Intel's new flagship Core Ultra X9 388H "Panther Lake" CPU has hit Geekbench 6, where we get some early leaked performance numbers out of the flagship Panther Lake processor.

The new Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processor scores 3057 points in the single-core test of Geekbench 6, and 17,687 points in the multi-core tests. This is a great score when compared against the current-generation flagship Core Ultra 9 285H "Lunar Lake" processor, and it can easily battle AMD's flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU.

AMD's powerful Strix Halo APU has a TDP range of between 45W and 120W, with a default 55W TDP, while the Core Ultra X9 388H has a default TDP of 45W (with an unknown TDP range for now, more details @ CES 2026), but the 285H it will succeed has a 45W to 115W TDP range.

2K Games has recruited the leads behind Xbox's cancelled Perfect Dark shooter to head a new studio.

As most of the games industry contracts, publisher Take-Two Interactive is opening new production groups and planning for the future. Brian Horton and Darrell Gallagher have been hired by Take-Two's billion-dollar 2K Games label to helm a new creative group for an unannounced project. The news comes months after the publisher tried to make a deal to salvage Microsoft's now-scrapped Perfect Dark game; faced with profit challenges, Microsoft chose to cancel Perfect Dark and shut down The Initiative, a studio that had been formed specifically to work on the discarded project.

"Happy to announce I joined 2K as VP, Head of Creative at a new studio with Darrell Gallagher!" Brian Horton, who had previously worked at Insomniac Games before moving to Perfect Dark in late 2024, wrote on LinkedIn.

US authorities have busted an AI chip trafficking network that was attempting to send $160 million worth of NVIDIA H100 and H200 AI GPUs to China, as the smugglers were changing the shipments' final destination.

In a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, authorities reported a trafficking network in Houston, Texas, that has been convicted of smuggling NVIDIA AI chips to China using a "complex scheme". Court documents reveal two individuals -- Alan Hao Hsu, and those who worked for his company, Hao Global LLC -- attempted to export NVIDIA H100 and H200 AI GPUs worth $160 million by manipulating official paperwork and hiding the "ultimate destination of the GPUs".

The network itself was busted by the discovery of a wire transfer that began in the People's Republic of China (PRC), with the NVIDIA AI GPUs shipped to US warehouses and then rebranded as "SANDKYAN", allowing the group to misclassify the AI GPUs and then export them.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang sat down with Joe Rogan last week, where he provided some thoughts on his opinion of LLMs of today, turning into Terminator, tomorrow. Check it out:

Joe asked Jensen what he thought about AI and LLMs (Large Language Models) of today, which include generative AI, edge AI, agentic workflows, and more AI workloads. LLMs are super advanced right now, where they will replace many humans in their roles in the coming years, but some worry AI-boosted capabilities will go "too far", where they replace human beings as the "apex species".

Joe Rogan asked: "Well, I don't assume that it would do harm to us, but the fear would be that we would no longer have control and that we would no longer be the apex species on the planet. This thing that we created would now be. Is that funny?"

In the unfolding reality that is our world, where 64GB of DDR5 memory costs more than a PS5 console, Asgard has just revealed two high-capacity 192GB and 256GB DDR5 memory kits.

The Chinese memory manufacturer unveiled its latest high-capacity DDR5 memory kits for mainstream users and gamers, with the 256GB DDR5-6000 (4 x 64GB sticks) memory kit coming in at $2000, but the company quickly updated the price in real-time to $2400... making the new 256GB of Asgard Valkyrie Thor DDR5-6000 memory cost more than a GeForce RTX 5090... if you can believe it.

Asgard's new 192GB and 256GB kits of memory come in 6000 MT/s speeds, and sold on Chinese retailer JD, with the 192GB DDR5-6000 (4 x 48GB sticks) costing 8599 yuan (around $1216 USD or so), while the 256GB kit costs $2400. Both of the new 192GB and 256GB DDR5-6000 memory kits from Asgard are using SK hynix M-die with 6000 MT/s memory speeds and CL28-36-36-72 timings for the Thor kit and CL32-45-45-90 for the Valkyrie.

Samsung is reportedly shifting its focus on DRAM production with reports that the company is scaling down its HBM modules for AI GPUs, to DDR5 modules because of the insanely high prices of DDR5 RAM right now.

In a new report from DigiTimes picked up by analyst @Jukan on X, we're hearing that Samsung's new internal strategy in response to intensified HBM market competition, is reallocating DRAM production capacity to DDR5 RDIMM memory modules, which will free up around 80,000 DRAM wafers per month, making significantly more profit.

Samsung has been struggling against HBM competitors SK hynix (mostly) and US-based Micron, which just closed its consumer RAM and SSD business -- Crucial -- down. Samsung's new HBM3E has passed NVIDIA's strict certifications, but the company has reportedly been cutting prices of its HBM in attempt to increase its HBM market share against SK hynix and Micron.

AOOSTAR has just launched its new NEX395 Mini-PC system in China, powered by AMD's flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU, a huge 128GB of RAM, and a cost of just under $3000.

The new AOOSTAR NEX395 Mini-PC system ships with its massive 128GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory running on a 256-bit memory bus, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU with its 16 cores and 32 threads of Zen 5 processing power, and powerful 40 CUs of RDNA 3.5-based Radeon 8060S integrated GPU goodness.

The company has beefed up the cooling design and power delivery of the new NEX395 Mini-PC, with AOOSTAR describing its "Glacier VC" thermal design with an IVC plate and a higher 140W TDP performance mode. AOOSTAR says that its 3DMark numbers were taken at 120W with scores of around 11,550 points total, a GPU score of 11,639 points, and a CPU score of 11,073 points.

Lenovo will have something truly special to show off at CES 2026, with its Legion Pro Rollable laptop teased, which will feature a 16:9 OLED panel that rolls out into a huge 21:9 ultrawide OLED panel for gaming, media, and everything in between. Check it out:

In a new report from the folks at Windows Latest, the new Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable features a horizontally expanding screen -- from both the left and right -- turning the 16:9 OLED panel into a 21:9 ultrawide OLED panel. This happens by expanding the OLED panel from both sides, slowly expanding into a 21:9 aspect ratio display.

Inside, Lenovo's new Legion Legion Pro Rollable will sport an Intel Core Ultra CPU -- hopefully a new Core Ultra 300 series "Panther Lake" processor that Intel is launching at CES 2026 as well -- Windows 11 with its usual AI crap will be included, as well as a dedicated Copilot+ key.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 9850X3D refreshed processor has been spotted in the wild, running some super-fast DDR5-9800 memory.

The new 9850X3D will retain the 8 cores and 16 threads of Zen 5-based CPU power that the 9800X3D has, but with 400MHz more clock speeds @ 5.6GHz over the 9800X3D. It retains its 120W TDP and 96MB of L3 cache, too. This is something we already know, but the new screenshot of the 9850X3D running DDR5-9800 memory is quite exciting.

AMD launched the Ryzen 9000 series CPUs with official support for DDR5-5600 memory, but the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D is capable of running DDR5 memory at an incredible 9800 MT/s, meaning AMD is most likely using higher-binned IODs (I/O die) and is ready to have a big battle with Intel and its upcoming "Arrow Lake Refresh" CPUs in 2026, as well as the next-gen Core Ultra 400 series "Nova Lake" CPUs in late-2026.

Paramount, not Netflix, could end up becoming the new owner of Warner Bros. video games unit, controlling the gaming fate of iconic franchises like Mortal Kombat, Batman, Harry Potter, and more.

Paramount Skydance today made headlines by offering $108 billion to acquire Warner Bros.. Paramount's hostile takeover bid is an attempt to thwart Netflix's own $82.7 billion offer for WB, and Paramount is prepared to pay a premium of $30 per share to acquire both Warner Bros. studios & streaming and global networks businesses.

The acquisition would include WB Games, the interactive division that handles production of Warner Bros.' iconic video game brands, including decades-old franchises like the fan-favorite LEGO series of games (200 million copies sold), the die-hard Mortal Kombat fighting series (100 million sales), and the breakout hit Hogwarts Legacy (34 million sales).

Netflix mulled over the idea of buying Electronic Arts when it became clear the megaton games publisher was up for sale, Bloomberg reports.

The creative landscape is changing rapidly, and the world's biggest entertainment franchises are facing mass consolidation. Warner Bros. is up for sale, and Netflix has offered $82.7 billion for WB's studios and streaming business. This includes the WB Games video game segment, which is bundled with a plethora of worldwide creative teams and billion-dollar interactive series, alongside tentpoles like HBO Max and the full HBO catalog.

Before Netflix made the offer to buy WB, company management explored the possibility of acquiring other gaming entities, including sports titan Electronic Arts. This was ahead of EA's announcement that it will soon go private thanks to a $55 billion leveraged buyout--which is funded almost entirely by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

FromSoftware continues its success streak with another best-selling video game--and it's actually an expansion.

The mavens of the macabre at FromSoftware have been having an incredible run as of late. Elden Ring exploded onto the market in 2022, and has since racked up 30 million sales to become one of Bandai Namco's most popular franchises. This prompted an expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, which likewise did incredibly well with 10 million sales. Even the online-only Elden Nightreign was a big success at launch, selling 5 million copies in just two months.

The iconic devs are keeping the ball rolling with Nightreign's first expansion, The Forsaken Hollows, which also debuted to stellar numbers: Bandai Namco has confirmed that over 2 million people purchased the $15 expansion, putting Forsaken Hollows at a substantial 40% attach rate.

Weeks ago, The Game Awards showrunner Geoff Keighley released an image of an elaborately carved statue--a promo teasing a new reveal. Since then, everyone's tried to figure out what the statue is for by ruling out what it isn't.

An enigmatic statue is teasing some sort of new reveal at TGA 2025, and gamers are trying to solve the mystery with an internet-wide scavenger hunt. No publisher or developer has stepped forward to take ownership of the bizarre structure, but there are a few clues to help eliminate incorrect guesses.

It was previously believed that the statue could be for a number of games: a new Diablo expansion, The Elder Scrolls, the new rumored Egypt-based God of War game, or something like Lords of the Fallen 2. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier debunked the Diablo reports. Schreier further clarified to say the statue also is not related to The Elder Scrolls VI. Sony Santa Monica's Cory Barlog also said that it's not for God of War. Now CI Games have confirmed that Lords of the Fallen isn't involved with the statue.

Original Fallout series co-creator Tim Cain is now back at Obsidian full-time, but he can't say what game he's working on just yet.

Fan-favorite RPG creator Tim Cain has come out of retirement, finding a new permanent role at Obsidian Entertainment. Cain says that he is working on a mysterious project within the studio. The news was announced in the developer's Cain on Games series--a line of videos that started out as an interactive video representation of Cain's own memoirs.

"I'm back at Obsidian, I'm their full-time employee and in-person, not remote. I would say that I'm probably a lot less retired now than I was before," Cain said in the announcement.

After 30 years developing Tekken games, Katsuhiro Harada has announced that he is leaving Bandai Namco at the end of the year.

It's the end of an era for fighting game fans, especially those that grew up around arcades in the 1990s: Katsuhiro Harada will step away from the Tekken franchise and will not be involved in further games in the series. With 30 years worth of releases and more than 60 million sales globally, Harada is responsible for one of the best-selling and genre-defining video game lineups in history.

"I'd like to share that I'll be leaving Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. With the TEKKEN series reaching its 30th anniversary-an important milestone for a project I've devoted much of my life to-I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close," Harada wrote.

With the release of NVIDIA CUDA 13.1, the company is introducing the "largest and most comprehensive update to the CUDA platform since it was invented two decades ago." Alongside new features and performance improvements, the arrival of NVIDIA CUDA Tile is set to be a game-changer for AI programming.

The initial release is limited to the current Blackwell generation of GPU hardware (future versions will support more architectures), with CUDA Tile programming allowing users to bring their code up a layer with specific chunks of data called tiles. From there, the compiler and runtime determine "the best way to launch that work onto individual threads," including using hardware such as tensor cores.

With the new CUDA Tile programming, removing the need to define each thread's "path of execution," it reduces the effort required to write code that performs well across various GPU architectures.

If you're wondering what the NEX Playground console is, well, it's a compact, cube-shaped, affordable console with an 8-core ARM chip running Android OS and a motion-sensing camera built into the box. Circana, which tracks video game console and software sales for the United States, confirms that during Black Friday 2025, ending on November 29, the NEX Playground sold more units than the Xbox Series X|S lineup.

According to the data (via social media), the PlayStation 5 accounted for 47% of Black Friday week console sales, with the Nintendo Switch 2 coming in second with 24%, followed by the NEX Playground with 14%. Adding a bit of irony to the numbers, the NEX Playground is a Wii- or Kinect-style console aimed at younger gamers, with titles based on popular IP like Bluey, Barbie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.

Of course, there is some additional information that adds context to the report. Firstly, Sony's up to $100-off campaign for the PlayStation 5 lineup, combined with the lack of comparable discounts for Xbox consoles, made shoppers more inclined to go the PS5 route. Also, being the Nintendo Switch 2's first holiday season meant it was always going to be a hot-ticket item. Also, the NEX Playground was on sale from $249.99 down to $189.99.

Creative Assembly's Total War series is a PC gaming institution, from Medieval: Total War to Total War: Rome II, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and the recent Total War: Warhammer trilogy. With massive real-time battles featuring hundreds of units on-screen and a deep Civilization-style map with turn-based management and conquest, the series has been absent from PlayStation and Xbox consoles for decades.

Granted, its RTS-like presentation makes it a genre better suited to the PC's keyboard and mouse, which is why the franchise's only console appearance was the third-person action spin-off Spartan: Total Warrior for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. With the Total War franchise currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, Creative Assembly has announced that this will change.

And it's all thanks to the studio's new "cutting edge of strategy gaming" Warcore engine that will power the Total War series for years. And with that, Creative Assembly adds that "Warcore opens the door for future Total War titles to launch on PlayStation and Xbox, bringing the scale, depth, and tactical mastery of Total War to a new generation of commanders."

It's no secret that the DRAM and memory crisis is well and truly here, as seen with the dramatic price increases for products like DDR5 memory. According to a new report (via TrendForce), memory shortages and supply squeezes are about to hit products from two of the biggest names in consumer and commercial PC products: Dell and Lenovo.

The report highlights recent comments Dell COO Jeff Clarke made to Bloomberg in November, in which he said he's "never seen memory-chip costs rise this fast." And with that, Dell has apparently issued a price-hike alert to its customers, indicating that prices will increase by "at least" 15-20% as soon as next week or mid-December 2025.

In addition, Lenovo has started communicating with its customers and notifying them of upcoming price increases that will take effect in early 2026. According to the report, Lenovo is telling its customers that existing quotes and prices will expire on January 1, 2026, due to memory shortages and the rapidly growing AI and cloud markets. Lenovo hasn't specified a figure like Dell's 15-20%, but it's expected that it will be in a similar region.

The Intel Arc B770, powered by the BMG-31 GPU, is commonly referred to as "Big Battlemage" and seen as the flagship mid-range desktop companion to the mainstream-focused Intel Arc B580 and Arc B570. Initially rumored to launch earlier this year, we've finally got some indication from the company that 'BMG-G31' is finally ready to launch.

As part of the latest update to the company's Intel VTune Profiler performance analysis tool for both Windows and Linux, Intel confirms support for new hardware - specifically "Intel Arc Battlemage (BMG-G31) and Intel Core Ultra 3 Processors (Panther Lake)." BMG-G31 is the larger desktop GPU variant of the BMG-G21, which powers the Intel Arc B580 and Arc B570. But even so, Intel has yet to announce or confirm the Intel Arc B770 formally.

As the flagship desktop variant of the 'Battlemage' lineup and architecture, BMG-G31 features up to 32 Xe2 cores and 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with up to four SKUs reportedly in the works. Although it's great to see the BMG-G31 GPU pop up like this, the current DRAM shortage would make it a strange time to release a new 16GB GPU for PC gaming and AI.