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GeForce RTX 3090: 50% faster than RTX 2080 Ti in early benchmarks

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jul 30, 2020 9:11 PM CDT

We should expect some solid confirmation and an announcement of NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards in the next month or so -- but until then, all we have are leaks:

GeForce RTX 3090: 50% faster than RTX 2080 Ti in early benchmarks

The one today is from KatCorgi once again, who has tweeted: "RTX 3090 may up to 50% PERFORMANCE INCREASE in TimeSpy Extreme". We've heard that the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or GeForce RTX 3090 (sort that naming out before launch, NVIDIA) could be up to 60-90% faster in previous rumors.

But remember that AMD's next-gen Big Navi / RDNA 2-based flagship Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card, which has been seen around as the purported Radeon RX 6900 XT -- being 40-50% faster than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. If this is true, then AMD will indeed have a new card that could meet the performance of NVIDIA's best Ampere GeForce RTX 30 series card, at least in 2020.

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NVIDIA bundles Rainbow Six: Siege with GeForce RTX 20 series cards

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jul 30, 2020 8:24 PM CDT

NVIDIA is bundling copies of Rainbow Six: Siege Gold Edition with their GeForce RTX 20 series graphics carrds, as part of their Frames Win Games bundle.

NVIDIA bundles Rainbow Six: Siege with GeForce RTX 20 series cards

Rainbow Six: Siege launched back in 2015, and has over 50 million people playing the game as of September 2019. The game has recently had its Year 5 pass launch, with a bunch of DLC included in the Gold Edition -- and thus, for free when you purchased an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 series graphics card.

You can buy any GeForce RTX 20 series card between the regular GeForce RTX 2060 and GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, right through to the flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card.

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Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G leaks show camera, display upgrades

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Jul 30, 2020 7:34 PM CDT

We had our first look at Samsung's purported Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G smartphone last week, which has reportedly been re-branded from the Galaxy Fold 2 to the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which will be unveiled at Samsung's upcoming Unpacked 2020 event on August 5.

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G leaks show camera, display upgrades

Now we have our first real look at the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G smartphone thanks to MySmartPrice, which shared the first official press renders of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G in both its colors: Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black.

Samsung looks to have beefed up the Cover Display, which is the smaller display on the front of the phone before you unfold it. As a personal owned of the first-gen Galaxy Fold, this is going to be a much welcomed upgrade over its predecessor.

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Continue reading: Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G leaks show camera, display upgrades (full post)

Apple's Q3'20 revenues hit record high of $59.7 billion

Derek Strickland | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 30, 2020 6:28 PM CDT

COVID-19 hasn't stopped tech sector growth, and Apple's third quarter 2020 performance is the best June of all time.

Apple's Q3'20 revenues hit record high of $59.7 billion

Apple today reported record Q3 performance across range of services and products. The company made $11.25 billion on $59.7 billion in total revenues, with a sharp 18% EPS jump to $2.61. Products made 77% of total net revenues, or $46 billion, up nearly double-digit percentage points over last year. Services pulled in $11.25 billion and saw a 15% jump over Q3'19.

While iPhone sales drove the quarter's total net sales ($59.68 billion), iPad saw the biggest uptick with 31% growth to $6.58 billion in sales. Wearables were also up 16.7%.

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EA reveals why Star Wars Squadrons is $40 without microtransactions

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 5:16 PM CDT

Star Wars Squadrons is a $40 game for a number of reasons, and it looks like EA is changing how it sees Star Wars games.

EA reveals why Star Wars Squadrons is $40 without microtransactions

Typically when a game with online play is lower priced that means it'll have in-game purchases. mTX is a way to offset the lower retail price tag. On the surface, Star Wars Squadrons has the potential to be a big live service game monetized with microtransactions.

It has a grindy upgrade-based gameplay loop complete with cosmetic and game-affecting content, online multiplayer, and a campaign. It also fills a void left by Battlefront II, which has now been sunset.

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Continue reading: EA reveals why Star Wars Squadrons is $40 without microtransactions (full post)

EA not sure on $70 next-gen PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X games

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 4:50 PM CDT

While other publishers like 2K Games are eager to charge $70 for next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of their games, EA isn't sure on how to proceed.

EA not sure on $70 next-gen PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X games

EA may not charge $70 for next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X SKUs of its games. In a recent Q1'21 earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson commented on raising prices of next-gen games. EA will offer free next-gen upgrades of Madden 21 and FIFA 21, and is more focused on the smooth cross-generation transition instead of trying to capitalizing on full $70 next-gen titles.

"We start with the player motivations, the expectations the players have around depth and breadth of live service, and we go from there," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said.

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EA game sales up 202% in Q1'21, live services hit $1.1 billion

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 3:46 PM CDT

Like pretty much every games company, EA is benefiting tremendously from COVID-19 lockdowns, and their recent Q1'21 earnings reflect strong spikes in overall earnings.

EA game sales up 202% in Q1'21, live services hit $1.1 billion

Today EA reported record first-quarter results for Fiscal Year Q1'21 that far exceeded the company's expectations. In the quarter ended March 31, 2020, EA generated $1.459 billion in total revenues, up 21% from last year. Net bookings were up tremendously by 78% YoY to $1.390 billion, outperforming EA's forecast by $390 million, driven by astronomical growth in full game sales and live service monetization. Free cash flow is up 286% to $340 million on these strong results.

Full game sales are up triple digit percentage points to $287 million (+202% YoY), which were driven in part by EA's fusillade of re-releases on Steam and strong console purchases. This reflects increased consumer purchases during COVID-19 quarantines. Q1 is typically EA's slowest period for game sales.

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Halo: Infinite runs at 4K 60FPS on Xbox Series X, but does it matter?

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 3:14 PM CDT

Halo: Infinite will run at 4K 60FPS on the Xbox Series X and PC, but will gamers play it if the shadows still look bad?

Halo: Infinite runs at 4K 60FPS on Xbox Series X, but does it matter?

Right now Halo: Infinite has an issue with visuals, and everyone's noticed. The culprit is the game's new dynamic lighting that blankets the open-world setting. Things look great in the light, but in shadows, we see models lose their definition. The result is textures and models of guns, buildings, and characters look very last-gen.

343 Industries can fix it with global illumination techniques like hardware- or software-based ray tracing, which the Xbox Series X conveniently supports. But this fix comes at a performance hit. Halo: Infinite may not run at the advertised 4K 60FPS with ray tracing enabled; in its present state, with the dynamic lighting and shadows obfuscating details, it could hit a dynamic (or possibly even native) 3840 x 2160 with a steady 60FPS. With ray tracing turned on, it could drop to 1080p 60FPS.

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Continue reading: Halo: Infinite runs at 4K 60FPS on Xbox Series X, but does it matter? (full post)

Rocket League goes free-to-play, but only on the Epic Games Store

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 10:34 AM CDT

Rocket League is already immensely popular, but now it'll grow even more by going free-to-play. There's a catch, though. It's easy access is gated off by the Epic Games Store.

Rocket League goes free-to-play, but only on the Epic Games Store

Psyonix recently confirmed Rocket League is going F2P on PC, but only on the Epic Store. This follows Psyonix's full buyout from Epic in May 2019. New Rocket League PC players will have to download the chaotic auto sport indie from the Epic Store.

When Rocket League goes free-to-play it'll be simultaneously de-listed from Steam. Anyone who already owns the game on Steam will be able to keep playing, and Pysonix is preserving cross-play between Steam and the Epic Store versions as well as PS4 and Xbox One. The game will also support cross-progression on every platform so your unlocks will carry over wherever you go.

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You can watch the NASA's Mars 2020 launch livestream right here

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jul 30, 2020 3:32 AM CDT

NASA has formally announced when the launch window for the Mars 2020 mission will be, and when we can expect to see Perseverance sent off to the distant red planet.

You can watch the NASA's Mars 2020 launch livestream right here

According to NASA, the launch window will be at 7:50 EDT, and it will be open for two hours. Throughout this time, NASA will be working out any potential problems that could hinder the launch, and then once checks are made, they will be buckling up with the rest of us as the Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance will begin its launch from Cape Canaveral.

NASA will be landing its latest-and-greatest rover, Perseverance, on the Martian surface on February 18th, 2021. The primary goal of the mission is to land the rover in jezero crater successfully. This is where the rover will be conducting numerous experiments in an attempt to discover whether life ever existed on Mars. Above you will find a link to the NASA YouTube Channel where they will be streaming the historic launch.

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NASA sets Mars 2020 launch for this Thursday, details and video here

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jul 30, 2020 2:35 AM CDT

The coronavirus pandemic has taken the wind out of many people's sails, but luckily NASA has still found a way to get its historic mission underway. Finally, news that isn't COVID-19 related.

NASA sets Mars 2020 launch for this Thursday, details and video here

NASA has officially penned the launch date for the Mars 2020 mission, which will take the space agency's brand new rover and helicopter to our distant red planetary neighbor. The coronavirus, along with other technical delays, caused the space agency to have to delay the launch, but now things seem to be set in order, and as a result, a launch window has been set.

The Perseverance rover will be launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance. NASA says that it will take a matter of months for Perseverance to reach Mars, and has said that it will arrive on February 18th, 2021. Perseverance will be taking the latest and greatest scientific instruments to the red planet to conduct scientific experiments on Mars' surface in an attempt to discover if the red planet was ever home to some form of ancient life. The mission launch window opens at 7:50 a.m. EDT, this Thursday.

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STALKER 2 on Xbox Series X could feature 120FPS option

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 30, 2020 1:10 AM CDT

STALKER 2 will be dropping in 2021 exclusive to the PC and next-gen Xbox Series X, and now we're hearing reports it might offer an 120FPS option on the Xbox Series X version.

STALKER 2 on Xbox Series X could feature 120FPS option

On the Xbox store page for STALKER 2, it says that it was designed to take advantage of the powerful hardware inside of Microsoft's new Xbox Seires X console and it means "frame rates up to 120FPS".

The store page reads: "Games built using the Xbox Series X development kit are designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Xbox Series X. They will showcase unparalleled load-times, visuals, responsiveness, and frame rates up to 120 FPS".

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Roblox is now home to over 150 million players per month

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 11:32 PM CDT

Roblox Corporation has said that its game has over 150 million monthly players, with the company expecting to pull in $250 million this year.

Roblox is now home to over 150 million players per month

During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been more and more players in Roblox, with the developer announcing the news during its annual developer conference -- held virtually because of the on-going coronavirus pandemic.

David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox Corporation explained: "The accomplishments of our developer community have eclipsed even our loftiest expectations. Our focus is to give developers the tools and resources they need to pursue their vision and create larger, more complex, more realistic experiences and collectively build the Metaverse".

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This new PlayStation 5 patent teases NVIDIA DLSS style technology

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jul 29, 2020 10:50 PM CDT

Sony still hasn't given us much details on the inner workings of its next-gen PlayStation 5 console, but a new patent Sony filed in 2019 is interesting.

This new PlayStation 5 patent teases NVIDIA DLSS style technology

The new patent was filed in 2019 but only published a few days ago on July 23, and discuses image reconstructing technology that uses reference images through machine learning. You know, kinda like how NVIDIA's own Deep Learning Super Sampling -- or DLSS, works.

This is exciting as NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 provides double the performance in games that support it, while not looking any worse -- and in some cases they look better.

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Philips 498P9 Brilliance: 32:9 SuperWide monitor at 5120 x 1440 @ 70Hz

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Jul 29, 2020 10:22 PM CDT

Philips has just announced their new 498P9 Brilliance 32:9 SuperWide Curved monitor, with a native resolution of 5120 x 1440 thanks to its 32:9 aspect ratio.

Philips 498P9 Brilliance: 32:9 SuperWide monitor at 5120 x 1440 @ 70Hz

We have an 1800R curvature on the Philips 498P9 Brilliance 32:9 SuperWide Curved monitor, which will make looking at that huge 5120 x 1440 resolution nice and easy on your eyes. The 5120 x 1440 resolution is pumping away at 70Hz, so this isn't a gaming monitor and more aimed at professionals.

Philips also has 498P9 Brilliance 32:9 SuperWide Curved monitor with support for Adaptive-Sync technology, which will help out if you want to get your game on at 70FPS.

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DigiTimes: PlayStation 5 sales to DESTROY the Xbox Series X

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 7:19 PM CDT

Sony will launch its next-gen PlayStation 5 console in November, but between its launch and the first 5 years on the market the console is expected to sell at least 120 million units.

DigiTimes: PlayStation 5 sales to DESTROY the Xbox Series X

The news is coming from DigiTimes, which reports it from sources in the "backend supply chain in Taiwan", which explains: "The life cycle for household game consoles may be shortened to five years from 6-7 years, and PS5 shipments may challenge 120-170 million units when its 5-year cycle expires, compared to 110 million units registered to date for PS4 launched in November 2013".

It added: "Sony has recently boosted its PS5 shipment estimate for 2020 to near 10 million units".

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Analogue Pocket retro Game Boy handheld: Everything you need to know

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 5:29 PM CDT

Analogue's new $199 Pocket handheld aims to be the king of all retro pocket-consoles by playing tons of old-school cartridges better than ever before.

Analogue Pocket retro Game Boy handheld: Everything you need to know

If you love playing retro handheld games, then the new Analogue Pocket was made just for you. Analogue revealed a bunch of surprising new details around the Pocket, including pre-orders that go live on August 3.

The Pocket's specs are also pretty nice. The display is a 3.6-inch, Gorilla Glass-covered LCD panel with 1600x1440p resolution and 615ppi, which is roughly 10x the resolution of an original Game Boy. It has a 4300mAh battery that allows for 6-10 hours of play, and fully remappable buttons. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the most interesting features:

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Atari VCS games cost up to $25, will focus on indies and not AAA games

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 4:02 PM CDT

Atari's new VCS console will be accompanied by a storefront, but the digital marketplace won't copy Steam's catalog of AAA games.

Atari VCS games cost up to $25, will focus on indies and not AAA games

The Atari VCS is a kind of jack-of-all-trades. It's a console-PC hybrid that supports Linux and Windows 10. It's also a console with its own first-party storefront, controllers, and online ecosystem. But unlike Steam or the PlayStation Store, the Atari VCS store won't sell $59.99 AAA games--at least not at launch. Instead, the Atari VCS games will be capped at $25 a pop and will be more like GOG than Steam.

Atari is taking a smaller approach with its store and will exclusively sell remasters, classic version of its old games, and indie games at launch, complete with its vault of 100 Atari classics, Anstream on-demand retro game streaming, and remasters of older games like Missile Command.

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New Aya-Eve Switch handheld gaming PC sports Ryzen 4500U, 16GB RAM

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 2:35 PM CDT

Introducing the Aya-Eve, a new gaming PC in a Switch-like handheld form factor.

New Aya-Eve Switch handheld gaming PC sports Ryzen 4500U, 16GB RAM

Handheld PCs are on the way to merge portability with actual PC-quality gaming. First we had the GPD Win 2, then the GPD Win Max, and Alienware's impressive Project UFO handheld with its detachable controllers. Now there's another competitor called the Aya-Eve.

The Aya-Eve has some decent specs including an AMD 4500U notebook APU with 6 cores and 6 threads, 16GB of DDR4-4266 RAM, and 512GB of onboard NVMe flash memory. Other specs are tentative and could change, but right now the team is targeting a 7-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display, which is akin to the Switch's 6.2-inch 1280 x 720 screen.

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Thousands of UK gamers more interested in PlayStation 5 than Xbox SX

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 29, 2020 1:31 PM CDT

According to a new survey from analyst firm Experience12, thousands of UK gamers are overwhelming more interested in the PS5 than the Xbox Series X.

Thousands of UK gamers more interested in PlayStation 5 than Xbox SX

Data firm Experience12 surveyed 3,000 gamers in the UK to see which next-gen console they're more interested in. Turns out the PS5 is at the top, which isn't surprising given the console's massive install base. 84% of respondents, or roughly 2,520 people, said they were more excited about the PS5. 16% of them, or just 480 of respondents, preferred the Xbox Series X.

To properly understand this data we need some perspective. The PlayStation 4 has a staggering lead over the Xbox One in global sales, and is handily beating Microsoft's console by over 60 million units. As Ampere Analysis shows, the PS4 is currently at 108 million sales (sell-through, not the 110.4 million sell-in Sony reports) compared to the 49 million Xbox Ones sold worldwide. The PS4 has outsold the Xbox One by 59 million units, or more than the total Xbox One sales across the globe.

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