Nvidia gets an ARM, Microsoft buying back Bungie?

Bungie too expensive for Microsoft

Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved pretty much single-handedly catapulted Xbox into the spotlight, and Bungie has been courted by former partner Microsoft ever since they parted ways with Activision-Blizzard.

“I’ve heard that [talks] have fallen through repeatedly, and right now the price is too high and those talks have stalled is what I’ve heard,” said VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb. Bungie has recently started executing its controversial long-term Destiny 2 product strategy, but is staying mum about their next IP.

Soured deal: Halo: Combat Evolved launched for Xbox in November 2001, and Bungie kept making Halo games for Microsoft until Halo: Reach in 2010. The studio bought itself out of the partnership with Microsoft, and signed a 10-year deal with Activision-Blizzard for Destiny. However, their relationship soured and Bungie went independent again in early 2019.

Costly reunion: It’s not exactly surprising that Microsoft would like to partner with Bungie again, especially as 343 Industries is struggling to steward the Halo franchise following the underwhelming reception of Halo Infinite. Maybe Bungie could be convinced to return for one last hurrah?

Update: Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has commented on the rumour and claims that “this is false.”

Which Mario game was the first to feature an orchestral soundtrack?

1. Super Mario 64
2. Super Mario Sunshine
3. Super Mario Galaxy
4. Super Mario Odyssey

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Indy made Germans unkampfortable

Lucasfilm Games’ 1989 adventure game Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade featured a certain autobiographical political manifesto by one Adolf Hitler in a library in Venice.

However, the Germans weren’t too keen on featuring Mein Kampf in a videogame, and the book was simply renamed Biographie. Aside from Nazi trivia, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade featured the so-called Indy Quotient flexible point system that promised to revolutionize graphic adventures by allowing you to complete the game in several different ways.

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Rhythm, cave exploration & ice aliens

This week is off to a rocking start with indie rhythm-action shooter BPM: Bullets Per Minute, alongside the mighty Spelunky 2. Crysis Remastered and Super Mario 3D All-Stars ensures that you will have a fantastic weekend.

Tuesday – September 15

• BPM: Bullets Per Minute for PC
• Spelunky 2 for PlayStation 4
• Fight Crab for Switch

Thursday – September 17

• Welcome to Elk for PC and Xbox One

Friday – September 18

• Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Switch
• Crysis Remastered for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds for PC, PlayStation 4 , Xbox One and Switch

Nvidia acquires ARM in $40 billion deal

GPU colossus Nvidia has just acquired chip and instruction set architecture designer ARM from Japanese investment fund Softbank.

ARM delivers reference designs which other technology companies customize and implement for themselves, and ARM designs are the most commonly used chips in the world, ranging from Apple’s A range of CPUs to the Qualcomm Snapdragons powering most Android phones.

The acquisition has sent shockwaves through the technology industry, although Nvidia has pledged to leave ARM operating much as it always has. Nvidia also plans to keep ARM operating in the UK, and will expand its Cambridge campus.

Chiparchy in the UK: “ARM will remain headquartered in Cambridge,” said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. “We will expand on this great site and build a world-class AI research facility, supporting developments in healthcare, life sciences, robotics, self-driving cars and other fields.” UK regulators have not interfered with the sale, or demanded particular concessions from Nvidia.

Full stack: This gives Nvidia a strong position in the traditional CPU market, which the company has struggled to enter. “This creates a combined computing, graphics, and machine learning powerhouse with a unique ability to shape the future,” said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.

Brave Browser rewards you for surfing

Maybe your internet connection is fast, but what about your browser? Ads chew away at your bandwidth, not to mention all the tracking cookies snooping on your online habits.

The Brave Browser is built from the ground up for speed, privacy and providing an ad-free Internet. Brendan Eich is behind the project, who founded Firefox and invented Javascript, and It’s completely free to use for Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile.

You can opt-in for ads that respect your privacy, and even earn rewards. It’s quick and easy to use, featuring the same comforts and conveniences you expect from a modern browser, including built-in support for Tor onion-routing, which offers true anonymity.

If you give Brave Browser a go via our link DailyBits earns a small commission, so you’ll be helping us too!

Deadly Days Switch Giveaway

You have a chance to nab a Nintendo Switch code for Deadly Days if you refer DailyBits to a friend! Use our widget to start earning referrals, and there will also be other possible actions to increase your chances of being selected.

Deadly Days is available today on Nintendo eShop for $18.99 or £17.09, and we’ve got some codes to hand out this week, with the giveaway ending on Friday.

Please note that this week’s giveaway is only available to our European readers

Deadly Days is a unique strategic rogue-lite in the zombie apocalypse. Manage and protect a group of survivors and help them to stop the catastrophe. Discover and use a large number of wild and crazy objects, even wilder and crazier survivors, special abilities, and deadly weapons.

Necromunda: Underhive Wars Code Winners

• Matheus Paes – Brazil
• Lid Parrey – Australia
• Jeremy Charland – Canada
• Joshua Bermingham – USA

Cloud9 open about new contract terms

Cloud9 has decided that their player contracts will become completely transparent, and General Manager Henry Greer revealed that they will be open about salaries, contract lengths and transfer fees of all their future players.

Alex McMeekin is the first player to have the terms of his contract with Cloud9 revealed, and he will earn a salary of $1,650,000 over three years. Esports professionals have generally had difficulty estimating their worth because of the secrecy surrounding esport contracts, and Cloud9’s could prompt more openness in the esports scene, which in turn might help players negotiate with teams on more even terms.

Razer launches esports chewing gum

Razer and Mars Wrigley’s has developed a new chewing gum that promise to give esports players an edge. The gum is called RESPAWN and promises to be a “long-lasting, flavorful chewing gum developed with ingredients to maintain focus and reaction time while gaming.”

If you think that sounds a little bit like doping, you’re not alone but a glance at the ingredients reveals that the most potent ingredient in RESPAWN is green tea extract. The gum will be available in Cool Mint, Pomegranate Watermelon and Tropical Punch flavours and will have a suitably performance-enhancing price tag: ten packs will cost $27.99.

Rainbow Six World Cup next year

Ubisoft has announced that the first Rainbow Six Siege World Cup will take place next summer, featuring teams from 45 different countries. 31 of them will need to earn a place through the qualifiers, while the other 14 – including the US, UK, Australia and Japan – will have places in the play-offs by default.

Each region will form a committee to pick players for their team. NBA legend Tony Parker will be official ambassador, saying: “I’m excited to meet the players and coaches, share my experience and I think they will have a lot of fun.”

• Sony PlayStation 5 showcase on September 16th, still saying nothing about price or launch line-up
• Porting house Fractured Byte working on Unreal Engine shooter, sparking rumours that it could be Borderlands 3 for Switch
• Facebook leak reveals Oculus Quest 2 with nearly 4k resolution powered by a Snapdragon XR2 chipset
• Retailer Base in UK cancels Super Mario 3D All Stars pre-orders due to woefully limited stock supplied by Nintendo
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will feature 150+ streamable games at no additional cost when service launches in 22 countries tomorrow

Which Mario game was the first to feature an orchestral soundtrack?

Answer: Super Mario Galaxy!

Super Mario Galaxy was so epic that the soundtrack required two composers.

Composers Mahito Yokata and Koji Kondo produced the orchestral soundtrack, the first in the series and performed by no less than a 50-piece symphonic orchestra. However, this was not the original idea: Yokota wanted to use Latin American instrumentation alongside synthesizers to create an old-school science fiction feel.

Kondo had other plans, rejecting Yokota’s idea for sound too cute. Yokota came back with three different ideas: an orchestral score, a pop score and a mix of both. When they presented the alternatives for Shigeru Miyamoto, he picked an orchestral piece composed by Kondo since they thought that was the most thematically appropriate for a space-faring adventure.

While the orchestral Super Mario Galaxy score is great, it’s hard not to wonder what it would sound like written for marimba, maracas and Crumar DS2.

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.