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Reçu aujourd’hui — 18 février 2026 1.3 🖥️ Tech. English

Nvidia DLSS 4.5 beats native resolution and AMD FSR 4 in blind image quality test

18 février 2026 à 18:00

ComputerBase conducted the online blind test involving thousands of gamers to evaluate the visual quality of current video rendering technologies. The study compared Nvidia's latest Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) 4.5 against AMD's machine learning-based FSR 4 and native resolution rendering with standard Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA).

ComputerBase's test was performed at Ultra HD (4K) resolution using the “Quality” presets for both AI upscalers across six major titles: Anno 117, ARC Raiders, Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon Forbidden West, Satisfactory, and The Last of Us Part II. To eliminate brand bias, the comparison utilised videos labelled only with numbers for the first two weeks of the survey.

The final results revealed a significant preference for Nvidia's DLSS 4.5, which emerged as the winner across all games tested. On average, approximately 48% of participants voted DLSS 4.5 as having the best image quality, while roughly 24% preferred native rendering and only 15% chose AMD's FSR 4. The margin of victory for DLSS 4.5 was particularly substantial in titles like Satisfactory and Horizon Forbidden West, where it received 60.9% and 56.3% of the total votes, respectively. Interestingly, Cyberpunk 2077 presented the closest contest, with DLSS 4.5 nearly equal to native-resolution rendering. That suggests that in some cases, DLSS 4.5 may not be the preferred option.

In contrast, AMD's latest ML-based video technologies in the “Redstone” package struggled to win over the community. While FSR 4 provides a meaningful boost in frame rates and improves upon previous iterations by reducing ghosting and better preserving particle effects, it failed to surpass native resolution during this test. The detailed results of this test can be found below:

Native + TAA Nvidia DLSS 4.5 AMD FSR Upscaling AI Equivalent Total
Anno 117 282
(22.8%)
621
(50.1%)
204
(16.5%)
132
(10.7%)
1,239
(100%)
ARC Raiders 328
(27.3%)
570
(47.4%)
166
(13.8%)
138
(11.5%)
1,202
(100%)
Cyberpunk 2077 372
(32.4%)
394
(34.4%)
122
(10.6%)
259
(22.6%)
1,147
(100%)
Horizon Forbidden West 208
(19.4%)
604
(56.3%)
125
(11.7%)
135
(12.6%)
1,072
(100%)
Satisfactory 155
(15.1%)
627
(60.9%)
128
(12.4%)
119
(11.6%)
1,029
(100%)
The Last of Us Part II 274
(25.9%)
433
(40.9%)
268
(25.3%)
83
(7.8%)
1,058
(100%)
Final result
In total 1,619 3,249 1,013 866 6,747
Average 24.0% 48.2% 15.0% 12.8% 100%

As noted by ComputerBase, the test results show only how frequently each option was rated “the best image quality”. The results, however, don't show the second- and third-best choices. Neither the wording of the question nor the surveys themselves were designed to reveal this. Therefore, stating something like “FSR Upscaling looks worse than native” based on these results is invalid.

KitGuru says: Do these results match your own experience with native, DLSS 4.5, and FSR 4?

The post Nvidia DLSS 4.5 beats native resolution and AMD FSR 4 in blind image quality test first appeared on KitGuru.

God of War (2018) and Ragnarok reportedly generated over $1.4 billion

18 février 2026 à 17:29

It is no secret that the God of War franchise soared to new heights of popularity with its 2018 soft-reboot on PlayStation 4. Since then, the duology of God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok have generated a lot of money for Sony, bringing in well over $1 billion between the two of them. 

According to a LinkedIn update from a Senior Managing Producer at Sony Santa Monica Studios (via Insider Gaming), to date, God of War and its sequel, Ragnarok, have generated more than $1.4 billion, a massive number considering both are single-player titles with somewhat limited replay value and zero multiplayer components to sell microtransactions.

While the original God of War trilogy was popular during the PS2 and PS3 eras, God of War 2018 made huge strides in cinematic storytelling and successfully modernised Kratos for a whole new audience of gamers both young and old.  The two newer games moved away from Greek mythology and focused on Norse gods, telling the story of Kratos and his son, Atreus, following the death of Kratos's wife.

A new God of War title is said to be in development at Sony Santa Monica at the moment but little is known about it. On top of that, Sony just announced last week that it is going back and remaking the full original trilogy, although we have yet to see any gameplay footage or screenshots.

KitGuru Says: God of War became one of my favourite game franchises during the PS4 era. Considering the quality of both titles, it is no surprise to see that both games have done huge numbers financially. 

The post God of War (2018) and Ragnarok reportedly generated over $1.4 billion first appeared on KitGuru.

It turns out Tencent helped fund Highguard

18 février 2026 à 16:45

Highguard burst on to the scene with very little build-up, but the game did receive criticism from the jump due to its positioning as the final game reveal at The Game Awards this year. Considering Wildlight is a brand-new studio, this caught many off guard but as it turns out, the company did have the backing of a games publishing giant – Tencent. 

According to Game File, Tencent was the behind-the-scenes partner for Wildlight Entertainment, helping to fund their first game, Highguard. Neither company has publicly discussed this financial relationship before, but at least now we have an idea of where the funding for the game came from. This isn't an unusual move for Tencent either, as the publisher has deals in place with many start-up studios in search of a major hit.

Unfortunately, that funding appears to have dried up pretty fast. The official website for the game went down earlier today, something that Wildlight Entertainment says is a low priority on its list of things to fix, as it is primarily focused on creating new content for the game to try and retain and grow its player base.

Two weeks after Highguard's launch, Wildlight Entertainment did also undergo a major cost-cutting initiative, letting go of a large chunk of the studio in favour of a leaner team. This smaller core team of devs will now be in charge of fulfilling the game's massive year-long content roadmap.

KitGuru Says: Have you tried Highguard since the new 5v5 mode was added to the game? 

The post It turns out Tencent helped fund Highguard first appeared on KitGuru.

Bethesda adds 60FPS mode to Skyrim on Switch 2

18 février 2026 à 16:00

A couple of months ago when the Switch 2 update for Skyrim began rolling out, fans were immediately disappointed. Despite the massive jump in power from the Switch 1 to the Switch 2, performance remained capped at 30FPS, while storage requirements grew for minimal visual gain. Now with its latest patch, Bethesda is addressing the problem. 

The new 1.2 patch for Skyrim on the Switch 2 has added a 60FPS mode, giving users an option to toggle between ‘prioritise visuals' or ‘prioritise performance'. The new performance mode will allow players to achieve a much smoother 60FPS frame rate target. On top of that, the ‘prioritise visuals' mode has also been properly capped at 30FPS, which should fix up issues with frame pacing and hitching.

Other important fixes in this new update include:

Crashes and Performance Fixes:
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when reading “The Crimson Dirks Vol. 4” book for the “Tilted Scales” quest in German.
  • Fixed an audio-related crash.
  • Fixed a crash, infinite load, and game freeze that sometimes occurred when rapidly selecting “Load” multiple times in the pause menu.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when the “Transmute Ore” spell was repeatedly cast outside of the Haltered Stream Camp.
Improved FPS performance drops that occurred in the following locations:
  • during the Hide and Seek quest in Kynesgrove
  • during combat at Secunda’s Kiss
  • when discovering the “Drelas’ Cottage” location
  • when engaged in combat with a giant at the Talking Stone Camp.
Visuals Issues Fixes:
  • Viewing water planes from a distance or within menus caused them to shift up and down.
  • Distant aspen trees appeared with a blue tint.
  • Transitioning out of caves caused an outline of the entrance to linger during the fade-to-back loading screen.
User Interface Fixes:
  • Switching between mouse and controller mode while in dialogue or the Help menu, caused different options to be highlighted.
  • Switching between mouse and controller mode while in help menus or user hints, did not dynamically update callout prompts.
  • The “Ready/Sheathe” option was missing from the Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls menu.
  • The “Delete” prompt remained grayed-out within the Load menu when swapping between mouse and controller mode.
  • Deleting a save in the Save/Load menus reset the highlighted selection to the top of the menu list.
  • While in mouse mode, the cursor remained stuck within a smaller section of the screen when changing between docked/undocked modes or interfacing with GameChat.
Controls Fixes:
  • The “Eagle Eye” Archery perk remained active after switching between mouse and controller mode.
  • Holding down the Right Joystick while reassigning a button caused that button to disappear from the Controls list.
  • The Joy-Con 2 controllers provided haptic feedback while in mouse mode.
  • Buttons became unresponsive when controls were remapped while moving the Joy-Con 2 controllers in mouse mode.
  • Rotating the map in mouse mode was slower and less smooth than in controller mode.
Audio Issue Fix:
  • Scrolling SFX continued to play while holding up or down on the Left Joystick or buttons at the top or bottom of the Save/Load menus.

The new update is available now. As a reminder, if you own Skyrim on the Switch 1, you need to first upgrade to the Anniversary Edition before you can access the Switch 2 upgrades.

KitGuru Says: The initial patch was disappointing but the addition of a 60FPS mode on Switch 2 should go a long way towards addressing complaints. 

The post Bethesda adds 60FPS mode to Skyrim on Switch 2 first appeared on KitGuru.

Nvidia sells off its stake in Arm

18 février 2026 à 15:30

Several years ago, Nvidia entered into an agreement to acquire ARM in a deal that, at the time, was worth $40 billion. Ultimately, regulators did not approve the merger and as a result, the deal fell apart. Now, Nvidia has sold its remaining $140M stake in the company, although it will continue to work with Arm on a number of partnerships. 

Several major tech companies became very nervous about Nvidia buying Arm, as the company has long held an open licensing model, serving the wider industry, including giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft.

While Nvidia had promised to keep Arm's licensing model in-tact after the merger, it could not convince regulators that the deal would not form a monopoly, putting an end to its acquisition bid.

Now as spotted by Bloomberg, Nvidia has sold the 1.1 million shares it held in Arm at a value of around $140 million. While Nvidia will no longer hold a significant stake in Arm, Nvidia will continue to work with the company on a range of products, including Arm-based supercomputer units like Grace and Vera, amongst other areas.

KitGuru Says: Nvidia did ultimately lose money by failing to complete the Arm acquisition, but the company likely isn't missing that cash now, as the AI boom has seen its sales go through the roof. 

The post Nvidia sells off its stake in Arm first appeared on KitGuru.

NZXT expands its SFF lineup with new H2 Flow case, C850 SFX PSU and Mini PC

18 février 2026 à 15:00

NZXT has introduced the H2 Flow Mini‑ITX case and the C850 SFX power supply, two compact components aimed at small form factor builders who want high‑end hardware support without moving to a larger chassis. On top of that, the company is also releasing a high-end limited‑run H2 Mini PC, although it will only be available in the US for now.

The H2 Flow is a 20.7L vertical Mini‑ITX chassis designed to maximise airflow while keeping the desk footprint small. Its layout supports up to 280mm AIO liquid coolers and graphics cards up to 331mm long, giving it headroom for modern CPUs and GPUs despite the compact size. Tool‑less fine‑mesh panels on all sides maintain cooling performance while helping with dust control, and NZXT includes a PCIe 5.0 riser cable for vertical GPU mounting alongside two pre‑installed F120Q fans.

The C850 SFX power supply is built for current and next‑generation GPUs, offering ATX 3.1 certification, 80 Plus Gold and Cybenetics Platinum efficiency ratings, and a 600W 12V‑2×6 connector. It uses a fully modular design with embossed cabling, a 92mm fan with a zero‑RPM mode for silent operation at low power loads, and Japanese capacitors rated for 105°C. NZXT backs the unit with a 10‑year warranty.

For buyers who prefer a ready‑made system, the H2 Mini PC brings the H2 Flow design to a prebuilt configuration assembled and tested by NZXT. It ships with either an AMD Ryzen 9800X3D or Intel Core Ultra 285K processor, a Gigabyte Mini‑ITX motherboard, an RTX 5080 graphics card, 32GB of DDR5 memory, 2TB of M.2 storage, a Kraken Elite 240mm AIO cooler, an 850W PSU, and Windows 11 Home. NZXT positions it as a way to access high‑performance SFF gaming without the complexity of building in a smaller enclosure.

All three products are launching this week. The H2 Flow Mini‑ITX case is priced at $149.99 / €149.99 / £129.99, while the C850 SFX PSU costs $199.99 / €159.99 / £139.99. The H2 Mini PC will be available exclusively in the US for $3499.

KitGuru Says: What do you think of the latest trio of products from NZXT? Would you like to see the Mini PC available in more countries? 

The post NZXT expands its SFF lineup with new H2 Flow case, C850 SFX PSU and Mini PC first appeared on KitGuru.

Mewgenics has sold 1 million copies in its launch week

18 février 2026 à 14:00

Mewgenics, the “cat breeding magnum opus” from Edmund McMillen, creator of Binding of Isaac, and Tyler Glaiel, creator of The End is Nigh, has achieved a massive commercial milestone. It has sold over 1 million copies in just 7 days since its launch on PC, Mewgenics has become the first indie success of the year.

The news was brought to us by one of the creators via X.com. Player engagement for the tactical roguelike has also been quite good, according to SteamDB, reaching an all-time high of 115,428 concurrent players on February 15th. This figure surpasses the peak of 112,947 concurrent players set by the previous genre leader, Hades 2, officially making Mewgenics the most-played roguelite in Steam's history. Currently, the game sits at a 92% Steam review score with over 20K reviews.

Tyler Glaiel also posted other fun stats about Mewgenics, stating that the game had around 400k wishlists before reviews came out. However, that number increased considerably after reviews began to be published, reaching 600K.

As of now, the game is available on Steam with a 10% launch discount, bringing the price down to £22.49/$26.99/€26.09 from its standard £24.99/$29.99/€28.99. This promotional offer ends on February 24th, after which the game will return to its full retail price.

KitGuru says: Have you already tried Mewgenics, or are you planning to? 

The post Mewgenics has sold 1 million copies in its launch week first appeared on KitGuru.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 are being delisted from mobile storefronts

18 février 2026 à 13:00

As a publisher, SEGA had been pretty good when it comes to supporting mobile platforms, with the company releasing both original titles to both Android/iOS as well as bringing ports of their classics to smartphones. That said, last year the publisher began to delist a bunch of games from the iOS/Android app stores – with only a few titles still remaining. Unfortunately, it seems these too are now set to be delisted, with Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 both being updated with ‘End of Service’ messages.

As reported by Wario64 via BlueSky, the mobile ports for both Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 have been updated to include a pop-up message citing the game’s impending delisting, writing: “End of Service: Support for this game will be discontinued, but you can continue playing offline.”

This latest announcement comes as quite the disappointment. Alongside the fact that Sonic 1 and 2 were some of the only mobile ports of Classic SEGA titles still available to download, the ports themselves were excellent, featuring dynamic aspect ratio support; quality-of-life improvements and much more – making their removals extra unfortunate to see.

SEGA Sonic

As mentioned, 2025 saw SEGA remove a ton of classics from the iOS App Store / Google Play Store, including but not limited to:

  • Sonic CD
  • Sonic 4 Episodes 1 and 2
  • Super Monkey Ball
  • Virtua Tennis
  • Crazy Taxi
  • Golden axe
  • Streets of Rage

With Sonic 1 and 2 now also being removed, it seems SEGA’s Forever Classics experiment has officially come to an end. Here’s to hoping that the publisher plans to reintroduce these titles in one form or another – though hopefully not as a subscription. We will have to wait and see, but make sure to pick up the few remaining classics while they’re still available.

KitGuru says: What did you think of SEGA’s classics program? Why do you think they’re all being discontinued? What’s the best way to play Sonic 1 + 2 now? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 are being delisted from mobile storefronts first appeared on KitGuru.

Highguard website goes offline, sparking concerns for the game’s future

18 février 2026 à 12:00

Initially unveiled at the tail end of the 2025 Game Awards, Highguard is a live-service hero shooter developed by ex-Respawn Entertainment devs at Wildlight Entertainment. Despite a negative response to its initial announcement, the game managed to achieve a peak of nearly 100k concurrents on Steam following its launch last month. Since then however, interest has dwindled significantly, and while the team promised to support the game for the long-term, Highguard’s official website is no longer available – sparking concerns for the game’s future.

As discovered by multiple users, the official ‘playhighguard’ website has been taken offline, with the homepage simply stating: “Highguard – This site is currently unavailable. Please contact support@codethirtytwo.com for assistance.”

As of now, the game itself remains online and playable, however the lack of any communication from Wildlight Entertainment regarding the site’s current status has led some to fear for Highguard's future.

Wildlight Website

For the uninitiated, Highguard launched to a rather negative reception, in part due to the game itself but also the general sentiment surrounding hero shooters. Despite this, the team promised to offer long-term support, sharing a roadmap which covers the entirety of 2026.

Considering the fact that the studio has already had to lay-off a bunch of developers however, and the recent issues with its official website, Highguard's future is looking quite concerning. Hopefully Wildlight Entertainment addresses this latest issue sooner rather than later.

KitGuru says: Did you check out Highguard at launch? What did you think? Could the game succeed given enough time and care? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Highguard website goes offline, sparking concerns for the game’s future first appeared on KitGuru.

Dead By Daylight is getting an animated TV show

18 février 2026 à 11:00

Dead by Daylight is perhaps one of the most popular horror games of all time, with the asymmetrical multiplayer title amassing over 60 million players since its initial launch back in 2016. In the decade since, the game has continued to grow, crossing over with countless different iconic IPs. Already somewhat of a multi-media franchise, Dead By Daylight is now set to receive an animated show adaptation.

Following the recent announcement by THR stating that Dead by Daylight is getting a live-action film adaptation (produced by Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster), it appears as though other similar adaptations are also in the works.

As reported by the publication DreadCentral, alongside the film adaptation, “the companies are also out to writers to develop a Dead by Daylight animated series based on the games.”

Dead By Daylight Animated

Little else has been provided in this regard and so it is safe to assume that the animated series is still in its early days of development.

As mentioned, Dead By Daylight is a massive franchise which has only grown further in popularity with time. That said, with the game’s strong focus on crossing over with other famous horror IPs, it will be interesting to see whether these adaptations will instead stick with the original characters and creations made for the game itself.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Dead By Daylight 10 years on? Are you more interested in the film or animated show? Let us know down below.

The post Dead By Daylight is getting an animated TV show first appeared on KitGuru.

Apple Glasses Could Have 2 Cameras & Launch In Early 2027

18 février 2026 à 16:47

Apple's smart glasses will have two cameras, one for capture and the other for computer vision, and launch in early 2027, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

Gurman, who has a strong track record of reporting on Apple products in advance of an official reveal, has been tracking the company's plans to launch a Ray-Ban Meta competitor for well over a year now.

His previous reports described the company's first glasses as lacking a display, having cameras, microphones and speakers, and being powered by a new Apple-designed chipset, based on the highly efficient S-series chips used in Apple Watch. The product would be used for phone calls, music playback, live translations, turn-by-turn directions, and multimodal AI, which Apple calls Visual Intelligence.

His new report explains how Apple plans to distinguish its hardware from Meta's: "build quality and camera technology".

According to Gurman, the device will use "high-end materials" including acrylic elements and have two cameras, one for high-quality image and video capture, and the other for computer vision.

UploadVR's take on that is that a dedicated computer vision sensor could draw significantly less power than a sensor designed for imaging, and thus be sampled continually for advanced use cases like spatially-aware pedestrian navigation. "Turn left just past that red Honda", instead of "In 200 meters, turn left". It might also enable hand gestures without the need for a wristband – though you would need to raise your arm.

Apple is targeting December for mass production of the glasses, Gurman writes, for a launch in early 2027.

Unlike Meta and Google, which are working with established fashionable glasses brands, Apple will be designing its own frames, Gurman claims, with a variety of colors and sizes set to be offered.

Next-Gen Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Could Recognize Faces In 2026
Next-gen Ray-Ban Meta glasses set for 2026 could recognize faces and run continuous AI sessions for “hours”, The Information reports.
UploadVRDavid Heaney

The competition won't be standing still, though. Last year The Information reported that Meta and EssilorLuxottica plan to launch next-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses with a facial recognition feature and the ability to run continuous AI sessions for "hours".

Meanwhile, Google is set to launch its Gemini-powered smart glasses platform this year, partnering with eyewear companies Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, as well as Samsung, to bring it to market.

The industry is set to see a fierce three-way battle between Meta, Apple, and Google to own the software platform on the glasses the companies hope you'll wear all day. Is there room for three players, or will it narrow to a two-horse race over time?

PELADN H05 HX 370 Review

Par : LJay
18 février 2026 à 16:07
The PELADN H05 sports the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with Radeon 890M graphics to deliver some of the strongest integrated performance we’ve tested in a Mini-PC, keeping pace with performance leaders such as the GEEKOM A9 Max while slightly undercutting them on price.

How Tokyo's Ghost in the Shell Exhibition Embraces AR

18 février 2026 à 15:56

The setting and imagery of Ghost in the Shell is iconic by this point.

A futuristic, dystopian society where AI and cybernetic technology have transformed society into a militarized, oppressive surveillance state where the border between humanity and machine is blurred. The title, even, refers to the idea that a soul (‘the ghost’) could be uploaded and transferred into a mechanical shell, or flesh could be fused to transform the human. It’s an idea that has been used to comment on humanity’s relationship with technology, and, to mark thirty years since the first anime adaptation of the 1989 manga, a new art exhibition celebrating the franchise in its entirety has hit Tokyo.

But this isn’t any normal exhibition. It makes sense that a franchise speculating about the future of technology would implement the cutting-edge aspects of this technology into even a showcase of the human artistry that went into its creation, but this Ghost in the Shell Exhibition has implemented AR technology using Xreal Air 2 Ultra to enhance the experience of exploring and understanding the artwork on display.

The series in every iteration follows members of Public Security Section 9, professionals separate to the police that work at solving and preventing crime, typically with a cybercrime and counter-terrorist purpose. The crimes they encounter, and the personal stories that reverberate into the broader world, touch on corruption, surveillance, technological overreach and abuse and more. The Puppet Master, the antagonist of the original manga and first film, can hack and overtake cybernetic bodies, whereas the Laughing Man circumvents surveillance through hacked video feeds.

Conceptually, this is the first deep dive into the history of the entire franchise in a single exhibition, showcasing materials used in the production of not just early works but every series and film from the 1995 original all the way until the more recent Netflix-produced CG works, Arise, and an all-new preview for the all-new series from Science Saru premiering later this year. As such, original cels, storyboards, sketches and production materials from every series were on display, alongside newly produced artworks from a range of creatives that explore questions on humanity, AI, technology and the human body posed by the franchise. An analog look at a technological world, as original paper sketches are framed on walls and in glass panels.

In an opening room, you also have tall PCs with a digital interface to witness lines of dialogue, sketches, hear music, and more from across the franchise. In the main gallery featuring art from every series also sits a PC with digitized assets from every series to flick through at your leisure, a hard drive with a treasure trove of materials from the dense work of the series. Then you have the Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR device.

Their implementation at this exhibition is certainly unusual, one of the first examples in the world of AR glasses being used at an art exhibition in such a manner. While you could simplify their use as a more thematically fitting audio guide like the listening devices available to rent at museums around the world, their use here was a bit more involved and interesting than such a simplistic summation. For a cost of 1500 yen ($10) on top of your ticket, you will be given a pair of Xreal Air 2 Ultra glasses and a smartphone in a case to hold around your neck. After plugging the glasses into the phone, selecting your language between Japanese and English, and being instructed on how to use the device for the first time, you enter the exhibition.

Dotted around the floor of every room of the exhibition are special marks featuring Tachikoma, the cute blue robot from the series. Scanning these marks will trigger an AR scene superimposed over that room or area of the exhibition. The first marker, serving as an introduction to this enhanced walkthrough of the space, places Tachikoma inside the open-plan first room of the showcase in order to explain the franchise and the exhibition, featuring the machine voiced by its original voice actor, Sakiko Tamagawa.

These AR markings are primarily found in the next room, the main gallery space and centerpiece of the exhibition featuring original production sketches, cels and more each broken up by series or film. At the beginning of each entry in the franchise's space within the showcase sits a large Tachikoma mark that you scan with the Xreal glasses, letting them know where you are in the space and triggering the enhancements related to that entry. Each begins with an introduction to that work by Tachikoma enhanced by video clips and audio from that movie or series, before light paths appear on the floor guiding you to specific sketches and cels on display on the show floor.

Scanning these will not only work as a story-driven run-through of the story of that particular production, but provide production background and context to the work you’re seeing.

While functionally similar to an audio guide, the format using this technology allows this guide to go further in expanding upon what visitors can understand about each piece on display. Highlighting specific works and providing overlaid video places these sketches within the context of the finished work for those less familiar with the animation production process, which can be eye-opening for anyone unaware of everything that goes into taking a work from page to screen.

Of course, it doesn’t do this for every sketch, but it’s easily possible to wander the floor and look at these assets at your own pace, then scan these enhanced works at any moment. Newly produced artworks are placed alongside these original production materials that each lean into the themes of the series, leaving you with fresh perspectives to ponder as you bask in the world of Ghost in the Shell. One that particularly stood out to me was a human-sized doll in a box with a mirror for a face, reflecting the viewer as they stared at the piece. When humanity can be moved into a new shell to the point the flesh is unimportant, what is a body? What is human?

Considering the warnings the franchise has made about the convergence of technology and humanity in the wake of the potentially ruinous consequences of AI or technological overabundance, all while still recognizing the potential of these advancements, these artworks and even the use of Xreal glasses felt fitting. Innocence, the second film by Mamoru Oshii, specifically dives into the AI question at some depth, which coincidentally is where this doll artwork was positioned in the event space.

Not all of these art pieces and technology-infused additions to the showcase felt fitting - moving from the warnings of Innocence regarding AI to the uncritical embrace of the technology via distorted Generative AI artwork was disappointing to witness in an exhibition celebrating human creativity. But most of these artworks and technological experiments enhanced the experience overall.

After viewing every series and film in order, the Xreal experience ends with an exclusive preview of Science Saru’s new series, alongside a brief original 30-second animation featuring Motoko evoking the imagery of the original film. Beyond the glasses implementation, the merchandise area featured collaborations with numerous artists and companies that also merged traditional methods with technological innovation. STYLY, an AR company, produced a fascinating traditional Japanese folding screen that, when scanned with your phone’s camera, would render an animation of Motoko.

An embrace of technology to enhance the artistic display of 30 years of adaptations for this seminal manga series felt befitting of this unique exhibition, but the technological potential of this work goes far beyond Ghost in the Shell. The use of Xreal glasses here wasn’t perfect, but any issues spoke more to the current limits of the technology than their implementation here. The field of view is still relatively limited with notable edges, and they’re difficult to use when also wearing glasses. They could occasionally desync, especially if you removed them from your face for any reason, and if this occurs the resync process is far from simple due to how locked-down these devices are for security reasons during this exhibition.

Still, I could imagine this technology finding great use in other showcases in future, even beyond ones where it’s thematically apt to use them like seen here. Classic museums have already embraced technology to provide context to artworks in the past: the Louvre used 3DS devices for a decade, and phone apps are commonplace. AR glasses give a visual enhancement not possible with a phone, however, making it an enhancing use-case for the technology which genuinely benefits the experience.

Regardless of if you do choose to rent the glasses, however, the Ghost in the Shell exhibition is more than worth your time if you care for the series. If you live in or visit Tokyo, the rare opportunity to see original sketches and cels from the franchise history is a real treat. The exhibition runs at Tokyo Node until April 5th.

NZXT's $3499 H2 Mini PC Packs Ryzen 7 9800X3D Or Core Ultra 9 285K And RTX 5080

18 février 2026 à 16:07
NZXT's $3499 H2 Mini PC Packs Ryzen 7 9800X3D Or Core Ultra 9 285K And RTX 5080 NZXT has launched a compact prebuilt gaming PC that it's calling the H2 Mini PC, and you have a choice between an AMD or Intel foundation with both setups carrying the same price tag. Despite it's name, the system falls more into the small form factor (SFF) category than a traditional mini PC though it's certainly a smaller setup measuring

NVIDIA And Meta Expand AI Platform Alliance With Millions Of GPUs, CPUs And Networking

18 février 2026 à 15:26
NVIDIA And Meta Expand AI Platform Alliance With Millions Of GPUs, CPUs And Networking NVIDIA and Meta have formed a multi-year partnership that represents a total platform commitment spanning CPU and GPU hardware, networking solutions, and NVIDIA's Confidential Computing platform for end-to-end encryption of data in a secure enclave. The sheer size of the deal—unconfirmed scuttlebutt puts it north of $100 billion based on Meta's

Forefront Will Get "Major Update" & Price Increase Later This Month

18 février 2026 à 15:44

The Battlefield-like 32-player VR FPS Forefront will see a "major update" and price increase later this month.

Triangle Factory, the maker of the popular 32-player Battlefield-inspired VR FPS Forefront, has announced that the price of their game will increase at the end of February, alongside what the team calls "a major update."

The updated price has not been revealed, but Forefront is currently available on Meta Quest, Steam, and Pico, at a cost of $22.99.

Since launching in Early Access, Forefront has been well-supported by its makers, receiving several updates to add new maps and weapons, address balancing issues, provide graphics updates, and more.

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In mid-February, Triangle Factory announced that Forefront will be coming to PlayStation VR2 sometime this year.

I previously covered Forefront and found it to be an exciting and tense take on the Battlefield formula. The game's combat is immersive, its VR gunplay is tactile and satisfying, and its dynamic environments are well-designed. While there were certainly a few small problems in that Early Access build, mostly due to weapon balance issues, on the whole, Forefront jumped ahead of every other multiplayer shooter I've played in VR. Its large-scale battlefields are hard to beat.

Forefront Hands-On: The Battlefield Multiplayer Experience In VR
Forefront in early access brings excitingly tense, large-scale multiplayer warfare reminiscent of Battlefield to VR.
UploadVRJames Tocchio

Forefront is out in Early Access on Quest, Steam, and Pico.

Avowed officially lands on PS5 alongside major Anniversary update

18 février 2026 à 10:15

While initial impressions surrounding Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed left plenty to be desired (in part due to a disparity between fan expectations based on pre-release trailers and the final product), the game itself did offer plenty of fun in its own right, with satisfying wand combat, solid exploration and more. One year on from the game’s release on Xbox and PC, Avowed is now officially available on Sony’s PlayStation 5 – released in alignment with the game’s big anniversary update.

Taking to their blog to detail the update, the team at Obsidian Entertainment showcased Avowed’s 1st anniversary update, writing:

“It has been one year since the launch of Avowed and the team is ending its post-launch roadmap with a substantial anniversary update built with both returning and new players in mind. This release delivers long-requested community features and a broad slate of quality-of-life improvements, including a fan driven feature to bring Avowed even closer to its Pillars of Eternity franchise roots.”

The full list of everything having been added with the update can be found HERE. but some of the most notable include:

  • Three new playable species
    • Dwarves
    • Orlans
    • Aumaua
  • Camp mirror for full character/species customisation
  • Stat bonuses for each species
  • Stat bonuses for each background
  • New Game+ with additional modifiers
  • Full custom difficulty modification
  • New Quarterstaff weapon type
  • Photo mode

The full patch notes can be found HERE and goes into far greater depth regarding the minutiae of the update. That said, while this latest update does not fundamentally change Avowed or overhaul it, version 2.0 feels like what the developers always intended the game’s experience to be.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this anniversary update? Is it too little too late? What did you think Avowed would be like prior to its launch? Let us know down below.

The post Avowed officially lands on PS5 alongside major Anniversary update first appeared on KitGuru.

Record in the micrometer range: TU Wien and Cerabyte develop the world’s smallest QR code

18 février 2026 à 06:00
With an area of just 1.98 square micrometers, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology, in collaboration with storage startup Cerabyte, have set a new Guinness World Record. The QR code they developed is smaller than most bacteria, making it a technological milestone in the field of materials and data storage research. Guinness World Records […]

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Nokia enforces sales ban on Acer and Asus in Germany

18 février 2026 à 06:00
A patent dispute over the H.265 video codec has immediate consequences for two major PC manufacturers in Germany. Following a ruling by the Munich I Regional Court, Acer and Asus are no longer allowed to sell certain products directly on the German market for the time being. The background to this is a lawsuit filed […]

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Memory crisis until 2030, Phison CEO warns of “structural break” – consumer segment facing market shakeout

18 février 2026 à 06:00
The warning does not come from an analyst, but from the front line. K.S. Pua, CEO of Phison, speaks openly of a structural shift in the memory market. DRAM and NAND shortages are not cyclical, but systemic. And they could continue until 2030 or even beyond. This is not a short-term dip. It is a […]

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AirPods Pro with a matte finish: User sands down shiny charging case by hand

18 février 2026 à 06:00
The high-gloss finish of the AirPods Pro has been an integral part of Apple’s design language for years. The polished surface looks elegant and minimalist, blending seamlessly with the rest of the company’s product portfolio. At the same time, this very aesthetic has a well-known disadvantage: the white, reflective material attracts fingerprints, dust particles, and […]

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