L'ufficializzazione del prezzo di Steam Machine ha concretizzato i timori di tutti coloro che si aspettavano un listino al lancio superiore ai 1.000 euro, dal momento che la macchina di Valve parte da ben 1.039 euro per la configurazione da 512 GB senza controller, per arrivare a ben 1.428 euro per la variante da 2 TB con un controller incluso.
Nei mesi precedenti Valve ha sempre mantenuto il massimo riserbo sul prezzo, proprio a causa delle continue fluttuazioni causate dalla crisi dei chip, che le hanno impedito di presentare il listino sin dal primo annuncio. Tuttavia, con l'ufficialità ormai svelata, l'azienda si è leggermente sbottonata e ha raccontato qualche dettaglio in più sul come sarebbero dovute andare le cose in una situazione di normalità.
Nel corso di un'intervista con IGN, gli ingegneri di Valve Pierre-Loup Griffais e Yazan Aldehayyat hanno infatti confermato che Steam Machine ha subito un aumento di prezzo in linea con quello avvenuto con Steam Deck lo scorso maggio, quando la piattaforma portatile ha ricevuto un rincaro pesantissimo di oltre il 45%. Sebbene i due non abbiano potuto svelare il prezzo originario a cui Valve intendeva proporre la macchina, un rapido conto permette di stimare che il prezzo di lancio originario sarebbe dovuto essere molto vicino ai 730 dollari per il modello base e ai 920 dollari per la variante da 2 TB.
GameStop non intende demordere con la sua iniziativa per comprare eBay, proposta annunciata negli scorsi mesi e inizialmente rifiutata. L’amministratore delegato Ryan Cohen ha confermato nelle scorse ore che nei prossimi giorni pubblicherà nuovi documenti relativi al progetto, inclusa una presentazione dettagliata delle motivazioni strategiche e del piano operativo che dovrebbe sostenere l’eventuale integrazione tra le due società.
A livello finanziario, però, rimane un fatto imprescindibile: GameStop ha una capitalizzazione di circa 10 miliardi di dollari e sta cercando di comprare un’azienda che vale più o meno cinque volte tanto. Il denaro deve per forza provenire da qualche fonte esterna. Anche l’idea di fondo lascia un po’ interdetti: Cohen ha detto di voler creare una piattaforma di e-commerce in grado di competere meglio con Amazon, combinando la presenza online di eBay con le attività e la community costruite da GameStop negli ultimi anni.
Nel frattempo, Cohen ha detto che intende rinunciare al piano di incentivi presentato da GameStop a inizio anno, che avrebbe potuto fruttargli qualcosa come 35 miliardi di dollari. Sarebbe scattato solo in caso di una trasformazione radicale dell’azienda, con un aumento della capitalizzazione superiore a dieci volte e un significativo miglioramento della redditività. Cohen ha detto che preferisce concentrare la propria attenzione sulla crescita operativa dell’azienda e sul completamento dell’acquisizione.
La grande promessa disattesa dall'attuale generazione di console è quella relativa al framerate: siamo a metà 2026 e ancora dobbiamo fare i conti con titoli che girano a 30 fps sullo schermo. A quanto pare, non farà eccezione nemmeno GTA 6, anche se un leak dello store polacco di MediaMarkt (MediaWorld in Italia) suggerisce l'inserimento di una modalità Prestazioni a 60 fps, selezionabile dalle impostazioni. Per il momento, Rockstar Games non si è espressa sull'argomento.
GTA 6 AVRÀ LA MODALITÀ PRESTAZIONI A 60 FPS?
L'analisi di Digital Foundry ritiene plausibile un tetto massimo di 30 fps, persino sulla PS5 Pro che sotto la scocca nasconde una potenza di calcolo maggiore. La ragione sarebbe da ricercare nell'estrema complessità degli scenari, ricchi di dettagli e di NPC animati nell'ambientazione open world di Vice City, ritenuti impossibili da gestire senza scendere a compromessi in termini di fluidità. Vale a maggior ragione se, come si intuisce dai trailer, la volontà è quella di mantenere sempre attiva la gestione dell'illuminazione con ray tracing.
Mitchell Institute workshop participants found little consensus on where competition ends and conflict begins as China expands counterspace capabilities
You certainly can't accuse Remedy Entertainment of playing it safe and sticking to what they know.
2019's Control was a third-person shooter, last year's multiplayer spin-off, FBC: Firebreak, was a first-person shooter, and now this year's direct follow-up, Control Resonant, is a melee-focused action game. Despite the genre flip, though, it's undeniably Control — a freaky sci-fi horror mash-up that's dripping with atmosphere.
We played 40 minutes of Control Resonant at Summer Games Fest, and spoke with lead level designer Anne-Marie Grönroos about the new enemy designs, architecture, and sci-fi influences. Here's what we learned about one of this year's most anticipated upcoming sci-fi games.
"Control Resonant" has a new protagonist, but we're keeping things in the family as we take the reins of Dylan Faden, troubled brother of "Control" protagonist Jesse. Dylan Faden wakes up inside the Oldest House — a paranormal, space-defying skyscraper in the center of New York that acts as the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC).
Jesse promptly stabs Dylan, who wakes up surrounded by blood, death, and the massacred bodies of his FBC jailers. With no idea what's going on, Dylan flees the FBC to find that the Hiss — otherworldly crimson monsters from another dimension — have overrun Manhattan.
(Image credit: Remedy)
To fight these monsters, Dylan wields a unique weapon called the Aberrant (which just so happens to be the bar that Jesse stabbed him with). Much like Jesse's Service Weapon in the original, Aberrant can morph into multiple kinds of weapons, such as dual swords, an axe, and a scythe.
As a third-person action game (or spectacle fighter), Control Resonant feels like a toned-down version of Devil May Cry. It's just a bit slower and a bit more reserved, but it's still exhilarating to pull off combos and beat the snot out of the Hiss.
Combat is usually locked into arenas, locking you into an encounter until you've killed the Hiss. Larger enemies need to be prioritised, as the smaller Hiss will keep respawning until they're destroyed.
(Image credit: Remedy)
The Hiss are even more grotesque than I remembered from the first game; an observation that Grönroos was happy to confirm. "The enemies are a lot more mutated than they were in the first game," he notes. “They aren't just dudes shooting guns at you. A lot less human and more monstrous."
While Jesse was confined to the Oldest House, Dylan now has the freedom to roam Manhattan to find his sister. The first game's aesthetic was defined by the Brutalist architecture of FBC's surreal headquarters, and while you’ll certainly see that style here in place, Resonant pulls from a much wider pool.
"The further away you get from either the Oldest house or the Field Office, the less and less of that you'll see," explains Grönroos. "But when you see Brutalist architecture, that's also a sign that the FBC has a pretty strong presence here."
(Image credit: Remedy)
Manhattan has been well explored in video games — from Insomniac's Spider-Man and Tom Clancy's The Division through to "inspired by" titles like GTA IV — but Control Resonant's version of New York is a much more self-contained, streamlined version of the city that never sleeps.
Instead of an open world, we get a more linear platforming experience as Dylan navigates the rooftops like platforms, climbing, dashing, and double-jumping his way through the twisted landscape. This, combined with the psychedelic colors and trippy atmosphere, creates a uniquely surreal vibe that we really dig.
The Control universe is rife with sci-fi influences, with the fictional SCP Foundation sitting at the heart. The FBC investigates Altered World Events, where supernatural forces descend into reality and warp it. These lead directly to the creation of Altered Items, which are just objects infused with paranormal powers. It's all dressed up in a sort of 60s and 70s retrofuturism aesthetic, reflecting the space age and rise of media like Star Wars.
(Image credit: Remedy)
Beyond those obvious touchstones, though, there are surprising influences for this latest game. During our interview, Director Mikael Kasurinen mentioned Neon Genesis Evangelion as an influence for Control Resonant, with Grönroos adding that it heavily impacted the geometrical patterning in the game. "We also always have Inception as a reference. When you look at the city environments, this is the most Inception that we can get."
My demo ended with me facing off in a boss fight against a giant floating head with its jaw missing. Throughout the fight, it kept trying to sling rocks at me while keeping its distance, but I was able to keep up with its pace. Eventually, I managed to take it down, and then was taken to The Gap, a mysterious hub area where Dylan could upgrade his abilities.
He has plenty of upgrades to choose from, such as being able to telekinetically throw rocks, use them to form a shield, or conjure up this Aberrant into other weapons like a whip and hammer. I took a quick peek at each of the weapons and skill trees, and it seems like the combo system will definitely get more intricate later on.
(Image credit: Remedy)
There's a huge amount of variety in how to mix and match different weapons to dictate the pace and flow of battle. You can start your combo with a flurry of quick attacks from dual swords, and then come crashing down with a slow but mighty hammer at the end.
The action feels so different from the gunplay of the first game, and yet eerily familiar. Control Resonant also takes a page from Kingdom Hearts' playbook with flashy finishers. Dylan has access to a variety of them, our favorite being using the giant hammer to smash the Hiss into pieces.
Grönroos said that the biggest lesson that Remedy learned throughout developing its recent games, from Control, Alan Wake 2, FBC: Firebreak, and now Control, is giving players more freedom and agency. "Before Control, we used to just make these linear games," she explained. "Control was actually our first game where you could even backtrack, and Alan Wake 2 took that a little bit further, and now Control Resonant as well."
(Image credit: Remedy)
One of the highlights of the first Control game was the Ashtray Maze, a level where players had to fight against waves of enemies as they ran through a kaleidoscope of constantly shifting rooms and layouts. It was an adrenaline-fueled combat gauntlet that was equally exciting as it was fantastical. Grönroos was one of the minds behind designing it.
Can we expect something similar in Control Resonant? "There are definitely surprises," teases Grönroos. "Of course, I can't say what they are, but I think what made the Ashtray Maze really work was how unexpected it was. So I think there's stuff like in Control Resonant that's like that for sure."
Control Resonant launches on September 24 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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