iOS apps on Mac computers are still likely to appear in 2018

Apple may be pushing back major iOS feature updates in favor of stability upgrades, but it’s still keen on getting iOS apps onto Mac computers this year, Axios reports.

First revealed in a Bloomberg report late last year, this is one of the few major additions to Apple's software lineup that is expected to sneak through this year, sources speaking to Axios anonymously have confirmed.

Apple’s planned quality-of-life upgrades to macOS in 2018 also include security boosts as well as speeding up the waking and unlocking of Mac systems, according to the report.

These stability and performance boosts through the next versions of macOS and iOS could make way for what might be one of the most important features to come to both operating systems in years.

Catching up with the competition

If Apple were to allow iOS apps to run on Mac systems, this would see the firm catch up to both Microsoft and Google in a big way. Before these reports, Apple had been known to draw firm lines between its two major OS products.

Microsoft launched Windows 10 – in July 2015 – to run nearly seamlessly between PC systems, tablets and phones from the start, while Google brought its Google Play Store and Android apps to Chromebooks early last year.

For the past few years, a clear trend has grown in breaking down the walls between phones, tablets and laptops or desktop computers, and it's one that Apple appears to have been watching to learn how it can one-up previous efforts. 

Whether that tactic will end up playing out well for Apple or working against it, not to mention exactly how this implementation will work without touchscreens on Mac computers, won’t likely be answered until WWDC 2018, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held later this year.

• These are the best Macs – ready and waiting for iOS apps

January 31, 2018 at 11:32PM
Joe Osborne

AMD sees impressive Ryzen sales, promises Spectre-proof chips coming soon

Things continue to go well at AMD, as shown in the company’s latest financial results, with the firm also talking about cranking up the supply of graphics cards in the face of the current shortage, as well as baking in solutions for Spectre into Zen 2 chips.

The headline figure for Q4 (2017) revenue was $1.48 billion (around £1.05 billion, AU$1.85 billion), up 24% year-on-year, with computing and graphics (CPUs and GPUs) raking in $985 million (around £695 million, AU$1.2 billion), up a mighty 60% on the previous year. Impressive indeed.

Ryzen is still selling well and driving a lot of this success, although there was a very slight blip in terms of average selling prices (ASPs) remaining flat and the same as the last quarter (although still up year-on-year) – that was due to sales of Ryzen 3 CPUs. The latter are going well, but these are cheaper models, so they’re something of a headwind for that ASP.

AMD doesn’t produce separate figures for GPUs, lumping them together with processors in the computing and graphics division, but there have been question marks over how Vega is performing. These mainly revolve around flaky supply of the cards, particularly in the face of the current mining mania (with cryptocurrency miners buying up many powerful and even mid-range cards of late).

Graphic details

Dr. Lisa Su, AMD’s chief executive, noted the latter issue, and made a point of saying that the firm is busy ramping up GPU production, which will definitely be music to gamers’ ears.

Su further explained that the problem in producing more graphics cards is actually down to the memory side of things, with GDDR5 and HBM shortages being the primary bottleneck right now. It’s good to hear that the situation is apparently changing, though, and hopefully sooner rather than later. Graphics card prices are getting pretty ridiculous right now.

Another hot topic of the moment – the huge Spectre flaw which affects a whole gamut of processors including AMD’s – was also addressed, with Su stating that AMD will be baking in protection with the forthcoming Zen 2 processors.

Zen 2, which uses an improved 7nm process, is apparently now just past the design phase, but actual CPUs won’t be available until next year (according to what AMD has previously said).

On the other hand, Intel is claiming that it will have Spectre (and Meltdown – which only pertains to Intel’s chips) defenses baked into its processors later this year. In that respect, Intel appears to be ahead of the game, although the current status of patching for the chip giant is wobbly to say the least.

Via Tom’s Hardware

• How does AMD rank when it comes to the best graphics cards of 2018?

January 31, 2018 at 05:35PM
Darren Allan

Nintendo Switch outsells Wii U in less than 11 months

The Nintendo Switch has barely been on sale for a year, but it's already outsold the company's previous console, the Wii U. 

Impressively, this means the Switch has sold more units over an 11 month period than the Wii U managed in the five years it was on sale up until December 2017. 

There's no one single element that's created the Switch's remarkable success, but rather a full package that's brimming with excellent gaming experiences.

A group effort

Top of the list of achievements should be the first-party exclusive games released for the system over its first year. It launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, received an excellent Mario Kart remake within its first two months, and a top-tier Super Mario game in the form of Super Mario Odyssey. 

But the hardware itself has also played its part. The ability to use the console as a handheld or a console is seamlessly integrated, and its unique two-in-one controller design adds yet more appeal. 

All of this has meant that third-party publishers have given an unusually large amount of support to the console that previous Nintendo consoles have lacked. Indie developers have lead the charge in this respect, with recent hits including versions of Stardew Valley, Overcooked, and Super Meat Boy acting as three fantastic examples. 

The one part of the Nintendo Switch equation that feels completely undercooked at the moment is its online service. After announcing a paid service alongside the console, Nintendo has continued to delay its full release and the bits that have emerged have been pretty underwhelming so far. 

• These are the best Nintendo Switch games so far
• Want to get involved? Here are the best Nintendo Switch bundle deals

• Via: The Verge

January 31, 2018 at 04:58PM
Jon Porter

The Razer Seiren Elite is a professional-grade microphone for game streaming

Razer has unveiled its new USB microphone, the Razer Seiren Elite, which is aimed at giving live streamers and YouTube broadcasters professional-grade audio quality.

It’s designed as a single capsule, which Razer claims will give a “a richer, warmer vocal tone previously only found through high-end broadcast equipment,” along with a built-in filter and limiter.

The high-pass filter removes low frequency vibrations, so if the fans in your gaming PC are whirring like crazy, it shouldn’t be picked up by the microphone.

Meanwhile, the digital and analogue vocal limiter will automatically adjust volume and gain to prevent distortion and popping with sudden changes of volume – a blessing to the audiences of overexcited broadcasters.

Plug and play

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Razer Seiren Elite is that it is promising all these professional-grade features while also being plug-and-play. So, you can simply plug it into a USB port, rather than having to fiddle with external mixers and amplifiers, like some professional microphones require.

Other specifications for the Razer Seiren Elite include 16-bit/48Hz resolution, zero latency, 50Hz – 20kHz frequency response and a max SPL (Sound Pressure Level) of 120dB.

It will be available January 2018 – so essentially either today or tomorrow – and it will cost $199 (around £140, AU$240). Hopefully we’ll get one in soon to see just what kind of improvement it brings.

• How to build the ultimate livestreaming PC

January 30, 2018 at 11:00PM
Matt Hanson

Microsoft to give developers a helping hand with cloud-connected games

Microsoft has bought gaming startup PlayFab, which is a platform for developers to build, launch and grow their cloud-based games.

PlayFab’s platform reduces the barriers many developers face when launching cloud-based games, serving up solutions that can grow as their games do. Importantly, it doesn’t just help developers bring games to market, but also helps them engage with and retain players in the long run.

To date, the platform has been behind a number of successful games, including Angry Birds Seasons and Bad Piggies. 

Although no details have yet been released about how the acquisition will affect the day-to-day running of PlayFab, in the official announcement on the Microsoft Blog, Kareem Choudhry, Corporate Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft, says the acquisition is part of the company’s ongoing investment to bolster Microsoft Azure and create a solid, cloud-based platform for the gaming industry. 

Choudhry notes that more than one billion people are playing games, and that increasingly the industry is moving its efforts to the cloud – but that while this makes sense for security and access to gamers, it isn’t all smooth sailing.

“The cost and complexity of achieving this through custom-built, server-side tools and technologies is high,” Choudhry notes, “PlayFab offers developers a compelling model that scales naturally with their games’ players.”

• Microsoft Azure Review

January 30, 2018 at 10:28PM
Becca Caddy

The best Linux distros of 2018: 8 versions of Linux we recommend

Xbox Game Pass is riling UK indie shops - and they may boycott the console

Just last week Microsoft announced that it’s expanding its subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, to include all new Microsoft Studios games. It’s a move that greatly benefits gamers and it’s proved popular, particularly as it means upcoming exclusives such as Sea of Thieves will be available to subscribers from launch day. 

It has, however, proven less appealing to independent game retailers. In a recent report from GamesIndustry.biz, it’s emerged that some retailers are so unhappy with the move, they’re considering stopping selling Xbox hardware and software altogether. 

The main concern for these retailers is that the service will negatively impact their second-hand sales, with one retailer telling the outlet: “Essentially, it's made [our Xbox business] worthless overnight. You've got the whole section sat there, and why would people buy a £12 to £15 second-hand game when they can just pay a tenner and get a massive catalog of titles to keep them going?"

Console controversy

Some retailers have even said that they’re no longer willing to stock Xbox hardware and software, including the upcoming Sea of Thieves, because they don't feel supported by Microsoft. 

Despite the fact that Sony has its own subscription service, the company appeared to be perceived much more positively by retailers, with many stating that they sell far more PlayStation products anyway. 

It’s interesting that Sony’s own subscription service, PlayStation Now, has caused less concern with retailers. It’s possible, however, that the streaming-based nature of PlayStation’s service feels less threatening to retailers than the direct downloads being offered by Microsoft. Or maybe it's the fact that it doesn't give players immediate access to brand new games. 

It is worth noting, though, that as Microsoft’s Game Pass library is rotational like Netflix’s, Game Pass games won’t be available to subscribers forever. This means that players may still seek out their favorites titles when they're removed from the service, though certainly they won't do so with such frequency.

Boycotts from a handful of independent retailers isn’t likely to make a massive dent in Microsoft’s sales, but calls are being made to larger high street retailers to follow suit as “they will be the ones to suffer when the industry goes digital only.”

Damning digital

Though there are many retailers who are concerned, there are some who aren’t too worried just yet. One store manager has said that Xbox Game Pass is only likely to appeal to “hardcore” Xbox fans and that Xbox’s first-party exclusives are so few and far between, the impact isn’t likely to be particularly severe. 

“If Microsoft's games line-up were stronger, if someone big like Ubisoft started doing this, then yeah, that would be a cause for concern. So I'm not overly worried about it. It's just a trend, it's where things are going forward.”

It's true that there have been many signs Microsoft, and the industry generally, has been moving in this direct and digital direction for a while now. When Microsoft first launched the Xbox One, it stated that it would have a no second-hand games policy. 

This proved to be very unpopular with retailers and consumers alike. By going down the route of personal subscription services, Microsoft is taking another path to making the circulation of second hand games less necessary. A service that doesn't make consumers feel like they're being robbed of opportunities to get value for money. 

Digital sales across all platforms have been on the rise for years now and some retailers are even envisioning a future where games are only sold direct from publishers on their own online stores. We're certainly not at that point just yet. But given that the movie, TV and music industries have all seen a rise in subscription platforms, it seems natural that games would follow suit. 

Regardless of the fact that this is an unsurprising direction for Microsoft to take, however, it’s clear that digital services are placing a great deal of pressure on independent retailers and even high street chains. Only time will tell how severe the impact is.

• Why your digital games collection isn't yours to own

January 30, 2018 at 07:49PM
Emma Boyle

Microsoft looking to acquire EA, Valve, or PUBG Corp, says new report

When it comes to big-name exclusive games, Microsoft is lagging somewhat. While Sony has Spider-Man, The Last of Us Part 2, God of War, Dreams and others lined up for 2018, Microsoft has Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves on the horizon. 

These titles may look promising and we know there are unannounced games in the works – those Fable 4 rumors are still going strong –  but Microsoft isn’t looking as comprehensive on the exclusives front at the moment.

If Microsoft wants to remain competitive with Sony and Nintendo, it needs to do something about its sparse offering of console-selling first-party titles, and it’s acknowledged this in the past. If a recent report from Polygon is anything to go by, making some big acquisitions is the fastest and most likely solution.

Pay-to-win

Speaking to four industry analysts, Polygon is reporting that major publisher acquisitions are the “most likely” route for Microsoft, given that the company is short on time and internal studios, but sitting on a reasonably large cash pot.

Citing an anonymous but “reliable” source “close to Microsoft”, Polygon reports that Electronic Arts is one of the publishers being considered. Other rumors have suggested that Valve and PUBG Corp are also being looked at. 

Given Microsoft’s recent timed exclusive deal with PUBG Corp, it wouldn’t be too outlandish for the company to want to tie its ever-growing game PUBG to Xbox and PC on a more permanent basis.

Acquiring EA would be a much more bold move, but it would significantly boost Microsoft’s software division and both companies appear to share the belief that games as a service is the way forward for the industry.

Certainly, the Xbox Game Pass service would truly become the true Netflix of games if it was able to boast titles from third-parties. 

Though acquisitions do seem like a plausible and beneficial move for Microsoft at the moment, these rumors remain nothing more than rumors and Microsoft is yet to confirm any plans yet.

• Xbox One isn't short on great games, and these are the best

January 30, 2018 at 07:36PM
Emma Boyle

PS4 and Xbox One could get crazy 3DRudder virtual reality foot controller

Virtual reality is all about immersion, putting you into the heart of the game. But when you're tethered to a PC or console, and really want to move those legs of yours to have your character run, that immersion can be lost.

Could a foot controller be the answer? For PS4 PSVR players and forthcoming Xbox One virtual reality titles, it could well be. The 3DRudder (which we first covered back at CES 2017) is now rumoured to be paired up with those consoles' forthcoming virtual reality titles.

A disc-shaped board that sits on the floor, you place your feet on it and rock it, with the movements translated into in-game commands. It's already being used by PC gamers with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, but the jump to consoles, which doesn't have as wide a variety of VR-related accessories, could be a major boost for the device.

Before the end of the year?

Christophe Dissaux, 3DRudder's Executive Vice President, revealed plans whilst speaking to VRFocus.

"So to date it’s compatible with all PC games, all the games on Steam, they work with a traditional VR headset like HTC or Oculus," he said.

"For the future, we are working with the console manufacturers, and we will announce later this year 3DRudder for consoles.”

When pressed on which consoles, Dissaux stated "PlayStation and Xbox. Nothing is confirmed yet, but it will hopefully be available by Q3.”

As well as an alternative control method for console VR, perhaps the most interesting tidbit of information here is related to timings around Xbox One's VR features. While previously teased, a Q3 launch for the peripheral could point to a long-awaited roll-out of virtual reality support for the Microsoft console before the end of the year.

The news follows an earlier report that Sony may be developing all new handheld controllers with PSVR in mind.

Via: VRFocus

• Best PlayStation VR games: get in the VR zone

January 30, 2018 at 06:27PM
Gerald Lynch

Dragon Age 4: everything we know so far about the open secret of a sequel

It’s been just over three years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition so it’s natural that fans are getting somewhat inquisitive (sorry) with regards to the release of the next game in the franchise.  

Thanks to executive producer Mark Darrah, we now have a confirmation that there is indeed another Dragon Age game in development. Though whether it’s actually called Dragon Age 4 is up for debate with historical naming patterns in the series meaning it could go either way. 

Regardless, now that we know Dragon Age 4 is in the works, we think it’s time to start keeping an eye on the latest news and start building a picture of what the game might eventually look like. So, we’ve put together this hub of news and rumors to keep you up to date on the latest news from Thedas. 

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The fourth installment in the popular RPG franchise, Dragon Age
• What can I play it on? Not confirmed but it's likely to be Xbox One, PS4 and PC
• When can I play it? It’s likely to be a couple of years away 

Release date

Despite the fact that the game’s development is currently a very open secret, Dragon Age 4 hasn’t actually been officially announced by BioWare. It’s hard, then, to say how far along the game’s development might be and how close we might be to seeing it released. 

Back in May 2017, writer Alexis Kennedy revealed that he’s working on a part of the game’s story in an interview with Eurogamer. This part of the story, he revealed, is “well-segregated from other parts of the game.” At this point in time, the game was still clearly in the very early stages of development. 

However, with a recent report from Kotaku suggesting that some of the Dragon Age development team has been pulled off the title to focus on creating Anthem, we think it’s likely to be a while before we hear anything concrete about Dragon Age 4’s release date.  

News and rumors

Roundabout confirmations

Regardless of whether or not BioWare had confirmed it, Dragon Age fans were pretty certain that another game was going to be in the works. Partly because they had faith in the power of their sheer force of will and partly because over the last couple of years there have been hints from BioWare that something would indeed be happening. It’s the secret that was never really a secret. 

The most recent non-official confirmation has come from executive producer Mark Darrah, who tweeted in January 2018 that he’s working on both Dragon Age as well as BioWare’s next big IP, Anthem. 

Though he’s now left the company, BioWare veteran Mike Laidlaw was tweeting that there was still another couple of games in Dragon Age series yet back in mid-2017. Even before that, Alexis Kennedy became the writer that launched a thousand headlines after comments he made in an interview with Eurogamer were taken as a semi-official confirmation of the game’s existence and his place in it. 

In the interview Kennedy teased that he's been "given considerable autonomy to work on a storyline bit of lore which is well-segregated from other parts of the game.“ 

”I don't want to exaggerate the degree of the chunk [I'm writing],“ Kennedy he was at pains to add. ”It's nothing that grandiose, but it is distinct. It's a bit of lore which has not been addressed much to date in Dragon Age.“

Story and character

Every game in the Dragon Age franchise has had a heavy emphasis on story and character and fans will be glad to know that Dragon Age 4 isn’t likely to be any different.

After Mark Darrah tweeted that he was working on the game, BioWare general manager Casey Hudson chipped in with his own elaborative tweet. In this tweet he said it was “too early to talk details” but the game would be “story & character focused.”

It’s not clear whether this will be a brand new standalone game or whether it’ll continue on directly from Inquisition. Certainly, the end of Inquisition's Trespasser DLC suggests there is a story thread to follow with Solas, which would see the Inquisitor chase the elf down to stop his plans. 

We already know there are writers working on lore and side quests, following Alexis Kennedy’s interview with Eurogamer in 2017 in which he confirmed he was working on a part of the game that’s “well-segregated” from the rest and focuses on some lore that’s not been widely addressed. 

Kennedy, who has worked on titles such as Sunless Sea and Fallen London, said the subject matter would not be surprising to those familiar with his work. To us this implies that his quest (or quests) will include thoughtful choices, themes of tragic love and desire and an underlying sense of unease. 

New live elements

In the January 2018 Kotaku report on Anthem and Dragon Age, it was mentioned that sources had informed Kotaku that Dragon Age had been “rebooted” in order to implement more “live elements” into the game.

Naturally, there was some fan panic in response to this given EA’s increasing penchant for service-based games. Fans expressed concern that BioWare was going to take the Dragon Age series down a Destiny 2, always-online multiplayer route. 

That doesn’t appear to be the case, however. In his tweet, Casey Hudson also stated that the “live” elements being considered are actually ways of continuing the game’s story after the main story has been completed. This is something we’ve already seen in games such as Assassin’s Creed Origins. 

Things we'd like to see

A world like Dragon Age: Inquisition

We hope that the next Dragon Age game has a map similar to the one in Dragon Age: Inquisition, by which we mean we hope it's big and open without being overwhelming. It was the perfect follow-up to the closed and repetitive maps of Dragon Age 2 and we’d like this approach to continue. 

Explore more of Thedas

There’s one very notable part of Thedas that players have yet to be allowed to explore and that’s the Tevinter Imperium. Once the most powerful nation in Thedas, the Imperium is a shadow of its former self. Its history, stratified social structure and maintenance of a magocracy would make it an immensely interesting and different part of Thedas to allow players to explore, while allowing the franchise to continue to explore themes of social injustice, power and prejudice.  

The fact that the area is references throughout other Dragon Age games is enough to make us think it’s a viable setting for Dragon Age 4. However, the ending of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC makes us think it even more likely, as it sees the Inquisitor stab a dagger into a map of the Imperium with a vow to track down Solas.

Solve that cliffhanger

Our previous point brings us to this one – we’d really like that Solas storyline to continue to be explored. He’s the perfect focus for the next game and the player’s approach to him is the perfect narrative crux. 

• Want to know what to play right now? These are the best PS4 and Xbox One games

January 30, 2018 at 04:36PM
Emma Boyle

Shadow of the Colossus review

It can be difficult, sometimes, to explain why you love a game. It’s difficult as an adult, but it’s even harder when you’re just a teenager. When you explore Shadow of the Colossus on PS4 for the first time as an adult after playing it on PS2 over a decade ago, you realize this.

More specifically you realize that, while you loved games when you were younger, you might not have had the vocabulary necessary to explain - or even the cognizance to understand - what was going on in the games that you loved growing up.

It’s worth pointing this out because underneath all the 4K HDR texture packs in the Shadow of the Colossus remaster beats the heart of a game that was, by all accounts, one of the best games on the PS2 - a console that defined a generation and many of our younger days. 

Despite some tweaks to the overall visual fidelity, Shadow of the Colossus is almost exactly the same as you remember it: visually stunning, awe-inspiring, and, at times a bit clunky and obtuse. There are no new colossi and no substantially new areas to explore. It’s just you and the same 16 mountain-sized monsters that you remember from 2005. 

Well, it would be the same but everything is different somehow. You’re different. 

Standing on the shoulders of giants

Before we dive too deep down the rabbit hole on the ethics of killing colossi, we should probably re-introduce the characters of the story, just so we’re on the same page. 

Shadow of the Colossus begins and ends with one main character, known only by the name Wander. The game opens with Wander on horseback traveling into a forbidden land. He’s there because of a local legend that claims that Dormin, the god of life and death, can bring back souls once they’ve left our world. Your goal, as Wander, is to bring back Mono, a mysterious, comatose woman to whom Wander feels compelled to resurrect. 

To bring her back, Dormin gives you one straightforward - exceptionally difficult - task: kill all 16 of the colossi that inhabit the land. Do this, Dormin says, and Dormin will bring Mono back to life. 

After that opening conversation you climb on top of your trusty steed, Agro, and you’re off to hunt and kill colossi. 

It’d be easy, at this point, to describe the colossi. But I won’t. They’re so wonderfully crafted, so meticulously designed that I don’t think I could do them justice by describing them. (Plus there are images embedded in this article, so just look at those instead.) 

Instead of describing their appearance, I’ll simply give you a vague description of what killing them is like - just so you can understand how the gameplay works and how intentionally personal the designers made this game. 

To kill a colossus - a monstrous mountain of stone, flesh and fur - you must first get their attention. Because the colossi are gentle unless provoked (generally) it’s up to you to initiate the battle by shooting them with an arrow. Once the colossi feels the prick of the arrow in its skin, only then will it engage you. 

From here you’ll have to find a way to climb aboard its rocky hide. Sometimes this involves dodging an attack and climbing on its hand, sword or face. Other times you’ll have to wait patiently in one spot as the colossus attacks you head on. It will vary from colossus to colossus and the way forward is not always the most apparent. This part of the battle is almost always the scariest for the player as one misstep or one blow from a colossus can - and often does - kill the player.

After you make your way onto the colossus, you’ll look for glowing glyphs that signify weak spots, usually located where vital organs are on the stomach, head or neck. Once you’ve found them, you’ll repeatedly stab the colossus until it collapses in a lifeless heap in front of you. The game’s soundtrack that was once vibrant, chaotic and exhilarating in the heat of battle will now become somber and regal - an aria to the once gentle giant. 

You’ve killed a colossus and, in some ways, have become the monster yourself.

The green-eyed monsters (in ourselves) 

There’s more to unpack here about the morality of killing for sport, killing for duty and killing for the simple sake of it feeling good, but I’ll leave that work for more qualified individuals.

Instead, let’s focus on how the game has improved upon itself. 

The first and most obvious way the game has improved is its overall appearance - it’s in 4K HDR instead of standard definition. And that makes a big difference. 

It means you can see individual tufts of fur on a colossus, for one. It means that the radiant sunlight that streams through the trees makes you feel more alone than ever in a world relatively devoid of life. It means that instead of beady, expressionless eyes, colossi can now emote more clearly. That last part, again, is done on purpose by the designers. 

Interestingly, though, while the game was built from the ground up for the PS4, the vast majority of the physics engine was carried over from the original. That means it plays, more or less, like you remember. Agro still sometimes stumbles over hills or fails to listen to you in the heat of battle, the camera can still be the biggest enemy you ever have to fight and the Wander will ragdoll when tossed from a colossus. These relics of the PS2 era are annoyances now that we’ve all become accustomed to intelligent AI and pixel-perfect collision detection, and yet they help the game retain its original personality. 

These control scheme faux-pas are what some critics will hold against the game, I’m sure. And while anyone new to Shadow of the Colossus will see these as blemishes on an otherwise perfect game, they will feel like familiar obstacles for those of us who struggled and overcame them over a decade ago on our first tour of duty. Overlook them if you can, and if you can’t, there’s no one who’d fault you for feeling frustrated when dealing with them.

Verdict: Play it now

Shadow of the Colossus will probably mean the most to the people who played it growing up - the ones I spoke of earlier who knew they loved it but probably couldn’t explain why, exactly, that was. Returning home to this classic will help you experience themes that you might’ve missed the first time around, as the additions of 4K and HDR help the colossi emote and the environment evoke the emotional response the designers set out to achieve in 2005. 

But that doesn’t mean the game is wasted on those new to the world, either. In fact, being new to Shadow of the Colossus allows you to be awestruck for the first time by the sheer size of the colossi, by the profoundness of the adventure and the prolific sadness that awaits after eviscerating 16 divine guardians. It’s a journey well-worth taking once, and somehow even more worthwhile on your second time around.

• These are the best PS4 games 

January 30, 2018 at 03:01PM
Nick Pino

Best business antivirus of 2018: Our top paid security tools for SMBs

If you're looking to protect your company PCs from malware then you could just equip each one with your preferred free antivirus package. You'll get a reasonable level of protection, and it might well seem like you're keeping costs to a minimum.

Of course you'll have to manually install each copy. And train every user in its operation. And rely on them to let you know if there are any problems. And hope they won't turn off particular functions – or remove the whole package if they think it's getting in their way. The software may be free, but it could still have some major costs attached.

If you have plenty of systems to protect – 10 or more, let's say – it could make more sense to choose a business security solution. These can often be remotely installed over the network, and offer a central management console to monitor devices, and create fine-tuned security policies to enforce your preferred settings.

Best of all, the price per installation can sometimes be cheaper than even our recommended best home antivirus packages. So, what's on offer? We've checked out eight of the best business antivirus tools around in order to find out.

Most offer discounts if you buy a two or three-year package, so where possible we ordered them by their 10 PC, two-year package prices to maximise your savings. You can, of course, choose whichever package suits your needs best when buying.

All prices below are for one-year and five end points. You can of course customise these on the vendor's website.

• Also check out: Bring Your Own Security: Protecting business data on every device

Avast Business Antivirus Pro is an excellent business antivirus suite, giving you various tools such as antivirus,  Firewall, email protection, anti-spam and the ability to sandbox applications for complete security. Avast Business Antivirus Pro (as opposed to the standard Avast Business Antivirus) also includes Sharepoint and Exchange protection, as well as a number of tools for your servers.

The antivirus protection you get is generally rated as good by independent testing, with Avast's engine blocking 99.7% of threats in AV-Comparative's Real-World Protection report. If value for money and simplicity are key factors, Avast Business Antivirus Pro could be a sensible choice.

• Avast Business Antivirus Pro

Symantec Endpoint Protection's first benefit is the company's Insight file reputation technology, an effective way to detect and block even the very latest undiscovered threats.

Other layers of protection include antivirus, behaviour monitoring, intrusion protection, a firewall, and the 'Power Eraser' to remove stubborn threats and repair your system.

Symantec's security policy options are a real highlight. You can set application blacklists or whitelists, control file and Registry access, restrict and control access to external media, and more, then monitor systems and enforce policies from a central console.

While there's no bundled protection for mobile devices, the package runs just about everywhere else: PCs, Macs, and a host of virtual environments and Linux distros.

Symantec Endpoint Protection isn't cheap, but if you need its high-end features and policy control options then it still looks like a good deal to us.

• Symantec Endpoint Protection 

If reliable protection is a top priority, Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security needs to be on your shortlist. Bitdefender products are loved by the independent testing labs, highly rated for malware detection, removal, performance and usability.

Most of the features work automatically – antimalware, firewall, web advisor, URL filtering – but you can also customise the product to control user actions. You're able to restrict access to certain websites and applications, block the transmission of sensitive information, remotely deploy the product to unprotected systems, and allow or deny users the ability to modify their security settings.

All this is managed from a central console where you can control and monitor remote users, create and apply custom security policies by user, location (the product adapts when users are outside the company), and more.

Avira Antivirus for Endpoint is the company's main small business product. It takes all the core features you'd expect – antivirus, baseline network protection, web filtering – and extends them with file server protection and optimisation, along with application whitelisting and blacklisting.

Avira's Online Essentials web console lets you manage your devices. This is simpler than some of the high-end competition, but that's not necessarily a disadvantage, and there's some useful functionality here: drive partition reports, licence management, remote deployment, and assorted mobile phone tools (antitheft, phone finder, and more).

Avira Antivirus for Endpoint doesn't have the longest of feature lists, but it's easy to use, and offers excellent protection, regularly matching competitors like Bitdefender and Kaspersky in AV-Comparative's Real World tests.

• Avira Antivirus for Endpoint

Endpoint Security Cloud is a small business product, which comes ready to protect Windows PCs, file servers, Android and iOS devices.

The desktop side of the package has all the usual quality Kaspersky modules – antivirus, antispam, a firewall, more – but the mobile security technologies are even more impressive. There are tools to detect insecure devices, control password rules, manage camera use, filter unwanted calls and texts, and remotely lock or wipe data from lost devices.

That’s topped off with an easy-to-use web console managing network and Bluetooth configuration, internet access policies, device settings and more.

There's impressive levels of protection, too. Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud came first out of four contenders in AV-Comparatives' October 2016 Business Security Test, detecting and blocking 100% of known malware and exploits. The package also produced an above-average five false positives, so overall, it put in some impressive results.

• Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud 4.0

Webroot SecureAnywhere products stand out immediately for being incredibly lightweight: they're tiny (2MB disk space), install so quickly you'll barely notice (from 5 seconds), and consume the absolute minimum of system resources.

Scans are fast, too, and because just about everything is done in the cloud, there are no bulky updates or definitions to download – you're always up-to-date.

Other features include behaviour monitoring, an outbound firewall, along with identity and privacy protection. These don't always have the power and options of other tools, but they're implemented with real intelligence, and generally cope well with day-to-day tasks.

A cloud-based console enables tracking all your installations, and the package runs on just about any Windows or macOS system.

Factor in the price and Webroot looks very appealing to us, but it really is a product you need to try for yourself to understand the benefits. If you're interested, grab a copy of the trial and see what it can do for you.

• Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection

F-Secure Client Security Standard is a popular endpoint protection tool, highly rated by the independent testing labs.

Antivirus is just the start. There's also a firewall, intrusion detection, web filtering, online banking protection and device control.

If you need more, the Premium edition adds a software updater to scan for missing patches, and an option to restrict a user's web access by category. Whatever version you buy may be deployed and managed from a central console.

There are some issues here, in particular the fact that F-Secure's engine is more likely than most to flag legitimate software as malicious. But overall F-Secure Client Security Standard offers good protection for a reasonable price, and it's certainly a product worth thinking about.

Only available through value added resellers and specialist online retailers

• F-Secure Client Security Standard

Sophos Endpoint Protection Advanced is a powerful tool which uses many technologies to keep you safe. It blocks dangerous URLs, and is capable of detecting and removing exploit code, analysing behaviour to uncover even the very newest threats, and identifying endpoint connections with malicious servers to find compromised systems.

The results can be impressive, with the core engine doing an above-average job of blocking zero day threats, yet raising almost no false alerts at all.

There's a price to pay for this kind of safety, though: Sophos Endpoint Protection's background activities can noticeably impact your PC's performance.

There are some business-friendly features to compensate, including DLP along with device and application control, although other packages give you more at a much lower cost.

• Sophos Endpoint Protection Advanced

January 30, 2018 at 03:48AM
Mike Williams

Apple may release three Macs with custom co-processors in 2018, but which ones?

Apple is reportedly planning to release at least three new Mac laptops and desktops with its ‘T’ series of custom co-processors, according to a story in Bloomberg.

Speaking with ‘a person familiar with the plan,’ Bloomberg reports that – as follow-ups to the latest MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and iMac Pro – these updated Mac models with new co-processors will include fresh laptops and a new desktop.

These co-processors are, like those before them, likely to be ARM-based chips that carry out specific functions for Mac computers. For instance, the T1 co-processor inside the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar manages everything about said Touch Bar, while the T2 co-processor handles power management and hardware-level security in the iMac Pro.

Bear in mind that Apple isn’t manufacturing these processors from scratch, but rather designing them using a license from a partner like ARM to then fabricate and produce elsewhere.

Which new Macs can we expect?

Based on previous reports and rumors, we can start to get a bead on exactly which new Mac laptops and desktops with fresh co-processors we’ll see in 2018. First, the aforementioned desktop is almost certainly the modular, ‘completely redesigned, next-generation Mac Pro architected for pro customers’ that Apple itself brought up again before the end of last year.

Next, we’ve already heard – albeit from a dodgy source at best – that Apple doesn’t plan to give a ‘major upgrade’ to its MacBook laptops this year. Of course, that depends on whether you consider new co-processors a ‘major upgrade,’ not to mention whether this report has much merit to begin with.

The most recent report regarding new MacBooks – from the very same outlet – seems to completely contradict this, with word that Apple could phase out the 13-inch MacBook Air to make room for a new, 13-inch entry-level laptop without the Touch Bar. Apple itself has hinted that the most affordable MacBook Pro is the stand-in for the all but defunct MacBook Air.

Where does that leave us? Apple itself has promised a new Mac Pro, and we may well see a new 13-inch laptop similarly priced to the MacBook Air to fill that void. 

All that’s left, then, are refreshes for the MacBook Pro and 12-inch MacBook models, the former of which is sorely needed with models already outdated by the latest Intel 8th-generation processors. If the ‘at least three’ new Macs line from Bloomberg is to be taken to heart, the most likely to be skipped this year is the 12-inch MacBook, which isn’t as power-dependent as the MacBook Pro line.

At any rate, 2018 is already looking to be an exciting year for Mac and MacBook computers following a relative drought of updates and innovations for several years prior to late 2016.

• At least one of these is bound to join the best Macs of 2018

January 29, 2018 at 10:44PM
Joe Osborne

Twitch vs YouTube Gaming vs Microsoft Mixer: which streaming service is for you?

Update: Microsoft Mixer is adding some Twitch-like features over the next couple of months. Users will soon be able to give money directly to channel owners via a new Direct Tipping feature. Direct purchasing will also be implemented, meaning viewers will be to buy a digital download of the game they're watching as long as it's on Microsoft's store. 

Original article continues below...

We have come a long way from gaming being a solitary 'best-enjoyed-in-the-dark-whilst-wearing-one’s-luckiest-pants' hobby. Now, it’s a hugely popular social experience accounting for incredible amounts of web traffic with millions of people not only playing online together, but watching other people play via online streaming services. 

Thanks to video game live streaming services, gamers can now broadcast their play sessions to those that wish to watch them and interact with them too. Live streaming is one of the biggest things happening in gaming right now alongside eSports, so big in fact that some of the most popular streamers are able to make a decent living from it. 

As video game streaming has become more popular, though, the number of services facilitating it has naturally increased. Now there’s more than one place you can go to watch and broadcast live video game action. But which is best for you?

We’ve delved into the features of three of the biggest video game live streaming services (YouTube Gaming, Twitch, and Mixer) to weigh up the good and bad points of each to help you choose the one that’s best for you, whether you’re a streamer or a viewer. 

YouTube Gaming

• Pros: Familiar layout, useful DVR functions, can stream directly from Android devices.
• Cons: No direct streaming from Xbox One, recently made it harder to become a partner.

What is it?

YouTube Gaming is essentially Google's response to Twitch. It looks and acts a lot like standard YouTube but with a darker color scheme and focuses purely on live and on-demand video game videos. 

There's a wide breadth of game-related videos to explore, ranging from simple soundtrack compilations, to walkthroughs, to cookery channels. 

Is it easy to discover new things?

The home page has Recommended, Spotlight, and Trending sections all of which draw out videos or playlists that aren’t live right at that moment but have been uploaded previously. The videos here could be anywhere from a few hours to several weeks old but it’s a great way of discovering content you may have missed.

To get the newest stuff as it’s happening you simply have to click into the ‘Live’ tab. Here you’ll be able to see the top live videos happening at that moment. It’s easy to see when a video is live considering it has a big red ‘Live’ tag in the bottom right hand corner. 

There are also sections that allow you to explore by game and by channel and they pull out the most popular titles and channels. There is, of course, a search bar to help you find something a little more specific.

Anyone familiar with the ordinary YouTube layout should find YouTube Gaming fairly easy to navigate which, naturally, makes it easier to delve in and find new videos whether they've been uploaded weeks ago or are being broadcast at that moment.

Is it easy to be discovered as a streamer?

A problem creators may face is that user subscriptions on YouTube Gaming are separate from their main account. 

When you subscribe to a channel in YouTube Gaming, it won’t be added to your subscriptions on YouTube, so though it’s good for viewers in terms of organizing their subscriptions it does mean that as a streamer your subscribers will sometimes miss a lot from your YouTube Gaming account, especially if they're more inclined to watch things on standard YouTube. 

This isn't so much a problem with being discovered as it is a problem with being re-discovered. 

That said, those who have a large following on YouTube will probably find it easier to transfer this audience to YouTube Gaming than Twitch as it's much more familiar and closely aligned.  

In addition, though subscriptions don't cross-over, any content uploaded to YouTube Gaming will also appear in search on standard YouTube but not vice versa which does make it more likely those interested in the content you're uploading are going to be able to find you via search and recommendations.

How's the viewing experience?

YouTube Gaming’s player is very similar to YouTube’s standard player, pulling up related videos and other videos from the creator you’re watching to catch your attention. Rather than underneath the videos, the comments section is to the right of the video which means you can continue watching while you read the comments (something that’s obviously essential during live streams). 

In-stream DVR is also useful for viewers as it means they can go back up to 3 hours in a live stream if they show up late to the party. You can also pick the quality you’d like to watch in, which is especially useful if you don’t have an internet connection that’s up to a high quality stream. 

You can watch on mobile, PC, and on your consoles. 

How's the streaming experience?

Streaming on YouTube Gaming is fairly simple and can be done directly through the app on your PlayStation 4 console or on an Android smartphone (this isn’t currently possible on iOS devices). Unfortunately, there’s no live streaming straight from Xbox One consoles like on Twitch and you’ll have to use a capture card for this. 

On PC you’ll need an encoder but YouTube has plenty of good suggestions for you. You don’t have to worry about frame rates and resolutions – YouTube detects the best stream resolution for you and transcodes to lower resolutions so that no matter what a persons’ internet connection is they can access your stream at a quality that suits them. 

What's the community and chat like?

Chat moderation is possible on YouTube Gaming but it’s a little less well-developed than on Twitch. You can, however, assign moderators to live chat and block the use of specific words or block specific users from taking part in your chat entirely. 

Of the three services we're comparing YouTube probably has the middle ground in terms of audience size. 

Can I monetize my content?

Once your channel is relatively successful your largest amount of money is likely to come from securing sponsorship deals. You'll find opportunities to partner with big gaming brands and publishers, work with them to make sponsored content whether that's incorporating their products into your videos in some way or having a full video centered around them.

Before you get to this stage, though, you have to start on ad revenue.

It’s fairly easy to monetize your content on YouTube from early on thanks to ad revenue. Once you’ve become a YouTube Partner and your channel has had more than 10,000 lifetime views you’re able to start making a small amount of revenue from ads on your videos. 10,000 is a much higher barrier than YouTube Gaming set originally and this has raised the ire of some streamers just starting out. 

Pre, post and mid-video ads will all make you some money, bearing in mind that the more impressions or views the ads get the more money you make, so having more regular viewers will generate more income though it will still be a small amount. 

YouTube has also introduced the ability to add cards to your live videos. This means that when you’re live streaming you could have a Fan Funding card appear on the screen. This would allow your fans to donate to donate money to your channel as they watch. Of course, this is really only a good way to monetize if you’re already a popular and established content creator.  

Twitch

• Pros: Large audience means it's easier to grow a following, good chat moderation, bringing in new ways to monetize content, can stream straight from both Xbox One, PS4, and mobile.
• Cons: Can be easy to get lost as a new streamer, no real-time DVR

What is it?

Twitch is the live streaming platform owned by Amazon and it's been around since 2011. It's the biggest and oldest service on here, boasting around 10 million daily active users.  

Here you'll find everything from walkthroughs, to tips and tricks and cosplay tutorials. Most large gaming events and companies have dedicated Twitch channels and you'll find it's the place to watch official events. 

Is it easy to discover new things?

Twitch’s UI is fairly neat and it’s easy to find your way around the site. Big names are featured at the top of the home page, and you can also find streams broadcasting live at that moment by game, console, and channel. And, of course, there’s a search bar if you’re looking for something more specific. 

The community is so large and diverse that you're likely to find a new channel every day and perhaps even a new interest/title. 

Twitch has made some changes that should make the service more easy to maneuver for those interested in Blizzard's Overwatch and Hearthstone. 

With Overwatch it'll now be possible to filter streams by Hero. This means that if you have a favorite Hero, you'll be able to find streams starring them much more quickly.

For Hearthstone on the other hand, it's now possible to filter games by game mode, player rank, number of wins and hero class. If you're only interested in getting tips to improve specific Hearthstone skills, this is perfect for you. 

The technology that makes this possible has come to Twitch thanks to its recent acquisition of ClipMine which uses machine learning and computer vision to identify what's on player screens. 

Is it easy to be discovered as a streamer?

Twitch is a funny one. Being so filled with well-established streamers and newbies it can be hard to get your foot on the first rung and get noticed. However, once you do start building something the potential for growth is much higher than on YouTube Gaming purely because there are so many more people watching and looking for gaming content. 

If you already have an established presence on YouTube, you may find it more rewarding to stream via YouTube Gaming rather than try to move all of your fans over to Twitch. But if you’re starting out fresh, Twitch is probably the service with the most potential if you're willing to push hard.  

How's the viewing experience?

Twitch offers a good viewing experience and the area around the video player isn’t too cluttered – you just have the chat off to the right and you can hide that if it becomes too distracting. 

You can watch on Roku, Chromecast, FireTV, on Xbox, PS4, PC and mobile. 

Something that’s a nice touch is that the video you’re watching is pulled into a smaller window when you decide to explore for something else to watch, meaning you don’t have to miss anything from the stream you’re currently watching. For some reason this is something YouTube does on its mobile app but not online. You also have control over what quality you watch the video in. 

Twitch's mobile app has recently had an update that makes it more pleasant to use and brings it more in line with the desktop experience – you might find yourself watching more on mobile than you have before. 

The Pulse discovery feed and the notification center are now in the app and the interface improvements mean it'll be easier to find and use these features. Swipe-based controls have improved navigation across the app and dark mode will be ideal for when you're watching in the evening.

If you prefer watching on your PC you can do so on the web or through Twitch's recently created desktop app for Windows and PC. This app offers all of the features you can get through Twitch on the web but adds exclusive features too. 

If you opt for the Twitch desktop app you'll find mobile app features such as Dark Mode, which should make those night time viewing sessions a little easier on your eyes.  

Something it’s lacking, though, is DVR capabilities. Although you can pause a stream you’ll still miss things from it as when you play again it jumps straight to the present rather than catching up. If you miss something in a stream you have to wait for it to be archived before you can go back through it. 

How's the streaming experience?

Streaming on Twitch is much the same as on YouTube Gaming. It’s possible through console apps and PC. 

A recent update to the mobile app has brought Twitch's app much more in line with YouTube Gaming by making it possible to stream directly from iOS and Android devices. Add in the fact that you can stream directly from your Xbox One to Twitch (which you can't do on YouTube Gaming) and Twitch certainly looks like the more egalitarian service from a streaming perspective. 

The service is able to tell you how well your internet connection is performing and what quality you’re able to stream in and will adjust automatically meaning there’s very little for you to worry about other than being entertaining. 

What's the community and chat like?

Chat moderation is pretty good on Twitch. It uses a tool called AutoMod which combines machine learning and natural language processing to identify messages that are inappropriate and will either block them entirely or flag them for later human moderation.  

Streamers are also able to ban specific words links and phrases from appearing in their stream chats as well as employ community moderators or limit chat accessibility to their subscribers. There are also official support staff available 24 hours a day. 

In its new desktop app, Twitch has added text and voice chat rooms that remain accessible even when servers are down so you never need to worry about not being able to engage with your favorite communities. It's also possible to do voice and video calling with friends and overlay these private calls into your games so you don't have to switch between tabs. 

Twitch has said that more features will be added to the app in the future and says these will include cloud storage to make it possible to access your game data from any computer. 

Can I monetize my content?

Once your channel is relatively successful your largest amount of money is likely to come from securing sponsorship deals. You'll find opportunities to partner with big gaming brands and publishers, work with them to make sponsored content whether that's incorporating their products into your videos in some way or having a full video centered around them. 

Before you get there, though, you have to start small.

Like YouTube Gaming, Twitch has a partner program that allows streamers to make money from ads. There are no hard and fast numbered requirements when it comes to becoming a partner and applications are determined on a case by case basis. The ad revenue is generally similar to YouTube Gaming’s though the overall revenue of Twitch streamers is generally higher than for those who use YouTube Gaming.

Twitch users who have achieved partner status can also make money from paid subscriptions and merchandise. With subscriptions, users choose to pay between $4.99 and $24.99 to have more access to their favorite streamers, with higher subscription fees naturally bringing bigger perks.

Merchandise sales is an interesting one. Twitch has partnered with an apparel company and if you'd like to start selling your channel's brand you can post an image of a branded T-shirt or hoodie to your channel dashboard. If someone chooses to buy one the apparel company handles everything from selling to manufacturing to shipping and you make the largest amount of the profit. 

The new affiliate program offers an easier way to make money for those just starting out and haven't reached partner levels but whose channels look promising. The threshold to access this is much lower and at the moment the money-making opportunity only takes the form of something called Bits to Cheer.

This allows viewers to pay to offer support in a streamer’s chat with the streamer getting a share of the revenue, though it's also possible to make a channel subscription-only. The affiliate program will expand in future and it looks like Twitch will soon be the streaming site of choice for those hoping to make money from live streaming. 

A recent update has made it easier to track how close you are to getting paid and streamline tasks that once required chatbots or third-party streaming software.

Now, for example, there are unlockable achievements which tell you how close you are to meeting the requirements for becoming an affiliate or partner. These will be presented in a summary after ever stream alongside data which will be key in helping you to grow your audience such as where your traffic is coming from and when it peaks.

Mixer

• Pros: Creative interactivity features are fun for viewers and streamers, integrated PC and Xbox streaming, low latency means next to no lag for viewers, co-streaming can't be found anywhere else
• Cons: Much smaller audience, no integrated streaming for mobile (though mobile is coming) or PS4, no DVR, can be hard to find non-live content.

What is it?

Mixer is the youngest competitor here, having been launched in early 2016 and acquired by Microsoft later that year. 

Like the other services, you'll find live streamed and previously broadcast gaming-focused content but Mixer stands apart from the rest by being a much more interactive experience for viewers. It's also the service that's likely to appeal most to Xbox and Windows 10 players as it becomes fully integrated into Microsoft's cross-platform plans. 

Is it easy to discover new things?

Mixer's interface isn’t drastically different from YouTube Gaming and Twitch. There are featured streamers, streams happening at that moment and you can search by game or by a specific channel. It’s much harder, however, to find older content that’s been broadcast previously. 

You'll also find the content on Mixer is less diverse than on YouTube Gaming and Twitch. Where the other services are large enough that you'll now find more left-field things like Cosplay guides or gaming-inspired cooking channels, Mixer is still much more focused on pure livestreaming gameplay. 

In changing the brand to Mixer, Microsoft is making some improvements to search that will be implemented soon. Viewers will now have a couple of new ways to find the most popular content on the service, firstly through a moderated channel of content called ‘Channel One’ and secondly through a new page on the Xbox One Dashboard. 

Is it easy to be discovered as a streamer?

Compared to Twitch, Mixer's audience isn’t impressive so you’ll probably find it hard to become the world’s biggest game streamer if you’re only using Mixer purely because you’re reaching less people. However, a caveat is that being slightly quieter, Mixer is a less crowded space for those just starting out and you could build a more solid audience.

Mixer has been adding additional language support recently, bringing the number of languages it supports up to 21. Though it's obviously always been possible to stream in any language you like, it's now possible to search for streams using these languages. This should make discovering streamers who speak your preferred language much easier.

Though Mixer still doesn't have the same degree of variety as Twitch just yet (it lacks, for example, Greek and Vietnamese which Twitch has offered for a while) this is a sign that it's serious about becoming a worldwide Twitch competitor. 

How's the viewing experience?

You can watch Mixer streams on Xbox, your PC,  iOS, Android, Kindle, AppleTV, and through Google Chromecast from iOS and Android apps. 

Low latency should mean that you won’t experience any delays but if you decide not to watch in low latency you’ll also be able to select what quality you want to watch the stream in.

Being a viewer on Mixer is a much more interactive experience than with other services. This interactivity ranges from bringing sound effects into the game or voting on what actions the player should take or what weapons they should use. Interaction is rewarded and further interaction options can be unlocked.

There’s no DVR functionality like YouTube Gaming for live streams but you can access previous broadcasts like on Twitch, it's just not as easy. 

How's the streaming experience?

Mixer has a distinct advantage for PC owners in that it doesn’t require any third party broadcasting software or a capture card. Like the Twitch and YouTube apps for console, you just click a button to get started. It also works with popular third-party broadcasting apps such as OBS and XSplit, though, for those that prefer those services. 

This is the same for Xbox One owners, though there’s no app available for streaming through your mobile device or PS4 console just yet. Considering Mixer is a Microsoft service, it’s unlikely that we’ll see PS4 integration any time soon but mobile has been confirmed to be on its way. 

Mixer is also extremely low latency, meaning that interaction between streamers and viewers is almost instantaneous. This is particularly important because one of Mixer's big USPs is a higher level interactivity between streamers and viewers than any other service. According to Mixer itself there’s only ever under one second of delay.

Mixer also has an interesting new feature that allows for multiplayer co-streaming. Now, up to four streamers who are playing the same multiplayer game can stream simultaneously on one page and viewers can easily swap between them. 

What's the community and chat like?

Mixer's chat is much more interactive than the chats of YouTube Gaming or Twitch and it’s extremely fast. However, its moderation is fairly limited. Like YouTube it allows for user banning and reporting and users can also use moderation bots to keep an eye on the language used in their chats though Microsoft has said it plans to introduce ways to help streamers build a moderation staff for their channel. 

Can I monetize my content?

Once your channel is relatively successful your largest amount of money is likely to come from securing sponsorship deals. You'll find opportunities to partner with big gaming brands and publishers, work with them to make sponsored content whether that's incorporating their products into your videos in some way or having a full video centered around them. 

At its current scale, sponsors may be less inclined towards Mixer streamers for sponsorship as the audience is smaller, but this could easily change and it's important to remember that being tied to Xbox, Mixer partners may get priority when it comes to Xbox sponsorship.

When you're starting at the bottom, though, monetizing on Mixer is very similar to YouTube Gaming and Twitch. It involves becoming a partner, and to become a partner you should have more than 750 followers, a registered viewer count consistently in the 50s through whole stream for at least 2 months, a marked sign of growth and be streaming at a resolution of 720p or better. 

Once you become a partner you’ll then receive benefits like a portion of the subscription and synthesized ad revenue, priority feedback & support, test access to new features, a special forum and chat room, monthly codes to give away, and access to promotional opportunities with Xbox on its partners. 

Less users does, of course, mean that the amounts you'll get from ad revenue will be less than those you'd get from other sites. Compared to the other services, there's also a much lower barrier to entry – that's an opportunity to reap the benefits of the service before the masses join in. 

• This is the best free screen recorder you can get

January 29, 2018 at 07:36PM
Emma Boyle

UFC 3 review: a champion in the making

If you’ve ever seen an MMA fight, you’ll know it usually makes for great TV. As one of the fastest growing sports in the world, nothing comes close to watching two men or women skillfully beat seven shades of snot of each other. 

It’s a glorious gladiator pit full of big personalities and cast iron chins. The grappling finesse of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The concrete-soaked fists of Darren Till. The unparalleled ego of Conor Mcgregor. However, adapting the myriad fighting styles of mixed martial arts to the active world of video games has often proved difficult to translate.

More than any of the other cage-based fighting games that have preceded it, UFC 3 comes the closest to achieving this feat. But just like its predecessors it ends up offering a fight simulator that’s both empowering and deeply frustrating; one that nails the feel and impact of striking, yet struggles to encapsulate the deep, chess-like nature of the ground game.

While still using EA’s Ignite engine (FIFA has already made the move to Frostbite, with more sports sims reportedly meant to be following suit), it’s hard to deny just how good this third round looks. 

This game comprises the largest roster of MMA athletes to date, and real-life fighters boast their most realistic recreations yet; everything from likenesses and signature celebrations to stances rebuilt in digital form. 

It also makes for a lifelike original avatar in its character creation suite. It’s just a shame its options are so limited when compared to those found in the likes of WWE 2K18.

Seek and strike

Ignite does, however, make for one of the most impressive damage models we’ve ever seen out of a racer or an open-world shooter. Every punch to the face, every hard kick to the shins, every crunching takedown to the mat leaves an impact on the dynamically changing body of your fighter. Over the course of any given fight you'll see them develop everything from swollen eyes, to legs that care barely take any weight.

And that’s just the cosmetic angle. 

Striking has been completely overhauled for UFC 3, and it makes for the most tactical MMA experience yet. Both button inputs and the overall deadliness of each strike has been tweaked, in an attempt to move the game away from the button-bashing beat-’em-up setup that made the previous game a frustrating troll fest online. 

Striking, exactly as it should be in MMA, is now a more tactical affair. You now have three health bars (head, body and legs) and each one recovers at a different speed, forcing you to use distance and the clinch far more knowingly.

Kicks aren’t as all-powerful as they were in UFC 2. They’re slower, too, which in turn urges you to use them as part of a combo where they’re most effective, rather than simply employing them as a foot-based haymaker. 

It’s less exploitable and far more rewarding if you start using space and body movement. Incidentally, head movement is now locked to the right analog stick. which helps you to dodge your opponent's jabs while building power behind an uppercut.  Whether you’re going online, building legend status in GOAT Career mode or in the game's various other modes, it’s an overhaul that finally discards the vanilla fighting game association.

The same can’t be said for the grappling and submissions of MMA. It’s the other side of the coin to the sport, a fundamental part of mixed martial arts, and it’s an area EA Canada still hasn’t cracked. 

EA’s sports-centric studios are known for giving one feature the main focus for a given release. But UFC 3’s grappling feels woefully underdeveloped and barely refreshed since the previous game. 

The core mini-game where you attempt to shift your weight based on four sections of a circle (to either escape, or continue controlling your opponent) is so unengaging you actively groan every time a fight goes to the ground.

Accurately gamifying something as instinctive and tactile as carefully shifting your body position and limbs when searching for a full mount (to punch your opponent into a bloody heap) or finding a painful submission opening is naturally going to be very difficult. 

But the system in place here simply doesn’t work. And, considering wrestling, jiu jitsu and other forms of ground work are literally half the sport, we shouldn’t have to be wait until UFC 4 to see the problem finally addressed.

Billy GOAT

The rejigged GOAT Career mode is the real centerpiece for 2018’s MMA simulator, and it’s here we get to see everything UFC 3 does right, and indeed wrong. There’s no FIFA 18 The Journey-style story mode here – instead, EA Canada has attempted to emulate the journey of a fighter from a no-name fighting league to the ridiculous pomp of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The repetitive mini-games found in UFC 2 have thankfully been dropped. In their place we get something that attempts to better represent the life of a fighter on his journey to the big leagues. It’s a mixed bag in execution. 

On the one bandage-wrapped hand, the minutia of your fight-to-fight training is now split into a set of sub-menus that enable you to up your fitness and incrementally increase your overall stats.

You get to choose the weight class and fighting style of your fighter from the off, ranging from strike-happy boxers, to wrestle-minded grapplers, and every combination in between. 

There's also a real agency to being able to up your fitness with cardiovascular routines, train with real-life fighters to learn a new strategy on your upcoming opponent and test these new skills in a sparring session. You’ll need to be fit enough come fight day, but managing the ever-looming shadow of over-training (which will leave you sluggish and prone to attack in the fight), adds an extra plate to spin.

The attempt to mix in a more authentic behind-the-scenes aspect fails, mainly because promoting your fight with a set of generic tweets is as hollow as it sounds, as is the inclusion of FMV featuring Dana White and co as they attempt to ‘hype’ your arrival as the next hot prospect in MMA. 

Thankfully, it’s elevated by how authentically UFC 3 captures the pomp and presentation of a real UFC PPV. Whether its Bruce Buffer’s eternally enthusiastic announcing or seeing everyone from Herb Dean to Big John McCarthy officiating in the Octagon, this game nails the fight night atmosphere to a tee. Well, all except Joe Rogan’s bizarre commentary delivery that sounds so phoned in it’s painful.

There are plenty of other modes to keep you interested. If you like focusing on one fight distinction over another you can explore Submission Showdown, Stand And Bang and Knockout mode. Or you can attempt to take down your favorite fighters online in UFC Ultimate Team. 

It’s a calling card for EA Sports games at this point, but UFC 3 does have the option for microtransactions in its Ultimate Team mode. They come in the form of card packs which can be purchased with real-life or in-game currency earned by grinding, and it's a very similar system to UFC 2. 

Some of the elements feel very pay-to-win – you can buy packs that basically make strikes stronger and submissions near impossible to escape. Fortunately, they won't affect any mode outside of Ultimate Team though you'd think some lessons would have been learned after Star Wars Battlefront 2. 

Verdict: play it

Make no mistake, UFC 3 is the best MMA game ever made, but it’s a title that comes with a handful of concessions. 

You’re getting the true spiritual successor to the boxing-centric and long defunct Fight Night series with an unparalleled set of striking mechanics and gruesome damage model, but it lets itself down by failing to elevate the intricate DNA of takedowns and submissions, demoting them to WWE 2K18-style mini-games. 

With an up-to-date roster, plenty of online/offline modes and the most authentic recreation of the sport’s over-the-top pomp, it’s certainly not lacking in content. While far from the GOAT it hopes to be, UFC 3 is still a prospect with plenty of potential for greatness. 

UFC 3 will be available for Xbox One and PS4 on February 2.

• Looking for more games to play? These are our picks of the best PS4 and Xbox One games. 

January 29, 2018 at 07:04PM
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln

Sony patent suggests a move towards new PlayStation VR controllers

Microsoft releases emergency update to disable Intel’s faulty Spectre patch

News about the Meltdown and Spectre processor seems to be going from bad to worse, and over the weekend Microsoft had to release an emergency patch to disable patches for the Spectre bug.

The Windows Update (KB4078130) in question is something of a rarity, as not only did Microsoft rush it out over the weekend (rather than waiting until Tuesday, the usual day Microsoft releases updates), but it directly disables a security patch released by Intel.

This means that the issues the Intel patch caused were deemed more serious than the security vulnerabilities it was designed to fix – at least in the short term.

Intel woes

The issues Intel’s patch caused were revealed last week when Intel admitted that its was causing some machines to reboot unexpectedly.

Intel even warned users against downloading its own patch, with Intel EVP Neil Shenoy saying that “we recommend that OEMs, cloud service providers, system manufacturers, software vendors, and end users stop deployment of current versions on specific platforms, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior.”

Microsoft has clearly taken Intel’s advice, by stating that it had released the emergency patch to disable Intel’s Spectre patch because “our own experience is that system instability can in some circumstances cause data loss or corruption. On January 22, Intel recommended that customers stop deploying the current microcode version on impacted processors while they perform additional testing on the updated solution.”

According to Microsoft, this new patch “specifically disables only the mitigation against CVE-2017-5715”, which is the other, less catchy name for Spectre Variant 2.

If you’re not keen on removing the protection against Spectre, and feel like the possibility of system crashes is a price worth paying, then Microsoft has made it possible for users to manually disable and enable the mitigation against Spectre by changing registry settings.

Needless to say, this will be for advanced users only, but you can follow Microsoft’s instructions if you're comfortable editing the registry.

Most users, however, should wait for a new patch from Intel that will mitigate against Spectre, without causing system instabilities. With Intel vowing to stop Meltdown and Spectre by the end of January, we hopefully won’t have too long to wait.

• These are the best processors to date

January 29, 2018 at 06:12PM
Matt Hanson

Borderlands 3: everything we know so far

It’s been 5 years since Gearbox released Borderlands 2 and given that the game was beloved by critics and players alike, we wouldn't be at all surprised if a third proper entry was in the words (and no, the Pre-Sequel doesn't count). 

Borderlands 3 may not have been officially confirmed but at this point pretty much everyone suspects that it’s in the works. 

This isn’t just because it makes sense for Gearbox to develop a sequel based on the previous performances of games in the franchise; there have also been strong hints from the game’s developers which you can read more about below.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The as-yet-unconfirmed third numbered game in the first-person shoot and loot franchise
• When can I play it? We can't be sure but we suspect late 2018 to 2019
• What can I play it on? It’s likely to be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC 

Release date

As Borderlands 3 hasn’t been confirmed as being actively in development quite yet, Gearbox has unsurprisingly not given it a release date either. 

However, based on a Take-Two investor call, a release window of October 2018 to September 2019 could be a possibility. During the call, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick said that  a “highly anticipated new title from one of 2K’s biggest franchises” is in development for the fiscal year of 2019 which runs between October 2018 and September 2019.

This doesn’t make any direct reference to Borderlands 3, however, it’s the most likely candidate for “a highly anticipated title” release from an existing franchise given that 2K-owned Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 is out before the period starts, and Gearbox has said another Borderlands game will be coming. 

News and rumors

So, Borderlands 3 hasn’t been confirmed by name as being in development right now. That is true. But there’s been plenty of teasing from Gearbox over the past year or so that makes us feel pretty confident that it’s coming.

The Flamethrower

A recent interaction between Randy Pitchford and Elon Musk has thrown yet more weight behind the rumor that a new Borderlands game is in development. 

After Tesla CEO and all-round benevolent billionaire Elon Musk released a 'Boring Company' flamethrower for sale as a reward for the community having purchased 50,000 hats, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford got in contact to see if he could put the gun in the "next Borderlands game."

To everyone's surprise, Musk agreed to the bizarre request - making the Boring Company Flamethrower the first confirmed weapon in the unannounced game.

PAX West 2017

At this year’s PAX West, Pitchford announced during a panel that 90% of the Gearbox team is “working on the thing I think most of you guys want us to be working on.”

Given that he had just acknowledged much of the audience was present at the panel because they’re fans of the Borderlands franchise, we’d say this is quite a heavy-handed hint even though Borderlands 3 wasn’t explicitly mentioned.

The IGN Interview

Around the same time as the PAX West panel tease, Pitchford also took part in an IGN Unfiltered interview where he said that if another Borderlands game were to be made, it would be more of a true sequel as opposed to another Pre-Sequel spin-off. 

Pitchford stated that the next Gearbox game will be a “really big, worthy” step forward for the franchise before adding “if we’re going to do one, it’s going to be that” to take the the certainty of his statement down a notch. 

Randy takes to Twitter 

In April 2017, Pitchford took to Twitter to post a picture of himself wearing a motion capture suit with the caption “Doing a shoot... I may or may not be a psycho bandit in a video game we may or may not be working on. Also, happy Bulletstorm launch day!” 

Given that Psychos are a Borderlands enemy we’d say this tweet can be read with a fairly large nudge and wink.

The GDC presentation

Before all of this Pitchford took to the stage during Epic Games’ Unreal presentation at GDC in March 2017, where he showed off new rendering tech that “may be used in a future Gearbox game.” He explicitly said the footage shown was not from a video game but what was shown was highly reminiscent of Borderlands.  

He also revealed that this new tech is capable of simulating different physics depending on a planet’s properties. Specifically he said “there might be different physics and the sun and the moons might be in different positions than what we’re used to on Pandora.”

Not only does this hint heavily that Borderlands 3 is in the works, it suggests that we’ll be able to explore more settings than we have before. 

PAX East panel

You’ll notice a lot of the hints that Borderlands 3 is coming have come from Randy Pitchford. That trend continues all the way back through to April 2016 when, during a PAX East panel, he gave the biggest sign that Borderlands 3 is coming.

"It's no secret, obviously there's going to be another Borderlands," he revealed during the panel. On Twitter he also revealed that Battleborn's art director Scott Kester will be the art director on Borderlands 3.

He did, however, say that the game might not actually be called Borderlands 3: "We don't even know if we're going to call it that. We could call it Borderlands 4 for all we know."

Some changes

If Borderlands 3 is in the works, however, there are likely to be some changes from the first two titles. The first difference will be that writer, Mikey Neumann, will not be on board as he was unfortunately forced to resign from the project due to health complications. The lead writer on Borderlands 2, Anthony Burch, has also since left the company. There’s been no hint with regards to who’ll be taking up the pen after their departures. 

Another change is that the voice behind Claptrap, David Eddings, has left Gearbox for Rooster Teeth so it’s unlikely he’ll be taking up the role again. 

• Borderlands is a while away so in the meantime check out our best PlayStation 4 and best Xbox One games you could be playing right now

January 29, 2018 at 04:48PM
Emma Boyle