Yearly Archives: 2020

Ubisoft May Have Changed Gods & Monsters’ Name After a Trademark Dispute With Monster Energy

It looks like Ubisoft changed the name of Gods & Monsters to Immortals Fenyx Rising due to a trademark dispute with Monster Energy. As detailed in this video from Hoeg Law, the Gods & Monsters trademark faced an opposition filing from the Monster Energy Company in April of 2020, which may have forced Ubisoft's hand, necessitating the name change to Immortals Fenyx Rising. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/gods-monsters-reveal-trailer-e3-2019"] You can see the full timeline of Gods & Monsters attempted patent registration over on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website. Ubisoft applied for the patent back in June of 2019, and did not face any issues until January of this year, when Monster Energy applied to oppose the trademark under a belief that its brand would be damaged due to the "likelihood of confusion" between the two entities. In the notice of opposition the energy drink brand cites its ties to the games industry through sponsorship of professional gamers and esports organizations in support of its many claims. What's interesting is that in Ubisoft's May 2020 answer to Monster Energy's notice of opposition, they deny almost all of the claims. Yet ahead of September's Ubisoft Forward, the game's name was officially changed from Gods & Monsters to Immortals Fenyx Rising. In an interview with VGC last week, associate game director Julien Galloudec said that the name change was not a technical decision, but one related to the evolved "vision" of the game: So no, the change of name was entirely because of the vision of the game. When you start a game it’s always an adventure and it’s a very iterative process. So you start with a vision that evolves as you craft it with the team and we get feedback and ideas. [...] So after that, the game changed a lot, to the point where we felt we needed a new name to be better aligned with that updated vision, so that’s where we decided to change to Immortals Fenyx Rising". [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=immortals-fenyx-rising-screenshots&captions=true"] We've contacted Ubisoft for comment. Immortals: Fenyx Rising will launch on Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PC on December 3, 2020. You can check out our preview here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Surgeon Simulator 2 Review – Medical Malpractice

There's a fine line when playing a deliberately awkward game. On one hand, unreliable physics and purposefully clunky controls can yield hilarious results, as the struggle to perform basic actions is delightfully silly. Much like other absurdist "simulation" games such as Goat Simulator and the original Surgeon Simulator, Surgeon Simulator 2's best moments come from facing a ridiculous scenario while being woefully ill-equipped to deal with it. However, the laughs eventually die down, replaced by exasperated sighs as surgeries become more complex and picking up a scalpel doesn't get any less cumbersome.

Played from a first-person perspective, Surgeon Simulator 2 is far closer to a wobbly puzzle game than a proper simulation--albeit one with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In addition to performing surgery, you'll be navigating hospital labyrinths, solving conditional logic puzzles to access medical supplies, and generally trying to prevent the surgical dummy affectionately known as Bob from dying. Surgeon Simulator 2 features a story mode, playable solo or cooperatively with up to four players, where you're learning on the job using allegedly state-of-the-art simulation technology instead of bothering with stuffy medical school. This takes place over a series of levels, beginning with a tutorial, after which you'll be attempting your first heart transplant--a completely natural progression for medical practitioners, surely.

No Caption Provided

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Surgeon Simulator 2 Review – Medical Malpractice

There's a fine line when playing a deliberately awkward game. On one hand, unreliable physics and purposefully clunky controls can yield hilarious results, as the struggle to perform basic actions is delightfully silly. Much like other absurdist "simulation" games such as Goat Simulator and the original Surgeon Simulator, Surgeon Simulator 2's best moments come from facing a ridiculous scenario while being woefully ill-equipped to deal with it. However, the laughs eventually die down, replaced by exasperated sighs as surgeries become more complex and picking up a scalpel doesn't get any less cumbersome.

Played from a first-person perspective, Surgeon Simulator 2 is far closer to a wobbly puzzle game than a proper simulation--albeit one with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In addition to performing surgery, you'll be navigating hospital labyrinths, solving conditional logic puzzles to access medical supplies, and generally trying to prevent the surgical dummy affectionately known as Bob from dying. Surgeon Simulator 2 features a story mode, playable solo or cooperatively with up to four players, where you're learning on the job using allegedly state-of-the-art simulation technology instead of bothering with stuffy medical school. This takes place over a series of levels, beginning with a tutorial, after which you'll be attempting your first heart transplant--a completely natural progression for medical practitioners, surely.

No Caption Provided

Continue Reading at GameSpot

PS5: No Change to Production Numbers, Sony Says

Update: In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony denies the details in Bloomberg's report. "While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false," Sony says. "We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Sony has reportedly cut its estimated PS5 production for its fiscal year by 4 million units, bringing the new total to around 11 million, following "production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip for the new console." As reported by Bloomberg, Sony had boosted orders with suppliers in "anticipation of heightened demand for gaming in the holiday season and beyond, as people spend more time at home due to the coronavirus." However, these manufacturing issues are causing "production yields as low as 50%" for its system-on-chip, which have hindered its ability to produce as many PS5s as planned. Bloomberg's sources did mention that yields have been "gradually improving" but they have yet to reach a stable level. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/ps5-reveal-event-in-5-minutes"] Sony's shares dropped by as much as 3.5% following this news, which is its biggest intraday drop since August. Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at Niko Partners, has stated that this production delay will "hit PS5 supply during 2021," and Sony is planning on using Air Freight to "meet demand this holiday and ship as many units as possible in the launch period." Ahmad notes that "production yield issues will always exist, especially at the beginning of a console launch, though this does seem more severe than expected." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] This news follows both Sony's announcement of its PlayStation 5 Showcase event this Wednesday, September 16, and Microsoft revealing both the price and release date of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. We have yet to learn the price and release date of the PS5, but we now know that the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will cost $499 and $299, respectively. Bloomberg's intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi says the PS5 could be priced as low as $449, while the PS5 Digital Edition could possibly "dip below $400." If we do learn the price and release date for the PS5 this Wednesday, we will keep you up-to-date with our PS5 preorder guide. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/14/playstation-the-edge-play-has-no-limits"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Microsoft’s Underwater Server Experiment Looks Like a Success

In 2018 Microsoft had the idea to sink an entire data center to the bottom of the Scottish sea as an experiment to see if submerged conditions were better for data centers. After two years, Microsoft resurfaced its nautical data center and discovered the results turned out great. Microsoft sunk 864 servers, which contained 27.6 petabytes of storage, down 117 feet into the ocean. Microsoft’s Project Natick team believed these underwater conditions would actually be more energy-efficient and better overall for data centers. And it looks like they were correct. Project Natick, Vessel retrieval Stromness, Orkney. Microsoft - Tuesday 7th to Wednesday 15th of July 2020 As it turns out, underwater data centers had just one-eight the failure rate of on-land data centers. The reason is that on land factors like oxygen, moisture in the air can corrode computer components. Not to mention the many temperature fluctuations over time. Meanwhile, if data centers are placed in Microsoft’s submerged pods, engineers can create a stable environment where they control factors like humidity and oxygen, or just keep data centers away from people who might break things themselves. Having deployable data centers like this can also allow companies to build servers near coastal areas that need them. Project Natick, Inverness at Nigg Energy Park - Opening vessel and analysising data, 20-23 July 2020 The next stage of the experiment will see if Microsoft can safely recycle retrieved data centers once they reach the end of their lifespan. Check out Project Natick’s full research blog here, and the video explainer here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN. Photo by Microsoft

Fall Guys Devs Created Cheaters-Only Servers

The Fall Guys developers created servers that only pitted cheaters against cheaters on what was known as Cheater Island. With virtually any PC game, the opportunity for people to cheat is there. Developers like that of Fall Guys, Mediatonic, hope that cheaters grow to see how cheating ruins the fun but when that didn't happen, they took matters into their own hands. Today, the official Twitter account recounted the story of how Cheater Island came to be.   "For now...BUCKLE UP," the first tweet in a 21-tweet thread reads. "Let me tell you a wild story. It's called The RISE and FALL of Cheater Island." The tweet also tagged the official Netflix Twitter "in case they want to make a film or series out of it" and after reading the story, we hope Netflix jumps on the opportunity. Mediatonic had its own cheat detection built into Fall Guys at the game's launch but they weren't banning anyone that cheated — just gathering data on the cheating as the studio wanted to be 100% sure that the cheat detection was only catching people who were legitimately cheating. After confirming that this detection worked, the studio launched "Fall Guys Cheater Island ™," which was a "magical place where cheaters could happily compete against themselves for the Cheater's Crown." This crown was just a normal crown stained with a hollow feeling of guilt and regret, one of the tweets reads. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-fall-guys-minigame-ranked&captions=true"] Because Mediatonic was only collecting data on cheaters at this point, the island's population was zero. That's when the studio lowered the threshold for cheating, after realizing their original threshold was too tolerant. "Cheaters would get caught...but not be insta-banished," a tweet reads. "We hoped that they might realize cheating kills the fun." As you'd expect, the cheating continued and so Mediatonic lowered the threshold once more. After that, if you cheated, you would be allowed to finish your game before you were dumped into matchmaking servers that only other cheaters were in. In these servers, you'd only be able to matchmake with other cheaters. Together, these servers were known as Cheater Island. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/06/fall-guys-ultimate-knockout-review"] "Now, if you can imagine: You need 40+ players to actually populate a game," one of the thread's tweets reads. "Cheater Island isn't a location in the real world...Cheater Island had its own set of global servers. You'd need enough cheaters in your region in order to start a Cheater Island game." It became a race against time at this point because every day that Mediatonic waited for cheaters to populate the island was another day that cheaters had to find workarounds to the studio's cheat detection, so the threshold was lowered again. Then, it happened. "There were finally enough cheaters to actually matchmake and create Cheater Island matches," a tweet reads. People began to upload videos of what appeared to be Cheater Island but Mediatonic said that while it knew Cheater Island matches were happening, it couldn't say whether or not the videos were that of matches on Cheater Island. You can check out one of those videos below.   Mediatonic said that while it knew for certain Cheater Island matches were taking place, it couldn't say for sure if those videos were Cheater Island so it closed the island for good. Instead of being sent to Cheater Island, cheaters just won't be able to login to the game. "Our cheat detection system was good...but we hadn't expected so may players...and we had no idea the lengths that some players would go to cheat," a tweet reads. "We tried to create a system around 'Honesty'...but as soon as we realized we were in an ARMS RACE, we called up the experts at Epic." The next Fall Guys update will be called Big Yeetus and the Anti-Cheatus. Mediatonic says we'll learn later what the Big Yeetus part means but the Anti-Cheatus part represents the addition of Epic's Anti-Cheat to the game. Cheaters beware. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/27/fall-guys-season-2-sneak-peek-trailer"] If you're trying to play Fall Guys honestly, read out essential tips to survive every round and then check out 18 crucial tips and tricks to help you win. For more Fall Guys, check out these details about Fall Guys' medieval-themed Season 2 and then check out our ranking of the Fall Guys minigames. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes

Fall Guys Devs Created Cheaters-Only Servers

The Fall Guys developers created servers that only pitted cheaters against cheaters on what was known as Cheater Island. With virtually any PC game, the opportunity for people to cheat is there. Developers like that of Fall Guys, Mediatonic, hope that cheaters grow to see how cheating ruins the fun but when that didn't happen, they took matters into their own hands. Today, the official Twitter account recounted the story of how Cheater Island came to be.   "For now...BUCKLE UP," the first tweet in a 21-tweet thread reads. "Let me tell you a wild story. It's called The RISE and FALL of Cheater Island." The tweet also tagged the official Netflix Twitter "in case they want to make a film or series out of it" and after reading the story, we hope Netflix jumps on the opportunity. Mediatonic had its own cheat detection built into Fall Guys at the game's launch but they weren't banning anyone that cheated — just gathering data on the cheating as the studio wanted to be 100% sure that the cheat detection was only catching people who were legitimately cheating. After confirming that this detection worked, the studio launched "Fall Guys Cheater Island ™," which was a "magical place where cheaters could happily compete against themselves for the Cheater's Crown." This crown was just a normal crown stained with a hollow feeling of guilt and regret, one of the tweets reads. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-fall-guys-minigame-ranked&captions=true"] Because Mediatonic was only collecting data on cheaters at this point, the island's population was zero. That's when the studio lowered the threshold for cheating, after realizing their original threshold was too tolerant. "Cheaters would get caught...but not be insta-banished," a tweet reads. "We hoped that they might realize cheating kills the fun." As you'd expect, the cheating continued and so Mediatonic lowered the threshold once more. After that, if you cheated, you would be allowed to finish your game before you were dumped into matchmaking servers that only other cheaters were in. In these servers, you'd only be able to matchmake with other cheaters. Together, these servers were known as Cheater Island. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/06/fall-guys-ultimate-knockout-review"] "Now, if you can imagine: You need 40+ players to actually populate a game," one of the thread's tweets reads. "Cheater Island isn't a location in the real world...Cheater Island had its own set of global servers. You'd need enough cheaters in your region in order to start a Cheater Island game." It became a race against time at this point because every day that Mediatonic waited for cheaters to populate the island was another day that cheaters had to find workarounds to the studio's cheat detection, so the threshold was lowered again. Then, it happened. "There were finally enough cheaters to actually matchmake and create Cheater Island matches," a tweet reads. People began to upload videos of what appeared to be Cheater Island but Mediatonic said that while it knew Cheater Island matches were happening, it couldn't say whether or not the videos were that of matches on Cheater Island. You can check out one of those videos below.   Mediatonic said that while it knew for certain Cheater Island matches were taking place, it couldn't say for sure if those videos were Cheater Island so it closed the island for good. Instead of being sent to Cheater Island, cheaters just won't be able to login to the game. "Our cheat detection system was good...but we hadn't expected so may players...and we had no idea the lengths that some players would go to cheat," a tweet reads. "We tried to create a system around 'Honesty'...but as soon as we realized we were in an ARMS RACE, we called up the experts at Epic." The next Fall Guys update will be called Big Yeetus and the Anti-Cheatus. Mediatonic says we'll learn later what the Big Yeetus part means but the Anti-Cheatus part represents the addition of Epic's Anti-Cheat to the game. Cheaters beware. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/27/fall-guys-season-2-sneak-peek-trailer"] If you're trying to play Fall Guys honestly, read out essential tips to survive every round and then check out 18 crucial tips and tricks to help you win. For more Fall Guys, check out these details about Fall Guys' medieval-themed Season 2 and then check out our ranking of the Fall Guys minigames. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes

Possible Signs of Life Detected on Venus

Scientists may have discovered signs of life on Venus, and if confirmed, the scorching planet could be a new focus for the search for life on other planets. According to an in-depth report from NYTimes on two recent published papers, researchers have discovered phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus, which suggests some form of life on the planet. Considering phosphine is often a creation of bacteria and microbes – also known as living organisms – the researchers involved in the study believe any life on Venus would have to exist, "inside cloud liquid droplets for the majority of its life cycle," according to the paper in Nature Astronomy. “This is an astonishing and ‘out of the blue’ finding,” Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an author of the papers told the NYTimes. “It will definitely fuel more research into the possibilities for life in Venus’s atmosphere.” Astrophysicist at San Francisco State University and University of San Francisco, Aaron White, talked with IGN about why this discovery is such a huge deal and what it means for the future of space exploration. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cosmos-possible-worlds-gallery&captions=true"] "One of astronomy's biggest unanswered questions is whether life on Earth is rare and unique, or if we're just one of many places all throughout the universe filled with living things," White said. "This discovery is the most solid evidence we've had so far to suggest life could be common. There are several different places in our solar system where we've guessed life could be discovered, and Venus was definitely the most hostile place we could have found it." White said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to confirm this hypothesis, "but if it holds up, it could mean life is hardy enough to show up wherever it's even vaguely possible."

Lack of Confirmation, But More Exploration

"Even though Venus is our closest neighbor, there's still a lot of things we don't know about the planet," White explained. "Over the last few decades there's only been a small handful of space missions that have gone to explore it (compared to a few dozen that have gone to Mars), so this discovery is really going to motivate more spacecraft that will look closely at Venus's clouds and what lies below them, and help fill in some of the gaps in our understanding. It's also going to motivate us even more to investigate the other places in the solar system where we expect life could be hiding out. "There was a study released last year suggesting that this particular chemical was a prime candidate in the search for life on planets outside our solar system, so this is likely to really kickstart lots of work into looking for it on distant planets as well," White said. White was very clear that this is not a confirmation of life on Venus. "This is a detection of a weird chemical in Venus's atmosphere that we can't explain yet. The team stressed that they *aren't* claiming to have found life," he said. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Those hoping to see aliens, or Destiny guardians thinking this is their chance, shouldn't get too excited, as even if it did turn out that some form of alien life exists on Venus, the average temperature on the planet is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the atmosphere's pressure is over 1,300 pounds per square inch, which the NYTimes explains is the equivalent to being 3,000 feet underwater.

Where Do Scientists Go From Here?

"Now that this work has been released, other scientists in the field are going to be spending the coming weeks and months trying to work out any possible non-biological ways to generate the chemistry that was observed," White explained. "That said... outside of something like a snarling Xenomorph showing up on our doorstep, this is exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to see as the first step towards finding life, and the biggest step forward we've taken in finding signs that we're not alone in the Universe." If the thought of alien life on Venus has you wanting some more off-world science, be sure to check out our list of the 25 best sci-fi movies and then read about how some scientists claim there's evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backward. For more planetary science, read about a recent report that claims the moon is rusting and then check out this story about 139 minor planets at the edge of our solar system. For further questions on this new discovery or anything to do with space, connect with Astrophysicist Aaron White on Twitter @Astrowut. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jessie Wade is Home Editor at IGN and the science gal. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes

Possible Signs of Life Detected on Venus

Scientists may have discovered signs of life on Venus, and if confirmed, the scorching planet could be a new focus for the search for life on other planets. According to an in-depth report from NYTimes on two recent published papers, researchers have discovered phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus, which suggests some form of life on the planet. Considering phosphine is often a creation of bacteria and microbes – also known as living organisms – the researchers involved in the study believe any life on Venus would have to exist, "inside cloud liquid droplets for the majority of its life cycle," according to the paper in Nature Astronomy. “This is an astonishing and ‘out of the blue’ finding,” Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an author of the papers told the NYTimes. “It will definitely fuel more research into the possibilities for life in Venus’s atmosphere.” Astrophysicist at San Francisco State University and University of San Francisco, Aaron White, talked with IGN about why this discovery is such a huge deal and what it means for the future of space exploration. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cosmos-possible-worlds-gallery&captions=true"] "One of astronomy's biggest unanswered questions is whether life on Earth is rare and unique, or if we're just one of many places all throughout the universe filled with living things," White said. "This discovery is the most solid evidence we've had so far to suggest life could be common. There are several different places in our solar system where we've guessed life could be discovered, and Venus was definitely the most hostile place we could have found it." White said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to confirm this hypothesis, "but if it holds up, it could mean life is hardy enough to show up wherever it's even vaguely possible."

Lack of Confirmation, But More Exploration

"Even though Venus is our closest neighbor, there's still a lot of things we don't know about the planet," White explained. "Over the last few decades there's only been a small handful of space missions that have gone to explore it (compared to a few dozen that have gone to Mars), so this discovery is really going to motivate more spacecraft that will look closely at Venus's clouds and what lies below them, and help fill in some of the gaps in our understanding. It's also going to motivate us even more to investigate the other places in the solar system where we expect life could be hiding out. "There was a study released last year suggesting that this particular chemical was a prime candidate in the search for life on planets outside our solar system, so this is likely to really kickstart lots of work into looking for it on distant planets as well," White said. White was very clear that this is not a confirmation of life on Venus. "This is a detection of a weird chemical in Venus's atmosphere that we can't explain yet. The team stressed that they *aren't* claiming to have found life," he said. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Those hoping to see aliens, or Destiny guardians thinking this is their chance, shouldn't get too excited, as even if it did turn out that some form of alien life exists on Venus, the average temperature on the planet is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the atmosphere's pressure is over 1,300 pounds per square inch, which the NYTimes explains is the equivalent to being 3,000 feet underwater.

Where Do Scientists Go From Here?

"Now that this work has been released, other scientists in the field are going to be spending the coming weeks and months trying to work out any possible non-biological ways to generate the chemistry that was observed," White explained. "That said... outside of something like a snarling Xenomorph showing up on our doorstep, this is exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to see as the first step towards finding life, and the biggest step forward we've taken in finding signs that we're not alone in the Universe." If the thought of alien life on Venus has you wanting some more off-world science, be sure to check out our list of the 25 best sci-fi movies and then read about how some scientists claim there's evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backward. For more planetary science, read about a recent report that claims the moon is rusting and then check out this story about 139 minor planets at the edge of our solar system. For further questions on this new discovery or anything to do with space, connect with Astrophysicist Aaron White on Twitter @Astrowut. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jessie Wade is Home Editor at IGN and the science gal. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes