Your JungleDrums host, AcuteJungle66, delves into this week’s latest tech and gaming news. New exotic emote causes controversy, 4K HDR high refresh rate panels are almost here, Kulve Taroth returns, and more!
- Destiny 2 is no stranger to making headlines in the wrong way, it seems the Eververse Store is once again causing an outcry. This time over a new emote that is available for a limited time. The Iron Emote Bundle from Tess Everis will set you back 1100 Silver ($10 USD) and is the only way to acquire the Iron Lord Exotic Emote. Needless to say this is a huge step backwards for Bungie, just when the community was starting to believe that their concerns were being heard and addressed.
- Enthusiasts have been patiently awaiting the arrival of G-Sync HDR monitors, particularly those in the 4K variety for quite some time. One of the first displays to hit the market is the Acer Predator X27 which should start shipping on June 1st, for around $2,000 (USD). The concept of playing games in 4K, with HDR as well as dynamic refresh rates is certainly appealing, but will require some hefty hardware to accomplish the task. Keep any eye out online for when the reviews start appearing.
- If you haven’t played Monster Hunter World in a while, or you missed the fabulous Kulve Taroth Siege when it appeared, well this week is a great time to revisit the game. The siege is back, and aspiring hunters have another chance to take on the Mother Goddess of Gold. To take on the siege, you need to be at least hunter rank 16, and it will only be available until May 31.
- Ubisoft has released a personalised chatbot that is designed to enhance your gaming experience. The AI goes by the name of ‘Sam’, and reportedly can track your progress, offer tips and hints, and a myriad of other features; effectively acting as Alexa for Ubisoft titles. I have not tried it first hand yet, but I do wonder if it will be a welcome feature that is useful, or an irritating intrusion that I will subsequently delete.
- Death Stranding continues to be shrouded in mystery, hopefully we will receive some more enlightenment during E3. In the meantime, Mads Mikkelsen revealed: ‘The whole concept of playing the game, as I understand, needs collaboration from different people from different parts of the world, which is also another level of fantastic-ness.’ Factoring in Norman Reedus’ comments that Death Stranding has ‘elements of social media in it’, we are certainly in for a wild ride.
- Electronic Arts recently acquired the assets and personnel of a particular subsidiary of GameFly: Cloud Gaming Technology. With the acquisition of these resources, EA has most definitely strengthened their portfolio in regards to technology that will allow players to access games however they want. Whilst purely speculative at this point, the current reception on the Internet seems to predict that EA will start selling cloud-based games, which further muddies the concept of game ownership (check your EULA sometime), but would certainly crack down on piracy.
About JungleDrums:
JungleDrums is a weekly news show run by Scholarly Gamers’ Content Coordinator, 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 Destiny 2, The Division, Rainbow Six Siege, or Monster Hunter: World
