John Robertson DUBLIN—Amidst rows of battered tables and chairs, some which look as though they’ve survived a few rough terms at a British state school, the world’s best Kick Off 2 players are preparing to compete. The venue—nestled in the heart of Dublin and a stone’s throw from the infamous Temple Bar district—is the former Williams and Woods chocolate factory, a grubby graffiti-covered building that’s home to the city’s burgeoning creative community. Glamorous it is not, but there’s a sense that this event belongs here. The gutted interior, with its peeling walls and windows that haven’t been cleaned in years,…
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Enlarge / “Big moon Horizons on Cobra and SRV,” by CMDR [AEDC] Haridas Gopal. CMDR [AEDC] Haridas Gopal Ninety frames per second. That’s the new target for consumer VR gear: you need hardware capable of rendering two HD images with all the trimmings at a steady 90fps, or the whole thing starts to shake and judder and make you sick. That 90fps requirement is what’s driving the disturbingly high VR system requirements posted a few days ago for Elite: Dangerous by Frontier Developments; according to Frontier, you need 16GB of RAM, a fast i7 quad-core CPU, and a GeForce GTX…
Share icons With more than 30 million sold, it’s leaving the Xbox One in the dust. The PlayStation 4 has hit yet another sales milestone, further cementing its lead in the console sales race. Sony SNE -1.30% says the system’s life to date sales, as of Nov. 22, have topped 30.2 million units, making the PS4 the fastest selling system in the history of the PlayStation brand—even eclipsing the storied PS2. That, presumably, widens the lead the PS4 has enjoyed over Microsoft’s MSFT -1.72% Xbox One since the beginning of this console life cycle. The question is: Just how big…
The mystery surrounding the fate of Metal Gear Solid’s creator deepens. Generally, when an audience boos, it’s not a sign of support. But for Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, the jeers at last night’s Game Awards were one of the biggest signals to date that gamers support him unconditionally. Kojima wasn’t at the show, though he had been expected to appear. And after Kiefer Sutherland took to the stage to accept the Best Action Game award for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (which the actor starred in), host Geoff Keighley explained Kojima’s absence to the people who…
You’ll be surprised by who made the list. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 may ultimately claim the title of 2015’s best selling game, but when it comes to viral YouTube videos it didn’t even manage to crack the top 10. Instead, it was a commercial for a mobile game that captured the attention of YouTube fans this year, with Liam Neeson’s Clash of Clans Super Bowl ad taking the top spot and racking up more than 83 million views. Top trending gaming videos are based on views, shares, comments, likes and more, according to YouTube GOOG -1.19% . In…
Scientists say Super Mario 3D World is better for you than Angry Birds. If you’re wondering where you put your keys again, it might be time to dust off the video game console. Neurobiologists at the University of California, Irvine have found new evidence that some video games can improve memory. But players have to pick their favorites wisely if they want to increase their brainpower. Not all video games are created equal, it turns out. In the study, to be published Wednesday in The Journal of Neuroscience, some college students played the more passive, 2-D “Angry Birds” game, while…
“Lara Croft GO” is Apple’s game of the year for 2015, according to the App Store’s editorial staff. Square Enix The beautiful world of “Lara Croft GO.” But what is it? It’s basically a “Tomb Raider” version of “Monument Valley” in every way but name. Which is to say: “Lara Croft GO” is a delightful puzzle game, it costs $5, and you should buy it today. Not convinced? Check out what the game is like below. View As: One Page Slides A lot of love went into Lara Croft and the world of “Lara Croft GO.” A lot of love…
While Samsung’s Gear VR headset launched just a few weeks ago, so far experiences with the headset has been limited to playing games, accessing certain apps or watching videos that you either download or stream through a downloaded app. But now, Samsung is hoping to begin opening up the Gear VR to the much wider world of the internet through its own VR-optimized web browser for the headset. Called ‘Samsung Internet for Gear VR’, it’s essentially a VR web browser that you can use to surf the net and visit websites like YouTube without having to jump out and go to a…
The future of bilateral aid to basic education is at risk, placing the educational opportunities of many of the world’s poorest girls and boys on the line. Some donor governments are reducing overall bilateral assistance, others are phasing out long-standing partnerships with particular developing countries and several are abandoning education as a priority sector altogether. All of this, it appears, is being carried out with little donor coordination, resulting in the substantial reduction of external education support and technical assistance for countries where it is desperately needed. While there are several donors increasing their aid to basic education, such as…
Not all international gatherings get the attention they deserve. Next week, governments from around the world will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to decide on aid levels for the Global Partnership on Education. You probably won’t read about it in the media. The outcomes won’t register in financial markets. But for the millions of children in the world’s poorest countries, this is a summit that matters. The Global Partnership on Education is the world’s main source of multilateral aid for basic education. Currently housed in the World Bank, but governed through a wider partnership of U.N. agencies, donors, developing country governments…