From the world's first smart surfboard to a long-awaited glimpse at some brand new Pokemon, it's been a fascinating week– and Agents Hall and Clayton are here to tell you all about it! That's right: it's the Week in Geek.
Monday 9th May
Some flashy new cards from Nvidia and incredible VR tech from Google
Graphics hardware manufacturers Nvidia have been working on their new 'Pascal' architecture for over two years now: a multi-billion dollar R&D project involving several thousand people. Over the weekend, they unveiled the result, the GTX 1080 graphics card – and it looks as though it has all been worth it.
I’m not going to give you an endless list of numbers, but the important thing is that the new GTX 1080 is significantly faster than Nvidia’s current flagship, the £800 Titan X. The GTX 1080 is also three times more power efficient – while also being almost half the price of the Titan X at £450.
As well as the top-of-the-line GTX 1080, Nvidia also announced its baby brother, the GTX 1070. Even though this card starts at around £270, it still manages to beat the old Titan X in performance.
Now, you may think all this graphical processing power is a little over the top – and if you just have a PC with a single monitor, you may well be right. However, Nvidia have designed these cards specifically to deal with the extra stress caused by multiple-monitor setups – as well as cutting-edge virtual reality systems.
If you fancy getting your hands on one of these new cards, then the GTX 1080 will go on sale at the end of May, with the 1070 coming out a couple of weeks later. In the meantime, take a look at the video above for some more info on Pascal – and to see what the new cards can do!
As mentioned above, the new 'Pascal' cards from Nvidia are specifically focused on providing extra performance for VR applications. One such application is Google’s Tilt Brush – a new VR painting app that was also launched on Monday.
Tilt Brush makes use of the HTC Vive headset and controllers, and allows artists to use a virtual palette of tools to paint 3D sketches in real time. As you can see from the video above, Tilt Brush can be used to create some stunning effects that simply haven’t been possible until now. Indeed, our own online editor Agent Cooper recently had a chance to try the app out – and went from VR sceptic to true believer!
Applications like Tilt Brush show that VR has a much broader range of uses than just making more immersive games. This type of tech could revolutionise the way artists create and display their work – but it could have many other uses as well. It could be a game changer for designers and architects who could develop 3D sketches in real time. In fact, Audi are already using this sort of technology to develop new vehicles.
Although currently only available on the HTC Vive, there are plans to expand Tilt Brush this to other VR platforms in the future.
Tuesday 10th May
The day PlayStation gamers have been waiting for – and new Pokemon revealed!
Tuesday was the day PlayStation 4 owners have been waiting for – as the latest Nathan Drake adventure, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, was finally released.
Set three years after the last game, fortune hunter Nathan Drake has retired and is living a normal life with his wife. All this changes, though, when his Drake’s long-lost brother Sam appears – and the pair set off on yet another treasure-seeking adventure.
If you’ve played any of the previous Uncharted games – and if you haven’t, then why not? – you’ll be familiar with the gameplay to expect in A Thief’s End. However, this latest incarnation takes things to a new level.
Among the new gameplay elements is a Metal Gear Solid-style tagging system, which allows you to keep track of your enemies from a distance. This gives you the option of playing the game in a stealthier way than previous titles in the series.
If you have a PlayStation 4 and you’ve not already bought Uncharted 4, then I strongly recommend you make this your top priority. If you don’t have one, then Sony have handily made a special edition console in a fetching blue colour, featuring Nathan Drake on the side. If you need any more convincing, take a look at the video above!
In more gaming news, a new video released on Tuesday has given us a first glimpse of the new 'starter Pokemon' in the upcoming Pokemon Sun and Moon games.
Sticking with Pokemon tradition, Sun and Moon will ask you to choose from three starter Pokemon at the beginning of the game. We now know that players will be able to choose from three newbies: Rowlet, Litten and Popplio.
Rowlet is a 'grass/flying' type that looks like a baby owl. Litten is a fierce little kitty that uses fire-based attacks. Finally, Popplio is a water type Pokemon that looks like a cross between a seal and a clown.
As well as the new starter Pokemon, the trailer also gives us a look at the new location for the game: Alola, which looks a bit like Hawaii. Finally, we also get a glimpse of Sun and Moon's 'legendary Pokemon', featured on the game’s box art.
Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will be available on the 18th November – and above, you can take a look at the video for yourself.
Wednesday 11th May
A step closer to the Hyperloop – and a first glimpse at the Assassin's Creed movie
On Wednesday, the Hyperloop One team performed the first open-air test of the propulsion technology for their futuristic new transport system – recently explored by Agent Cooper– which sees passengers travel at high speed through vacuum tubes.
Although the Hyperloop concept was originally conceived by tech guru Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, he decided he was too busy with his other ventures to put much time into developing it. Instead, he threw down the gauntlet for other companies to perfect Hyperloop – which is where Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies) come in.
As I said before, the Hyperloop system consists of an electromagnetic track that runs through a vacuum tube. Carriages carrying passengers and cargo run through the tube, and the lack of air resistance allows them to travel up to 700 miles per hour.
Wednesday’s test was purely a test of the propulsion system, though, so there were no huge vacuum tubes or levitating carriages. The test carriage was accelerated using magnets, and went from zero to sixty in 1.1 seconds. The Hyperloop One team says that even without the vacuum tubes, it should be capable of 400 mph.
Obviously there's still a lot of work to be done before Hyperloop is perfected – but Hyperloop One are hoping to have a fully functional test track by the end of 2016. Now we just need to find a way of getting people used to accelerating faster than an F1 car on their morning commute! Take a look at the first test in the video above.
Also on Wednesday, we got a look at the upcoming Assassin's Creed movie, as the first trailer was released.
The film stars Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch – a modern-day criminal who is the descendant of a 15th-century assassin called Aguilar. After a mysterious corporation called Abstergo Industries fakes his death, Lynch is forced to enter a machine called 'the Animus', which allows him to relive Aguilar's memories of life during the Spanish Inquisition.
The film is only loosely based on the Assassin’s Creed series of games, which has given the writers more freedom to create an original story. However, it will still feel very familiar to fans of the hugely popular games – which have now sold over 91 million copies!
We’ll cover Assassin’s Creed in more detail as we get closer to its release date in December – but you can take a look at the trailer above right now.
Thursday 12th May
Samsung unveil the world's first smart surfboard
On Thursday, Samsung announced the latest in their Galaxy range of Android devices – and I guarantee it’s unlike anything you’ll have seen before!
Developed in conjunction with pro surfer Gabriel Medina, the Samsung Galaxy Surfboard is a full-size, carbon fibre-coated board with a built in LED screen. There's a slot in the side of the surfboard which accepts a Galaxy S7 smartphone which acts as the brains of the operation. As well as displaying incoming messages on the large screen, the board also displays weather information and details of tides and waves.
The unusual device has been specifically designed as a training aid to improve communication between Medina and his coach – and as the coach is usually over a hundred metres away on the beach while Medina is training, communicating properly can be a problem!
Obviously, due to the very limited market of pro surfers, the Galaxy Surfboard is unlikely to make its way into stores anytime soon – but it does show the kind of devices that are now possible with a bit of creative thinking.
Take a look at the video above to see Gabriel Medina and the Samsung Galaxy Surfboard in action.
Friday 13th May
The Angry Birds come home to roost – and we finally meet our Doom (again)
On Friday, the notorious Angry Birds hit the big screen in their very own movie, based on the hugely popular smartphone game.
The film stars Jason Sudeikis as Red, a misfit bird with anger management issues. Red lives on an island inhabited by flightless birds – and when a ship full of pigs comes to the island, Red is the only one who's suspicious.
That is, until the pigs start to steal all the eggs from the island and take them off to their castle! Red rallies all the other birds and, with the help of a giant slingshot left behind by the pigs, they invade the castle to get back their eggs.
We all know that movies based on video games are almost always terrible. However, with a cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph and even Sean Penn, The Angry Birds Movie looks like it could actually be pretty good. In any case, take a look at the trailer above and see what you think.
Lastly for this week, Doom– or Doom 4, if you’re numerically inclined – was finally released on Friday after a long period in what some have described, rather appropriately, as “development hell”.
After production first began in May 2008, it was taken back to the drawing board in 2011, with some insiders leaking that the then-current version of the game game was mediocre, with no soul or personality of its own.
Several public beta versions later, the game has arrived – with initial reviews being very positive. A development hell success story? Now there’s a nice surprise!
The game is violent, fast-paced, has visually stunning graphics and a rocking heavy metal soundtrack. There’s a ton of recognisable weaponry and pickups for old fans to recognise, alongside plenty of new content to make the title to feel original.
It all feels very reminiscent of the original games, with an onslaught of enemies to deal with as you speed around each map looking for powerups, ammo and secrets. There’s a full single-player campaign ,as well as an impressive multiplayer mode – and even a map builder which lets you create your own version of hell. Now give us a moment while we try out the BFG 9000 we’ve just found!
That wraps things up for another Week in Geek – but be sure to check back next Sunday for another crucial round-up of the latest goings-on in science, technology and geeky entertainment! And for more great articles from our Agents direct to your inbox each month, why not get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter?