Category Archives: Cyberpunk

In Cyberpunk 2077 there's almost a natural push towards a handgun build. After all, with so many amazing uniquehandguns found in the game, it's hard to resist turning every single customized V into a Johnny Silverhand-inspired gunslinger. Not to mention, handguns are extremely powerful in the game and the perk tree for handguns is full of highly useful boosts to turn you into a cowboy of the dark future.

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However, even with such favoritism towards handguns, it's pretty overwhelming to sift through every perk and figure out what's actually worth investing into. Luckily, choosing handguns as your primary skill makes it easy to level up, and so you'll soon be able to unlock most of the perk tree without much punishment for choosing a "wrong" perk. Still, there are a few perks that do have a slight edge over the rest.

Rio Bravo is an amazing perk which becomes available very early on. In fact, you only need a level 3 in Reflexes for it to become available. The whole idea with handguns is to try and score those cheeky headshots on enemies peaking out of cover, so this perk, a headshot multiplier increase, will come in handy instantly.

The perk has three levels, each of which increases the headshot damage multiplier by 10%, starting at 10% at level 1, 20% at level 2 and 30% at level 3. This should be among the first perks to max out.

The problem with pistols is that they have limited range. In some missions, you'll have to move forward quite a bit to engage with your enemies, which can put you into serious danger. That's why this perk, Long Shot Drop Pop, is a savior for any gunslingers.

RELATED: Cyberpunk 2077: Tips For Taking On Assault In Progress

Available at level 7 of Reflexes, the perk has two levels and basically increases your damage with handguns to opponents who are more than five meters away, at first by 15% and then by 25%. This will make long-range combat a bit more bearable to handgun specialists, without having to invest in rifles.

With some pistols, recoil can be a real annoyance to deal with, especially if you find it hard to aim in the first place. To increase your accuracy, investing in a perk like Steady Hand is a good idea, even for decent and seasoned FPS players, as it removes the need for aim compensation.

Steady Hand is an easy perk to pick up since it comes in one leveland becomes available at level 9 of Reflexes. It reduces recoil for all handguns by 30%, which is a nice quality of life improvement.

Finishing off enemies that are already low and might be trying to hide or run away is key in fast-paced combat. With handguns, it's nice to get a small damage boost against enemies that are already pretty weak but who might be difficult to hit. To remedy this, it's recommended to unlock O.K. Corral at level 9 of Reflexes.

The perk only comes in one level, so it's easy to unlock. Any enemies who are below 25% of their health will take 50% more damage from your handguns, which is a staggering increase, especially at such an early level as 9 for Reflexes.

The problem with firearms is that they give you very poor mobility and you move significantly slower when aiming down sights. Handguns are no different from rifles and shotguns in that regard, which is why the Acrobat perk is another must-pick at level 12 of Reflexes.

RELATED: Cyberpunk 2077: The 10 Best Skills To Get In Assault

Once this perk is unlocked, you can actually dodge while you're locked in aiming down sights animation. It really does change your mobility quite a bit, although it can at times feel a bit buggy if you unintentionally press the keys to dodge.

One of the strongest perks towards the mid to late game at level 14 of Reflexes is Attritional Fire. The advantage this perk brings along is absolutely staggering, since it only requires you to unlock it once and it does so much for you.

Firing consecutive shots on the same target with a handgun will basically increase your damage by 10% every time. This might not seem like a lot, but at this point in the game you probably have a decent aim and can secure kills in several shots. It's a fantastic damage boost and a great for finishing pesky kills.

Following Long Shot Drop Pop, this is definitely the next perk to look forward to if you want to make your long-range combat even more bearable. Wild West is a perk that becomes available at level 14 of Reflexes and only requires you to unlock it once.

This perk is insanely powerful, given that it's granted to you at only level 14 of your primary combat skill. It entirely removes damage penalty from handguns when shooting from a distance, making it ten times easier to engage snipers or enemies you would simply rather keep away from.

This perk is also related to a previous perk mentioned on this guide, the Acrobat perk. Combine that with this one, Lead Sponge, and you won't ever have to worry about being a sitting duck as a gunslinger. Your mobility will be that of a cyberninja, or at least somewhat on par.

RELATED: 10 Cyberpunk 2077 Legendary Items You Need

Lead Sponge is definitely an end game perk with 18 Reflexes required, but it changes pistol play completely. You can finally shoot while dodging, and not just aim down sights while dodging. Combine it with Acrobat, and you're good to go.

A super late game perk, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly only becomes available when you reach level 20 of your Reflexes attribute. It's one of the few, if not the only perk, that actually provides a gunslinger with some armor. This is important, given that handgun specialists tend to be squishy.

Whenever you hit a critical strike with a handgun, your damage and armor will be increased by 30% for 5 seconds. This is pretty insane, even if it's only 5 seconds. If you're hitting multiple crits, which at this point in the game shouldn't be a problem, you'll be dealing staggering amounts of damage almost every engagement.

Another end game perk is Brainpower, available once your Reflexes are leveled up to 20. Unlocked only once, it's perfect for players who like to secure Critical Hits. Whenever you land a headshot with a handgun, your critical chance increases to 25% for 5 seconds.

With good aim and the Steady Hand perk to reduce recoil, this is a great perk to go for if you trust your aim, which at level 20 is probably already fantastic. It's a simple damage increase, but the effect can last for a while if you can secure several headshots, which don't even need to be fatal.

NEXT: Cyberpunk 2077: Every District, Ranked From Worst To Best

Next 10 Pokemon Abilities That Sound More Powerful Than They Are

Tea lover and video game obsessed writing enthusiast with her very own Overwatch team, Anastasia writes about games that leave an impression on her and make her come back time and time again.

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Cyberpunk 2077: The 10 Best Skills To Get In Handguns - TheGamer

Cyberpunk 2077 has had a rough month. However, I have really enjoyed my time exploring Night City on Google Stadia. Well, the team over at Speedcheck have crunched some numbers about playing Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia and its interesting to see. For starters, they looked at how fast of a connection you need to play the game at four different resolutions. Starting at 720p, youll need 11 Mbps, 22 Mbps for 1080p, 37 Mbps for 4K, and 42 Mbps for 4K HDR. Keep in mind that these numbers are for if the game is the only thing using the internet. In addition, they limited their bandwidth to only 5 Mbps for 720p and the lag was a real problem. The team also found that the game only takes less than 45 seconds to launch on Stadia.

I think Stadia is a decent service thats worth considering, but with the way internet is in the United States, it can be hard to get a network that meets your requirements for the gaming platform.

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Speedcheck Crunches the Numbers of CYBERPUNK 2077 on Google Stadia - GeekTyrant

Game Rant recently had a chat with Anna Rust, an actress who finds roles not just in traditional film media but also as a voice actor in video games. As for games, Anna has had roles inStar Wars Battlefront 2,Nioh 2,Battlefield 5,Final Fantasy 14, andCyberpunk 2077, but she also recently played Fleury in Amazon'sCarnival Rowseries and has been cast in several other movies and short films.

Rust discussed her favorite games, dream roles, predictions for the future of the industry, and much more. Voice actors often share some of the most interesting anecdotes about the process of making video games, but Rust's breadth of experience lends an especially interesting perspective on both video games and more traditional forms of media. The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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GR: It's rare to mix video game and traditional acting, but you've done so- what are the major differences between the mediums?

AR: I think there are more differences than similarities, at least for me as an actor. For me, when I'm working on a game, I'm in a booth somewhere, and and nine times out of ten youre gonna be alone in that booth. In film acting you have the luxury of being able to bounce off of someone elses energy and tone. But, when youre alone, you get more individual feedback on what youre doing.

It is rare, but its becoming more common for people to do video game work. I think youll agree that the quality of video games is becoming really astounding these days, and I personally will always gravitate towards quality material. People are finally waking up to how great games can be, and actors can get really fully fleshed out characters in games now. Just because youre not physically on screen doesnt mean you cant get one of the most captivating performances out there....and hopefully it helps take away the stigma from video games that its just a time killer. It will help show people that it really can be art.

GR: With face tracking technology these days, players can really see an actor's face too. Is that helping to bridge that gap?

AR: It really is. And the more we get things like The Last of Us 2, or even The Last of Us 1, were going to see that gap between film or TV and video games narrow massively. If you play more recent games, even down to Spider-Man Miles Morales, its basically an interactive film in a way.... you get the same sense of immersion.

Recently, I played Alien: Isolation and it really gripped me. It was such a captivating experience. Obviously, it is based on a series of films, so its easy to draw the parallel to motion picture, but I felt like I was playing a horror film. It became cinematic in a terrifying way.... I think the best horror games out right now is the Outlast series. They are so f***ed up, they will leave you borderline traumatized afterwards. To think of all the work that went into making that, I have the utmost respect for that kind of creativity.

GR: Its clear youve got some serious gaming chops. What are your favorite games?

AR: If I had to say 'gun to my head' favorite, I would probably say Marvel's Spider-Man. The two that I find myself always going back to are Skyrim and GTA 5. I know its ridiculous because I just want the next ones to come out, and I feel like the longer I support the old ones the longer it will take them to come out with the new ones.... But its those two games that when Im down or lonely or sad, theyre what I will always go back to. Theyre there for me and theyre endlessly replayable.

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GR: How often do you play games that youve worked on?

AR: I play them almost every time. Not because I'm in them, but just because Ive been lucky enough to be a part of some really cool games that I wanted to play anyway. Also, having some insight a few months or years in advance really makes me want to see how they turn out. I love playing games Im a part of, but I try to ignore that Im in them.

GR: It must be interesting to be playing something and then hear your own voice.

AR: It is bizarre! Theres this game on Oculus called Arktika 1, its from the developers of Metro. I was so excited to play it because I had never done VR before, but then I realized that I play the character who guides you through the whole game. I was like I dont know if I can do this. It was just me talking to me the entire game.

GR: You worked on Cyberpunk 2077, and we'd love to hear more about what it was like. Can you describe what you did in Cyberpunk? What was your role?

AR: I dont want to spoil anything, but theres a really great scene somewhere in the game with my character, who is a sex worker. I have yet to find it myself, so I will probably leave it at that.

GR: What was it like working on that game?

AR: I thought it was brilliant. I loved the scripts to death. I know that theres been some controversy about the game coming out, but Im really confident that once the bugs are ironed out people will see how impressive the game really is. From the story to the gameplay to the visuals to the characters, every part of this game is in my opinion absolutely brilliant.... Were going to see the other end of it and be really impressed with the game.... I remember people talking about how buggy Skyrim was, but now its universally beloved.

GR: Right. And Cyberpunk really does seem to get its worldbuilding across very well.

AR: For Cyberpunk, its almost like, and I mean this in a positive way, an assault on the senses. There is just so much going on. Its incredible and every little corner is like that.

GR: Whats been your favorite role on film or in a game?

AR: I really love Fleury [from Carnival Row]. I love everything about her. As far as video games, Ive got to say Gaia in Final Fantasy 14. I'm actually a really big fan of her from an external perspective. Shes really cool and she has so many different forms that make her a joy to play as an actor. To be honest, I really ship her and Ryne. Im really hoping for something there so fingers crossed.

RELATED:10 MMORPGs That Are Still Fun In 2020

GR: What would your dream role be?

AR: My dream for film and TV is a bit far fetched, but its always been Marvels Black Cat. I loved that character from an unreasonably young age and Ive always thought she was just brilliant. Every iteration of her Ive loved, and if I played her, I could die the next day. In terms of video games, Id love to work on an Elder Scrolls game. Who knows, maybe there will be another one soon, maybe well be lucky.

GR: Would you prefer a character role, a bunch of smaller NPCs, or a main player protagonist role?

AR: I will always be drawn to interesting characters. Whether thats the protagonist or a relatively small role in either film or video games, I will always be drawn to characters that excite me. In video games, you can play multiple characters as well, unlike film and TV, so when it comes to games, I really love doing multiple characters. Of course, I enjoy doing a single character that has a really good story or interesting relationships, but I love doing those jobs where you get to do 30 characters and theyre all different so you get to do a lot of various things. Theres never too much weight on it because youll be done with the character in 40 lines. You can try anything.

GR:Like all those wacky one-off NPCs in Elder Scrolls with weird lines?

AR: Yes! And often those characters become fan favorites.

GR: So what do you think makes a good character?

AR: ...It doesnt necessarily have to be someone you align with at all. As long as it's well defined and interesting, youll love spending time with them.... Its literally any character that compels in any way. Im more interested in characters that arent an archetype that does things that just fit the character. Often when you work on something the instinct is to do something you think the character would do. Its much more interesting to do the opposite, because none of us are one dimensional in real life. What makes characters interesting is when they are unpredictable, different, unique, and havent been seen 50 times already in other games or shows. its someone who stands out as an individual.

GR: What are you most proud of?

AR: I really loved working on Carnival Row. The things I got to do on that show were really bucket list worthy. Theres...I dont know if I can talk about it. But theres an element of the show that isnt public yet that I got to work on, and I got to record a song. It was something I always wanted to do at some point. On top of already having gotten to do so many things, like stunts, prosthetics, like having wings I really loved working on that show.

GR: Whats your favorite game that youve worked on?

AR: I loved working on Final Fantasy 14. I loved the character. I also really enjoyed Battlefield 5because I usually dont get to play a physically strong soldier who barks orders and is very head in the game, front footed, doesnt give a f***, has a singular goal and is going for it. Thats really fun as an actor.

GR: To the extent you can talk about future projects, what are you looking forward to most?

AR:The future in general, just because I dont know what it holds.

[End.]

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The 15 Best Video Game Characters of 2020

Robin has a passion for games, tech, and entertainment that stretches back as far as he can remember. From big-budget shooters and RPGs to quirky casual titles, anything with focused design and engaging flow is in his wheelhouse.

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Interview: Actress Anna Rust Talks Industry Trends, Working on Cyberpunk 2077, and More - GameRant

Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, launch of 2020 in terms of videogames.

After several delays, the game released on December 10, 2020 but we now know it needed a few more months to fix some of its problems.

A new report sheds some light on what was on the mind of developers in the months prior.

Jason Schreier published a new report over on Bloomberg revealing a few more details on the development process leading to launch, based on his interviews with a couple of the development team members.

When the game's release date was announced, there were a good amount of people questioning that. One of them even asked during a meeting how could they be able to finish a more ambitious game with the same development time frame as The Witcher 3.

The report suggest problems started to come up after the studio focused on the development for this title in late 2016.

There was a lead change, the game's story and gameplay directions changed constantly, and people coming from The Witcher 3 had different opinions with the ones already working on the title at the time.

While the game was being develop, we knew crunch was present in CDPR work culture and the company even acknowledged it.

The report details that although Marcin Iwinski told his staff that overtime was not mandatory, everyone felt pressure to do it by their coworkers or inmediate bosses.

"There were times when I would crunch up to 13 hours a day a little bit over that was my record probably and I would do five days a week working like that," revealed Adrian Jakubiak, a former audio programmer for the studio.

Having a bigger developer team didn't help to the cause. The game's credit shows that at least 500 people worked on the game, a few more compared to the 240 in-house members for The Witcher 3.

The healing process for the game is under way, with update 1.1 being the next big patch coming to the game.

This one is set to launch soon and it will feature a lot of bug fixes, especially for last-gen consoles.

If you want to read everything about this, head over here.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Developers Believed the 2020 Release Date Was a Joke - RealSport101

In the original short story, Jones the dolphin was also a heroin addict. Just FYI.Screenshot: Alliance Communications

Its hard to make the cyberpunk genre feel fresh nowadays. Its tried-and-true tenets of a dystopian future overrun by corporations and technology have, after all, been true for a while. Of course, cybernetic implants arent de rigeur in the real world so we cant have secret chainsaws in our hands, but we already have plenty of technology that helps augment human abilities. We cant stick a wire into our heads to send our consciousness into a computer to hack it, but plenty of people can hack computers from across the globe, no skull input required. When so much of the genre is real, what does cyberpunk have left to offer us?

The answer, of course, is cyber-dolphins.

Ironically, this most unique of cyberpunk concepts is not a cutting-edge idea. Its fully 40 years old, having first appeared in a short story by Neuromancer author and genre pioneer William Gibson. But the cyber-dolphin truly entered the zeitgeist in 1995 in the storys film adaptation of the same name: Johnny Mnemonicwhich, as it happens, takes place on January 17, 2021. While Keanu Reeves may have starred as the title character, Jones the cyber-dolphin is the films most memorable star, as well as its true hero.

Why has a dolphin been cybernetically enhanced? Im so glad you asked. Jones was forcibly recruited by the U.S. Navy, who enhanced him with tech that allowed the aquatic mammal to remotely hack the data of enemy submarines, using infrasound scans that can piece the submarines hulls. Somehow, he ended up with the LoTeks, a group of revolutionaries/TV pirates fighting against the typical dystopian corporations that invariably run the world in cyberpunk stories. Jones is a hacker and a code breaker linked (perhaps permanently?) to the movies wacky interpretation of the internet, which serves the good guys well when Johnny Mnemonic shows up with 320-gig of data locked in his brains cybernetic memory drive that needs to be downloaded before it kills him. Here, the movies opening crawl explains everything clearly and succinctly!

The data in his head contains the cure for Nerve Attenuation Syndrome, which people contract after spending too much time in the virtual reality of the internet. So it doesnt go unremarked upon, yes, Johnny Mnemonic is set in a dystopian future, ruled by corporations, where people obsessively spend their time on the internet, facing a global pandemicin the distant future of 2021. The first two details are gimmes, given that they were cyberpunk tropes long before the Robert Longo-directed movie came out, but the plague is a preternaturally lucky guess. Still, the fact Johnny goddamned Mnemonic is the fiction that most accurately predicted our current reality feels less uncanny to me and more incredibly irritating.

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The PharmaKom Corporationwhich discovered the cure but has kept it secret to continue profiting from treating the diseasehas employed the yakuza to retrieve the data inside Johnnys head with as much violence as a PG-13 movie allows, which is another reason Johnny needs the dolphins help post haste. Theres a lot of strange techno-jargon thrown around, Jones becomes a virtual dolphin for a while, Johnny has to briefly hack his own brain, but eventually Jones saves Johnny and broadcasts the cure to every TV (and, presumably, computer) in the world, exposing PharmaKoms villainy. This is how Jones becomes the mammal that truly saves the day in Johnny Mnemonic, but its not what makes him special.

Theres a lot of things that set the cyberpunk genre apart from other science fiction, including its roots in noir and its unidealized protagonists and dystopian settings. Like the detective stories of the 30s and 40s, theres a focus on the problems, challenges, and dangers of the real world, although this focus is usually taken to an action-packed, entertaining extreme. Cyberpunk does the same thing, which is why corporatocracy and an unhealthy overabundance of (and over-reliance on) technology are such mainstays in the genre; its simply following the trajectory of the last few decades to its extreme, but its still often grounded in some portion of present-day reality.

That sense of realism, combined with the imagination of science fiction, is what, to me, makes cyberpunk so vital and compelling. Sci-fi luminary Arthur C. Clarke originated the well-known (among nerd circles) adage, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. But before that advanced technology becomes magic, theres a thin linewhere the technology is advanced enough to seem almost magical but doesnt become a fantasy, in a setting that feels plausible, even if it isnt particularly probable. But in a world where cyberpunk setting mainstays like virtual reality, the internet, and disturbingly autonomous artificial intelligences are commonplace, what idea does cyberpunk have to offer thats still compellingly imaginative while feeling like it could theoretically be part of our future?

Cyber-dolphins, of course. Jones the cyber-dolphin is as wild an idea now as he was when Gibson introduced him to the world in 1981. Animals used and trained for military purposes has a long and very real history right to the present day. As Sarah Zhang reported on our sister site Gizmodo a few years ago:

Half a century ago, the Navys Marine Mammal Program began training a whole menagerie of dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions, and other sea creatures for underwater taskseven sharks with military brain implants have been considered, the latter quite recently. Of course, it was the agile and intelligent dolphin that showed some of the most promise. In Vietnam, the Navy had five dolphins that patrolled the waters around ships, alerting sailors to swimming enemies trying to plant a bomb.

Cybernetically modifying dolphins to mentally hack the software inside Russian submarines is a giant step towards the fantastical, something so wild it seems an utter fabricationexcept Jones still has one fin solidly planted in reality, just enough to feel possible even if it seems completely improbable. Once youve accepted the premise of Jones, it requires no additional suspension of disbelief to accept that the dolphin can plug into the internet to decode data and then email (or whatever Johnny Mnemonics dolphin-y equivalent is) to the planet.

In reality, we dont have USB drives embedded in our brains like Johnny Mnemonic. We dont have cybernetic augmentation like fingers with laser garrotes inside. And the corporations havent hired the mafia to murder threats to its profit margin (as far as we explicitly know). But all of these things feel so close enough to reality, or at least tropes weve seen so often that theyve lost the attempted prescience that makes cyberpunk and much of science fiction in general so compelling.

But for 40 years, the cyber-dolphin has remained the perfect representation of the genre at its apexplausibly realistic, darkly cynical, and so imaginative a concept he almost seems magicalalmost. And if this possibly deranged diatribe hasnt convinced you, Jones does murder a cybernetically-enhanced assassin-priest (played by Dolph Lungren) without once leaving the dingy, upsettingly small aquarium he hangs in. Lets see Rick Deckard, Motoko Kusanagi, or Henry Case manage that.

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Johnny Mnemonic's Cyber-Dolphin Is Still the Apex of Cyberpunk - Gizmodo

Whoa.

As CDPR release Cyberpunk 2077 pushes from one controversy to the next, it's all too easy to remember glossier days, filled with promise, spangly demos, and an adorably awkward Keanu Reeves responding to an E3 audience member's impromptu plaudits. Good times. Maybe we'll have them again.

Those of you who still worship at the altar of Reeves' in-game character, Johnny Silverhand, might want to know that merch-maker Good Smile Co. has opened pre-orders on a pint-sized iteration of the hard-rockin' amigo the latest in Good Smile's range of poseable chibi action figurines, or "Nendoroids."

Johnny Silverhand stands a dinky 100mm in height, (that's just under four inches), and features the typical Nendoroid articulation features. In terms of accessories, Johnny is packing two faceplates, a duffel bag, his signature guitar, and his weapon of choice, the Malorian Arms 3156 handgun. Alternate hands will allow Johnny to shred some chords on his axe, or throw up the horns like Ronnie James Dio.

If you want a little Johnny of your very own, then pre-orders are open now over at the Good Smile Co. website and other retailers. Johnny Silverhand Nendoroid retails for around 5,000 (or roughly $48 USD) not including shipping or any relevant customs charges. Pre-orders close February 25, with Johnny expected to hit the road in September 2021. Wake the fuck up, samurai.

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Isn't this Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny Silverhand Nendoroid breathtaking? - Destructoid

Image: CD Projekt Red

Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you're looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be.

Cyberpunk 2077 released in early December 2020, and controversy surrounding its notoriously poor performance on consoles aside its a fun, gorgeous game on PC, especially if you have Nvidia hardware that enables ray-traced graphics. If youre still thinking about picking it up, you can snag the DRM-free version of the PC game thats redeemable on GOG.com from Eneba (a marketplace that sells codes weve featured it several times for its excellent deals on PS Plus memberships). Normally a full $60, it costs $35.18 at the time of publishing. Its worth noting that this key will work globally, according to Eneba, not just in the US.

The game might not be in the best state right now (though its many glitches do make for wonderful Highlight Reel content on YouTube), but developer CD Projekt Red has promised a few big updates coming in early 2021 that should address the most glaring issues that still linger.

Prices taken at time of publishing.

CD Projekt Reds much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 is here. While the game is in need of some bug fixes, the PC version is especially gorgeous.

Sonys WH-1000XM4, its latest flagship noise-canceling headphones, are available for a great price at eBay if youre willing to go the refurbished route. Normally $350 outside of a deal (going as low as $278 for a new set), these are just $228. You can knock 20 percent off the cost by inserting the offer code PAY20LESSCR at checkout.

The seller, who has a 99 percent positive rating on eBay, says that these headphones are in like-new condition, and all original accessories are included. The seller provides free shipping and allows for a 30-day return window. If you live in the US, theyll have a two-year warranty through Allstate. As someone who owns the WH-1000XM3, this deal has me tempted.

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Sonys WH-1000XM4 improve on the previous generation with automatic pausing when you remove them, as well as multipoint Bluetooth connections. They have the same great sound quality and a very effective noise-cancellation effect.

There are more affordable USB-C hubs out there, but Dells puck-shaped model might be the one that suits you best. Normally around $75, Amazon and Best Buy are currently selling it for $60. It features an HDMI port and full-sized DisplayPort (with support for up to a 4K 60Hz monitor), a USB-C and USB Type-A port, Ethernet, and, last but not least, a VGA port. It does not support USB-C power passthrough to charge devices, though, so youll need to keep your laptop powered another way.

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Cyberpunk 2077 is nearly half off on PC - The Verge

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 wants to be like Grand Theft Auto to a certain extent, but theres one area the game didnt quite figure out on the way to launch, its use of cars.

Ive previously written about how all of the games car-based sequences are on-rails scripted, and obviously there is no AI for elaborate police chases, and you cannot even fire out of a vehicle outside of select mission segments. Even regular traffic AI seems baffling at times.

And yet the game has a massive amount of cars for sale, and they are some of the most expensive things you can spend money on in the game, with many priced above even legendary weapons or cyberware from stores. You will be constantly buzzed by fixers trying to sell you new cars, so its hard to know which are good and which are bad other than simply going by price. But even thats not a great idea.

Heres what I would avoid, to start with:

Nearly any vehicle under $50K is probably not going to be worth your time (with one exception in this list). They look bad, they are not fast, and are usually just a collection of vans and hatchbacks that will be no better than the car you start the game with.

Cyberpunk 2077

I would not bother saving up for the $250K Aerondight, the most expensive car in the game, as I do not think its dramatically better than most cheaper options, and if theres a supercar you want, there are easier ways to get one.

I would also not bother with the super expensive Arch Nazare racing bike, again, outclassed by far cheaper options.

All in all, I wouldnt buy more than a scarce handful of cars period, as you simply do not use them much other than to get from point A to point B, you can get a number of cars and bikes for free, and in segments like Claires races, it truly doesnt even matter how fast your vehicle is. In fact, the faster it is, the more likely you are to miss turns due to the games too-zoomed-in minimap navigation system.

But if you want my picks, here they are:

Cyberpunk 2077

Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X motorcycle (Street Cred 12 - $22K) This is a relatively cheap bike clearly modeled after the one for Akira. Bikes are great in Cyberpunk because they allow you to get around constantly clogged traffic lanes, and its one of the only times you can see your character in person. This was the first vehicle I bought. Nothing wrong with Jackies Arch, though, or the bike youll eventually get from the Nomads for free.

Cyberpunk 2077

Mizutani Shion "Coyote" (Street Cred 20 - $115K) This is my desert ride, as it will make navigating the dunes and long highways a breeze out in the badlands. Its expensive, but actually worth it. There is a way to get a version of this car for free, but it requires you to effectively betray Panam, so just be a good person and save up for it.

Cyberpunk 2077

Quadra Type-66 "Javelina" (Street Cred 30 - $73K) - There are a few different versions of this car in the game, but the badlands Javelina one is easily the best, a blend of strength, speed, handling and Mad Max-style looks. And unlike some of these others, theres no way to get one for free.

Cyberpunk 2077

Rayfield Caliburn (Street Cred 40 - $157K or free) For my money, this is probably the best all-around car in the game. Its fast, handles well and is less clunky than the Aerondight for $100K less. And as many players have figured out, this is a car you can actually get in the game for free if you go to a secret spot in a desert tunnel. Heres a video as to where to find it here. But if you want uh, both colors, youll have to pay for it.

Thatskind of it. I really just dont think its a good use of money to buy a bunch of cars in Cyberpunk given how many you can get for free through main or side missions or that you can find in secret locations on the map. I dont see any reason to buy cheap cars because theyre bad and sluggish. I dont see any reason to buy larger trucks and military-style vehicles as there is no real car combat in this game that you need to be sturdy for, ramming people off the road and such (with every sequence scripted, you cannot purposefully ram people of the road, in fact). So dont bother.

Those are my picks, you might have your own, but I think this is one area of the game that needs further development before you invest too many of your Eddies into it.

Follow meon Twitter,YouTubeandInstagram. Pick up my sci-fi novelsHerokillerandHerokiller 2, and read my first series,The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also onaudiobook.

More:

I Bought Every Cyberpunk 2077 Car And Motorcycle: Here Are The Best Ones - Forbes

The dead-eyed NPC has been the butt of endless jokes and memes for pretty much as long as 3D games have been around. When playing big-time open-world RPGs, you spend most of your time talking to digital faces. Whether thats in Deus Ex, Skyrim, or even The Witcher 3, if the NPC talking to you seems off in any way could ruin every gamers favorite synergistic word, immersion. This often leaves NPCs in the tough spot of either looking like a puppet or looking like Angelina Jolie in that movie Beowulf from 2007.

Now, with the release of Cyberpunk 2077, a new system for facial animation has entered the video game industry. Jali Technology has worked to create an animation system that takes all 44 of the English phonemes and animates them to an NPCs face along with an audio file. This is all based on machine learning and basic locations of jaw, lip, and tongue movements. Jalis tech also goes beyond English and supplies other phonemes from other languages, allowing Cyberpunk 2077 to sync multiple languages with relative ease.

So what does the future hold for this technology, and will it bring us closer to crossing the uncanny valley?

Here is the original post:

Cyberpunk 2077 got its facial animation mostly right - Polygon

Cyberpunk 2077 mods

(Image credit: CD Projekt/xRevo94)

Cyberpunk 2077's modding scene is still in its infancy, but we've picked out a few of the best from the early selection. Check out the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods.

When Cyberpunk 2077's Night City was first shown off, a lot of people seemed to be surprised about just how sunny it was. Bright blue skies is not what the mind immediately conjures up when you think of dystopian cyberpunk cities, even if they are in the California desert. If you never quite got over this, there is of course a mod for what ails you.

I think there's room for more sunshine in cyberpunk, but I'm also Scottish, which means I just freak out at the sight of all that open space up therewhere the heck are all the clouds? It's unnatural. Essenthy's Climate Change mod means I can escape the terror of the great blue void by replacing it with something a bit gloomier.

Instead of sunshine, you can enjoy fog, pollution, toxic fog, clouds, overcast and the most cyberpunk of them all: plain rain. All of this foul weather appears normally without the mod, but picking one will make it the default, replacing sunny weather entirely. You'll still see other kinds of weather, so you won't be stuck with your choice, but that will become the most common type.

Creator Essenthy notes that the mod doesn't work in North Side, for some reason, and can be spotty in the Badlands. They hope to find a solution once more advanced modding tools become available.

The oppressive basic and toxic fog settings are my personal favourites, calling to mind Blade Runner 2049. That's when Night City looks as malevolent as it really is. Perfect weather for crime.

Read more here:

This Cyberpunk 2077 mod makes Night City's weather appropriately crap - PC Gamer