stated by Ubisoft,
The installation process is a bit weird for the game though and so are the game sizes. Players who have bought the game physically will have to install the game itself and then have to do a Day-1 updated that would be up to 88-92GB for the PS4 and 48-52GB for the Xbox One and PC. You have to ask yourself the question, what is the point of buying the physical disk then?
The game is going to be about 48-52GB on the Xbox One and PC. But, it’s a whopping 88-92GB on the PS4? What’s this about? Does the PS4 get extra content? or is the just the way the game was made on the PS4? Perhaps something that keeps the developers from optimizing Disk Space on the PlayStation. Anyways, as stated by Ubisoft, here are the details,
> XBOX ONE AND PC: If you purchased a physical copy of the game, begin by installing the game. You will then be prompted to download and install Title Update 1; expect a 48-52 GB download, depending on your region and preferred language. Whether you installed the game from a disc or bought it digitally, the final HDD install size, including the patch, will be 48-52 GB.
> PS4: If you purchased a physical copy of the game, begin installing from the disc. Provided you are online, your console will simultaneously download Title Update 1 while you install it. Expect an 88-92 GB download, depending on your region and preferred language. Whether installed from a disc or downloaded digitally, the final HDD install size will be between 88-92 GB.
Ubisoft News
For users who already downloaded the Open Beta previously, there is good news. You guys only have to download a 2GB update, maybe higher or lower depending on the platform, region, and preferred language. The 2GB update seems to address some audio bugs. Making it seem like the game will roughly be the same as the Open Beta with a few exceptions like having the ability to fully customize your character and possible some bug fixes.
Players from Australia and New Zealand should rejoice as they’ll get their hands on the game first. as the game is going to be ready to play at midnight local time for all players in every country on March 12th for Gold and Deluxe Edition players and March 15th for Standard Edition Players.
The Galaxy S10, Samsung’s latest and greatest smartphone device is up for sale and enthusiasts can get themselves a set right now. The S10 was undeniably one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2019 and a lot of expectations flew with it. Thankfully Samsung has done a wonderful job handling everything and in fact, added a few bonuses.
Recently we discovered that Samsung for the first time started shipping screen protectors with the S10 specially designed to allow the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor to work effectively. However, the fun doesn’t stop there. YouTube has teamed up with Samsung to offer 4 months of YouTube premium for every S10 user. YouTube Premium brings a ton of new features to the already perfect video streaming website with downloadable videos to view when on the, a completely ad-free experience and YouTube Music.
Folks who will purchase the Galaxy Fold and the Tab S5e will also be able to enjoy 2 months of YouTube Premium. Not only that but users who purchase a Galaxy device starting today till February 29, 2020, would be able to enjoy the same deal. Those wanting to know if their device is eligible can check it out here. Moreover, the deal is available in select regions where both the services are available.
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 package has been phenomenal and the unboxing experience has surpassed expectations to say the least. Having teamed up with YouTube acts as a cherry on top.
Devil May Cry just released and users have already started to play the game and find out issues with it. A user going by the name Cloud has published a post in the guides section for Devil May Cry 5 with steps to remove Denuvo from the game that improves the performance of the game. For those of you who may not know, Denuvo is an anti-piracy DRM that game developers can choose to implement in their games to prevent pirates from stealing their product. The user’s FPS went from 74fps to 93fps in his test which is an improvement of 19fps. This translates to an improvement of roughly 27%, which is a lot.
The guide reveals that the Denuvo file wasn’t cracked by any hacker, but rather it was provided by Capcom themselves by accident. For a little while, you could change your branch of the game in steam to the same one the Quality Insurance team was using to get the Denuvo free game. The branch was not meant to be public but rather it was a foresight by Capcom and they have since deleted the branch altogether. But, good news for the gamers out there, you can still remove any traces of Denuvo from the game by downloading the Denuvo free game via the steam console.
while Denuvo’s anti-piracy DRM protects the game developers for a short time after release as eventually, the game does get cracked by very smart hackers, this ends up hurting the paying customers more as the anti-piracy solution hurts the performance of the game giving gamers who actually bought the game a worse experience overall.
Denuvo has rejected this claim in the past saying that the Anti-Tamper has no perceptible effect on the games performance or any crashes. But this claim has been proven to be false in the past as well by users. Even game developers have blamed Denuvo’s DRM’s for game performance issues. The director of Tekken 7 blamed Denuvo’s anti-piracy solution for performance problems in the PC version of the game.
Get your inner Devil’s ready to make some havoc and Slash some nasty Demons. Developed and Published by Capcom, Devil May Cry 5 finally launches worldwide today on March 8th, 2019, for the Xbox one, PS4, and the PC.
At first glance, the game looks amazing. You get to beat up some demons in this Hack-and-Slash, Shoot ‘Em Up, Action Game. Play with any one of the three playable characters. There is Nero from DMC 4, the good old loved Dante, and the new mysterious character V. Each character has a different fighting style giving the players some choice in their playstyle for once, which is a very welcome change and truly will be appreciated by the players of the game.
Nero is the main protagonist of Devil May Cry 5 continuing after the events of DMC 4, Nero now runs a mobile Devil May Cry branch and is a professional demon hunter all thanks to his uncle, Dante. Speaking of Dante, he is loved by fans of the series with his stylish and care-free personality and it shows in the trailers. I personally was very hyped to see Dante return as a playable character. The new character V is very mysterious in personality, popping up out of nowhere. Players will most definitely be itching to find out more about this V character as they play the game, introducing a curiosity element to the character.
In addition to the normal edition of Devil May Cry 5, a Deluxe Edition is also released today. It features four alternate devil breaker weapons for Nero, a motorcycle weapon variant for Dante, alternate style rank and title screen announcers. In addition to the gameplay elements, the Deluxe Edition also includes live-action cutscenes and classic battle theme music options. There is also an update already confirmed for the game that will add the bloody palace mode that fans all love. The update will be free and all future content will be DLC free, that means Ubisoft will add any and all content to the game free for everyone which is surprising considering Capcom’s obsession with DLC’s
The trailers up to this point have truly been hype-worthy and everyone has been eager to play the full game, potentially making this one of the most waited games of 2019. Old fans of the Devil May Cry series have been waiting for a true sequel to Devil May Cry 4 that released way back in Early 2008. Initially, they got a Devil May Cry Reboot in 2013 but, the game was in a completely different setting which caused some criticism from the fans. Regardless, fans have waited more than a decade for a true successor to continue the series and they have finally got what they wanted
Xiaomi’s smartphone game has been over the top these past few months. With the release of the Mi 9, Mi MiX 3 5G and not to forget the separation of the Redmi brand, Xiaomi has taken some very interesting steps in 2019. Gaming smartphones on the other hand are a separate debate, with more and more manufacturers focusing on gaming smartphones to take over the portable gaming market Xiaomi has shown its presence with the release of the Black Shark gaming smartphone.
The Black Shark franchise did come with quality internals just like all the other gaming smartphones but was easy on the wallet as well. As March 2019 comes to a solid start, the successor to Xiaomi’s gaming phone feels the need to present itself. Leaks and rumours have already started pouring out and this time its the Antutu Benchmarks.
The specifications of the device comprised of a Snapdragon 855 processor paired with the Adreno 640 GPU. As far as storage and memory is concerned, the leaked benchmark shows a phone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Looking at the specifications we could say that the inclusion of the new 855 SoC is pretty justified since the previous phone housed an 845 SoC. With a total score of 355973, the phone does pack some solid power and when compared to the Galaxy S10, throws it in the water. The Galaxy S10 powered by the Exynos 9820 manages to score only 325076 coming in 30 thousand points short of the leaked score.
The phone hosts a display of resolution 2340×1080 with the latest Android 9 build. The phone does pack a massive punch and is undeniably on the higher end of the spectrum but is it really the way forward for gaming smartphones? At this point in this day and age, most shortcomings which gaming smartphones face is the lack of support and gaming titles for users to enjoy which is one of the most cruicial things to look out for.
The Pokemon franchise is one of many smartphone titles which have grown exponentially when it comes to revenues and continue to grow at a steady rate despite more and more competition. Pokemon GO out of all has been the most influential, with its release causing a storm in 2016 and allowing it to climb to the top.
As per a report by Sensor Tower, the franchise made a whopping $2.5 billion to date. Out of the revenue, Pokemon GO accounted for a $2.45 billion player spending. The majority of the spendings came from the US accounting for over 35% of all revenue or $875 million and then came to Japan with a 29% or approximately $725 million shares.
The titles combined make up nearly 640 million individual downloads since 2014 with Pokemon GO claiming 86% of those total sales. As for last month’s report, the numbers increased by over $58 million globally surpassing last year’s revenue by 30%. The game itself seems to grow at a ready and steady pace and with an, in-app purchase system Niantic is headed in the right direction. The hype which was considered to have settled down once for an over hyped AR title has still proven its worth and continues to dominate the smartphone app market.
PUBG Mobile has been a living sensation. Being one of, if not the most popular smartphone multiplayer titles PUBG has proved it’s worth and has acted as a vital catalyst in the mobile gaming world. The game immediately gained popularity when it was announced to be free and to have an exact copy of the full-fledged PC version and the player count has grown ever since. As things start to get serious for PUBG Mobile enthusiasts, hardcore gamers can now work hard for the upcoming PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019.
The tournament is to host a winning prize pool of a whopping $2,000,000. As 2019 comes with a solid start and a boost in sales, mobile gaming has also gained traction and mobile e sports is finally happening. Having a $2 million prize pool definitely turns a lot of heads and for good reason. Enthusiasts would get a chance to prove their worth and go from being a semi pro player to a full fledged Pro.
Registrations start today 8th of March till 18th of March 2019. A total of 16 teams are to qualify at an online qualifier with a regional range starting from Japan and going all the way across the globe to North America covering almost every corner of the world. The 16 qualified teams will battle it out at an offline matchup to become the sole winner. Enthusiastic players can check out the registration page here and join the race in hopes of winning the prize pool here.
Nintendo has been releasing very interesting products lately. They introduced Nintendo Labo, a construction toy platform by Nintendo that has you make accessories for your switch out of cardboard in a fun and exciting way. The launch was quite unique yet exciting nevertheless, and now, Nintendo Labo has announced a new VR Kit on top of the 3 it already sells on its stores.
These Kits come with all the stuff you would need to build your own Nintendo Labo products at home. They include any necessary stuff starting from the pre-cut cardboard to the mechanisms or strings. everything comes included in the box and you just have to assemble it yourself, which is very easy. It’s like making stuff out of lego pieces except here you fold and fit instead of stacking blocks on top of each other.
The Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit comes in two flavors, The one prices at US 39.99$ Starter Set + Blaster where you can buy expansion set’s to get the rest of the four items or the full Kit at US 79.99$ that comes will all 6 items including the ones in the starter set and a Wind Pedal, Camera, Elephant, and Bird that kids can have loads of fun making. Build your own VR experience with your family and kids.
Three other Kits have come before this newly announced VR Kit, namely, The Variety Kit, Robot Kit, and Vehicle Kit. These Kits contain some fun projects you can make ranging from your own Toy-Con piano to a Robot suit that you can wear and even vehicles like the Toy-Con Plane and Toy-Con Submarine.
Remember Remote Play? That convenient little feature that you could use to play your ps4 games on your laptop or PC in maybe another room or in bed on your smartphone. Good news for users as Sony has just released Remote Play support on iOS devices with it’s latest software update version 6.50 for the PS4 along with 2 other country and region specific changes.
To enjoy Remote Play you needed a PC/Laptop or a Sony Xperia Android phone with the PS4 Remote Play app which meant any other Android device or iOS devices were incompatible. But, fear not, Dorothy said, as the brave Android modders made a modded version of the app that could be installed on any android phone and then users could enjoy the wonderful thing that is Remote Play on all Android devices. One sad thing about this was that poor iOS devices were being left out of all the fun. But, Sony just came out with a new software update for the PS4 that adds support for iOS devices with Remote Play along with the PS4 Remote Play app released on the iOS store.
Oddly enough, of the two country and region-specific changes, one of them is a very welcomed one by the community. The ability to change the “Enter” button for menus to other physical buttons on the controller. In some regions, to perform the Enter operation in games you had to press the O button instead of the X button. Users seem to be enjoying this change as it has been on Japanese based games usually, ever since the PS1 came out. Pressing the O button to accept/enter/proceed through menus and whatnot is just a nightmare I wouldn’t wish anyone to have. How could have Sony tortured people like this for so long?
Release Notes:
Main features in version 6.50 update
You can now enjoy Remote Play on iOS devices. You can use(PS4 Remote Play) to connect to your PS4 system from devices such as smartphones and tablets. Download(PS4 Remote Play) from the App Store.
Other features in version 6.50
You can now choose 720p when you broadcast using Niconico Live.This service is available only in certain countries and regions.
You can now change the button assignment to perform “Enter” operations from thebutton to thebutton. Select(Settings) > [System], and then select the checkbox for [UseButton for Enter].This option is available only for specific countries and regions.
With all the buzz surrounding the new smartphones revealed over the past month, Xiaomi’s Mi 9 has managed to stand out of the crowd. However, with Xiaomi now leading the market share race in several Asian regions, Xiaomi has warned that the company could be increasing its prices of its devices soon.
Following the division of the Redmi brand and the introduction of the Poco brand from Xiaomi, Xiaomi is considering of moving the Mi lineup forward as a separate entity. And by doing this, Xiaomi plans to captivate the upper-range market with new additions and premium features oriented for the upper-mid-range market. Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, in an interview following the launch of the Mi 9, said:
“We want to get rid of the reputation that our smartphones cost less than 2,000 yuan (about $300). We want to invest more and make better products. In the future, our smartphones could become more expensive, not much but slightly more expensive”
Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun
For the longest time, Xiaomi has had some of the most confusing lineups under its Mi branding. From the Mi A lineup to the Redmi lineup and then the Redmi Note lineup, Xiaomi had it all. Not only did Xiaomi have a ton of different lineups, but it became even more confusing when the pricing and variants were taken into account.
While all this goes on, Xiaomi’s Redmi subdivision would be responsible for covering the mid-range market with reports even suggesting a Redmi device powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC under the hood.
With the Mi MiX and Mi brand now under the main brand, Xiaomi would leverage these two ranges by innovating and introducing the best of Xiaomi. Afterall, Xiaomi’s success doesn’t copy into the Chinese smartphone market where Huawei currently dominates.
While Xiaomi says that upcoming device would be “slightly more” expensive from now on, we could expect the next Xiaomi flagship to finally cross the $500 mark. And with Xiaomi now planning to follow OnePlus’s footsteps, we could see a much more flourished brand out of the company. Whether Xiaomi plans to follow OnePlus’s footsteps when it comes to price increases is yet to be seen. However, love it or hate it, that seems to be the case here.
With Xiaomi now out of the way when it comes to budget devices, we can’t wait to see what Xiaomi’s subdivisions, Redmi and Poco, bring to the market given how much support they’ve garnered over the years.
Vivo has just revealed their new smartphone, the Vivo V15 and V15 Pro last month. Following the launch of the device in India, Vivo’s next smartphone, the Vivo X27, has made its way to the rumor lineup committee.
According to a rumor that has just landed, it seems like the Vivo X27 may be an excellent option for many folks who need a good balance between features, design, and performance. The device is said to pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 SoC, 8GB of RAM, 128GB / 256GB of internal storage, a Full HD+ display and a trio of cameras at its back, welcoming 2019’s trio trend with open arms. Other specifications of the device include a 4000mAh battery, 22.5W fast-charging capabilities, an under-display fingerprint scanner and a 48MP+13MP+5MP trio filling in those rear camera holes.
Furthermore, the device would continue to cement Vivo’s position on the pop-up camera with the X27, allowing it to achieve a screen-to-body ratio in the 90s.
The device is said to release for a price of CNY 3000 (US $430) in China on the March 19th, with no word for an international launch in sight.
Given Vivo’s reach in the Asian market, the device may be a hard-sell in areas where Xiaomi currently dominates, especially with the price tag and specifications Vivo’s offering on the table, especially given that the Snapdragon 712 is out in the wild now after it debuted with the Mi 9 SE late last month. However, given the design Vivo’s pushing for with the Vivo X27, it could be a good option too for those who want all those features on board.
With the latest season of the Overwatch League starting off with a huge smash, some reports with numbers are in stating that the 2019 Season will outdo last years season in terms of popularity, success, and viewership numbers. Just goes to show how fast Overwatch’s eSports scene is increasing.
The first Overwatch League took place in the summer of 2018 and had over 10 million people tune in for the first week and the Blizzard Arena was completely booked for the full 4 days of the week for the event. The Overwatch League has started off the 2019 season with crushing numbers, surpassing last years viewership rates in its first week. Over 13 million people clocked in from their comfy homes while the whole Arena was booked for the entire week.
The second week of the season was also an improvement over last year, the average minute audience was 40% more than last year. Eight new pro teams have joined the Overwatch League this season with more franchises in North America, Europe, and China. In addition to all of this, thousands of fans gathered to cheer on their hometown teams.
2019-03-03 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Credit should be given where credit is due, the overwatch team consistently listens to its players and pushes out updates with new content regularly. The game has seen an increase in player numbers drastically ever since it’s launch, with more than 40 million players across PC and Consoles, the game is thriving. However, with games like Fortnite crossing 100M players last year and Apex Legend that has managed to cross 50M players in such little time, Blizzard might switch up Overwatch to a Free to Play model.
With the release just a month away, the all-new Story Trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 has been revealed that continues the franchises epic story that has been told so far. The story has been revealed and you are in for a huge ride with time-bending narrative and the all-new battle between good and evil.
Mortal Kombat 11 was announced this past December at Game Awards 2018. Being developed by the award-winning NetherRealm Studios and soon to be Published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment this coming April. Specifically, 13th April 2019 on the PS4, Xbox One, PC on MS Windows, and Nintendno Switch.
The game seems to maintain most of the aspects or elements of the original game, you get all the blood and gore with all the finisher moves, you could say Mortal Kombat 11 is just Mortal Kombat X with improved graphics and the continuation of the story. But, It is much more than that, the game includes new game mechanics, better graphics, a new story, more content. You could say it’s a Mortal Kombat 10.5 but it really is NetherRealm Studios taking an already good game and refining it more. To begin with, 2015’s Mortal Kombat X wasn’t terrible anyway.
Mortal Kombat 11 comes with new and old characters returning thanks to the game’s plot that includes the manipulation of time itself. New characters make a debut like Geras and Kronika but, only Geras is playable of the two as per reports. Both Geras and Kronika have the ability to manipulate time itself. A plethora of returning characters can also be seen such as Scorpion, Baraka, Sub-Zero, Jhonny Cage and many more. Shao Khan will also be a playable character in a DLC.
The games feature for the first time in its history, a female boss, Kronika. Kronika is said to be the Keeper of Time and Architect of the Destiny of the Universe. Angered at the corrupted God of Thunder Raiden, who wishes to destroy all of Earthrealm’s enemies and caused the imbalance between the forces of good and evil while also tampering with time in the previous Mortal Kombat X, Kronika has only one option left – rewind time to the beginning and restart the history anew.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is officially live and it is everything one could expect. The smartphone broke a lot of barriers and has proved to be a vital pivotal point for Samsung’s smartphone market share. The Galaxy S10 set global benchmarks for competitors with a punch hole display, 5G and much more. Although Samsung has just launched the Galaxy S10, rumours and predictions about their next move have already started to circulate among enthusiasts. The Galaxy Note 10 it seems would act as Samsung’s next flagship and the 9th edition to the Galaxy Note franchise. Renders of the Note 10 have surfaced courtesy of folks over at phonearena and there are more than quite a few things we can expect the Note 10 to embrace.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Display -Bigger, Better & More Refined Than Ever
Samsung has been phenomenal with its displays in general and the displays on their smartphones are the best in business. The Galaxy S10 proved to be a turning point in Samsung’s trajectory to market domination and the punch hole design cleverly avoided the notch with a minimalistic hole in a display. While covering almost the same space as a teardrop notch, the punch hole design looks a lot more futuristic and refined than the notch and is way more difficult to execute than the notch.
We can be absolutely certain that the Note 10 would most certainly house the same punch hole design with a 19:9 aspect ratio display with the resolution coming in at 3040 X 1440. The S10’s display was recently rated as the best on market by DisplayMate and we expect the Note 10 to continue the legacy. One thing we could hope for is the shrinking of the camera cutout on the front. With time the technology is bound to refine and the end product is sure to be an improvement over the S10. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor would also be refined and upgraded. Although the S10’s ultrasonic sensor was near perfect, Samsung wouldn’t mind adding a bigger and faster sensor on the Note 10.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Camera & AI – Smarter & Faster Than Ever Before
AI technology has come a long way and with it has come the dawn of algorithms which ease life with suggestions and recommendations. In 2019 AI has gained some solid ground as we saw in the S10. With better predictions and recommendations the user experience is significantly improved and the algorithm further helps in reducing stress. The AI also helps in cleverly optimizing the system of the phone according to the user’s needs and we hope for the Note 10 to take it up a notch.
Cameras on Samsung devices have always been spectacular but the S10 having 3 cameras on the S10 and S10+ with three rear-facing cameras took it to a whole new level. The S10 for the first time introduced an ultra wide angled lens in an S device. The selfie cameras on the S10 were immediately crowned to be the best in business and the rear-facing cameras came in at 3rd according to DxOMark. With the Note 10, Samsung would most probably rock in 4 cameras like the 5G S10 which Samsung has told very little about. As far as raw performance is considered, Note 10 could possibly make AI adjustments to the existing sensors and bring out stunning photographs.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Memory & Storage – What Comes Next?
Samsung has set a standard when it comes to storage with the S10. With the base model starting at 128GB for the regular S10s and the S10 5G to start at 256GB and no expandable storage, the line between the two lays very thin. Considering the fact that the Galaxy Note series is the more premium franchise by Samsung we could most probably expect the device to start off at 256GB and go all the way up to a massive 1TB model. As far as speeds are concerned, Note 10 could be the first to embrace UFS 3.0 storage with bandwidth up to 23 GBPS. This would not only improve general snappiness but would also be a whole lot more efficient. The Exynos 9820 would support UFS 3.0 storage standards out of the box and since the technology already in production we would expect Samsung to debut it on the Galaxy Note 10. More on that here.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Availability, 5G & Variants – How Would It Compare?
5G, the most hyped up topic of 2019 has started to make its way in the mainstream markets. With most of the major smartphone brands supporting 5G and its insane capabilities, we expect the Note 10 to take it up a notch and ship every Note 10 with the X50 modem. The variants of the Note 10 are expected to generally be differentiated in terms of their storage, memory and build. Samsung with the S10 has deployed a ceramic option with a more premium look and we hope that the Galaxy Note 10 is some integral of that premium look.
The phone itself is still a healthy few months away from any sort of exposure yet we expect tipsters to unravel details about the Note 10 bit by bit as the year goes by. Samsung has been phenomenal with different gradient colours with the Galaxy Alpha series and we should be certain that the Note 10 will come with some insane colour options.
The Note series has been exceptional with battery life when it stacks against competitors. Despite Samsung having a bad experience with huge batteries, the manufacturer has fitted the S10 5G with a massive 4500 mAh battery to further improve timings. That all paired with exceptional software optimizations are bound to make the Note 10 explosive.
Fortnite it seems has conquered 2019 so far in terms of general player base and sales revenue. Despite having stronger and tougher competition like Apex Legends the title’s monthly sales grew by over 17% raking in around $44.3 million worldwide on iOS. Estimated by Sensor Tower, the title faced a slight dink in 2018 with more and more players getting fed up by the title but Epic Games has yet again caught the interest of players with the release of season 8.
As Fortnite’s one-year anniversary on smartphone nears, more and more players are constantly joining the game and for good reason. Just last month the game hosted one of the biggest online events drawing up almost 10.7 million people to participate. Marshmello, the EDM artist drew in a behemoth of a crowd and resulted in the most in-app purchasing by players for the month coming in at $3.6 and $3.1 million the day before the event and the day of the event respectively. As March comes to a start, the revenue has already crossed $7.3 million almost two-thirds of its launch month in 2018.
This analysis clearly show that Epic Games have got everything sorted out for its competitors and has a clear image of what comes in the future. The in-app purchases have proved to be fatal for the revenue generating the most profits as events and trends happen. The new season has grasped the attention of many and so has the new Battle Pass.
Huawei may be brewing the Huawei P30 Pro behind its curtains. However, it seems like the brewing essence may have made its way out of Huawei’s HQ as a new config leak suggests. Ronald Quandt from WinFuture.de has just revealed a few “tidbits” of the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro.
According to the leakster, the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro could be getting more than a spec bump after Huawei took notes from Samsung’s recently released Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup. The leakster suggests that the Huawei P30 Pro would come with 512GB of internal storage and would come with up to 8GB of RAM as its maxed out variant. Furthermore, Ronald also claims that the Huawei P30 Pro would come with 8GB RAM as a standard, regardless of the variant. Instead, the device would be available in three storage options, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of internal storage.
Regarding the Huawei P30, it seems like the Huawei P30 would only come in one variant and option at launch, at least that’s the way it seems based on the leakster’s tweet. The Huawei P30 is said to come with 6GB of RAM paired with 128GB of internal storage.
Other specfications weren’t revealed in his series of tweets. However, what’s certain is the fact that the Huawei P30 lineup would be powered by Huawei’s Kirin 980 SoC regardless of the device given its flagship position in Huawei’s hierarchy. However, if we do see the leaked Huawei Kirin 990, we would definitely be caught off guard given how vague leaks have been regarding the Huawei SoC. But then again, if 5G is the whole rage with Huawei this year, especially given how strong of a presence the device has in Europe, we could expect some 5G-oriented features with the Huawei P30 Pro, at least that’s what we’re hoping to see this year.
With the debut of the device less than three week from now, there’s a ton of expectations to be met. We can’t wait to see what Huawei has in store for their new flagships.
