Remedy is remaking Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, the Finnish studio said it was working with Rockstar Games to fully remaster the first two games in its cult classic third-person shooter series for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
We are pleased to announce that we will remake the iconic Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, in a new development agreement with Rockstar Games.
Under a new publishing agreement between the two companies, Rockstar will fund the project “in line with a typical Remedy AAA-game production.” What’s more, the studio will rebuild the games in its in-house Northlight Engine, the same engine Remedy used for its most recent title, Control. Nearly three years after its 2019 release, Control is still one of the best-looking games on both PC and consoles thanks to its implementation of ray-tracing.
“We were thrilled when our long-time friends at Remedy approached us about remaking the original Max Payne games,” said Rockstar Games co-founder Sam Houser. “We are massive fans of the work the Remedy team has created over the years and we can’t wait to play these new versions.”
Released in 2001, Max Payne was the game that put Remedy on the map and established the studio’s signature storytelling style. It was also one of the first games to include the bullet-time effect made popular by The Matrix. Two years later, Remedy released The Fall of Max Payne. Rockstar published both games before it went on to develop the third and currently final entry in the series on its own.
Major League Baseball and NBCUniversal’s Peacock have reached a deal that will see 18 games throughout the 2022-23 season broadcast on the streaming service, per the latter’s tweet Thursday.
The listed Sunday games will start between 11:30 am and noon ET, earlier than they would have in the past (sorry West Coast), so as to minimize interference with the Sunday afternoon games that start at 1 pm ET. The MLB already has an existing partnership with ESPN for the broadcast rights to Sunday Night Baseball. The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will reportedly be a Peacock exclusive this season was well.
Though the details of the arrangement have not yet formally been announced, Forbes reported in March that this will likely be a two-year deal worth $30 million annually, available only on Peacock’s premium $10-a-month tier and exclusive, in that only local market viewers will be able to watch without ponying up for a subscription — at least for that month the game you want to watch is airing. Additionally, MLB has struck a deal with Apple TV+ to broadcast its Friday Night Doubleheaders, those games start at 7pm ET, just like ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball matchups.
All of this broadcast hodgepodge is in addition to the MLB’s existing MLB.TV streaming service as well as a rumored “national service” that would purportedly eliminate local blackouts for streamers and attract fans from among cord-cutters. In all, the MLB’s national media deals will total $1.96 billion this season, a 26 percent increase from last year, per Forbes. So if you want to watch out-of-market baseball this year, you’d better have your password list and debit card ready.
GOG originally stood for “Good Old Games,” and the online store wants to better match the expectations associated with that name. It’s launching a revival that will do more to highlight and support classic game releases. The initiative will not only apply a “Good Old Game” tag to retro hits in the catalog, but will include a ‘new’ game: a version of Legend’s 1999-vintage The Wheel of Time (timely given the Amazon series) that runs on modern hardware.
The Unreal Engine-based fantasy shooter won’t offer stunning visuals, but Nightdive Studios’ refresh lets it run on newer operating systems (Windows 7 and up) and support high-resolution displays. The premise remains the same: you play an Aes Sedai (magic-wielding woman) who uncovers a sinister plot decades before the timeline of Robert Jordan’s novels. You’ll also find deathmatch and capture-the-flag multiplayer modes, although Wheel of Time wasn’t exactly a staple of the online gaming scene when new.
There’s a strong competitive incentive for GOG to shift its attention to classic games — this could help it stand out compared to heavyweights like Steam and the Epic Games Store, many of which focus on the latest releases. The initiative could be useful for game preservation efforts, though. If nothing else, it could be helpful if you’ve been waiting decades to revisit a favorite.
With Sony and Canon dominating headlines, Nikon has been the forgotten company in the mirrorless race. That’s set to change, though, with the launch of the 45.7-megapixel Z9. It’s an innovative professional camera that offers awesome speed, incredible …
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey might not like what’s become of the internet. But the internet doesn’t stop moving. Elon Musk now owns part of Twitter, after purchasing $2.89 billion in stock, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing spotted by CNBC. The purchase follows recent criticism by Musk over the social media site’s free speech policies. Musk loves tweeting, so it makes sense beyond those criticisms. His tweets have even set off SEC lawsuits.
Musk is now the platform’s largest shareholder, and he’s already inquiring into an edit button.
The worst thing about buying something new, cutting-edge and kinda pricey is when it’s no longer new, cutting-edge and, well, on sale. So my awesome LG C1 OLED has just had substantial price cuts from the 48-inch model through to the 65-inch option. Sigh. Still, they’re great TVs with some notable specs for gamers, like 120Hz refresh rates and support for variable refresh rates.
One of the best video game series of all time is making a return in 2022 with some of its key original creatives on board. Return to Monkey Island is “a game by Ron Gilbert,” who conceived the point-and-click comedy-adventure saga in the late ’80s.
Gilbert wrote and directed the original game, The Secret of Monkey Island. He was director, programmer and designer on the sequel, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge.
After years of teasing, the DeLorean Motor Company announced it’ll unveil an all-electric vehicle on August 18th, promising to share its official name at the same time. Details on the concept car are scant. The automaker is working with Italdesign, best known for its work with Volkswagen, to design the upcoming car.
The centerpiece of Samsung’s new TV family is the new QN900B, the centerpiece of the company’s Neo QLED 8K family. For 2022, Samsung has added 14-bit HDR mapping (up from 12-bit mapping on last year’s models) to improve picture detail in both bright and dark scenes. When combined with that massive 7,680 x 4,320 resolution, according to Sam Rutherford, the TV looks seriously sharp.
You no longer need an Xbox if you’re going to play Drinkbox’s latest game in your living room. The studio has announced that its silly-but-sophisticated RPG Nobody Saves the World is coming to PS4, PS5 and Switch on April 14th. The release will also see all players get a local co-op mode — Switch owners will even have the option to play locally using a single set of Joy-Cons.
Online co-op won’t be truly cross-platform. However, PS4 and PS5 players will get to take on dungeons together.
Nobody Saves the World aims to inject some life into RPGs both through its irreverent style and its shapeshifting mechanics. You can unlock and change into over 15 forms, including ridiculous characters like a bodybuilder or robot. Each shape has its own abilities and even quests. The dungeons are shapeshifting, too. Throw in a soundtrack from Superbrothers: Swords & Sworcery‘s Jim Guthrie and this may be one of those RPGs you revisit simply to experience the things you missed the first time around.
Big news for PlayStation and Switch players. 👀
Nobody Saves the World is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PS4 on April 14th. Plus, local co-op support is coming to all platforms on the same day!
One of the best video game series of all time is making a return in 2022 with some of its key original creatives on board. Return to Monkey Island is “a game by Ron Gilbert,” who conceived the point-and-click comedy-adventure saga in the late ’80s.
Gilbert wrote and directed the original game, The Secret of Monkey Island. He was director, programmer and designer on the sequel, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. He left Lucasfilm Games soon after the latter was released, but he was credited on 2009’s Tales of Monkey Island. Gilbert is now back at work on arguably the series he’s best known for as a co-designer and co-writer alongside fellow Monkey Island veteran Dave Grossman.
Return to Monkey Island is in development at Gilbert’s Terrible Toybox. The studio’s working alongside Devolver Digital and Lucasfilm Games on the latest entry. According to the description on a teaser video Devolver posted, it’s a “long-awaited follow-up” to the first two games.
The clip also notes that Michael Land, Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian — all of whom have previously worked on the series — are handling the music, while Dominic Armato is reprising his role as Guybrush Threepwood. So, it’ll certainly sound like a proper Monkey Island game.
Gilbert tried for years to get back the rights to Monkey Island (and Maniac Mansion) from the Disney-owned Lucasfilm Games to no avail. Still, it’s great to see him and so many other Monkey Island veterans returning to the series.
This just shot to the top of the list of my most-anticipated games in 2022. Sorry about all the game of the year awards you just lost, Elden Ring.
If I ever get to make another Monkey Island, I’m going to announce it on April 1st.
While Samsung announced all of its new 2022 TVs back at CES, due to the pandemic we haven’t been able to check them out in person until now. And even though Samsung didn’t bring all of its 30-plus new sets to its flagship store in New York, from what I saw there’s a lot to like about Samsung’s latest big-screen lineup.
The centerpiece of Samsung’s portfolio is, without a doubt, the new QN900B, the centerpiece of the company’s Neo QLED 8K family. For 2022, Samsung has added 14-bit HDR mapping (up from 12-bit mapping on last year’s models) to improve picture detail in both bright and dark scenes. When combined with that massive 7,680 x 4,320 resolution, the TV looks seriously sharp.
The QN900B’s higher peak brightness and 8K resolution deliver super sharp details in practically any lighting conditions.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
But the most promising upgrades might be the changes Samsung made behind the glass, including an updated Neural Quantum processor the company says can analyze the content being shown to further optimize image quality. As for audio, the QN900B also gets a new 90W 6.2.4 channel speaker setup featuring Dolby Atmos with Object Tracking Sound Pro. This allows the TV to tweak sounds and voices based on where they appear on screen, adding an extra level of immersion.
As a gamer, I really like that in addition to improved support for game streaming services like Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce Now built into Samsung’s Gaming Hub, the QN900B (along with the 4K QN95B and QN90B) also gets one HDMI 2.1 port that supports refresh rates of up to 144Hz (up from 120Hz). Meanwhile, all of Samsung’s new TVs from the Q80B and up will come standard with four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 120Hz inputs. That means you won’t need to constantly mess with your cables to make sure you’re getting the best possible image quality for your Xbox Series X, PS5, or any gaming PCs you might have connected to the TV. That’s a big quality of life upgrade compared to my two-year-old TV that only has a single port that supports 120Hz inputs.
I also want to mention the QN900B’s design, which features practically non-existent bezels. Particularly with its slimmer base, the TV really gives the impression that the whole thing is floating in mid-air. Samsung even tweaked the sides of the TV’s bezels with a brushed metal finish and patterned cut-outs, which looks slick but not distracting. Sadly, with the smallest 65-inch model starting at a whopping $5,000, Samsung’s latest 8K TVs aren’t cheap. Thankfully, if you don’t care about 8K (which is very understandable), Samsung’s Neo QLED 4K QN85B starts at just $1,500 for a 55-inch model.
The S95B features Quantum Dot tech and is Samsung’s first new OLED TV in almost a decade.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
However, I think the S95B (which starts at $2,200 for a 55-inch model) is Samsung’s most interesting TV for 2022. Not only is it the company’s first new OLED TV in almost a decade, it also features Quantum Dot technology and a new sub-pixel architecture that delivers some truly impressive colors. Unlike traditional OLED displays, Samsung got rid of the traditional white sub-pixel and instead uses blue sub-pixels as the main source of illumination. And when paired with the same Neural Quantum Processor used in the QN900B, the S95B delivers better brightness than traditional OLEDs without washing out colors or reducing saturation. Honestly, the richness and vibrancy of this display is jaw-dropping, and I actually stopped in my tracks the first time I walked past it.
Now, it’s important to remember that the S95B still isn’t as bright as one of Samsung’s QLED sets, so for people watching TV in a room with lots of windows or tons of ambient light, something like the 4K QN90B would probably be a better option. And while the S95B (which starts at $2,199.99 for a 55-inch model) does get four HDMI ports that support 120Hz inputs, sizes top out at just 65 inches compared to 85 inches for most of Samsung’s QLED sets.
The 2022 Frame’s new matte coating also makes the TV’s art mode look much more lifelike.
Sam Rutherford/Eng
Finally, when it comes to Samsung’s Frame TVs (which starts at $1,000 for a 43-inch model), the big change for 2022 is a new matte finish that reduces reflections and helps the set do an even better job of disguising itself as art when you’re not watching it. To me, the matte finish gave things like brush strokes in paintings an extra level of texture, resulting in a more lifelike appearance. That said, there is a downside because the anti-reflective coating slightly reduces how much light gets through the TV’s front glass. Thankfully, Samsung easily remedied that by increasing the 2022 Frame’s overall brightness, both in art mode and when showing content.
Here’s a comparison showing the effect the 2022 Frame’s (left) anti-reflective coating has when light is shined on it versus last year’s model (right). Note how the glare is much less harsh on the new Frame.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
But perhaps my big takeaway after seeing Samsung’s new TV lineup is that it feels like there’s more choice than ever before when it comes to picking your perfect set. If you want a super high-res TV with excellent brightness that will look great even in bright rooms with lots of windows, there’s the QN900B. Alternatively, if you want brilliant colors and deep inky blacks, the S95B represents a welcome return for Samsung to the OLED TV space, which is a market its cross-country rival LG has dominated in recent years. And if you prefer a TV with a more subdued design that might blend in better with your decor, there’s the Frame and its updated matte finish.
All of Samsung’s new 2022 TVs are available for pre-order today, with devices expected to begin shipping out sometime later this month.
Epic Games and Microsoft have wrapped up their campaign to support Ukraine relief efforts through Fortniteafter raising an impressive $144 million. Both companies donated their proceeds from the game for the last two weeks to humanitarian causes supporting people affected by the war. The funds will go to Direct Relief, UNICEF, UN World Food Program, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and World Central Kitchen.
Our deepest thanks to everyone who joined us in supporting humanitarian relief efforts for people affected by the war in Ukraine.
The campaign aligned with the start of Fortnite‘s latest season, meaning that many players were buying V-Bucks to unlock the latest Battle Pass and scoop up new in-game items. Epic and Xbox donated their cuts of gifted Battle Passes, Fortnite Crew subscriptions and gift cards redeemed during that time to relief efforts as well.
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