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AMD details Zen CPU roadmap: Zen 5 with V-Cache on 4nm + 3nm in 2023
AMD has been very confident with its rollout of its Zen-based CPU architecture, but now the company has better detailed its CPU core roadmap at its recent AMD Financial Day 2022 event.
AMD has said that it will have both Zen 4 and Zen 5 architectures on the market in 2024, with Zen 4 + Zen 4 with V-Cache + Zen 4c CPUs made on TSMC 5nm and 4nm process nodes this year, and into 2023. But in 2023 and into 2024 and beyond, AMD will introduce its next-gen Zen 5 CPU architecture with Zen 5 + Zen 5 with V-Cache + Zen 5c CPUs made TSMC 4nm and TSMC 3nm process nodes.
Zen 5 is a "new grounds-up microarchitecture" explains AMD, saying that it is "optimized for scale across workloads". AMD's new Zen 5 architecture will have "enhanced performance and efficiency", a "re-pipelined front end and wide issue" and "integrated AI and Machine Learning optimizations".
Continue reading: AMD details Zen CPU roadmap: Zen 5 with V-Cache on 4nm + 3nm in 2023 (full post)
World's first 'carbon dioxide battery' facility opens in Italy
Energy storage company Energy Dome has launched its first ever "CO2 Battery facilty" in Sardinia, Italy.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) battery technology uses electric compressors to compress huge amounts of carbon dioxide gas inside a flexible dome into smaller and smaller volumes before the pressure is so great that it turns into a liquid. This process, in effect, "charges" the battery, while also generating some waste heat, which is captured by a thermal energy storage system.
The carbon dioxide can be safely stored for a long duration, awaiting use. When the battery is to be discharged, the stored heat is used to return the liquid carbon dioxide to a gaseous state, causing it to expand by almost 400 times. This expansion powers a set of turbines which returns energy to the grid, resulting in a round-trip efficiency of more than 75%, according to Energy Dome.
Continue reading: World's first 'carbon dioxide battery' facility opens in Italy (full post)
The most detailed map of the Moon ever created is now available
A study on the moon map titled "The 1:2,500,000-scale geologic map of the global moon" has been accepted for publication in the journal Science Bulletin.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions have created the largest and most detailed map of the lunar surface yet. One of the many previous geologic maps of the lunar surface stitches together six individual 1:5,000,000 scale maps to cover the Moon's surface. However, knowledge of the lunar surface has expanded significantly since its creation.
The researchers created a geologic map with a 1:2,500,000 scale, doubling the resolution. They achieved this by subdividing the Moon into 30 quadrangles which could be individually mapped with a consistent approach. Previously, many of the geologic maps of the Moon compiled by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were created by different groups at different times and with different standards, which led to inconsistencies and confusion.
Continue reading: The most detailed map of the Moon ever created is now available (full post)
New breakthrough treatment destroys even the most resistant cancers
A study on the cancer treatment titled "Targeting LIPA independent of its lipase activity is a therapeutic strategy in solid tumors via induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress" has been published in the journal Nature Cancer.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) have synthesized a new molecule capable of killing many cancers that are notoriously difficult to treat, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The new molecule is called ERX-41, which is effective against breast cancer cells with and without estrogen receptors (ERs).
Patients with TNBC have fewer treatment options as the cancer cells have no estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor 2 receptors. However, ERX-41 could kill these cells and effectively treat hard-to-treat pancreatic, ovarian, and brain cancers, notably glioblastoma, the most deadly of brain cancers.
Continue reading: New breakthrough treatment destroys even the most resistant cancers (full post)
Day length on Earth changes every six years, now we know why
A study on the Earth's oscillation titled "Seismological observation of Earth's oscillating inner core" has been published in the journal Science Advances.
Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) have found evidence of the Earth's inner core oscillating instead of consistently rotating faster than the planet's surface does, as was previously thought. Seismic data from 1969 to 1974 indicates that the direction of the inner core's movement changed during that time. The scientists believe the inner core movement explains the changes in day length seen in the last several decades.
Continue reading: Day length on Earth changes every six years, now we know why (full post)
First ever solar-powered production car can go months without charging
The Lightyear 0 solar car has been unveiled by Dutch company Lightyear, a production-ready and EU-approved solar-powered vehicle.
The Lightyear 0 is an electric sedan with 5 square meters (53.8 square feet) of solar panels that can generate enough power to travel up to 70 kilometers (44 miles) without needing to plug the car in to charge. The car's 60 kWh battery holds enough charge to support 560 kilometers (348 miles) of range when freeway driving at 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour, even without generating additional solar power.
During World harmonized Light vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP) testing, the Lightyear 0 has a range of 625 kilometers (388 miles), beating that of the Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD, which comes in at 602 kilometers (374 miles). The Model 3 Long Range AWD also has an 82 kWh battery capacity, 22 kWh larger than the Lightyear 0's, bolstering Lightyear's claims that it has created the most efficient electric drivetrain yet.
Continue reading: First ever solar-powered production car can go months without charging (full post)
Diablo IV to skip PS4, Xbox One, beta pre-registrations now live
Blizzard has opened beta pre-registrations for Diablo IV ahead of tomorrow's big Xbox showcase.
It looks like a Diablo IV beta may be announced tomorrow during Microsoft's gaming event. Blizzard updated the game's site to include a pre-registration link alongside what appears to be confirmation of Diablo IV skipping PS4 and Xbox One consoles. If this banner is accurate, Diablo IV would only be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Battle.net.
The site doesn't confirm of mention anything other than pre-registration sign-ups and there's no guarantee that you'll get in even if you sign up. Our speculation indicates Diablo 4 could release in 2023 to coincide with Activision-Blizzard's massive growth forecast for that year and beyond.
Continue reading: Diablo IV to skip PS4, Xbox One, beta pre-registrations now live (full post)
Morrowind remake: Here's what it could look like on Xbox Series X
What if Bethesda released a remake on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind on Xbox Series X/S? Here's what it might look like.
Morrowind is one of those timeless RPGs that owes a lot of its allure to a unique visual style. The game looks so bizarre and otherworldly, and the old-school early 2000's graphics seem to only get better with age. But what if Morrowind was remade in approximation to its original engine? We've seen projects like Skywind that upgrade Morrowind in Skyrim's engine...but what if the remake stuck closer to the original?
YouTuber GamoXIS gives us an idea of what a Morrowind remake could look like. With the help of 200+ mods, GamoXis delves into Morrowind's exotic wilderness and showcases impressive high-res textures, beautiful, reflective water, and an ENB filter that wraps everything together. There's incredibly detailed grass and Vivec is a gleaming alabaster city that's just as resplendent as something out of ancient Thebes.
Continue reading: Morrowind remake: Here's what it could look like on Xbox Series X (full post)
Diablo Immortal is already the biggest game in the franchise
Diablo Immortal enjoyed the largest launch in the franchise's history...but that's to be expected considering it's free-to-play.
Remember when Microsoft made much ado about Halo Infinite being the largest Halo launch ever? Of course it was. Halo has never been released as a worldwide free-to-play game before. Now Blizzard is making a similar announcement with Diablo.
Diablo Immortal is officially the largest Diablo game launch in the aRPG's 26-year history. Blizzard says that Diablo Immortal had 10 million installs on PC and mobile in one week, which is no small feat. For context, Diablo III sold 6.3 million copies at retail in its first week and went on to sell many million more with Reaper of Souls on PC, the Diablo III base game on Xbox 360/PS3, and the Reaper of Souls re-release on PS4 and Xbox One.
Continue reading: Diablo Immortal is already the biggest game in the franchise (full post)
Netflix to flood subscribers with 50 mobile games in 2022
Netflix takes its "go big or go home" strategy to video games and will have 50 mobile games ready for subscribers through 2022.
Netflix Geeked Week delivered a glut of gaming news. The streamer is producing a smorgasbord of game adaptations including new shows based on Tekken, Dragon Age, and Castlevania. Actual video games are coming in a huge fusillade drop. Netflix has teamed up with a ton of indie game developers and has announced 18 new games coming free to subscribers, including Raji: An Ancient Evil, Spirit Farer, Kentucky Route Zero, and Oxenfree--among many others.
The streamer has confirmed that Netflix subscribers will never have to pay extra for mobile titles, and the games will not feature any kind of in-game purchases or monetization. Netflix plans to roll out games selection to other platforms including PC, TVs, and consoles in the future.
Continue reading: Netflix to flood subscribers with 50 mobile games in 2022 (full post)
Naughty Dog put a tremendous amount of work into The Last of Us remake
The Last of Us Part I remake on PlayStation 5 is no simple re-release. Naughty Dog put tremendous effort into the game's optimizations and performance.
There's two camps around the new Last of Us remake. The first group is massively hyped to replay the game on PS5. The other camp wonders why the remake is even happening, and feels it's a waste of time and resources. One thing remains clear, though: Naughty Dog took the remake very seriously and put a lot of manpower and technical work into the project.
At the Summer Game Fest, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann reveals that animators put some real hours into the game:
Continue reading: Naughty Dog put a tremendous amount of work into The Last of Us remake (full post)
Neither Activision nor Blizzard needed to make Diablo Immortal
Activision-Blizzard had no real need to release the over-monetized Diablo Immortal onto PCs and mobiles; the company already makes enough money.
Publicly-traded companies have one goal: Maximizing shareholder value, ideally through perpetual growth in revenues and profits. Activision-Blizzard, which remains in the top 5 best-earning video game companies on the planet, is known for its emphasis on live services and monetization. But with Diablo Immortal, the company is pushing its luck during a time when its reputation is at serious risk.
Diablo Immortal is one of the most controversial video games of the last few years. The game features a complexly-layered microtransaction system predicated on even more complex F2P dynamics, which reinforce habits and behaviors specifically designed to keep users engaged and locked into the ecosystem. The game doesn't just have skins, though; Diablo Immortal has multiple microtransaction points that range from buying Legendary Crests to farm endgame gems (gem drop odds are astronomically against players) to buying in-game currency to list your gear on an auction house.
Continue reading: Neither Activision nor Blizzard needed to make Diablo Immortal (full post)
Activision formally recognizes Raven Software union, opens bargaining
Activision-Blizzard has announced that it will formally recognize the United States' first video games workers union.
A new Activision press release confirms the billion-dollar publisher has recognized Raven Software's collective union and will begin bargaining with the Communication Workers of America.
"We will begin negotiations with the Communications Workers of America related to the 27 quality assurance employees at Raven Software, the majority of whom have chosen to be represented by this union. With the election having concluded, we will engage in good faith negotiations to enter into a collective bargaining agreement," Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in an email to employees published earlier today.
Continue reading: Activision formally recognizes Raven Software union, opens bargaining (full post)
What is Layers of Fears? Bloober Team explains
Bloober Team's new Layers of Fears game project isn't just a remastered collection of the two previous games in Unreal Engine 5. It's something more expansive.
Yesterday Bloober team announced Layers of Fears, a new game in their landmark horror franchise. At first glance the project looks like a double remaster collection of Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear Inheritance, and Layers of Fear 2 in Unreal Engine 5. While that's technically true, it's not exactly the case. Layers of Fears is more like a merger of the two games with expanded content and a "new approach" that will cast a "new light on the overarching narrative."
"We are bringing back a franchise that is really special for us, in a new form that will give players a truly fresh gaming experience and that will shed new light on the overall story," said Bloober Team CEO Pitor Babieno.
Continue reading: What is Layers of Fears? Bloober Team explains (full post)
Duke Nukem movie in development from Cobra Kai creators
Duke Nukem is getting his own king-sized movie adaptation from the creators of Cobra Kai, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
A new Duke Nukem film is in development at Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind 2021's massively popular Dune remake. Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg, and Jon Hurwitz are lending their retro-resurrecting magic to the project and will produce under their company, Counterbalance Entertainment.
The Duke film doesn't have a director or writer yet and today's announcement is just Legendary acquiring the rights to make a movie on the series. THR also notes the franchise has made over $1 billion in earnings since its original launch on PC. Gearbox, who owns the rights to the Duke Nukem franchise and has expanded its business to include TV and film, has shared the news on Facebook.
Continue reading: Duke Nukem movie in development from Cobra Kai creators (full post)
Savvy Gaming Group could get a seat on Embracer's board of directors
Savvy Gaming Group's $1 billion investment could earn it a seat on Embracer Group's board of directors, provided shareholders agree.
Saudi Arabia's $100 billion Public Investment Fund recently bought $1 billion worth of Embracer Group shares. The games company recognizes the PIF, which is run by Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, as a long-term investor into its business.
In a lengthy email, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors defends the company's decision to "accept investment from a non-Democratic country" and that he believes Savvy Gaming Group will "genuinely support the global ecosystem for our industry."
Continue reading: Savvy Gaming Group could get a seat on Embracer's board of directors (full post)
New Outriders Worldslayer expansion gets 22 minutes of gameplay
Outriders fans rejoice: The new Worldslayer expansion is a massive content drop that will fuel a LOT of looter-shooter action.
Square Enix and People Can Fly just dropped a huge 22-minute gameplay showcase for Worldslayer, the new Outriders expansion coming June 30. The expansion is focused on endgame content that includes the Trial of Tarya Gratar, an ancient zone that will "push you, your builds, and your tactics to the ultimate test."
The new Tarya Gratar zone actually has its own day/night cycle and is described as a "gauntlet run" with roguelike elements that put you right at he beginning if you win, quit, or die too many times. "Each time you start back at the beginning, you'll be even more powerful and better equipped to succeed the next time," People Can Fly says.
Continue reading: New Outriders Worldslayer expansion gets 22 minutes of gameplay (full post)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge has 6-player co-op
Thanks to Shredder's Revenge and Konami's incoming Cowabunga Collection, 2022 is the best year for TMNT fans since the 1980s.
Yesterday DotEmu and Tribute Games revealed some delicious new toppings on the nostalgic pizza pie that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge. The upcoming 16-bit beat-em-up will feature an incredible 6-player local and online co-op for maximum old-school carnage, complete with extra playable characters like April O'Neil, the vigilante Casey Jones, and Master Splinter.
There's even a difficulty scaling option too: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge's enemy groups scale in size based on the number of players kicking shells, making multiplayer a totally intense showdown against Shredder's minions."
Continue reading: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge has 6-player co-op (full post)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 gameplay shows amazing next-gen upgrades
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 isn't just a new game. It represents the evolution of the Call of Duty franchise using Infinity Ward's new shared games engine, which unifies Warzone and mainline games for the first time ever. Billed as the "most advanced Call of Duty yet," new gameplay footage backs up these claims with some impressive visuals and smooth performance.
Modern Warfare 2's first gameplay footage reveals a snippet of the Dark Water campaign mission and is actually an idea showcase of physics, graphics, effects, and the new emergent AI. The complexity of the wave and water effects mixed in with real-time weather and realistic, reflective lighting across all sources, coupled with the seamless lighting transitions, explosions, and the general high-resolution textures mesh extremely well with the smooth FPS throughout the demo.
"It's such a big moment for Modern Warfare 2 and everything that Infinity Ward has built, but it really marks the step-change--what we're calling a transformational moment for the entire franchise. You're going to see incredible rendering, incredible graphics, all the things that will be in the game itself built all-in-one shared engine now across Warzone and Modern Warfare 2 going forward," Activision's head of Call of Duty Johanna Faries said during the Summer Game Fest.
Continue reading: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 gameplay shows amazing next-gen upgrades (full post)
God of War Ragnarok: no 2023 delay, targeting November 2022 launch
God of War Ragnarok may not be delayed into 2023, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.
Sony Santa Monica plans to release God of War Ragnarok in November 2022 on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Multiple sources have told Bloomberg about Sony's plans, and also say that Ragnarok was originally set for a September launch but moved to November. Naughty Dog's new The Last of Us PS5 remake will release in September instead.
The studio is expected to make a formal release date announcement sometime later this month, indicating that Sony is planning a special State of Play stream timed for the E3 summer season. The sequel was originally announced in 2020 and has been delayed multiple times due to COVID-19 disruptions. If it launches in 2022, Ragnarok will be a tentpole title to help complement Sony's massive 18 million PlayStation 5 shipment spree planned for the year.
Continue reading: God of War Ragnarok: no 2023 delay, targeting November 2022 launch (full post)






















