New THQ Nordic horror game ‘Fade to Silence’ hits Steam ahead of The Game Awards

After launching a teaser site on Wednesday dubbed #EndlessWinter, THQ Nordic and developer Black Forest Games quietly revealed their new game, Fade to Silence, on Steam, just before the 2017 Game Awards. The survival horror game throws players into a post-apocalyptic, frozen world where resources are dwindling, and the only way to survive is to stick together. The game will launch in Early Access December 14.

According to the description, players take control of lead protagonist Ash in what’s described as a “complex, character-driven, group survival experience.” The player’s biggest foe will be winter itself, especially when a blizzard strikes and catches players off-guard. Beasts inhabit the frozen wastelands as well, including Eldritch monsters, pushing players to not only fight against a harsh environment, but the creatures brought forth by whatever devastated the world. The game will include a tiered weapon system, ranged weapon, and melee-based combat.

“In order to survive and overcome all challenges, the player needs to attract followers, bringing them into the refuge,” the game’s description states. “Each individual skillset and character traits grants access to higher tier resources and gear. Without such advances, the player character can scavenge only the barest necessities, crafting makeshift tools and weapons.”

The early access version will consist of a river delta, a cultivated farmland, and a dense forest region. Players will have access to a wolf-pulled sled, and an NPC-based companion to keep players company. Other NPCs will appear during the journey, and players must determine if they’re fit to be part of the team, or total flesh baggage that needs to be left behind in the bitter cold.

“We believe nothing is a more personal game-experience than a survival game,” says Black forest Games. “Our goal is to develop something that drags you deep into the cold and deadly world of an apocalyptic winter. Therefore, for us this game will only be perfect if we can get feedback from the community. Early Access is designed for that.”

The schedule shows the game to remain as an Early Access build until a full release in August 2018. The next eight months will serve as testing grounds as the developer dumps features into the game, and receives feedback. That said, the Early Access will continue to reel in updates, fixes, and changes until the game’s full release late next summer.

“We are also introducing the first beats of the story: What is the haunting voice that keeps pestering, misleading, mocking us? Where does the corruption come from, and why?” the studio adds. “Can we even do anything about it?”

Here are the current hardware specifications, but note the high amount of memory needed to run the same versus the use of old processors and graphics cards:

Minimum
Recommended
Operating system (64-bit):
Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10
Windows 10
Processor:
Intel Core i5-2400
AMD FX-8320
Intel Core i7-3770
AMD FX-8350
Graphics:
Nvidia GeForce GTX 760
AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
AMD Radeon RX 480
Memory:
12GB
16GB
Storage:
30GB
30GB

During its official reveal at The Game Awards, Black Forest Games released a trailer, and announced that the game will be coming to consoles when the game exits early access in 2018.

Update: Added information about Black Forest Games’ reveal during The Game Awards.

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Harish’s Favorite Things of 2017

Harish’s Favorite Things

2017 turned out to be a very interesting year for tech — budget phones got much better, and flagships continued to push boundaries with bezel-less displays and significantly-improved cameras. I got to try out a ton of phones and accessories, and ended up buying a whole lot of gear I’ll probably not use all that much.

From phones to accessories and hardware, these are my favorite things of 2017.

Galaxy Note 8

Samsung didn’t put a foot wrong this year. The Galaxy Note 8 has everything you need in a phone, and then some. With a gorgeous Super AMOLED panel with minimal bezels, excellent dual rear cameras (with OIS on both sensors!), beefy internals, sleek design, and S Pen, the Note 8 is the complete package. This is the phone to beat going into 2018.

$923 Buy now

Xiaomi Mi A1

At the other end of the spectrum is Xiaomi’s Mi A1. The first in the new wave of Android One devices, the Mi A1 punches significantly above its weight. The phone has a 5.5-inch Full HD panel, Snapdragon 625, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, dual 12MP rear cameras, and a 3000mAh battery. All this and the promise of quick updates for under $250, and it’s easy to see why the Mi A1 is such an easy recommendation.

$226 Buy Now

Google Home

A year after its debut, Google Home continues to be a great option if you’re looking for an internet-connected speaker. Assistant has picked up a ton of new features, including the ability to set reminders (finally). With the device now selling for just $79, there’s no reason not to get one.

$79 Buy Now

Marshall Stanmore Multi-Room

I bought the Stanmore three years ago, and it continues to be one of my best audio purchases. Marshall rolled out an updated variant of the Stanmore a few months ago, which has the same great sound and retro flair, but with a slew of new connectivity options: Wi-Fi, Chromecast built-in, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect in addition to Bluetooth and a 3.5mm jack. It’s $100 costlier than the Bluetooth-enabled version of the Stanmore, but it’s worth the investment.

$450 Buy Now

Sphero R2-D2

If you’re interested in Star Wars, you should take a look at Sphero’s app-controlled R2-D2. The attention to detail is astonishing — particularly when you consider the fact that it costs $125. It also comes with an integrated speaker, flashing lights at the front and rear, and a ton of programmable actions.

$125 Buy Now

Sony MDR-1000X

The MDR-1000X is just as good as Bose’s QC-35 at blocking out sound, and offers much better audio quality. The build quality is also better, you get a durable carrying case, and playback controls on the left earcup. A no-brainer if you travel a lot.

$289 Buy Now

Mi Robot Vacuum

I bought Xiaomi’s Mi Robot Vacuum on a whim, and it turned out to be a great purchase. The vacuum has the same motor as a Roomba 980, and comes with a navigation system that automatically maps out the interior of your house. You can control it from your phone, set automated cleaning schedules, and monitor it in real-time as it cleans your house. How cool is that?

$319 Buy Now

Zotac Magnus EN1070

My primary PC is running a GTX 1080, and I picked up a Magnus EN1070 a few months ago to as a living room gaming machine. I needed a beefy PC in a compact form factor, and the Magnus EN1070 is ideal in that regard. The device is barely larger than my router, but it comes with a 2.7GHz Kaby Lake Core i5-7500T CPU, GeForce GTX 1070, slots for two SSDs (one M.2 and one 2.5-inch), up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, two HDMI 2.0 out, USB-C port, USB 3.1 Gen2 port, and two USB 3.0 ports. And you get Wi-Fi ac as well as Bluetooth 4.2.

I ended up buying a barebones edition and slotting in 8GB of RAM, a Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD, and a 1TB mechanical drive. You’re looking at around $1,500 including the memory and storage, but it is absolutely worth it.

$1,099 Buy Now

ASUS RT-AC5300

I’m not sold on mesh networking yet, and until there’s a beefier option available, I’m continuing with ASUS’ arachnid-wannabe RT-AC5300. I switched to a Gigabit internet plan six months ago, and upgraded from my trusty AC1900-class RT-AC87. The AC5300 has excellent range, insane throughput, four Gigabit Ethernet ports, and two 5GHz bands. I managed to significantly increase the throughput to my work machine — going from 300Mbps to around 500Mbps — with the AC5300.

$297 Buy Now

Yeelight LED bulbs

Yi Technology’s Yeelight LED bulbs effectively undercut Hue while still offering a similar feature-set. The main differentiator is that you don’t need a centralized hub to get started with the Yeelight bulbs, significantly lowering the barrier to entry. You can also control the bulbs via either Alexa or Google Assistant.

$25 Buy Now

All New Titles Announced At The Game Awards 2017

The Game Awards 2017 was chock full of things for us to all ruminate on for the next few weeks.

Granted a lot of those things come down to developers having a few too many drinks and telling the viewing public how things really are. EA was definitely in front of the firing squad from a couple of speakers whether it was directly or indirectly.

In addition to a few verbal firebrands, there was a lot of announcements for games that were not necessarily new. There was a new trailer for A Way Out which may or may not be getting distribution from EA in 2018. An all-new mode was announced for Fornite Battle Royal wherein two fifty player teams battle it out for dominance. We got to see a good length trailer for Metro: Exodus and it actually looked pretty intriguing. We also got to see that PUBG, one of the most beloved games of 2017, will most decidedly not be making an appearance on PlayStation 4 because you should never cross the platforms lest you experience total protonic reversal. Probably the most thought-provoking update was for Death Stranding by Hideo Kojima. One might think that the game would start to make a little more sense as the released longer trailers. Not really

There was however, a few all-new titles announced that will be coming to the PlayStation 4 in the not too distant future. There wasn’t anything totally mind blowing as far as I was concerned but there was certainly a few titles that piqued my interest. Here is a list of all the totally new games announced at The Game Awards 2017

World War Z

Accounting+ (PSVR)

Vacation Simulator (PSVR)

Soul Caliber VI

Fade to silence

Witchfire

GTFO

Shadows Die Twice (No platform announced but maybe PS4)

What was your favorite moment of The Game Awards 2017? Any of these titles jump out to you in particular? Let us know in the comments!

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‘Dreams,’ the new game from ‘LittleBigPlanet’ devs, lands in 2018

We’ve been wondering about Dreams for a while now. First announced in 2015 as a trippy, user-controlled kind of world-creating game, Dreams is the new title from LittleBigPlanet studio Media Molecule and it’s due to hit PlayStation 4 in 2018. The release date is new — Media Molecule has been remarkably silent about Dreams over the past few years, but the studio revealed its launch window tonight during The Game Awards.

Despite the secrecy, there are a few details about Dreams out in the wild. Much of the game revolves around players creating their own unique worlds and scenarios, but it’ll definitely have a traditional campaign as well.

“We want people to be able to access all the tools without them feeling like they’re editing,” Art Director Kareem Ettouney told Engadget in 2015. “It should feel like spells, like magic.”

Our hearts were beating very fast. So excited to share this with people and start sharing more info about the project ❤️ https://t.co/8K4DqqGxxO

— siobhan (@siobhanreddy) December 8, 2017

2018 iPhone X Successor Could Feature Up to 10% More Powerful Battery With New 1-Cell Design

Next year’s version of the iPhone X could feature up to 10 percent more battery power if Apple and LG Chem are able to deploy a one-cell design for the device’s L-shaped battery, as opposed to the two-cell battery used in the iPhone X, according to a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that was obtained by MacRumors.

Kuo says the more space efficient two-cell design would allow Apple to boost battery capacity from 2716 mAh in the iPhone X to somewhere between 2900 and 3000 mAh for next year’s 5.8-inch iPhone.

As he previously claimed, Kuo believes Apple will release three new iPhones with TrueDepth cameras next year: a larger 6.5-inch OLED model that can be thought of as an “iPhone X Plus”, a 5.8-inch OLED successor to the iPhone X, and a 6.1-inch LCD model. Today’s report says that Apple is likely to use a two-cell battery design in the 6.5-inch model, but the larger size of the device will still allow it to have a capacity in the range of 3300 to 3400 mAh.

Two new 2H18 iPhone models could adopt L-shaped battery (6.5” & 5.8” OLED models), with capacity upgraded for all models. In order to extend battery life, we believe it is necessary to expand battery capacity because all three new 2H18 models will be equipped with TrueDepth Camera, which consumes more power. We think Apple (US) is developing a 1-cell L-shaped battery in collaboration with LGC (KR). If the new battery enters mass production on time, the 5.8” OLED iPhone model will come with a battery with larger capacity (2,900-3,000mAh with higher RFPCB ASP $2.1-2.4). For the 6.1” LCD model, we expect Apple to keep the rectangular battery design to keep a better cost structure, and we expect capacity could be larger than those of the iPhone 8 series.

Some observers were surprised to see a two-cell battery inside the iPhone X when it was opened up by iFixit just after its launch, but there are technical challenges involved in producing non-rectangular battery cells, challenges Apple was unable to overcome in time for the iPhone X.

iPhone X battery from iFixit’s teardown
With device space at a premium and a number of power-hungry components like the TrueDepth camera, however, it’s unsurprising that Apple and its supply chain partners are pushing forward to develop a one-cell design to provide more battery capacity within the same volume.

Tags: KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo
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Bitcoin is still soaring. What’s the limit?

At the close of 2017, eight years on from its original launch, Bitcoin’s future looks stronger than ever. Following years of stagnation, its value has skyrocketed more than 1,000 percent over the past 12 months, and has surged over $2,000 in just the last few days.

Though it’s a relatively new phenomenon, many claim to know what the future of Bitcoin holds. Despite that confidence, should it be invested in freely? Anyone who remembers the hype train of the dot com bubble will remember too well the dangers of investing in the next big thing.

Then again, many of today’s biggest technology giants were spawned in that era, and survived to become billion-dollar companies. Is Bitcoin, like Amazon or Google, on the leading edge of a revolution? Or is it, like Lycos and GeoCities, a good idea doomed by fundamental flaws?

Up, up, and away!

Some have theorized the launch of many new alternative currencies – which now number in the hundreds – have helped push up the value of Bitcoin and other more established currencies, like Ethereum. Ironically, the Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) of new currencies are often funded by existing coins. However, according to host of the Bitcoin News Show, Vortex, that’s only part of the picture.

“What’s happening now is reminiscent of the dot com bubble in 1998.”

“The ICO craze has died off in the past few months after bitcoin started ripping past $5,000 […] Since Ethereum and most ICOs have little fundamentals, the value would inevitably be driven back into Bitcoin, once people slowly realize how valuable Bitcoin really is.”

Ultimately, he said, the main reason for Bitcoin soaring in value throughout 2017 is a growing realization of the potential for cryptocurrencies, the age-old supply and demand, and a better understanding of the digital scarcity that is an intrinsic part of Bitcoin. The way it was designed means that one day, sometime in the next couple of decades, the last coin will be mined, leaving us with a global total of 21 million coins – if we ignore the many millions that are said to have been ‘lost’ over the years.

That factor alone could be the reason Bitcoin’s value has surged. The slowing rate of mined coins, and an understanding that new ones will eventually be unavailable, creates scarcity and adds a certain built-in value.

History repeats itself

The mixture of a distant, but impending end may help drive investment of Bitcoin, but it’s nothing new to business investment in general.

“It reminds me of the old internet days,” CEO and founder of CryptoBnB, Tariq Alwahedi, told DigitalTrends. “It was something exotic […] What’s happening now is reminiscent of the dot com bubble in 1998, when you saw a huge money flowing into the dot com companies. Yes, there was a bubble that happened, but let’s be frank, what’s happening in the industry today, is that many of those companies that formed during that time are shaping the online industry today.”

CEO and founder of CryptoBnB, Tariq Alwahedi

Alwahedi also drew comparison with booms and busts in the stock market, but he wasn’t sure we’d see a similar crash in Bitcoin’s future. Cryptocurrency has historically risen to new heights, only to crash down again — often severely — before making its way to new record values. He’s not sure that’s something we’ll see in this instance.

“I can’t say if it’s a bubble or not, but there is a huge rush towards it. The market is very bullish right now,” he said. “Corrections always can happen, but this is not hype any more. We think this is a fundamental change to the economy, and definitely this will set the scene for the future.”

Vortex, on the other hand, sees a correction in the currency as inevitable, but not something that will put much of a dent in its meteoric rise.

“Bitcoin’s been on a pretty visible stair step pattern for the second half of this year following a more long-term textbook parabolic trend. There will be pull-backs of course, but they are becoming increasingly short lived as the thousands fly by now, that we’ve surpassed the $10k price point. The dot com bubble at its height was in the trillions, and the crypto market cap is still only roughly $300 billion at the time of this writing. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

$15,000 today, $150,000 by 2020?

These two aren’t the only ones with serious confidence about Bitcoin’s (and other currencies’) potential for the future. During a Bitcoin’s most recent tear — itself an astounding spike following an unprecedented year of growth – we’ve seen incredible confidence from some interesting parties.

When I predicted Bitcoin at $500,000 by the end of 2020, it used a model that predicted $5,000 at the end of 2017. BTC has accelerated much faster than my model assumptions. I now predict Bircoin at $1 million by the end of 2020. I will still eat my dick if wrong. pic.twitter.com/WVx3E71nyD

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 29, 2017

John McAfee, known to some as the founder of McAfee anti-virus, and to others as the man who dodged Belize authorities on a murder rap, believes that we could see a single Bitcoin be worth more than a million dollars by 2020. Hedge fund manager and venture capitalist James Altucher agreed with his sentiment, and expects Bitcoin to break seven figures by 2020.

Vortex was a little more conservative in his estimations of Bitcoin’s future, but he sees it as more a question of when Bitcoin will be worth these figures — not if.

“If we look at what Bitcoin is truly competing against, which is the gold market amongst many other industries, we can see that the market cap of that is in the trillions,” he said. “If Bitcoin is to fulfil its purpose of being both a store of value and a medium of exchange, it’s market cap must rise to something similar to that of gold, or the U.S. dollar. The limited supply combined with the upcoming halving in 2020 will see to Bitcoin in the six digits by 2021.”

For Alwahedi’s part of things, he preferred to suggest that it would grow no matter if corrections happen or not, but wouldn’t be drawn on speculations of true figures.

“Are we going to see [Bitcoin value hit] $30,000 [by next year]? I think it’s all possible,” he said. “Nobody would have expected a Bitcoin to move from $600 to $10,000 plus in 1.5 to two years, this is massive growth. Whatever correction will happen will not remain, and it will not drop drastically because the fundamentals are there […] it’s a matter of supply and demand.”

Don’t count out the little coins

Though Bitcoin is important, Alwahedi thinks the real potential with cryptocurrencies is in the alternatives, the so called, “alt-coins.” He means the likes of Dash, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and other advanced cryptocurrencies that offer more than just a store of value and a transactional medium.

“Other blockchain currencies that are available, like Ethereum for example, offer a new layer of smart contracts that you can use, and can give you enhanced experiences as well,” he said. “It’s not only about cashless [or] about paying for transactions, but what else can you bring? Can you minimize friction? Can you make it more efficient? Can you make it truly smart?”

It’s fair to say that he would say that, considering CrypoBnB’s potential success would be built off the ability for its own cryptocurrency to find acceptance among the millions of cryptocurrency owners around the world. Yet while the jury might still be out on the potential for niche, industry-specific currencies like his own and DentaCoin, Alwahedi is committed to the idea of smartening up the global economy. In the future he envisions, our money will be able to do much more than just buy things for us, regardless of what currency or cryptocurrency we hold it in.

“Bitcoin is a fundamental change to the economy, and definitely this will set the scene for the future.”

“I see Ethereum as giving the first insight of smarter currencies than Bitcoin. Bitcoin opened the wide space […] but will it be a smart enough of a currency, or token as other currencies? I don’t know, [but] tomorrow’s money is smarter and will recognize its owner. More than just the financial influence that it has today.”

As for Vortex, he’s made his views to clear to Digital Trends in the past — Bitcoin trumps all.

“Let me be clear. After nine plus years of Bitcoin’s existence, there is absolutely no competition for its main value proposition of being the world’s censorship resistant, permissionless open and global store of value,” he said. Nay-sayers may claim its now too old-school, but he believes the latest and greatest isn’t always the most revolutionary.

“We only have one TCP/IP stack,” Vortex noted. “Google, Facebook and Amazon didn’t go out there and each build their own networking protocols, they simply built atop and improved the existing ones […] When everyone speaks the same protocol language, that’s where the emergent innovation can take place anywhere, and everywhere.”

Is it time to invest?

With many talking heads suggesting Bitcoin’s latest tear is the sign of an even brighter future, you might be looking to invest. It’s only natural to want to ride the wave when there seems to be so many people making so much money, with a comparatively small investment. It is important, however, to exercise caution, and make sure you know what you’re getting into.

“There is a lot of hype happening today, reminding me of the penny share stock market bubble, where people were creating companies and jumping on them because they are cheap and can make lots of money, develop in volume,” Alwahedi told Digital Trends. “Today my advice to everybody is you have to look at the fundamentals of the business itself.”

Fees and transaction issues must also be considered. Steam recently ended its acceptance of the cryptocurrency due to ballooning fees, and its volatile value, and hacks of Bitcoin-connected companies remain common. Unlike your bank account, which is protected by law to guarantee you don’t lose your cash to theft, Bitcoin provides no recourse.

Vortex, however, that pitfalls are to be expected, and balanced by cryptocurrencies’ unique ability to solve problems facing today’s investors. “Bitcoin is not Paypal 2.0, nor should it be looked at that way in the short term,” he said. “There’s only so many places people can store their wealth these days, where it cannot be seized by any government or corporation, and thus Bitcoin is becoming more attractive to the people by the day.”

Ultimately, he thinks we’ll all be using Bitcoin. “Like the internet, if you don’t have email or a website, the world has passed you buy. So too will be the case with Bitcoin.”

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‘Firewatch’ studio Campo Santo is building an Egyptian adventure

Campo Santo, the independent studio behind Firewatch, is working on a new game called In the Valley of Gods. It’s a first-person adventure set in the 1920s that takes players through the abandoned, ancient deserts of Egypt. Here’s how Campo Santo describes it:

“You play as an explorer and filmmaker who, along with your old partner, has traveled to the middle of the desert in the hopes of making a seemingly-impossible discovery and an incredible film.”

In the Valley of Gods is due to hit PC in 2019, though the studio hasn’t ruled out a launch on consoles.

Campo Santo’s first game, Firewatch, was also a first-person adventure, and that approach served the studio well. The game found commercial and critical success in 2016, coming from a team of veteran developers and artists including Olly Moss, Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin.

Source: In the Valley of Gods

‘PUBG’ rival ‘Fortnite’ adds 50 v. 50 team deathmatch

Fortnite: Battle Royale may have caught some flak from the makers of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, but that didn’t stop it from becoming an instant hit. To build on that success (and steal some of PUBG’s thunder, ahead of its arrival on Xbox One), the free-to-play title is adding an insane new game mode. Instead of a 100 player free-for-all, it will be two squads of 50 scrapping it out till one team is left standing. The free mode is available until December 17th on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac.

The game continues to amass fans as well. Epic Games latest numbers reveal Battle Royale has added 20 million additional players since October, bringing its grand total to 30 million. As long as it doesn’t alienate any more (14-year-old) gamers with lawsuits, its star could keep rising — even as the battle royale field gets a little more crowded with upcoming The Darwin Project.

Tonight’s ‘Zelda’ DLC gives you a motorcycle

The next add-on pack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild takes the champions from the base game (Goron, Rito and Zora) adds a slew of new challenges. And best of all, it’s available incredibly soon. More than just additional shrines, the pack brings in new costumes for the Hero of Time and his trusty steed, and it pulls the King of Hyrule and Princess Zelda into the mix too. “The Champions Ballad” will be released tonight on Switch and Wii U and should give you some extra bits to play through as you’re scouring Hyrule. Oh, right, and as Link you’ll get to tool around the overworld on a motorcycle. There isn’t a lot more you could ask for, really.

Source: Nintendo (YoutTube)

‘Soul Calibur VI’ hits Steam, PS4 and Xbox One in 2018

The next, long-awaited entry in the Soul Calibur franchise is on its way. Soul Calibur VI is scheduled to land on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in 2018, Bandai Namco announced tonight during The Game Awards. The new fighting game is all about that fancy swordplay, and the debut trailer showcases some potential new mechanics, as weapons power up in different ways throughout the fight.

Soul Calibur V, the previous game in the series, hit Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012.