Latest Tech News

Rumors of a Nintendo Direct in late June are true, TRG sources can corroborate.

While Nintendo was a no-show at Summer Games Fest proper, a Nintendo Direct later this month would still let Nintendo slip in the back door to the gaming party. With massive announcements at Summer Games Fest around known quantities like Starfield and Diablo 4, and then new surprises like Minecraft Legends, Nintendo has its work cut out for it with a new Nintendo Direct. 

In the company's last Nintendo Direct back in February, Nintendo showed off a cornucopia of updates, including new tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a brand new entry in the Fire Emblem series in the form of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and the announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Remasters of classics like Chrono Cross and the early Front Mission games were more under-the-radar slam dunks that rounded out an impressive Direct lineup.

But most importantly, what are we going to see at the next Nintendo Direct? Lets slip on a Power Glove, place our hands on my questionably-accurate crystal ball, and peer in for a hopeful look.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

There's no way we can avoid Breath of the Wild 2 swirling up from the mists of our crystal ball. Everyone is hungry for more information, so it would be lovely to get a deeper glimpse into gameplay changes, story, or even a more specific release date beyond the vague 'spring 2023' that we have to work with now. Link and the crew are a quieter bunch than Mario, but they're part of the powerful first-party scaffolding that keeps Nintendo on firm ground.

Deep down in the depths of both our hearts, and hidden behind a few other things in the oracle ball, is the possibility of Metroid Prime 4 showing up. News about the latest mainline adventure of Samus would be a massive reveal for Nintendo. We've had nothing but tumbleweeds since we found out in 2019 that Metroid Prime 4 was being scrapped and restarted with the assistance of Retro Studios. That's a long time to wait for a glimpse, and I'm willing to bet that the latest Metroid will get some screen time at last.

And then just to hedge my oracular bets, I'm going to put my prognosticating credentials on the line and say that it's a lock we'll see Xenoblade Chronicles 3. With a July release, there's no way Nintendo doesn't take advantage of the opportunity to show us more of the latest entry in the sci-fi JRPG series. Another trailer would make the most sense here, given how close to release we are now, especially if it shows off more of the gameplay, given that the co-op play can shine with the new party size of up to seven.

But for the moment, all we can do is wait, and daydream about an imminent visit from some of Nintendo's gaming luminaries.

• Need something to do while you wait? Check out the best Switch games.

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Every New Pokemon Revealed So Far - CNET

Take a look at some new Pokemon debuting in the upcoming Nintendo Switch games.

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Latest Tech News

The long and chequered lifespan of mathematical icon pi has been extended even further thanks to Google Cloud.

Google Developer Advocate, Emma Haruka Iwao, successfully calculated pi to 100 trillion digits using the company's cloud platform.

What's even more striking it that this is the second time in just three years that Iwao has broken the record.

Why does this matter?

Mathematicians have been cracking away at calculating pi to its limits since Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Babylon.

Google openly admitted that you might not need to “calculate trillions of decimals of pi” but said the “massive calculation demonstrates how Google Cloud’s flexible infrastructure lets teams around the world push the boundaries of scientific experimentation".

Though pi related calculations pop up in everything from the theory of relativity to engineering problems and GPS mapping, these types of extreme calculations are generally used as a benchmarking tool by computer scientists, to prove and assess the power of their hardware.

How did they do it?

Google Cloud says it used it’s generally available Compute Engine service to make the record calculation.

The tech giant attributed its improved result compared to last time it made the attempt in 2019 to improved networking and storage.

The project was able to achieve 100 Gbps egress bandwidth, a huge improvement on the 16 Gbps of egress available when they did the 31.4-trillion-digit calculation in 2019.

The project used new network driver Google Virtual NIC (gVNIC), which is integrated with Google’s Andromeda virtual network stack

Google also attributed the success of the project in large part to improved storage, saying that as the “dataset doesn't fit into main memory, the speed of the storage system was the bottleneck of the calculation”.

For this job they decided to use Balanced Persistent Disc, a new type of persistent disk which Google said offers up to 1,200 MB/s read and write throughout and 15-80k IOPS.

READ MORE:

> Google Cloud is launching a Web3 team

> Google Cloud taps AMD to bring confidential computing to VMs

> Google Cloud launches its own version of PostgreSQL

Those who are interested in checking out more about the nitty gritty of the project can head to  GitHub to find the code Google used.

Google will also be hosting a live webinar on June 15 to share more about the experimentation process and results, and you can head here to join.

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Cheeses Recalled in 9 States Over Listeria Concerns: Check Your Fridge for These Brands - CNET

The Food and Drug Administration recalls several cheeses made by Paris Brothers.

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Latest Tech News

Quest 2 VR headset owners in the UK will finally get access to Horizon Worlds starting today – and an update coming to the headset this week will make socializing in VR much easier for everyone.

Horizon Worlds is Meta’s burgeoning metaverse platform and Quest 2 users in the UK (who are over 18) can now download and jump into it for free. They’ll join users already accessing the service in the US and Canada.

Much like other virtual reality social spaces – such as the thriving VR Chat platform – Horizon Worlds acts like a sort of audio-based chatroom. Think Reddit crossed with Clubhouse or Discord.

Rather than sitting at your desk though, you and the people you're chatting with will be transported to some far-off location, be it a snowy mountaintop, a sandy island, or a simple treehouse.

Friends collaborating on a world in Horizon Worlds (Image credit: Meta)

If you can't find the right hangout spot, then you can also try making your own. You can even collaborate with your friends and use community-created assets and objects to add some flair to your VR space.

This UK update marks the first major expansion for Horizon Worlds since its launch. Meta likely hopes this influx of new players will help its metaverse platform continue to grow and thrive, but we'll have to wait and see how UK players react to it.

Look out for our thoughts and reactions to Horizon Worlds later in the week as new members of our team get to try it out for themselves.

The Quest 2 gets a multiplayer update

Whether you’re in the UK or not, Meta will also be rolling out its v41 update to all Quest 2 users later this week.

As revealed by Mark Zuckerberg (Meta’s CEO) on his Facebook page, the update is aimed at improving multiplayer experiences on the Quest 2. Once installed, friends will be able to meet up in the same virtual home environment – the idyllic spaces that you first boot into when you turn on your VR headset.

Once together, you’ll then be able to travel into various apps and video experiences so you can enjoy them as a group. In his demonstration, Zuckerberg was joined by Alex Honnold (the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo) and the pair watched Honnold’s 360-degree film The Soloist VR.

While their VR avatars watched the film, Honnold explained to Zuckerberg how he approaches free soloing – climbing alone without any ropes – and how the climbs in his film compared with those he has attempted in the past. If you’re at all afraid of heights then you might want to avoid watching this particular video.

When the update launches, we’ll likely learn about other apps and videos that will support group watching. VR multiplayer is one of the best features on the Quest 2, so we hope to see Meta continue to expand on it more in future updates.

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Overwatch 2 Coming Out Oct. 4, Will Be Free to Play - CNET

Time to get the team back together.

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Latest Tech News

Activision Blizzard may not yet be a part of Microsoft, but that’s not stopped them from rocking up in the Microsoft Xbox and Bethesda Showcase to give a chunky gameplay video of Diablo 4 in action.

Blizzard took the opportunity to reveal Diablo 4’s fifth and final class: the necromancer. This commander will be able to summon skeletons and other ghoulies to find alongside it their battles against Lilith’s demon horde.

You can see the necromancer in action in this gory reveal trailer:

While the necromancer reveal is cool to see, it was also great to get a more detailed overview of the more significant changes coming in Diablo 4. Blizzard walked through not just the open world but also how the shared player experience will feature in the action.

Diablo 4 has no linear story campaign this time around. Instead, it’s a fully open world you can explore in your own time, dotted with nearly 150 dungeons to conquer. There are also enemy strongholds for you to eradicate. Every time you take down a stronghold you’ll be rewarded either with a new permanent human settlement or a dungeon to explore. In this way, you’ll slowly turn the world to your own ends.

Blizzard also took the chance to show off even more of its shared world in action, where players can join together to take down massive bosses and also take part in PvP. Though, as soon as you engage in PvP you open yourself up to be attacked by other players. However, if you’re good enough and continue to wipe out other human players then you’ll be highlighted to all the players in your shared world – if they can take you down then they’ll be rewarded with a bounty of loot.

Have a watch of the gameplay video to see all of this stuff in action:

Another neat feature is all the crossplay and co-op opportunities. Play with friends in couch co-op too. I can’t wait for this gory ARPG.

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HBO Max: The 29 Best Movies to Watch - CNET

Roadrunner, a 2021 documentary about Anthony Bourdain, is streaming now. Here's everything you should check out on HBO Max.

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There's a Way to Download Apple's iOS 16 Beta Today. Here's How - CNET

If you can't wait for its public release date, you can download the iPhone update now. But, there are caveats and reasons you may want to hold off.

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Latest Tech News

Obsidian Entertainment's survival game Grounded has received a new trailer at Microsoft and Bethesda showcase, confirming that it is finally leaving Early Access and entering its full release in September 2022. 

The game, which initially came out in early access in 2020, has had a long road to getting to full release but it looks like that patience from the community is about to pay off. 

In a new Grounded trailer, further details about what to expect in the full release were outlined. Now the 'full yard' is here with features such as base defense, wild biomes, crafts, huge bosses, and upgraded armor being shouted out. 

On top of that, it was mentioned that "the full story" is coming with the release too. It's also claimed in the trailer that there are 10 million players, so the population should be healthy for the Xbox Game Pass game.

Grounded has you playing as shrunken teens in their backyard, taking on all manner of enormous insects and critters, as you fight your way for survival. Think Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Ark: Survival Evolved and you are in the right ballpark. 

There was no specific date announced in past "September", but that isn't too long to wait for players. It seems like this will bring a lot of content not in the game yet, so mark your calendars... if not a little generally. 

• Here's our list of the best survival games

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Netflix: The 49 Absolute Best TV Shows to Watch - CNET

Plus, watch fantasy romance First Kill this week!

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Wow your dad with a special delivery.

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HBO Max: The 40 Best TV Shows to Watch - CNET

Check out the first episode of new drama miniseries Irma Vep, and see what else is available on the Warner Bros. streamer.

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