Computex 2019 - We are sitting in the AMD Computex 2019 press conference while some of our staffers are watching the YouTube livestream and we noticed that some of the prep work for the event was going up over the internet onto YouTube.

Well, now we have the skinny on AMD's next-gen Ryzen 3000 series CPUs including processor names and pricing, but there's not much known outside of that right now. For now: the quick and dirty version is that the flagship Ryzen 9 3900X will be a 12C/24T processor for $499, while the Ryzen 9 3800X will cost $399 and the Ryzen 7 3700X will cost just $329.

We don't know everything yet, but in the AMD livestream (publicly available) the company explained: "For third-gen Ryzen a big focus has been high frame rate and light threaded games".

Computex 2019 - AMD is about to kick off its huge Computex 2019 keynote, so what does its competitor have to show: oh, a special edition Core i9-9900K which will be called the 9900KS.

Intel's new Core i9-9900KS is virtually identical to teh current 8C/16T chip in the 9900K except the new variant rolls out with all-core boost clocks of 5GHz which is impressive. Intel will unveil more details of the Core i9-9900KS during its Computex 2019 keynote tomorrow, but they did confirm it will have a base clock of 4GHz (compared to 3.6GHz on the 9900K).

We can expect the TDP on the 9900KS to be freaking high -- something Intel isn't talking about now, but alongside the 8C/16T of processing power we have 16MB of L3 cache, GT2 graphics, and the same soldered IHS that was on the 9900K.

Microsoft is talking up its new Project xCloud game streaming service ahead of E3 2019, and has some exciting news for developers.

Xbox One game developers can now optimize their titles for cloud streaming. Microsoft updated its Xbox SDK toolset with a new streaming-focused API in preparation of its big new Project xCloud subscription. The SDK not only ensures compatibility between consoles, PCs, and now mobile devices via xCloud, but the new API also gives developers more flexibility to get the most out of Microsoft's new service.

"We also recently added enhancements to our standard Xbox Developer Kit (XDK) to add support for streaming," Microsoft VP of cloud Kareem Choudhry said in a recent Xbox Wire update. "One API we're excited about is the new "IsStreaming" API which allows any game to know if it's streaming from the cloud. Games can then cue features and functionality to enhance the streaming experience; for instance, adjusting font sizes for smaller displays or hosting multiplayer matches on a single server to reduce latency. We'll continue to look for ways to empower developers to tailor their games for the many ways their customers play."

Microsoft's new Project xCloud streaming service is very ambitious, but like any cloud gaming subscription we should expect some big caveats.

Like Google's Stadia platform, Project xCloud has the potential to change gaming forever. Microsoft has the upper edge with its established Xbox LIVE core framework, as well as its vast storefront of digital games. First Xbox bridged PC and consoles, and now Microsoft is aiming at the whole pie by bringing Xbox to mobile. Now the company makes some bold affirmations that Project xCloud will technically support all existing and future Xbox One games. But will it actually host and beam the 3,000 plus titles available on Xbox? Probably not.

In a recent update on Xbox Wire, Microsoft VP of cloud Kareem Choudhry said Project xCloud's infrastructure can technically support any game playable on the Xbox One. If it's playable on Xbox One, it could be streamed on Project xCloud, including original Xbox and Xbox 360 games. Coudhry says the games will be natively scaled across all devices and platforms without any additional work from the developer.

Microsoft's E3 2019 will be a fusillade of games, hardware, and services that lasts as long as a feature-length movie.

Xbox is going big at E3 2019. Microsoft confirmed this year's show is its biggest yet, and now we have a concrete duration for the show. According to the Xbox @ E3 website, the conference will last a cool 2 hours. Gamers can expect updates and teases on Microsoft's next-generation Xbox Scarlett family of consoles that includes an enthusiast and mid-grade option, lots of info on its new Project xCloud streaming service, reveal of Game Pass on PC, and lots of games.

I think Project xCloud will be the star of the show. Following Google's cloud streaming Stadia announcement, companies are eager to hit back and remind consumers of their own services. Microsoft announced Project xCloud at last year's E3 and the cloud service has matured tremendously since them. I also think Microsoft will only lightly touch on Xbox Scarlett, which should be powered by highly customized AMD Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU tech.

Sony confirms it's new ultra-powerful PlayStation 5 console won't come with a brand new PSVR headset.

The PS5 is shaping up to be quite a beast that's flexible as well as powerful. The next-gen PlayStation is a true leap with its AMD-powered Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU architecture, an ultra-fast SSD, and a host of new services and content, but the PS4's legacy will live on through the new gen. Sony confirms the PS5 is fully compatible with all existing PS4 games, peripherals, and even the PlayStation VR. This backward compatibility means Sony isn't in any hurry to refresh its PSVR headset for the new gen--even if the hardware is somewhat antiquated.

In a recent interview with CNET, Sony R&D exec Dominic Mallinson says the PS5 won't have a new advanced PSVR at launch. "There's no reason for us to coincide it with a new console. From the point of view of the consumer, to be bombarded with many many things is a message that we don't want to send. In some ways it's good to have a little breathing space between those things."

The World Health Organization adds gaming addiction to its list of categorized disorders, a move that could have a tremendous ripple effect on incoming lootbox legislation.

Gaming addition is now recognized as a real behavioral disorder. Found in the updated 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Organization's newly adopted "gaming disorder" classification is almost synonymous with crippling gambling disorders. Gaming addiction is characterized by "increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences," the report says.

We are now officially less than 24 hours out from Lisa Su taking the stage for AMD's huge Computex 2019 keynote, and now there is a monster new leak that teases some incredible performance from the 6C/12T offering in AMD's upcoming Zen 2 family of processors.

The news is coming from a leaked Geekbench result which is a 6C/12T chip in the Ryzen 3000 series family, with this chip rolling out with a base CPU clock of 3.2GHz and boost CPU clock of 4GHz. It seems to be suspiciously identical to the previously-leaked Ryzen 3 3300 that was meant to cost $99... and if these leaks are anything to go by, we can expect performance up to the current Zen-based flagship CPU in the Ryzen 7 2700X (which is an 8C/16T chip).

The new 6C/12T chip is only doing well in Geekbench 4 which does not represent overall performance or gaming, but the entry-level CPU doing this well in Geekbench is impressive to see considering its a 6C/12T chip versus the 8C/16T chip in the 2700X.

NVIDIA has just filed for trademarks of 3080, 4080 and 5080 with the European Union Intellectual Property Ofice in an effort to slow the hype train for AMD's next-gen Navi-based graphics cards that are rumored to launch as the Radeon RX 3000 series.

These new Navi-based cards will reportedly include the Radeon RX 3070 and Radeon RX 3080 which, these new patent grabs, would hurt AMD big time. NVIDIA currently sells the GeForce RTX series of cards including the RTX 2060, 2070, 2080, and 2080 Ti.

We all know how this works: most unsuspecting (not all) people will see a higher number (RX 3080) and think by default it is faster than the smaller number (RTX 2080). I worked retail IT sales selling these exact types of computer products for 10 years before I began at TweakTown, and it happened all the time. The issue here is, will NVIDIA call its next-gen GeForce cards RTX 3080, followed by RTX 4080, and then RTX 5080? Or is this the company trying to meddle in the launch of its competitors' next-gen graphics cards?

The United States could raise its trade tariff with China to 25%, and video game companies could raise prices of consoles to offset the hike.

The U.S. is currently embroiled in a trade war with China that's starting to heat up. Right now the United States, which represents a sizable portion of console hardware revenues, has instated a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. A new proposal from the U.S. Trade Representative's Office could raise the toll to 25% and cast an ad valorem tax around more Chinese imports including video games consoles, the components found in gaming hardware, and even accessories like controllers.

The following game-related products and imports are included in the proposal:

Expect to see more of Deep Silver's biggest games get timed exclusivity on the Epic Games Store.

Metro Exodus' exclusivity deal on the Epic Store worked out quite well for THQ Nordic. The game not only helped skyrocket earnings by over 500% last year, but was the single best-selling title on all platforms and the biggest release in THQ Nordic's history. But how much of that revenue came from the Epic Store? Most of it, actually.

Previous comments from THQ Nordic's Lars Wingefors said Metro Exodus sold best on consoles and led gamers to believe the Epic deal backfired. That isn't the case. Console still reigns because of combined physical and digital sales, but THQ Nordic actually made more from Metro Exodus on Epic's PC store than it did from digital console revenues.

This year's Call of Duty game won't actually be called Modern Warfare 4, but instead just...Modern Warfare.

Multiple sources say Call of Duty 2019 will be called Modern Warfare, seeing Activision pull a similar naming scheme as EA with Battlefield 1 in 2016. Whether or not the game will be a reboot for the series remains unknown. Infinity Ward has been teasing the project for a while now and key Modern Warfare series vets have returned to make the new FPS.

Activision confirmed this year's Modern Warfare will have full singleplayer campaign with optional co-op. There's a possibility that Modern Warfare 2019 will also feature a free-to-play online mode for maximum engagement and monetization potential.

Toy Story 4 was officially announced back in March and will be hitting theaters in this June, but is this the last movie in the franchise? Woody unfortunately believes so, and even warns fans that the finale will be a tear-jerker.

In a recent interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Tom Hanks who players the character Woody in the Toy Story movies was asked some questions about the coming film. Hanks told a story about fellow actor Tim Allen who voices Buzz Lightyear, and how Allen texted Hanks asking if he had a session of voice acting and read Toy Story 4's script. Here is what Hanks said exactly "This is the end of the series and I had gotten some texts from Tim Allen. These texts that say, 'Have you recorded yet? Have you been in? Have you had a session yet?' I said, 'No, not yet.' [Allen says] 'Wait until you see those last pages. Tough one, tough one.'"

Hanks re-confirms this and says "And it was! The last few sessions we're saying goodbye to Woody and Buzz and Bonnie's room and Andy and everybody. And it was emotional." When DeGeneres expressed her saddness for the series ending, Hanks backpedaled and said "Is it really, I don't know, is it over? I don't know, it'll live forever, that's one thing about it. I'm looking forward to a possible three-year extension for everybody." Toy Story 4 is going to hit theaters world wide on June 21.

One of the newest titles to hit the Epic Games Store is Phoenix Labs' Dauntless. The title has seen quite the level of popularity as 500,000 players have jumped into the action in just 24 hours.

Dauntless released onto the Epic Games Store on May 21st, and since then the title has managed to pick up some major support player-base wise. This massive influx of players is mostly due to Dauntless releasing on the Epic Games Store with cross-play and cross-progression, meaning players on Xbox, PS4 and PC can enjoy the game together. This was a goal of Phoenix Labs right from the beginning.

Since the release of Dauntless on the PC, the game has seen 500,000 more players join the Shattered Isles, which has brought the total player count up to 4 million already. Since that is quite the amount of players, Phoenix Labs has taken to their Twitter account to explain that there could be some issues with matchmaking. They say that players should expect some delays until the server traffic is ironed out and stable. Phoenix Labs also express that they are working tirelessly on any and all issues that have been presented to them. For more information about Dauntless, check out the listing for the title on the official Epic Games Store here.

Turn-based strategy fans that haven't already picked up Mutant Year Zero are truly missing out on a fantastic title. Now that fantastic title is about to change things up a bit with a brand new DLC that will be adding a new character into the mix.

For those that don't know what Mutant Year Zero is, the game revolves around turn-based combat that captures the likes of interesting storyline, while also combining stealth and strategy. The game takes after that of XCOM, and allows for players to control mutant humanoids in a post-human world.

The new DLC titled 'Seed of Evil' throws a new playable character into the mix 'Big Khan'. Big Khan is a moose and is awfully good at dealing critical damage to his enemies. Khan also comes with some unique mutations such as Ground Pound and Flame Puke, both of these abilities are designed to change up the play style of players and encourage more diverse tactics. Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil will be released on July 30th.

If you are an owner of Dead Cells and enjoyed playing through the title and are after a bit more content, then you are in luck. As a new DLC has been released on all platforms, completely free of charge.

Dead Cells players who own a copy of the base game will soon be able to jump into the 'Rise of the Giant' DLC that is being released onto all platforms. This new DLC will allows for players to experience a whole new level of play that will include difficult and new enemies.

As players progress through the level they will eventually be faced with the final challenge, the giant we see at the end of the above launch trailer. Dead Cells developers, Motion Twin have also said that there is plenty of hidden pieces of content that can be found throughout the DLC. Dead Cells: Rise of the Giant can be downloaded on all respective platforms now!

Now that Game of Thrones has finally finished, many fans are being very vocal about their perception on whether the finale for the show was good or not. HBO's boss has responded to this controversy, and its a quite level headed response.

In a recent interview with Deadline, HBO's programming president, Casey Bloys was asked if he was surprised with the fan reaction or was this something he expected. His response was "No. To tell you the truth, for a show this big and this sprawling and for a show that has this passionate a fan base, I don't think there is any way that all fans would've been happy. I think based on online reaction, which you do have to take with a grain of salt, it does seem split and I think that's about right - some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it. But the point is, everybody is feeling really passionate about it."

He continued and said "I think everybody had hopes for where the characters might go or should go. But Dan and David have had a plan for how they wanted the show to go for a long time, and they did it the way they thought fit as creators. I think they did a spectacular job. They landed a big plane, which was not easy. You are never going to keep everybody happy, but I don't think that's what they were trying to do."

Ready At Dawn is currently prototyping a big new AAA game, and it could release on Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5.

Ready At Dawn, the team behind the visually stunning but mechanically lackluster The Order 1886, is making a new console game that may harness the raw power of Sony's new PS5 system. In a recent interview with Venture Beat, Ready At Dawn CEO Ru Weerasuriya affirmed the new game would take lessons learned from The Order 1886 as well as the studios Lone Echo VR games.

"We're working on a triple-A console title right now as well. It's something we're developing internally, and funnily enough, a lot of the lessons we've learned about narrative and immersion and gameplay mechanics we're taking some of those lessons into console. It might not be the same [as VR], but the player agency we learned to do in Lone Echo...you're always there. You can never expect the player to do what you want them to do. They'll do whatever they want. That's something we're carrying with us to the console," Weerasuriya said.

THQ Nordic may have inadvertently revealed Dead Island 2's long-awaited release timing...and it could happen this year.

After years in development hell, Dead Island 2 could be ready for launch in 2019. THQ Nordic's recent financial briefing gave some interesting clues on the game's impending release. In a pipeline roadmap Dead Island 2 was grouped with games that're all releasing in 2019, and THQ's Lars Wingefors read through the list from left to right, corresponding to each game's release timing.

Dead Island 2 is nestled between BioMutant, which is TBA 2019, and Wasteland 3, which is slated to launch during holiday 2019. If it's not releasing soon why lump it in with games that are? Why include it on the roadmap between games that're strategically set for release this year?

CD Projekt RED is currently working on two big projects: the massively anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, and a brand new unannounced AAA RPG. The latter could be announced during its big E3 2019 event.

In its latest financial report, CDPR re-affirmed E3 2019 will be its biggest show ever. Cyberpunk 2077 will steal the spotlight of course, but we know the studio is also working on a new AAA RPG at the same time. Now company CFO Piotr Nielubowicz hints this new project could be part of its huge E3 plans, saying that it has an exciting lineup that may refer to multiple games. "The most important E3 fair in the group's history is upon us. We have a truly exciting line-up and cannot wait to present it. For the first time in our history we will also be showcasing Cyberpunk 2077 at our public stand."

The studio has set a hard 2021 deadline for both Cyberpunk 2077 and the new mystery RPG, so a teaser or announcement in 2019 could build up hype momentum as gamers also look forward to Night City's cybernetic chaos. As of Q1 2019 CDPR stands by its release targets for these two games. While nothing's been confirmed, past remarks indicate the new RPG will be a Witcher game but CDPR is adamant that Geralt's story is over.