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The Nissan Z and Toyota 86 will soon be vying for the hearts and minds of drivers everywhere and even though they’re not 1:1 competitors, it can be assumed that they’re aimed at more or less the same person.

I won’t say that the Nissan Z is going to save Nissan, and I won’t say that the GR 86 will vindicate those who swore the previous version of the car just needed more power. But I will say that both of these machines look like they’ll do their nameplates justice.

I like the idea of the 86 more than the Z. I’ll take a naturally aspirated engine over forced induction all day because I’m a romantic, but forced induction has come a long way, too. The near elimination of turbo-lag in recent years really weakens the argument against turbocharged power plants.

Then again, while I like the idea of the 86, the design of the new Z is awesome from front to back. The interior is exciting! The cabin actually shows creativity, but not for its own sake. The changes look genuinely functional — like those awesome air vents on the door that clean up the dash.

Making something different and functional is not always easy. When I look at the rest of the Z, in aggregate, I think it’s better designed than the Toyota, which strikes me as OK but lacking the Z’s stand out features.

Also, I have to say that they kind of look similar. Am I the only one that’s seeing this? Sure, both are sports cars, but overall I think they have very similar front ends and you can’t say the same about the previous generations of these cars. Though, because of the cool design bits on the new Z, the 86 just ends up looking a little boring in comparison.

How about you? What do you think of these new, old cars? What’s your take on the new Nissan Z and Toyota GR 86?

When you’re selling high-spec gaming-focused phones, it makes sense to have the most powerful processor possible. At least, that’s the only explanation I can come up with for why Asus would announce its new Snapdragon 888 Plus-powered ROG Phone 5S lineup, just months after releasing the original ROG Phone 5.

There are two new S-branded phones, the ROG Phone 5S and the ROG Phone 5S Pro. Aside from its 888 Plus processor, more responsive 360Hz touch-sampling rate, and increased maximums of 18GB RAM and 512GB of storage, the 5S appears to be a very similar device to the ROG Phone 5. That means it’s also got a 6.78-inch 144Hz display, 6,000 mAh battery, and triple rear cameras with a 64-megapixel main sensor.

The ROG Phone 5S Pro is a similar upgrade. It’s also been bumped up to the 888 Plus, has the same faster touch-sampling rate, and up to 18GB of RAM. Otherwise this is a very similar gaming-focused phone to the 5 Pro, complete with neat additions like extra touch sensors on its back and side to offer more controls while gaming. Check out our review of the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate from earlier this year for an idea of how these features work in practice.

According to Gizmochina, the two new phones are only available to order in the Taiwanese market for now, where they’ll ship next week on August 24th. The Asus ROG Phone 5S starts at NT$ 29,990 (around $991), while the 5S Pro starts at NT$ 37,990 (around $1,364).

For the first time since 2008, the automotive world has been introduced to a new member of Nissan’s Z-car lineage. The all-new 2023 Nissan Z ditches the numerical nomenclature of its predecessors and promises to be the best-performing iteration of the nameplate yet.

The new Z has some stiff competition. If you’re in the market for a front-engine, rear-drive, two-door performance car, the Z is just one of many machines you might consider. We’ve compiled some information on how the Z stands up to every sports coupe on the market today.

A Potent Powertrain

As had been suggested for months, the Z is powered by a twin-turbocharged DOHC 3.0-liter V-6 engine—specifically, Nissan’s VR30DDTT motor, found in the Infiniti Q50 and Q60. In the Z, this engine will crank out 400 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque.

That’s pretty much neck-and-neck with the 382 hp and 368 lb-ft of torque you get in the Toyota Supra. The Supra also utilizes a 3.0-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder, though the Toyota’s B58 engine is an inline unit, sourced from BMW.

Both cars are overshadowed by the BMW M2 however. Thanks to that car’s turbocharged 3.0-liter N55 inline-six, the M2 packs 405 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque.

The Z’s 400 hp may be enough to embarrass the likes of the 181-hp, 151 lb-ft Mazda MX-5 Miata, and it handily outstrips the 2022 Toyota GR 86, which got a healthy power boost to 228-hp and 184 lb-ft of torque. But it’s not quite on par with what Detroit offers. The Mustang GT packs 460 hp from its 5.0-liter V-8, while the Chevrolet Camaro SS produces 455 hp from its 6.2-liter V-8. The Dodge Challenger R/T is good for 375 hp with the 5.7-liter Hemi, while the optional 6.4-liter 392 V-8 brings 485 hp for only a bit more cash.

A Proper Gearbox

Power output only tells part of the Z’s story. Thankfully for the sports-car faithful, Nissan has decided to offer a standard manual transmission in the new Z. Nissan says the close-ratio six-speed gearbox has been specifically designed with sporty driving in mind. The clutch is an Exedy high-performance unit, and active rev-matching and a launch control system are standard.

The addition of a manual is always welcomed in today’s automotive market, and represents a distinct advantage over the Supra. In fact, the Supra is the only vehicle we’ve discussed so far that does not offer an H-pattern gearbox. If you prefer two pedals, Nissan will also offer the Z with a nine-speed automatic with paddle shifting. Customers can even spec the paddles from the Nissan GT-R as an option. How this gearbox compares to the Supra’s eight-speed automatic transmission will have to be seen.

Performance Hardware

As we all expected, the new Z will arrive with a suite of performance hardware on deck. That starts with the suspension, double wishbones up front and multi-link in the back. The system is bolstered with a front strut-tower brace and large diameter hollow stabilizer bars at both ends. The suspension itself seems to be a step up from the Supra, which uses a strut-type front suspension. The Supra also employs a multi-link rear, and both cars come with four-piston brake calipers. The Z has an optional Nissan Sport Brake package with 14-inch front rotors and 13.8-inch rears. The GR Supra, by comparison, packs 13.7-inch front rotors and 13-inch rears.

The Z will also be available with a mechanical limited-slip differential, whereas the Toyota’s limited-slip is electronically controlled. That should help the Nissan feel a bit more old school than some of its competitors, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Besides, the Miata has retained a mechanical LSD differential into the current decade.

Further bolstering the car’s performance, the Z will also be available with Bridgestone Potenza S007 performance tires, an upgrade over the standard Yokohama Advan Sports, but not quite the same level as the Supra’s Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Similar Size, Similar Price.

The Z itself is relatively close in size to the Supra, which means it’s quite a bit smaller than the American alternatives. The Nissan’s wheelbase measures in at 100.4 inches, with a total length of 172.4 inches. The Supra has a much shorter wheelbase, just 97.2 inches, but measures the exact same overall length. The Z is 72.6 inches wide and 51.8 inches tall, while the Supra is 73.4 inches wide and 51.0 inches tall.

As with size, the Z runs close to the Supra on price. Nissan tells R&T that the new sports car will start at around $40,000, though exact pricing and details won’t be be available until Spring 2022 when the car goes on sale. For reference, the Supra starts at $43,190 with the 2.0-liter inline-four, though you need to pony up $51,540 to get the 3.0-liter six. That’s a large gap in pricing and performance, and one that may make the Z more attractive to sports-car buyers. Of course, not everything is priced like the Toyota. The MX-5 starts at just $26,830, while a Challenger R/T Scat Pack is $41,070.

So it seems like the Z sits right in the middle of the pack—a viable stretch option for Miata and GR 86 buyers, a more affordable alternative to the Supra and the V-8 muscle cars. That in itself makes the Z the kind of vehicle we’ve been waiting for.

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Earlier today, a handful of Cyberpunk 2077 devs jumped on CD Projekt Red’s official Twitch channel to provide an overview of the game’s upcoming 1.3 patch and the new in-game content the studio plans to make freely available to everyone who downloads it. Like most things having to do with the notoriously broken game, however, the underwhelming showcase seemed to leave viewers wanting more.

Cyberpunk 2077 launched last December to a resounding wave of criticism. Many felt the final product, no doubt hobbled by having to run on older consoles, was fundamentally flawed on a technical level and didn’t come close to matching the lofty experience promised by the developers in the game’s years-long pre-release hype cycle.

This forced CD Projekt Red to offer refunds on the broken game, which was eventually pulled from the PlayStation Store altogether. It felt like all the goodwill the Polish developer built up with The Witcher vanished in an instant.

Read More: Cyberpunk 2077, One Month Later

Since then, CD Projekt Red has released several small patches to address Cyberpunk 2077’s core performance issues, but it remains a black mark on the studio’s reputation.

“This is our first stream of this kind,” said senior quest designer Patrick Mills. “Since launch, as all of you are definitely aware, things have not gone exactly as planned, so this is something that we’re experimenting with. We know that there’s not been a lot of communication from us about what’s going on with the project, where we are with things, and why things are taking so long. This is our attempt to sort of try to fix that situation.”

“We’ve learned our lesson about talking about things before they’re done,” he added a little later, setting the tone for today’s broadcast early on.

After detailing a few of the quality-of-life changes coming in the next Cyberpunk 2077 patch, like a mini-map that actually expands when you enter vehicles, the devs previewed some of the “small” downloadable content offerings the patch will include. They left a lot to be desired, basically amounting to a couple of new jackets, a new car, and an alternate look for Johnny Silverhand, the digitized rockstar-turned-freedom fighter played by actor Keanu Reeves.

Apathetic stream watchers frequently derided the proceedings, demanding more from the devs and using emotes like “ResidentSleeper” to drive their lack of enthusiasm home. Two major sore spots seemed to involve the general lack of forward-looking information, particularly where the promised next-gen ports and first major expansion were concerned.

At one point, senior level designer Miles Tost compared patching an already-released game to “open-heart surgery,” prompting walls of exasperated responses from viewers.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a game folks love to hate. I don’t know if CD Projekt Red can say anything these days that won’t result in even greater pushback from those who feel cheated by the dismal state in which it was released last year.

It’s a shitty situation all around; no one wants to see developers harassed over CD Projekt Red leadership’s decision to release an obviously unfinished game, but they’re often tasked with playing defense for the overpaid executives who should bear the brunt of the playerbase’s ire.

Increased communication is great, CD Projekt Red, but you could spare your devs by saving the piecemeal DLC announcements for a simple blog post next time.

Google has officially unveiled its next mid-range phone, the Pixel 5a. The big news today (and always the main selling point of the Pixel A-series) is the price, which is $449, or $100 more than the Pixel 4a. Google’s blog post has a phone comparison sheet showing its lineup as the Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, and Pixel 4a, so hopefully, the $349 Pixel 4a is sticking around?

Part of the reason for the price increase is that the Pixel 5a is a bigger phone, with a 6.34-inch display and 73.7 mm width compared to the Pixel 4a’s 5.8-inch display and 69.4 mm width. Another big change is the addition of IP67 dust and water resistance, which means the phone should survive submersion in 3 feet of water (1 meter) for 30 minutes. Like the Pixel 5, the body is metal coated in plastic instead of the pure plastic body of the Pixel 4a. We did not really see the appeal of this in the Pixel 5, but presumably, the phone is stronger now.

As usual, we’re getting a no-frills design that just takes care of the basics. On the front, there’s a slim-bezel OLED display and a hole-punch camera in the top right, while on the back there are two cameras (main and wide-angle) and a capacitive fingerprint reader. Specs include a Snapdragon 765G (that’s a 7nm chip with two Cortex A76 cores and six Cortex A55 cores), 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and the biggest battery of any Pixel: 4680 mAh. The main camera is 12.2 MP and looks like the same Sony IMX363 sensor that Google has used for the past four years. There’s a 16 MP wide-angle and an 8 MP front camera. Oh yeah, the headphone jack is sticking around for at least one more year.

If there’s a disappointment with the Pixel 5a, it’s the 60 Hz display, which is looking pretty slow in a world where 90 Hz and 120 Hz are often the norm. We’re not talking about high-end phones, either. OnePlus sells a 90 Hz phone in the US for $180, while the Galaxy A52 5G has a 120 Hz display and costs $500 in the US. (And of course, there are better deals internationally, but the Pixel 5a is not competing in those markets.)

Since its launch in 2019, the Pixel A series has been one of the best mid-range phones you can buy. The phones usually combine solid specs, a no-nonsense design, stock Android, and three years of Google’s day-one Android updates. The phones are great if you can get them, but most people can’t. Google is one of the world’s largest companies, but its hardware division has a very small footprint, typically only shipping Pixel phones in anywhere from nine to 13 countries. The Pixel 5a distribution will be even smaller, with Google officially listing only the US and Japan. For comparison, a top-shelf launch from Samsung or Apple usually debuts in around 70 countries and often expands to 100+ countries in the subsequent months.

Google is also falling behind when it comes to the phone’s support lifecycle. The Pixel 5a will get three years of major updates and three years of security updates, while Samsung now offers three years of major updates and four years of security updates, even on cheaper phones in the Pixel 5a price range. Samsung will be a lot slower than Google at shipping these out, but it feels wrong that the creator of Android doesn’t offer the longest support lifecycle anymore.

The Pixel 5a is up for preorder now and ships August 26.

Tomorrow, a brand new Pokémon Presents livestream will offer fans more information on both Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the next major instalments in the world-dominating franchise. Any Pokémon Direct is a special occasion, but this one looks set to be crammed full of more info than ever before.

Tomorrow’s show, which will be streamed at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST, will be “about 28 minutes long” according to The Pokémon Company. We’ve run the numbers, and a 28-minute duration will make the show the longest ever Pokémon-focused broadcast – and by some margin, too.

Since rebranding to the ‘Pokémon Presents’ name, we’ve only had three presentations. The longest of these was this year’s Pokémon 25th Anniversary special, which was about 20 minutes long:

Up until the summer of 2020, The Pokémon Company’s shows were simply referred to as ‘Pokémon Direct’. Seven of these were broadcast in total, and again, none of them were anywhere near 28 minutes long:

The Pokémon Company has promised “exciting new information” on the games mentioned above “and more”. What is the ‘more’ referring to? Just how ‘exciting’ will this lengthy show be?

We’re certainly intrigued, that’s for sure. Make sure to join us at the times mentioned above to watch the show and get all the announcements as they arrive. It’s going to be a big one (literally).

Pokémon Unite is getting another game update tomorrow that includes both fixes and adjustments.

This patch is the same one that will feature the new support pocket monster Blissey. There are bug fixes, text fixes, shop updates, and changes to states and moves of Pokémon.

There are even adjustments to wild monsters and battle items. Here are the full patch notes from the official game website:

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Planned Date/Time
2021-8-18 at 7:00 UTC

Applying the Update
Restart the app on your device to apply the update.

UPDATE DETAILS

Bug Fixes

Text Fixes

Shop Updates

Changes are being made to some Pokémon stats and moves to adjust the balance of Unite Battles.

Crustle

Stealth Rock:
-Cooldown reduced.
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon increased.

Rock Tomb:
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon increased.

Garchomp

-Movement speed changed.

Bulldoze:
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon increased.

Dragon Rush:
-Cooldown reduced.

Slowbro

Surf:
-Duration of effects on opposing Pokémon decreased.

Scald:
Bug Fixes
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon increased.

Snorlax

Heavy Slam:
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon decreased.

Block:
-Duration of effects on opposing Pokémon decreased.

Flail:
-Move Upgrade

-Unite Move: Power Nap
-HP restoration decreased.

Greninja

Smokescreen:
-Move Downgrade
-Cooldown lengthened.

Water Shuriken:
-Cooldown reduced.
-Damage dealt to opposing Pokémon increased.

Double Team:
-Cooldown reduced.

Wigglytuff

Unite Move: Starlight Recital
-Bug Fixes

Cinderace

Basic Attack:
-Bug Fixes

Alolan Ninetales

Snow Warning:
-Bug Fixes

Aurora Veil:
-Bug Fixes

Gardevoir

Basic Attack
-Bug Fixes

Psychic:
-Bug Fixes

Cramorant

Hurricane:
– Bug Fixes

Wild Pokémon
Avalugg
-Stat Decrease

Battle Items
Eject Button
-Stat Decreases

Goal-Getter
-Stat Increases

Fluffy Tail
-Stat Increases

X Attack
-Stat Increases

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If you’ve not tried out this game yet, be sure to read our review. Are you still playing this game nearly a month later? Leave a comment down below.