Latest News - Page 153

The new MINISFORUM AtomMan G7 Pro is a slimline mini PC built for gaming, featuring a GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU and the powerful Intel Core i9 14900HX processor. In addition to supporting the latest RTX technologies, such as DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, the GPU also delivers up to 798 TOPS of AI performance.

Although compact, the AtomMan G7 Pro features a 200W sustained "dual-load performance design," which means the Intel Core i9-14900HX can draw up to 85W while the GeForce RTX 5070 8GB Laptop GPU delivers its full performance at 115W. MINISFORUM notes that this makes it a powerful rig for gaming, content creation, and demanding AI workloads.

The AtomMan G7 Pro's sleek design features a slimline aluminum mini PC that's only 33mm thick, and the compact tower features a custom cooling solution with dual fans, six heat pipes, and a three-sided exhaust system. In addition to a customizable RGB light bar, the AtomMan G7 Pro also has a physical performance-mode switch, or Turbo Button, for maximizing performance or switching between Office and Game modes.

Old-school Bethesda veteran Kurt Kuhlmann was in line to be lead designer of Elder Scrolls 6, and if that happened, the game would have been wildly different.

Bethesda has changed. The company that had everything riding in singleplayer games is long gone. Selling tens of millions of games let the studio expand its gates and push their singleplayer fantasy series into the online realm, complete with microtransactions. Add a $7.5 billion buyout from Microsoft, a bunch of layoffs, coupled with products directly launching into a subscription service, and we have a formula for Bethesda's current composition.

The studio's growth also led a number of high-profile creatives to leave the group. One of these was Kurt Kuhlmann, who had been working at Bethesda since 1996 and had been involved in every Elder Scrolls since Daggerfall. Kuhlmann was designated the franchise's loremaster at the time. A new interview with PC Gamer gives a rare look at the going-ons at Bethesda, with Kuhlmann finally revealing why he left Bethesda in 2023. In short, he was promised the lead designer position for The Elder Scrolls 6...and that promise wasn't honored.

Sony is spinning off its TV business with a new deal with TCL, signaling the end of an era for Sony electronics.

Today, Sony announced a landmark deal that would effectively see the Japanese company step out of TV manufacturing. As part of the deal, Sony and TCL will form a new company with the majority 51% stake belonging to TCL, and Sony taking a 49% stake.

The new company will design, produce, and ship next-gen home entertainment audio and visual technology, including TV sets. The new line of TVs will retain both Sony's name and the Bravia branding, with the specifics of the deal to be ironed out by March 2026. Sony and TCL expected the new unit to start operations in April 2027. Based on the vocabulary used in the announcement, TCL and Sony may be focusing their new products on the higher-end of the tech spectrum.

Arc Raiders is one of the best-selling new games of the season, and it did so well that it actually interfered with big franchises like Call of Duty.

With games like Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders breaking into the top sales charts, competition was hot for shooters in 2025. One game, Embark Studios' extraction shooter Arc Raiders, has taken the world by storm. The $40 multiplayer hit has championed Steam's top sellers multiple since release, and has also shown up in frontline positions on the PlayStation Store and on Xbox.

Embark has now confirmed that Arc Raiders has sold 12 million units in less than 3 months time. These numbers are stellar--typically, we only see a few breakout games pull these kinds of sales. The extraction shooter has effectively made nearly $500 million in full game sales alone, and given the game's popularity, it's possible that Arc Raiders has made close to or even more from in-game purchases, microtransactions, and season passes.

GPU scams have always been around, but there's been a spate of recent incidents as nefarious types try to take advantage of consumers.

Two fresh scams have been flagged up, the first by VideoCardz in which the buyer of an RTX 5080 on Amazon - an ASUS Prime card - reportedly found out that the GPU wasn't a high-end Blackwell model at all.

In fact, as you can see in the above Reddit thread, the RTX 5080 box the buyer received was actually hosting an RTX 5060 Ti, with the labels switched in from the high-end GPU.

Samsung's Galaxy Book6 Pro is going to have a hefty price hike applied to the laptop, with a 25% increase on its predecessor - at least based on the South Korean market.

Although that won't be much of a surprise to anyone who follows the tech world, given that the RAM price crisis - and also costlier storage - is having a considerable impact on laptops and PCs in general.

VideoCardz spotted that Samsung's imminent laptop, which is built around Intel's new Panther Lake silicon, now has a launch web page for South Korea featuring a countdown timer, which also gives pricing details ahead of the on-sale date of January 27.

Leaks indicate that Microsoft is gearing up to announce a new ad-supported tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming, following messages that appeared in front of users of the Xbox Cloud Gaming service that stated, "one hour of ad-supported play time per session."

The messages attracted the attention of Xbox insider Jez Corden, who penned a report over the weekend that outlined a change, per an unnamed source. "(adverts) will appear separately on Xbox Cloud Gaming, for those who have purchased Xbox games digitally, but don't have Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has hundreds of games available to buy via Xbox Cloud Gaming, but as of writing, you need at least one tier of Xbox Game Pass to access them. This session-based ad-supported access tier will change that."

This isn't the first time Microsoft has dipped its toe in the water of an ad-supported tier of Xbox Cloud Gaming, as in October last year, the company said it was exploring a "free ad-supported" access tier. From Microsoft's perspective, it does make sense to roll out an ad-supported tier for its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, as it's expected that more users will adopt the service in the coming years due to the growing cost of hardware, particularly fuelled by the endless hunger of the AI sector gobbling up global supply.

Researchers from Seoul National University and Drexel University have achieved a breakthrough in display technology by creating stretchable OLED panels.

What could be the holy grail of modern day display technology was achieved through a class of materials called MXenes. Traditional OLEDs work by layering conductive and organic materials that emit light when electrical charges meet. Engineers have been using indium tin oxide (ITO) as the transparent electrode as it conducts electricity well while enabling light to pass through it. The limitation is that ITO is brittle and cracks when under pressure, resulting in brightness loss. This means its unsuitable for a display that needs to stretch.

MXenes are ultrathin, highly conductive materials that are made of layered carbides and nitrides. MXenes are also capable of bending and stretching without breaking as their layered structure enables sheets to slide past one another instead of fracturing under the pressure. Researchers used MXenes as a replacement for ITO, enabling the display to become both stretchable and produce stable levels of brightness.

The emergence of AI and its demand for as much DRAM as possible has put a global strain on the market, but Micron, one of the three big memory makers, has now secured a way to add more manufacturing capacity to its portfolio.

Micron and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), a Taiwanese company, have announced a deal that transfers ownership of Powerchip's P5 site located in Tongluo, Taiwan, for $1.8 billion. Micron announced it signed a letter of intent to carry out the purchase, which includes an existing 300 mm fab cleanroom of 300,000 square feet.

According to Micron's statement, the purchase of the fab will assist in satisfying the demand for DRAM, and it expects the fab to begin contributing with meaningful output in the second half of 2027.

A complaint filed in the US District Court claims NVIDIA executives approved contact with Anna's Archive, a website that harbors millions of copyrighted books and academic papers, to discuss a partnership that involves using Anna's Archive as a dataset for training its Large Language Models (LLMs).

The complaint alleges that "competitive pressures drove NVIDIA to piracy," and that internal NVIDIA emails demonstrate a member of the company's data strategy team contacting Anna's Archive about the collaboration. Furthermore, the complaint states that Anna's Archive warned NVIDIA that its treasure trove of data was obtained illegally, and asked how Team Green wanted to proceed.

The lawsuit states that within a week, NVIDIA approved of the collaboration, and in response, Anna's Archive offered NVIDIA approximately 500 terabytes of data. "Desperate for books, NVIDIA contacted Anna's Archive -- the largest and most brazen of the remaining shadow libraries -- about acquiring its millions of pirated materials and 'including Anna's Archive in pre-training data for our LLMs,'" the complaint notes.

On the heels of Micron announcing a new $100 billion foundry complex planned for Syracuse, New York, which is part of the company's wider $200 billion commitment to expanding its facilities in the US, the US Commerce Secretary spoke to reporters and gave a heated statement.

Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, said last Friday, "Everyone who wants to build memory has two choices: They can pay a 100% tariff, or they can build in America. That's industrial policy." For those who don't know, the DRAM and NAND flash market is currently controlled by three parties: SK Hynix and Samsung, both located in South Korea, and Micron, located in the US. While there are other memory makers, their market share is nothing compared to the aforementioned companies.

More specifically, the three companies previously mentioned are the only companies to manufacture High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which they are prioritizing over producing standard modules to feed the seemingly never-ending hunger of AI companies and their servers.

After saying Samsung and TSMC cannot meet Tesla's growing demand for new chips, the electric car company has announced the AI5 chip design is in "good shape", and production will begin.

The news comes from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who wrote in an X post that the AI5 chip design is in "good shape" and that Tesla will restart work on the Dojo 3 supercomputer. This announcement comes after Tesla stated a few months ago that it was axing the Dojo supercomputer project following a shortage of hardware, specifically from companies such as NVIDIA.

The decision to shut down Dojo 3 came after key members of the team left Tesla, but now that the project is back online, we can assume the only thing that is needed is compute power.

Fable fans are patiently waiting for the Xbox Direct, which is scheduled to take place in just a few days. But ahead of the Xbox Direct, we have a slew of concept images to dive into of the highly anticipated Fable reboot.

The Fable reboot will be showcased during Xbox Direct, alongside the highly anticipated Forza Horizon 6. Sticking to Fable, the last time we saw a glimpse of the title was in February last year, when pre-alpha gameplay was released alongside the announcement of its delay. However, to tie the Fable fans over until the Xbox Direct, mp1st has obtained many concept art images showcasing the luscious world of Albion.

The above and below images come from an artist who previously worked on the upcoming Fable title. As for what is in the images, we can see a protagonist looking out over a large piece of land at a city in the distance. A sign in one of the images reads "Bloodstone," which Fable II fans will note is a port town known for containing criminals. Another set of images shows the protagonist making their way through sewers and then facing off against a werewolf standing atop a cage.

Rockstar North was recently hit by an explosion that resulted in emergency departments rushing to the Grand Theft Auto 6 developer at 5 AM on Monday.

Fire crews and police were called to Barclay House, the building where Rockstar North is located on Holyrood Road in Edinburgh, and after spending several hours at the scene, emergency services deemed the building safe after firefighters worked to secure structural damage. There were no reports of casualties, and now Rockstar Games has confirmed to a publication that the explosion was a result of a "malfunction" in one of the building's heating boilers.

A Rockstar Games spokesperson told BNONews, "Many thanks to those who reached out with concern, and also to the police and fire crews who were on scene quickly to assess the situation." Adding, "Please know that everyone is well and our studio remains open and operational." Rockstar North is the lead developer of Grand Theft Auto 6, the world's most anticipated media property, and following the explosion, many wondered whether it would affect the title's release date, which is currently scheduled for November 19, 2026.

Logitech G's latest esports and competitive-gaming-focused mouse, the PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE, is set to launch next month. And the wireless gaming mouse is poised to be a game-changer, not because of its sensor or ultra-lightweight build, but because its left- and right-click buttons are moving away from traditional mechanical switches toward a Haptic Inductive Trigger System.

The best way to explain the technology is to compare it to how magnetic gaming keyboards work, with near-instant actuation and resets that Logitech claims reduce click latency by 9-30ms. And with that, you'll also have control over actuation points, reset points, and even customizable haptic feedback, with Logitech describing it as an "industry-first technology" created in collaboration with esports athletes.

If the company's impressive SUPERLIGHT series is anything to go by, then the new PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE will undoubtedly be one of the most talked-about gaming mice of the year. When the mouse was first announced, Logitech told us that it sees the new Haptic Inductive Trigger System as the biggest advancement for gaming mice in years.

Bungie's extraction shooter, Marathon, finally got an official release date earlier today, with the game set to hit PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 5, 2026. Pre-orders for the game are now open, with its $39.99 USD price matching that of its competition, 2025's breakout hit Arc Raiders.

With the PvPvE action taking place on the "dark sci-fi world of Tau Ceti IV," Marathon sees players take control of Runners that all sport different playstyles, as they fight for loot and gear solo or as part of a crew. One of the big drawcards of Marathon, outside of Bungie's impeccable reputation for delivering responsive and fluid first-person mechanics, is the art style.

Although Bungie faced plagiarism accusations (which have since been resolved) over the origin of Marathon's evocative style, the good news for PC gamers is that you won't need a high-end rig to jump into the action. With the game's PC system requirements live on Steam, the recommended GPU is NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2060 6GB.

AYANEO's latest portable KONKR gaming handheld is the company's first Windows-based model, powered by the impressive AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor. And with a 7-inch OLED display and a large 80Wh battery, the AYANEO KONKR FIT is being positioned as an alternative to the larger Lenovo Legion Go 2 or ROG Xbox Ally X.

The Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is one of the premium options in AMD's new Ryzen AI 400 Series of mobile processors, announced at CES 2026. With 12 cores and 24 threads and a 5.2 GHz Boost Clock, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is also relatively power-hungry for a gaming handheld, with a TDP rating of up to 54W.

It also features an integrated Radeon 890M graphics card with 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units, making it a powerful APU for on-the-go 1080p gaming. The good news is that with its large capacity 80Wh battery, the AYANEO KONKR FIT should offer decent battery life simply because it's offering more capacity than the competition.

MOAIPLAY is a brand focused on two things that are always high on the list for PC gamers and enthusiasts: price and performance. The company's new ORA PRO G1 Series power supplies certainly tick these boxes, but they also feature a world-first as part of the design - a large 148mm near-silent cooling fan on an ATX form factor PSU.

According to MOAIPLAY, this represents the "absolute limit" and "largest possible fan" that you can fit on a PSU with a 150mm width, and we're inclined to agree. The benefits of a larger fan include increased airflow at lower RPMs, resulting in quieter, more efficient cooling of components. And with that, the new ORA PRO G1 Series power supplies ship with Cybenetics A++ (for the 750W and 850W models) and A+ (for the 1000W model) certifications for acoustic performance.

Of course, there's more to ORA PRO G1 Series power supplies than MOAIPLAY fitting an ultra-large, silent cooling fan into the design; they feature premium components, support the latest ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards, and are backed by a 10-year limited warranty.

Ubisoft refreshes the sales figures for its key franchises, showing how important specific games are for the publisher.

Some good news for Ubisoft, following the recent Rainbow Six kerfuffle: Assassin's Creed is one of the highest-selling video game franchises on the planet, and the publisher's other series have likewise delivered solid sales.

The company's latest press kit shows that Assassin's Creed has now sold over 230 million copies worldwide, including the most recent release, Shadows. There are a few other tidbits, including that Black Flag engaged nearly 22% of the entire franchise's total unique players (34 million out of 155 million total), compared to Valhalla's 13%, or 20 million.

Hasbro and Scopely make history with their mega-popular mobile game based on the Parker Bros. classic.

Monopoly Go has made a fortune that would make even Rich Uncle Pennybags envious. According to data from analyst firm Sensor Tower, the Monopoly Go mobile game broke $6 billion revenue threshold faster than any other mobile game--conquering hits like Honor of Kings and Monster Strike with its speed.

Estimates show that Monopoly Go passed the $6 billion mark in 1,275 days, or roughly 3 and a half years, beating the closest competitor by over a year. Interestingly enough, Monopoly Go has only been on the market for 1,014 days. Sensor Tower notes that the timeframe doesn't include advertising revenue, and only in-app purchases are reflected. The game is said to generate $200 million in revenue per month--to put this number into perspective, a company like Rockstar Games earns anywhere from $150 - $200 million every quarter from Grand Theft Auto games.