Gaming

A report by China Times indicates that Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte-leading Taiwanese OEMs-are all trying to clear their inventory of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 series Turing cards to make way for the arrival of the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 in Q3 2020.

Some of the highlights for the 10th gen Intel Core desktop CPUs include improved Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 with up to 5.3 GHz boost clocks, DDR4-2933 support, new Intel 400-series chipset and 2.5 GbE speeds. Note that the listed prices are only the wholesale ones, so expect retail prices to be at least US$100 higher.

Rumour has it that AMD will be bringing up to 505 mm² dies to its next-generation "Big Navi" GPUs. Based on the company's RDNA 2 architecture, Navi 21, Navi 22 and Navi 23 all supposedly have larger dies than the RX 5700 XT. The Navi 21 has a larger die than the custom RDNA 2 GPU in the Xbox Series X, too.

A page from the digital version of the latest edition of Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) has whipped many PlayStation 5 fans into a frenzy in regard to the potential of an upcoming reveal event for the next-gen console. While many believe the page’s text and magazine’s publishing date point to a PS5 reveal in May, others have decided to err on the side of caution.
Update: OPM refutes fan claims but new source suggests June 4 reveal event.

Often labeled as the best game in the Total War series, Shogun 2 was published by Sega in 2011 and this week can be obtained for free from Steam. To keep it forever — without the eight DLC and unit packs that can be acquired for 75 percent off during this period — those interested should get it before May 1, 7 PM.

Unlike GPD's Win Max mini laptop, the OneGX1 from One-Netbook is a bit more compact since it does not integrate game controller buttons, but it may also prove a bit faster as it is supposed to integrate Intel's Tiger Lake CPUs. The design appears inspired by Dell's Alienware Area-51m, and this is also said to be the first mini laptop to offer 5G support.

Xiaomi's gaming-focused series of phones, Black Shark, run on an Android skin called JoyUI. Today (April 28, 2020), its latest stable version will start to appear as an OTA worldwide. This will occur on the brand's 2020 flagships, the 3 and 3 Pro, as well as their predecessors.

The GreatScottLab has turned a single-board computer into a particularly affordable Windows 10 tablet. The portable device features a large touchscreen and should be well suited for enjoying retro video games.

Snoreyn, also known as designer Giuseppe Spinelli, has posted a great new PlayStation 5-related video on YouTube with the focus firmly on the DualSense controller. Although the PS5 console does make an appearance in the concept design clip, the star of the show is the DualSense, which looks even more fetching when decked out in red.

Philips has announced the new 345M1CR Momentum UltraWide gaming monitor, which could be an option for gamers pondering about what to use with a future purchase of either a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. The 34-inch curved-screen monitor can manage a 144 Hz refresh rate and offers a high WQHD resolution (3440x1440).

Discord for Android has a useful feature in which a button for its voice-chat functions can float over every other aspect of the UI. Unfortunately, it was originally launched as an exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Notes 10. However, it has now been detected as working in more Android phones via the app's latest betas.

Despite the name, system fan will continue to operate at 2400 RPM for an audible noise of 33 dB(A) even when idling and doing nothing on Windows desktop.

A senior Google Stadia executive claimed that that the company's Project Chimera neural network system could be used by developers to craft detailed, open world titles at a fraction of the cost. While Stadia might not be long for this world, machine learning looks set to play a bigger role in gaming.

The alleged pre-sale price and post “early bird” deal price for the GPD Win Max handheld computer have been leaked ahead of its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. The prices, which are for the Chinese market, are mentioned as 4,999 yuan (US$706) rising to 5,799 yuan (US$819) for those who don’t take advantage of snapping up the GPD Win Max early enough.

The creators of Quantum Error have started sharing screenshots of their upcoming game, which is being developed for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The horror title is set to utilize the real-time ray tracing and 4K at 60 FPS gaming capabilities of the PS5, with the devs stating that they were using a “PC at similar settings” and Unreal Engine 4 to create the trailer and screenshots.

The new version of the Acer Predator 500 is the first laptop in our editorial department with Nvidia's freshest high-end GPU, the GeForce RTX 2080 Super. More precisely, the energy-efficient Max-Q edition.

With the HDR version of the Aero 17, Gigabyte wants to please not only gamers, but also content creators and multimedia fans. The built-in display puts most of the competitors to shame.

The full source code for Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version has been shared online, and fans have been thoroughly enjoying going through the dozens of images that were part of the various builds. This includes pictures of front and back Pokémon sprites and beta designs for characters such as Pichu and Shuckle.

Fan-made renders based on what is believed to be a patent for the PlayStation 5’s heat sink has led some to believe the console may emulate the PS4 in design. A brief glimpse of a “PS5” in a video from GamesRadar temporarily had fans in a flap. A Norwegian media outlet has claimed that something new about the next-gen console will be revealed next week.

Had Square Enix remade Final Fantasy 7 using the same graphics engine as Trials of Mana, we probably wouldn't have complained about the end result. The company's budget-conscious approach to remaking the 1995 Trials of Mana original shows us how a "safe" Final Fantasy 7 Remake might have looked instead of the huge multi-part gamble they are currently taking with the series.

Get Amped for GTC 2020, according to NVIDIA. Rescheduled for May 14, CEO Jensen Huang previously stated that the event would not disappoint. The company is expected to announce its first Ampere GPUs, the next-generation successors to the RTX 20 series and the Turing architecture.

GeForce NOW has had games made by Codemasters, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Klei Entertainment and XBOX Game Studios pulled from its platform. However, the news on NVIDIA's take on cloud gaming is not all bad: Ubisoft has added a total of 36 new games to its portfolio. A representative for this publisher has also endorsed it as "a leading-edge service".

Dell has not yet officially announced any Renoir-based laptops, and rumor has it that we will not only see Renoir-based laptops, but models powered by the Renoir successor codenamed Cezanne, as well, next year. Cezanne will get a Navi23-based iGPU and is supposed to be AMD's answer to Intel's Tiger Lake-H. Dell's Cezanne-H laptops will additionally feature high-quality FHD and QHD displays with high refresh rates.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently hinted in a tweet that the next Xbox Series X preview stream may focus on game titles. It is speculated that this event should be streamed in early May, while a later stream scheduled for June is likely to unveil details for the lower-priced Xbox Series S console.

Nvidia and AMD have picked up any spare capacity on TSMC’s 7nm foundry as the companies ready their next generational GPUs. The report comes from Taiwanese rag Digitimes that says the new orders will help to ensure TSMC posts relatively strong results compared with its competition.

Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 will be available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers on May 7th. It comes with a trade-off, however, as Grand Theft Auto V will no longer be available for subscribers from that day onward.

References to what may have possibly been a Lenovo Legion 5 SKU powered by the AMD Renoir Ryzen 4000 and the NVIDIA RTX 2060 have surfaced on the Lenovo BIOS Simulator Center and a driver download page. However, that SKU is not seen in the PSREF indicating that it may have been shelved mid-way. The PSREF spec sheets also seem to indicate the Legion 5 SKUs powered Ryzen 4000 as having nearly double the battery life compared to their Comet Lake-H counterparts.

Microsoft has revealed the specifications required to power its all-new Flight Simulator on PC. In a pleasant surprise, a PC with mid-range specs from 2013 will be able to play it, but a higher end rig from 2019 will be best placed to demonstrate everything the game has to offer visually.

There is good news for those considering an upgrade from their existing rigs with a Noctua cooler and that are based on an Intel 300-series chipset to one with certain newer 400-series options instead: they may be able to switch the former from one to another. Some of this brand's products are even compatible with Comet Lake-S processors out of the box.

While NVIDIA has brought its RTX 20 SUPER mobile GPUs to new Intel Comet Lake-H laptops, Frank Azor has confirmed that there will be no Ryzen 4000 series laptops with the RTX 2070 or better any time. As expected, Intel-powered machines will remain the gaming laptops of choice for 2020.

To start the celebration of the upcoming anniversary properly, Wargaming has updated World of Tanks to 1.9, a version that comes with quite a few noticeable changes: a completely reworked tech tree without some hardware that has been placed into a separate tab as Collectors' Vehicles, increased HP for the low tiers, and more.

Crucial, Micron's main SSD brand, recently launched its PCIe Gen4 P2 and P5 SSDs. These blazing fast NVMe SSDs deliver over 3000 MB/s of performance, making them faster than the Xbox Series X. The entry-level 250 GB P2 costs just US$ 55, meaning both model lineups are likely to be cost-effective.

The 15.6-inch XPG XENIA will be the first gaming laptop from ADATA. Upon closer inspection, however, the system will be using the same chassis design that Intel launched back in mid 2019.

The official Dell slides leaked on reddit confirm the slimmer and smaller chassis on the Precision 5750, as the mobile workstation will be fitted with 92% display/body ratio IGZO screens. Specs include Comet Lake-H or Xeon CPUs with up to 64 GB of DDR4-2933 RAM, up to 4 TB dual NVMe storage, Quadro RTX 3000 GPUs and 4x Thunderbolt 3 connectors. The XPS 17 9700 should get similar specs except it will not get the Xeon and Quadro options.

Steel Series has launched its Cyberpunk 2077 ahead of the game’s launch in September. The new range includes the all-new Arctis 1 Wireless headsets for Xbox, PS4, Android, Switch and PC. Users of the Arctis Pro series can also purchase Cyberpunk 2077 a themed ‘Booster Pack’ to customize their headsets as well.

There has been a rumor that the operating system for the PlayStation 5 will be considerably more streamlined than the one used for the PS4 system, freeing up some vital storage space. More details have been offered about the DualSense’s Create button that will allow real-time editing, and it seems a new Crash Bandicoot game could be a PS5 launch title.

New trademark details for an Xbox Series X logo have been spotted, with the filing date being recorded as 16 April. The new logo is surprisingly simple, featuring the word “SERIES” running vertically by the side of a large “X”, which has been deliberately stylized in an incomplete form. It’s not yet known if Microsoft will actually use the logo with the Xbox Series X console.

AMD has introduced two new mainstream desktop processors in the Zen 2 lineup — the Ryzen 3 3100 and the Ryzen 3 3300X alongside the new B550 mid-range chipset. These CPUs are 4C/8T 65W parts and help fill the void in the US$100 to US$150 range. However, they face competition from AMD's own Ryzen 5 1600 AF and upcoming Renoir Ryzen 4000 desktop CPUs.

Razer further upgrades its gaming Ultrabook. The 2020 version of the Razer Blade Stealth is based on the same design as the 2019 model, but it gets a stronger GPU as well as a faster FHD screen panel.

Death Stranding's PC release date has been delayed due to a Kojima Productions employee testing positive for COVID-19. The developers' office has been shut down as a precautionary measure, and employees are now working from home. The game will be available for everyone to play on July 14th.

Nubia has launched its latest smartphone, the Play, during an online event today (April 21, 2020). This Snapdragon 765G device has a 6.65-inch screen with a refresh rate of 144 hertz (Hz). It has 8GB of RAM and a solidly mid-range price.

A fantastic fan-made concept design of the still unconfirmed Microsoft Xbox Series S console, also known as Lockhart, has been pleasing the members of the popular Xbox One Reddit group. The design, which has been compared with both the GameCube and the ill-fated Ouya console, has been applauded for its small size and “cute” looks.

First teased last month, the GPD Win Max handheld gaming PC is now official. The device is a remarkable hybrid of laptop and hand-held gaming console rolled into one with some pretty decent specs to back it up.

Global hardware sales figures for major consoles have been shared online, and it appears that the PlayStation 4 is still far and away the most popular console in the world at the moment. Over 325,000 units of the PS4 were sold in the sales week starting April 11, which is almost seven times as many Xbox One units that were sold.

Based on the desk terminal from Fallout 4, the project features a 3.5-inch display and a 3D printed case. The result looks great, in our opinion.

The high-end Asus ROG Maximus line-up is rumored to be back with Z490 support this time around. Their allegedly leaked product info sheet indicates that it has multiple SKUs, which have PCI-Express 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. They are also DDR4-4800 memory-compatible.

The AMD-only 2020 MSI Bravo series will supplant the 2019 Alpha series. The new Renoir CPUs and thinner chassis design should attract gamers on tight budgets that may have otherwise chosen an Intel-Nvidia alternative with GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 Ti graphics instead.