This Week on JungleDrums:
Your host AcuteJungle66, joined by SergeantJay, delve into this week’s gaming and tech news! Official details and prices for AMD’s RX Vega are here, the Summer Games are returning to Overwatch on August 8th, Intel makes a disappointing decision in regards to upgrade paths, the countdown to the Final Fantasy XV multiplayer beta begins, and more!
- There is no longer a need to rely on leaks or speculation, as the official presentation for AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 64 and Radeon RX Vega 56 has just been released. These slides present full details on specifications, performance and prices of AMD’s upcoming graphics cards which will be released on August 14th. Will RX Vega be everything we hoped for? AJ and the gang discuss.
- Overwatch‘s Summer Games event returns on August 8th. For those unfamiliar with the event, it was introduced last year as a tie-in to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and offered a new game mode: Lúcioball! This unique game mode was well received and fans have been repeatedly calling for its return. There were 112 Summer Games items available last year, which, according to Jeff Kaplan, will randomly appear in loot boxes for those who missed the event. The word is that there are a number of surprises in store as well, so make sure to log in to Overwatch on August 8th.
- Back in January, Intel launched Kaby Lake (7th gen Core processors) which many gamers and enthusiasts welcomed with open arms. The new processors were socket-compatible with the previous 6th gen, so if you already owned a Z170-based motherboard all you had to do was pop in a newer and faster CPU. As is typical for Intel, the company also released a new chipset (Z270) which was intended for consumers purchasing a new system. With the 8th gen Core processors (Coffee Lake) on the horizon, where does this leave owners of Z270 motherboards?
- The Final Fantasy XV multiplayer beta is coming soon to PS4 and Xbox One. The new Comrades expansion requires about 13 gigabytes of storage and will enable players to take their custom avatar on multiplayer quests with up to three other players. The first phase of rollout is now complete on console, with the beta test now being able to download. The closed online test only runs from August 3rd to 8th, so if you have not already been invited it may well be too late.
- Serious videophiles know all too well who RED are, creators of the WEAPON 8K BRAIN (a $50K camera body that delivers 8K resolution at 60fps). The company is looking to enter the mobile market with their Hydrogen One smartphone, which has a planned sticker price of $1,200. Featuring a holographic display (yes, you read that correctly!) and a a similar aesthetic to other RED products, that price seems par for the course. This type of product is likely to be aimed at the ‘prosumer’ crowd, with RED hoping that this setup will be the future of mobile footage. No doubt the accessories will cost a small fortune as well…
- Sony refuses to work with Microsoft on Minecraft. Whether you love it or hate it, Minecraft is still one of the most popular and most-played games in the world. An update coming this year will unify all versions of the game, meaning iPhone players will be able to team up with friends on Xbox, PC, or even the Nintendo Switch and craft a world together. In fact, every single version of the game will have cross-platform capabilities, except for the PlayStation 4. Nintendo very rarely works with its direct competition, yet they have embraced a partnership with Microsoft. Is Sony’s choice to opt-out good or bad?
JungleDrums is a weekly news show run by one of Scholarly Gamers’ dedicated streamers, AcuteJungle66. Topics discussed in the show focus heavily on gaming, highlights, streams, and tech, but will typically hover around hot-button topics of the week. Joining AcuteJungle66 are a rotating selection of guests, ranging from friends and those interested in the topic at hand, fellow Scholarly Gamers, or members of raiding parties from gaming staples of his such as The Division or Rainbow Six Siege.
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