What we’ve had since then is 30 years of steady encoding enhancements from a well-organized international standards committee. Similarly, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) formed the Video Coding Expert Group (VCEG) way back in 1984 to develop an international digital video standard for teleconferencing. From this, H.262, H.263, H.264, and H.265 were all born, and after H.261, the next video standard worked on was known as MPEG-1. Why not the 8×8 that is used by JPEG and used with

This week, we’re running an offer on PC Gamer subscriptions, where if you subscribe to two magazines, you get a third free. Or if you want to read more about games each month, you can add two other great magazines to your order. Might we recommend combining PC Gamer with Retro Gamer and Edge, if you’re looking for the broadest possible spectrum of quality games coverage—you can read about old favourites and new games across all formats every month, if that’s your sort of thing. All three subscri

As with every year, a massive number of products in every imaginable category will be on sale, including CPU coolers and PC fans. What to expect from case fan and CPU cooler deals on Black Friday and Cyber MondayThere haven’t been any radical advancements in fan technology or CPU coolers over the past year, so there aren’t any specific products you should keep an eye out for. Case fans still pull air in and out of your computer, and CPU coolers still pull heat away from your processor. This year

I’m a sucker for Grand Theft Auto 5 visual overhaul mods, and none have captured my heart more than Jamal Rashid’s Natural Vision Remastered. “My main focus in the newest NaturalVision Remastered update was to overhaul the Cloudy weather,” Rashid, aka Razed, tells me via email. He tells me he’s a bit burnt out on Los Santos, and that this update will be NaturalVision Remastered’s last. NaturalVision Remastered’s latest update is due on Wednesday, October 24. Razed clearly has a good eye for GTA

In April, Luke Winkie wrote about how Fortnite PvE fans feel about Battle Royale taking over the game they love. It’s true: Save the World is often overshadowed by its BR counterpart—something which might subside somewhat when the former also goes free-to-play. In a blog post, the developer says it’s working on a “broad set of features, reworks, and backend system scaling” that it believes are crucial for going free-to-play. Elsewhere, Save the World is getting an overhauled Hero System which sh

In today’s showing of Weird But Cool Atomic Heart footage, a character appears trapped in a tunnel of molecular mass. Even from the little we’ve seen so far, I’m certain that won’t be the strangest sentence ever written about Munfish’s upcoming alternate Soviet-era shooter. Named ‘”Baba” (Grandma) Zina trapped in Polymers. It’s not clear how long Baba Zina’s been trapped in suspended animation, but it seems she’s been caught off guard as her handbag and personal effects lie strewn around the flo

Our Fallout 76 beta release date: everything we know roundup informs when PC players can take on post-apocalyptic West Virginia first-hand. But if you fancy dropping in on streams, let’s plays, walkthroughs and what not early—here’s when tomorrow’s Xbox One B.E.T.A (Break-It Early Test Application) kicks into gear. While we don’t yet know how the PC beta will be structured, we might be able to glean some information from its console schedule. The convenience of its universal four-hour stints, fo

Voting is coming to a close for this year’s Golden Joystick Awards. In the meantime, you can help us skew the voting in PC gaming’s favour by weighing in with your votes. Most categories contain a few PC games, but the most pertinent is, of course, the Best PC Games category. You can also help select the ‘Most Wanted’ PC game in the works, including PC titles like Anthem, Battlefield 5, Cyberpunk 2077, Remedy’s Control, Ooblets and Sekiro among many console games we don’t discuss over here. Here

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In August, Samuel pondered six ways Metal Gear can have a future after Survive. Adding Silent Hill 2’s Pyramid Head antagonist to Survive itself was, unsurprisingly, not one of his suggestions. Ahead of Halloween, The Researcher’s Story is a special event that’s set to run from tomorrow through November 6. Successful completion offers players Battle Points by way of “digging the base camp, and unlocking items and gears.” In his 59-scored review, Andy said Metal Gear Survive has “flickers of bril

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About how I felt after one game of Split the Room. Split the Room, part of The Jackbox Party Pack 5, isn’t fun in the way the series’ party games usually are. Split the Room begins like many Jackbox games do. We’re looking at Black Mirror: The Party Game Trivia Question. We’re looking at Black Mirror: The Party Game Trivia Question.

EA has announced the games coming to its Origin Access subscription service this month—the two standouts are wacky city builder Tropico 5 and head-scratching puzzle game Opus Magnum. As Alex wrote in his review, Opus Magnum is one of the most satisfying puzzle games ever made, and you’re given plenty of freedom to solve its alchemical, machine-based puzzles the way you want. As a reminder, EA’s basic Origin Access costs $5/£4 per month or $30/£20 per year, and gives you access to free games and

Whether you like it or not, the once-cancelled “uncensored” version of survival horror game Agony is officially releasing this month. Following its mysterious appearance on Steam last week, Madmind Studio has confirmed Agony Rated will release October 31. Indeed, Agony Unrated itself was announced and then cancelled due to “legal issues” as well, but on its Kickstarter page, Madmind Studio has gone into a bit of detail about what this means. To release Agony Unrated, we had to choose an alternat

As we approach the Black Friday season, when tons of gaming monitors will be available at a discount, one of the biggest questions you’ll have to address is: “Should I buy a G-Sync or FreeSync display?” Differences between G-Sync and FreeSyncBoth G-Sync and FreeSync effectively do the same key thing: remove stutters and screen tearing in games. In addition to being cheaper than G-Sync equivalents, FreeSync displays also offer more connectivity options including older inputs like DVI and VGA. You

Far Cry 2’s central genius is that it’s an open world that doesn’t exist to glorify you, the player. There are no good guys in Far Cry 2, and no glorious crusade to save the war-torn country from some handy moustache-twirling dictator. Another legacy of Far Cry 2: one of the all-time great game trailers, thanks to perfect pairing with Massive Attack’s Angel. Far Cry 2 inspired an industry to widen its perspective and explore the power that open worlds truly offered. It may have spawned several o

Mech strategy game Battletech’s first expansion, Flashpoints, will be out on November 27, and it’ll be followed by another expansion next summer and a third that does not yet have a release window, publisher Paradox has announced. The expansion adds a new mission type, Target Acquisition, where you race to control three territories across the map, as well as three new mechs and a tropical biome. The next expansion, called Urban Warfare, is due in the summer of next year, and you’ll “fight throug

Andy called Shadow of the Tomb Raider “one of Lara Croft’s best modern adventures” in his review last month and, up until this week, fans seemed to generally agree, giving it mostly positive reviews on Steam. But then it was review bombed, with most disgruntled fans citing a 34% week-long sale, which ends tomorrow, as the reason for criticism. Most don’t seem concerned about whether the game is any good or not, and many don’t even comment on it. Another negative review reads: “Game is good btw..

It’s late October, which means a slew of Halloween events are on their way to your favourite games, and Fortnite is no exception. Epic has already added some spooky skins—including the pumpkin-headed Jack Gourdon (above)—and recreated trick-or-treating by lettings players ring doorbells. On Friday, it began teasing its official Halloween event, Fortnitemares, with an image of what looks like a new skin, a cube in chains, and some cryptic rhymes that could be hinting at an event-specific game mod

The Early Access launch of modern multiplayer shooter World War 3 has been marred by technical problems, with many players unable to connect to game servers, leaving them staring at a loading screen. Developer The Farm 51 nearly postponed the Early Access launch at the last minute on Friday because of “technical difficulties”. They still have a way to go, however, and said they “understand the frustration and the anger” from fans. World War 3 aims for the more realistic end of the shooter spectr