CES 2020 - GIGABYTE unveiled their own gaming monitors at CES 2020, joining their expanded range of AORUS gaming monitors that have AMD's newly-focused FreeSync branding.

GIGABYTE's new gaming monitors rock native resolutions of 1080p and 1440p depending on the panel, with refresh rates hitting 165Hz. The company is offering up great gaming monitors without the insane bells and whistles that most people seriously don't need, with prices that won't break the bank.

The new GIGABYTE monitors are led by the flagship G32QC which has a 31.5-inch 1440p panel with a 1500R curvature, and super-fast 165Hz refresh rate. GIGABYTE has VESA DisplayHDR 400 with 90% of the DCI-P3 color saturation, as well as FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync Compatible.

Samsung is hosting its Samsung Unpacked event on February 11, where we will be introduced to the next-gen Galaxy S20 family of smartphones as well as their new foldable -- the Galaxy Z Flip.

Until now, Samsung's new foldable smartphone has been rumored to arrive as a more mid-range foldable that would fall under the flagship Galaxy Fold. Now we have a new rumor that is calling it the Galaxy Z Flip, and that it will pack Qualcomm's previous-gen and non-5G flagship Snapdragon 855 processor -- the same chip that powers the flagship Galaxy Fold smartphone.

Samsung will reportedly have a small notification display on the back of the Galaxy Z Flip, something that will show information to you when the main display is closed -- just like the Galaxy Fold. Port wise it should be identical to the Galaxy Fold with a USB-C charging port and no 3.5mm headphone jack. But the bigger rumor here is that Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip will have support for the S-Pen, something that the Galaxy Fold lacks.

We know that Samsung is working on its new flagship smartphone, with rumors pegging it as the Galaxy S20 and now we have our first kinda-official look at Samsung's next big thing.

XDA Developers has the exclusive first snap of Samsung's new Galaxy S20+, with photos of both the front and back of the smartphone. Samsung's higher-end Galaxy S20+ is the one we're looking at here today, with 4 rear-facing cameras and a flash on the back while the front has a punch hole camera cut out.

Samsung will be using an Infinity-O display with XDA Developers' anonymous source saying that the display is "much less curved than before" on the new Galaxy S20+ smartphone. The source said that it felt very similar to Google's previous-gen Pixel 2 XL handset, where it looks like they've used 2.5D glass over the normal curved glass for the Galaxy S20+.

Microsoft has a bunch of new Xbox IPs in development at its newly-fortified Xbox Game Studios platform, and most of them should be franchises rather than one-and-done experiences.

Microsoft has clear ambitions for its new wholly-owned IPs: To turn them into engagement-driven titles that can stretch across entire generations and easily translate to other platforms. In a recent interview with MCV UK, Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty lightly discusses this new plan. Essentially Microsoft wants to invest in IPs that will carry across years similar to Halo and Minecraft, while tying into transmedia content to boot. This strongly hints new IPs from Obsidian and The Coalition could be heavy-hitters.

"We need to continue building characters, stories, and worlds that can transcend generations, devices, and platforms," Booty said.

There's a juicy rumor going around concerning the future of Star Wars, and Disney might merge films and games together in big cinematic universe-style approach.

According to reports from Making Star Wars.net, Disney plans to inextricably tie Star Wars films and movies together in an ambitious transmedia network centered around a new era. The plan is called Project Luminous, and its new timeline will be 400 years before the Skywalker saga and set in the High Republic timeline which predates the Old Republic saga, sources tell the outlet.

The theme of this new saga is largely based on grandiose exploration, and will be a series of films rather than a trilogy. The next Star Wars game will apparently be a direct tie-in to this new focus--which hints at a later release--that kicks off an expansive ecosystem of games, comics, movies, shows, and more. The idea is to mold this new Star Wars era into a sphere of products and content that can release over years and years.

Gaming's biggest speedrunning marathon celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and pulled in over $3 million for cancer research.

Every year the world's best speed runners come together to break games right before our eyes. Awesome Games Done Quick is an annual spectacle of prowess, skill, and determination, a kind of Olympics for video game speed runs that raises millions for charity in the process. This year was no different, and AGDQ generated over $3.13 million in 24 hours for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

To date, Awesome Games Done Quick has raised over $25 million for multiple charities including the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, AbleGamers, and Organization for Autism Research.

Games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad warns that most of the current Assassin's Creed rumors and leaks are wrong. Case in point: The game isn't even called Ragnarok.

Photo: Caiomm

Earlier today someone posted up another "leaked" image from the new unannounced viking-themed Assassin's Creed game. The community ripped the insanely blurry photo apart (a predictable reaction) and some industry figures in-the-know stepped in for brief clarifications.

The batcycle is likely returning in Warner Bros. Montreal's mysterious Batman game--or was at least planned at some point.

According to concept artist Furio Tedeschi's LinkedIn page, WB Montreal's new unannounced Batman game may feature the batcycle for the first time since Lego Batman 2 in 2011. Tedeschi had a brief two-month stint at WB Montreal in 2014, hinting the project has been in development for quite awhile. This timing puts Tedeschi's work alongside the now-cancelled Suicide Squad game that WB Montreal was originally developing before moving on to the current Batman project, but the artist's CV explicitly states work was on an "unreleased Batman game."

The page says Tedeschi created concept art for the batcycle as well as 3D modeling for in-game use. It's unknown whether or not Tedeschi's work will actually show up in the game--lots of content is scrapped over the years as games continually get cut and shifted--and it's possible the game Tedeschi was helping shape no longer exists. WB Montreal eventually rebooted its planned Damian Wayne sequel into something more grand, but we could still see old concepts including the batcycle show up.

Konami, take note: This is what your next-gen Metal Gear Solid should look like.

Concept artist Furio Tedeschi's Metal Gear Solid-inspired work gives us a riveting look at what's possible with Konami's next mainline tactical espionage game (if there even is a next game).

The art itself is from last year, but is nonetheless a visually striking fusion of man and high-tech machine optimized for next-gen warfare. Most of the art reminds me more of Call of Duty mixed with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance--especially the last one with the wicked dual-katana wielding femme fatale. It's worth noting that this art isn't official and doesn't represent a new project that's in development, but instead is Tedeschi's musings on the landmark franchise.

ShankMods has done it again. First he made a Wii out of an Altoids tin, then a portable handled Wii with GameCube buttons. Now the modder has fabricated custom GameCube JoyCons that slide right onto the Switch's rails.

The Switch has so much untapped potential for interchangable retro JoyCons. Cut a controller in half, slap some rails on it and voila, the Switch is a time machine for old-school games. The biggest variant everyone wants to see is actual GameCube JoyCons. If Nintendo won't do it, modders will.

By adding attachable GameCube controllers to the Switch's sides, renowned tinkerer ShankMods has pieced together a fantastic Frankenstein gaming creation that merges past with present. The result is a fully-functioning GameCube-JoyCon hybrid that plays like an old-school controller with new-school tech like HD Rumble, gyroscopic tracking, and Amiibo support.