LG pulled out the big monitor guns at IFA 2019 this year, unveiling a trio of new gaming monitors in its UltraGear family of displays.

The new displays all have an IPS-based panel with 1ms gray-to-gray (GtG) response time, NVIDIA G-Sync technology, and three resolutions and refresh rates. The first of the threer is the 27GN750 which is a 27-inch 1080p panel with a huge 240Hz refresh rate.

LG's second new monitor is the UltraGear 27GL850 which is based on a Nano IPS panel, is also a 27-inch monitor, but bumps the native res up to 2560x1440. The refresh rate gets knocked down to 144Hz in the process, while retaining its G-Sync and 1ms GTG response time. Both of these monitors have HDR10 support.

NVIDIA is preparing two more GeForce GTX 16 series graphics cards according to the new rumors: first, the GTX 1650 Ti and now the new rumored GTX 1660 SUPER.

According to a new rumor from MyDrivers, NVIDIA is preparing the new GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER that would use the TU116-300, the same GPU found in the GTX 1660. We're looking at 1408 CUDA cores, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs - and what should turn out to be 6GB of GDDR6 memory.

The current price being thrown around for the GTX 1660 SUPER is $249, making it $20 cheaper than the GTX 1660. We should expect NVIDIA's new mid-range GTX 1660 SUPER to battle the Navi 14-based Radeon RX 5600 series in the coming months leading into the holiday season.

It was just over a week ago the first rumors of the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, something that would be based on the TU117 GPU (the same GPU that powers the GTX 1650 Ti) except the full TU117 this time versus the slightly cut down chip in the GTX 1650.

NVIDIA's purported GeForce GTX 1650 Ti would launch in October, and would feature up to 1024 CUDA cores (up from teh 896 in the GTX 1650 and 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

We should expect the TU117 to feature up to 1024 CUDA cores joined by 64 texture units, and 32 ROPs while the TU117 has unannounced clocks. As a reminder, the GTX 1650 had its TU117 at 1485MHz base GPU clock and 1665MHz boost GPU clock. We should expect the same 75W TDP, too.

I'm a huge fan of The Matrix, so I know some of the trivia behind it and some of it is gold -- like Will Smith turning down the role of Neo and instead choosing to star in Wild Wild West. But now, Keanu Reeves has been replaced by Will Smith in a new deepfake of The Matrix:

Just in case you wanted some background on how and why Will Smith turned down the now iconic and trend-setting role that Keanu went to the next level in, Smith has a YouTube channel and vlog that he covers this in:

I think it's kinda freaky... but man these deepfakes are getting really, really good. The Matrix was more real than the real-world, and now deepfakes are more real than The Matrix.

Thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Home Entertainment, we have ten Blu-ray copies of the new release sci-fi/ fantasy hit 'Nekrotronic' to give away, plus one lucky winner will also take home a set of two original storyboards signed by Director Kiah Roache-Turner, along with a copy of the film on Blu-ray.

Howard North, a down-on-his-luck sewage worker, gets dragged into a global conflict between the Nekromancers, a family of badass demon hunters, and Finnegan (Monica Bellucci) - an evil demon who absorbs people's souls to increase her power. When Howard finds out the truth behind Finnegan's past and her dark plans for the future, he teams up with his new friends to discover he is the ultimate Nekromancer, the only one with the power to defeat her and save the world.

To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com and correctly answer the following question before the competition closes on 14 September.

Square Enix is remastering everything in Final Fantasy VII, including the game's cover art.

Final Fantasy VII's cover art is just as immortal as the game. It's instantly recognizable and entirely iconic, summing up an entire console generation in a single image. Now after 22 years, Square Enix has revamped the cover art for a Tokyo Game Show 2019 tease and breathed new life into our expectations.

The FFVII Remaster won't just have enhanced graphics and visuals--it's been built from the ground up with Square Enix's potent Luminous Engine for modern hardware. The Remaster sports a fully new action-based combat system that blends Devil May Cry-style hacking and slashing with strategic finesse. The classic elements are still in like materia, skills, and the story arc follows the same beats, but the gameplay is dramatically different.

Two of the best Star Wars games are getting re-released on modern platforms, but they might not be remasters.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy are both coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4, but not at once. Jedi Outcast will launch on September 24 on both Switch and PS4, with the complete and chaotic Force-blasting singleplayer experience intact. There's no exact mention of remastered graphics but the released screenshots look pretty crisp, so we could expect some upscaling from the original Xbox versions. Aspyr, who ported Civilization VI and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on Mac, is handling development of both games.

Jedi Academy is due out in 2020 and will include full online multiplayer support. Both games will also gyro motion controls on Switch.

Gears of War 5's microtransactions aren't entirely cosmetic. Gamers can purchase XP boosts with premium currency that affect gameplay.

As with most major developers and publishers, The Coalition made big noise about Gears 5's microtransactions being 100% cosmetic. Except that's technically not the case. Gears 5 is a clear example of Microsoft's live service-first focus, complete with lots of grinding, unlockables, and engagement-driven events. The glue that holds Gears 5 together is Iron, a currency that's earned in-game from supply drops and events. It's also purchasable with real money.

Iron is used to unlock things like skins and costumes. It's also used to buy XP boosts that last up to 30 days at a time, and have a pretty substantial effect on your earn rates. Here's how The Coalition explains boosts on the Gears 5 website:

Even Kojima himself isn't sure what Death Stranding actually is. We're right there with you, HK.

Death Stranding is a weird game. We've been told it's an action-based game with open-world exploration, and that its singular aim is to connect and bind people together. It'll have online multiplayer with a kind of unique shared world that you can interact with and change for others. It's a tale of a broken reality where two dimensions layer on top of one another like oil on water--the tainted Death Stranding limbo on top, and the real-world below. Death Stranding uses babies as batteries, lets you pee on the ground for magical outcomes, has a character that dies every 21 minutes, and the world is stalked by shadowy monstrosities. But this info only brings more questions...and even Kojima himself doesn't have all the answers.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Hideo Kojima said Death Stranding's overall scope, themes, and feel are still perplexing, as demonstrated in the Lynchian-Kubrick cinematic presentation mingled with interactive gaming.

SNES games are now on the Switch, and Nintendo is selling a special $30 wireless SNES controller with some additions.

Nintendo's plan with retro games is unique. First it sold games a la carte on its Virtual Console service for $5, $8, and $10 a pop, then it sold impossibly hard-to-get mini consoles for $60 and $80, now it's packing classic games into its cheap $5 a month Switch Online service.

The gameplan moving is clearly set around giving options. Don't own a Switch? Buy a mini console. Own a Switch? Buy into the cheap Switch Online and get NES and SNES games. It's a win-win method of monetizing nostalgia, especially when you also re-sell wireless retro controllers.

EA made it into the Guinness Book of World Records 2020 for all the wrong reasons.

In 2017, the big Battlefront II lootbox kerfuffle was etched into the annals of gaming history. The controversy, which saw Battlefront II as an egregious pay-to-win scheme full of grinding and tedium, changed the industry. It sent a shockwave through the billion-dollar lootbox market, causing many publishers to switch to cosmetic-only monetization, and even triggered massive scrutiny from worldwide regulators. In a way EA kind of changed everything for the better...but that doesn't make the most recent world record sting any less.

EA's infamous "pride and accomplishments" Reddit is now part of the Guinness Book of World Records as the most-downvoted Reddit comment of all time. The comment currently has 683,000 downvotes. It's not the kind of thing you want to be known for in any industry...let alone an entertainment one. The record was found in the 2020 edition and gamers passed around the news across Reddit, message boards, and various social media outlets for a good reminder of how oblivious some devs can be.

A newly published Nintendo patent shows foldable and even bending Switch JoyCon controllers.

Nintendo could be experimenting with all kinds of JoyCon permutations, including foldable and more ergonomic Switch controllers. The patent, which was recently made public, highlights what could be a new evolution to the JoyCons.

The documents show a myriad of configurations, but the most interesting show the top analog stick portion angled forward for better positioning, somewhat akin to the original Wii Nunchuk or Valve's Knuckles. Right now the controllers are stiff and unyielding, but the patents show JoyCons that fold slightly or even outright bend on a set curve.

Although it was teased at last year's The Game Awards, the next Dragon Age game is only in pre-production phases of development.

Today BioWare confirmed two major things: It's working on multiple new projects at once, and that Dragon Age 4 is far from ready. In fact, the next big RPG is not even close to being ready. It's only in pre-production right now.

In a recent update, BioWare general manager Casey Hudson confirmed the game is a long ways away. "I can say however that one of our projects has a large and growing team in Edmonton working through pre-production, and based on the progress I'm seeing, I can confirm that indeed the Dread Wolf rises," Hudson said.

BioWare confirms it's working on multiple big projects at once, which is what got the developer into deep trouble in the first place.

BioWare's team has a big morale problem that's led to a lot of internal suffering. Developers are submitted to intense crunch to get projects like Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and Anthem finished. The latter two suffered immensely from this hard push and were lampooned by gamers and critics alike. BioWare devs say depression, anxiety, and mental and physical fatigue are all endemic to the studio, with poor planning, communication, and execution the major culprits. BioWare is simply doing too much too fast. Now they're adrift in the same turbulent waters in the same boat.

Although BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson pledges to help fix these issues, today he confirmed the studio is working on numerous big AAA games at once. These projects include Dragon Age 4 and unspecific unannounced games, one of which is likely set in the Mass Effect franchise.

Following the inclusion of SNES games, Nintendo confirms it will no longer release three new classic games a month.

SNES games on Switch are finally here, they're free for Switch Online subscribers, and the games are damn good. But there's a catch. Nintendo has no plans to just rapidly give away old-school games in its cheap $5 a month Switch Online subscription. The old three SNES/NES games a month cadence is over. Instead of the agonizing drip-feed of games, Nintendo delivered a fusillade of classics all at once (Netflix binging vs weekly episodes).

New games are coming to both platforms, Nintendo says, but gamers won't ever known when. They'll now be added sporadically with no set timeline. "New games will be added after launch, but those releases will not adhere to a regular schedule," a Nintendo rep told Vooks.net.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is coming to Switch, but PC players can import their saves.

As Nintendo embraces the Switch's destiny as a re-release machine, a ton of existing and yesteryear games are coming to the platform. Some surprises like beloved RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 are making the jump, complete with an interesting feature that should be bog standard for all cross-plat ports: cross-saves. The wizards at Larian let PC and Switch players freely import and export their saves at will, and Switch saves are compatible with PC and vice-versa.

"For players who wish to continue their adventures on the go, Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition features first-of-its-kind cross-saves between Nintendo Switch systems and Steam on PC, which means players can upload and download their save files to continue playing on the go," reads a press release announcement.

Dell has refreshed its XPS 13 laptop with Intel's latest 10th-gen CPU offerings, as well as the latest in Wi-Fi 6 connectivity that is 3x faster than the previous generation.

The new Dell XPS 13 has the same look as the refreshed XPS 13 earlier this year, but internally it is a new beast. Starting with the use of Intel's new 10th-gen Comet Lake-U processors, with the Core i3-10110U and Core i5-10210U processors starting at $999, while the higher-end Core i7-10710U will be available in October.

We have the usual up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB SSD storage, while inside the new XPS 13 laptops all feature Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, thanks to the Killer AX1650 (2x2) which is based on Intel's own Wi-Fi 6 Chipset.

Amazon has been pushing for its living room takeover for years now, but has just made another big stride towards that by unveiling its new OLED TV in a new partnership with Grundig.

There will be two models -- one without microphones, and another that will have far-field voice microphones built into the TV for some hands-free Alexa action. The model without the microphones will include a normal Alexa voice remote control.

Grundig will be using "last-generation" LG OLED panels in the new Amazon OLED Fire TV Edition, which will have support for both HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

Lenovo had a big show this year at IFA 2019 unveiling not one or two new Yoga laptops, but four new models that spread into 3 new models in their C-series and a new model in its S-series family.

The new Yoga models are familiar, roling out with the same flexibility as previous-gen Yoga products but have new features and internals to keep us impressed. We're looking at USB-C, Dolby Vision, and even Intel's new 10th-gen CPUs.

Starting with the new flagship Lenovo Yoga C940, we have a 4K VESA DisplayHDR 400 screen with super-slim bezels, Dolby Vision, and 500 nits of brightness. Lenovo will be offering the Yoga C940 in two sizes: 14- and 15.6-inch, with the displays starting off at a 1080p resolution but making their way up to 4K.

LG had two world-first acheivements at IFA 2019 this year, with the world's first 8K OLED TV and world's first 8K NanoCell TV.

These new TVs both offer the insane native resolution that 8K provides at 7680 x 4320 -- 4x the pixels of 4K, and 16x the pixel count of 1080p. LG stands out from the growing crowd of 8K TVs, with the South Korean giant stating that its new 8K TVs push past the picture quality required of the Information Display Measurements Standard to "real 8K".

It gets a bit detailed, but the standard requires that resolution isn't just bound by pixel count -- but rather the neighboring pixels need to be indistinguishable from one another. This is something called the Contrast Modulation measurement, and it needs to be higher than 25% for images and 50% for text.