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CES 2019 - In conjunction with a ton of other VR announcements, HTC today revealed a new eye-tracking variant of its $799 Vive Pro virtual reality headset.

Unlike the Vive Pro, the Vive Pro Eye isn't really made for consumers or enthusiast VR gaming experiences. Instead HTC hopes businesses in the enterprise sector will leverage the headset's built-in eye tracking technology for research and development and training scenarios. That doesn't mean it can't be used for VR gaming and apps, of course, and we could see some nifty interactive content roll out thanks to the Pro Eye. The new eye tracking headset is PC-powered and features the same specs as the Vive Pro (90Hz refresh rate, 1440 x 1600 resolution dual AMOLED panels) with the added bonus of eye-tracking sensors.

"Vive Pro Eye is targeted at the enterprise market where eye tracking has a number of immediate benefits-from performance, to accessibility, to improvements in training applications," HTC wrote in an official press release. "It will also benefit developers by minimizing computing resources needed to render high-end VR environments."

CES 2019 - HTC's new Cosmos VR headset can be powered by both a PC and mobile handset.

Meet VIVE Cosmos, VR made for everyone. Easy setup. Comfortable design. Modular capabilities. VIVE Cosmos goes beyond everything you could want in one device.

Today HTC announced its latest VR HMD called Cosmos, an interesting headset aimed at accessibility and comfort. The device looks like a mini Vive Pro and features inside-out tracking, but it's main selling point is a kind of expansive modularity. The Cosmos is primarily a dedicated headset for PC VR experiences and tethers to a desktop or laptop, but a smartphone can apparently be hooked up to it for on-the-go or mobile use (although Vive has yet to detail this feature). This could mean the Cosmos has varying power and perf, similar to a Nintendo Switch's docked vs undocked performance discrepancy.

CES 2019 - HTC's new Viveport Infinity subscription will serve up over 500 apps and games across Vive and other VR headsets, the company today announced.

HTC described Viveport Infinity as the Netflix of VR, but we think of it more like Microsoft's GamePass subscription. The service will give gamers access to over 500 VR-ready bits of content across a wide spectrum of interactive genres, including games, shows, movies, and apps. Interestingly enough, the service supports headset families like Vive, Rift, and other partnered headsets across various vendors.

"It's very similar to Netflix of VR. You have access to over 500 apps including popular games, indies, education, and entertainment," HTC said during its live stream at CES 2019, as per Road to VR. "It's the best value in VR. If you bought 50 apps, it would be $1,000. This let's you access 500 for a fraction of the cost."

Amanda Ripley's story may always have been an episodic multi-game endeavor, and we trace some interesting parallels that give us an idea of what to expect in future titles. This article is full of predictions based on the Alien films, industry trends, and how transmedia franchises work.

Fox is making two new Alien games. One is Alien: Blackout, a not-to-exciting mobile game, and an unannounced Alien shooter for consoles and PC. Both of these games are likely to continue Amanda Ripley's storyline, effectively turning her interstellar survival into a three-part trilogy of games (Isolation -> Blackout -> Alien FPS). I think Blackout will bridge the events between Isolation and the new FPS and directly affect the events, characters, and starting point of the new shooter. In many ways Blackout is probably a stopgap that gives players a dynamic point of entry to the new shooter; who survives, the decisions you make, etc. may effect what happens in the new Alien FPS.

The Alien films also give us an idea of what to expect, at least when it comes to framing and themes. By making us into hunted prey and putting us on big haunted house in space, Alien: Isolation was largely like the first Alien movie from 1979. The new Alien FPS is then geared up to be a big action game like Aliens (1986) and is likely a big-budget AAA title with online multiplayer. Amanda Ripley should star in the shooter alongside a cast of die-hard marines, similar to how Ellen Ripley guided bullet-chewers like Vasquez, Hicks, and Hudson in Aliens.

Remember when I told you not to get too excited about Alien: Blackout because it could be a mobile game? Yeah...it's totally a mobile game. But it could be the beginning of an expanded Alien universe with transmedia tie-ins.

Today Fox announced Alien: Blackout, a new strategy-based mobile game centered around Amanda Ripley's unfolding story. The game isn't a sequel to to Alien: Isolation but instead a standalone game, and isn't a first-person action game: instead developer D3Go has you playing as Ripley and remotely guiding your crew simulation-style through various levels. Get used to seeing the screen below because this is how you'll interact with the game (as well as brief cinematic-style interludes with xenomorph death cam kills).

Thankfully Alien: Blackout shouldn't be infused with microtransactions. The listing has it pegged as a "premium mobile game experience" which typically means buy-to-play. I'm also thinking this is just the beginning and that this mobile game will directly tie into the new Alien FPS that's in development at FoxNext. I'm thinking your progress in Blackout will carry over to the FPS game and offer unique events and storylines based on your actions. 3DGo mentions that outcomes are different in Blackout, and maybe we'll see a kind of Dragon Age Keep-style interaction between the mobile game and the new Alien FPS.

Nintendo isn't about to flip their Switch and focus exclusively on mobile games.

In a recent interview with Nikkei Asia Review, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said the games-maker could "shift away" from dedicated consoles if the industry did the same. This led to a lot of articles purported that Nintendo could eventually stop making consoles and just release a bunch of smartphone games instead. But this is extremely unlikely to happen, and here are a few reasons why.

First let's take a look at what the Nintendo President said: "We aren't really fixated on our consoles. At the moment we're offering the uniquely developed Nintendo Switch and its software, and that's what we're basing how we deliver the 'Nintendo experience' on," Furukawa said, then reiterating that being able to adapt is quite important.

Raf Grassetti, the artistic mind and hand behind Sony Santa Monica Studios' critically acclaimed God of War has blessed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans with an awesome selection of detailed images of some fighters within the game.

Raf Grassetti worked on the artistic creation of God of War and has now diverted his attention to Nintendo's recently released Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Grassetti has taken to both his Instagram and Twitter account to release the below and above images of the following characters; Samus, Link, Bowser and Fox.

From the images we can see extreme detail in all aspects that are shown, and also a humanoid life like experience brought from the characters. Above you can see Bowser, and the King of the Koopas has never been depicted as more terrifying than this. Personally, when viewing the amazing work that Grassetti has done when capturing each of these characters, I feel as if the way the artist has depicted them is if they were in the real-world, or movie ready. Grassetti has teased that he will be doing Sonic the Hedgehog next, so make sure to check out both his Twitter and Instagram if you are interested in following any new posts.

CES 2019 - ASUS has chosen the Consumer Electronics Show as the time to launch its new ROG series motherboards, both prepared for respective HEDT processors from AMD in the new Ryzen Threadripper 2000 series and the Intel Core-X range.

The new motherboards are redesigned in a few ways including power delivery, but this is the first time ASUS has stepped up to the HEDT motherboard mantle with similar features on both of the X399 and X299 motherboards which is a great things to see. Both boards support up to 128GB of DDR4 and support 3-way SLI and CFX multi-GPU configurations and a boat load of connectivity, features, and other technologies.

Both of the new ASUS motherboards feature 10GbE network connectivity, and the usual slew of USB connectivity on the rear.

Jagex's re-release of RuneScape has proven to be more than popular with the release of the mobile version of the game. Old School RuneScape mobile has officially reached 5 million downloads.

Throughout the year of 2018, Old School RuneScape has had their player-base flourish. The re-rolled servers have attracted more and more new and old players, so many that the 2008 record of most paid memberships at was broken in 2018. "The franchise has been growing consistently for five years, and we've seen a surge of further community growth with the move to mobile." says Jagex boss, Phil Mansell.

With the now available Old School RuneScape Mobile, players that want to take their experience gains portable, now have the luxury of doing so. The app is available on both the iOS and Google Play Store and when combining the download amounts from both of those available platforms, the app has seen a massive 5 million downloads in total.

CES 2019 - ASUS has just announced a new family of gaming monitor under its ROG branding, with the new ROG Strix XG monitors coming in three different flavors: 31.5-inch 1440p and a huge 43-inch 4K panel that both boast high refresh rates as well as a 49-inch 32:9 display with 144Hz.

The first thing I noticed was the new 43-inch 4K 144Hz display that arrives as the ROG Strix XG438Q, which ASUS says is the largest and fastest 4K FreeSync 2 HDR gaming monitor on the market. We have a VA panel used with 90% of the P3-D65 gamut, 120Hz refresh rate (which is a huge deal as a big 43-inch 4K panel) and meets the VESA DisplayHDR 600 specifications.

The smaller STRIX XG32VQR is a 32-inch monitor with a native 2560x1440 resolution and faster 144Hz refresh rate, but it covers 94% of the P3-D65 color gamut. It also features Radeon FreeSync 2 HDR technology, and is DisplayHDR 400 compliant.

CES 2019 - ASUS has just unveiled its new flagship ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card with one of the most unique cooling systems on the market, with ASUS using something it calls an Infinity Loop which has been done before, but not like this.

The new ASUS ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is said to keep the Turing GPU and its GDDR6 memory as cool as a huge 240mm radiator would, so this is big, really big for ASUS to claim. ASUS has had to make a beefy card to get this much cooling tech into a 3-slot design, with the shroud using 3 x axial blade fans that were introduced with the first wave of GeForce RTX 20 series STRIX graphcis cards.

The front of the card has laser-etched design accents that look super awesome with LEDs running through them, and a black and silver style on the front. The RGB lighting can be controlled with ASUS' own Aura Sync RGB software.

CES 2019 - Normally these types of rumors are kept away for other sites, but Anandtech is reporting that according to "one of the boutique system integrators" on the ground at CES 2019 that Intel's upcoming Xeon W-3175X processor will cost "around $8K" at retail.

The last time we heard about Intel's upcoming 28C/56T processor was a few months ago when the price was meant to be closer to $4000, but now at double that it's a big difference between its competitor. AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 2990X is a 32C/64T behemoth that only costs $1700, where you could buy not one or two, but four Threadripper 2990WX processors and have change compared to the rumored $8000 cost of Intel's flagship and still unreleased Xeon W-3175X.

For many retro gamers, titles such as Mario Bros., Metal Gear, Ninja Gaiden and of course The Legend of Zelda are completely timeless. With games titles solidified in gaming history, many gamers are still playing through them and discovering new aspects of gameplay, in this case the original The Legend of Zelda has had a new world uncovered.

The original Zelda game which was first released in Japan on February 21, 1986 on the Famicom Disk System is a staple game in Nintendo's library of iconic gaming franchises. The success of The Legend of Zelda motivated Nintendo to continue making Zelda games which has now reached (so far) 19 Zelda titles within the franchise. Many people would think that since the first Zelda game is 30 years of so old, that every nook and cranny would have already been discovered by players, that just isn't the case...

Zelda fan, SKELUX uploaded a video to his YouTube Channel detailing a discovery he made within the first Zelda game. SKELUX managed to access what has been called the 'Minus World' through his wall walking code, this has uncovered what seems to be another half of the map that has not been completed by Nintendo developers. SKELUX explores the 'Minus World' and uncovers buggy enemies, caves, many gravestones, an old man and much more. Check out the above video if you are curious towards what could be hidden in the original Legend of Zelda.

CES 2019 - Razer has just unleashed a bunch of new gaming products with a refresh to its Blade gaming laptops as well as the surprise unveiling of Razer Raptor, a new gaming monitor that has one of the most unique designs yet.

The new Razer Blade laptops have been upgraded with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics with RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Max-Q and RTX 2060 Max-Q on offer. As for displays we're looking at Blade 15 gaming notebooks split into two families with the Advanced Model and Mercury Edition, with the Mercury Edition being the lighter of the two and doesn't ship in Razer's traditional black design but more light gray.

Inside, Razer is powering the new Blade 15 laptops with an Intel Core i7-8750H processor and 16GB of RAM with either 256GB or 512GB of SSD storage. The 16GB of RAM arrives as DDR4-2677, while the storage arrives as the super-thin but super-fast M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 standard.

IO Interactive, the developers and publishers behind the well known Hitman series have announced that they will be releasing a complete remaster of two Hitman titles. The remaster will feature numerous visual and performance improvements.

In a recent press release and also a Twitter post by the developer, IO Interactive has revealed that on January 11th the 'Hitman HD Enhanced Collection' will be released. This new collection will feature two overhauled Hitman titles, "Hitman: Blood Money" and "Hitman: Absolution." Both of these titles will have visual and performance upgrades such as; 60FPS support, 4K resolution support and lighting and texture improvements.

CEO of IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak chimed in on the recent announcement, saying "We're very happy with this collection and how we were able to update and remaster two of our classic Hitman titles for modern consoles. Hitman: Blood Money' and 'Hitman: Absolution' have helped us on our journey to where we are today, and we're looking forward to players enjoying them in 4K and 60 fps." It should be noted that the Hitman Enhanced Collection will only be releasing digitally on both the Xbox One and PS4.

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode may be a bunch of fast-paced fun, the looting has mostly always been a complaint for console players. That is all about to change as it has been confirmed that a new system will be implemented in the near future.

The news has come from Studio Design Director, David Vonderhaar who Tweeted the above image. From the image we can see that the contents of backpacks or crates will now be displayed in two rows. Vonderhaar explains in the Tweet that this design may be subject to change to three rows if it is found to be more accessible by the testing teams that are currently playing with the design.

The update unfortunately does not have a solid release date as of yet, but what we do know is that it is currently being playtested by the developers. If everything goes smoothly I'm sure that this update will be rolled out as soon as possible. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is currently available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. For further information, visit the official Call of Duty website here.

CES 2019 - Razer has just dipped its toes into the gaming monitor market with its unveiling of the Razer Raptor, a new 27-inch gaming display with one of the most unique designs for a gaming monitor I've ever seen, and I hope Razer keeps it in the final version.

First off, we'll get the tech specs out of the way: the Razer Raptor has a 27-inch IPS panel with a native resolution of 2560x1440 and 144Hz refresh rate with FreeSync and HDR support. With 1ms response rate with Motion Blur reduction enabled, 4ms with overdrive, and 7ms typical response rate. We have HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, and a bunch of USB connectors.

But it's the back design of the Razer Raptor that has caught my attention, with some awesome design work by the Razer team on the integrated cable management system and slide-up-and-down for screen height adjustment. The iconic black/green theme is throughout, while the base has a gorgeous fabric/metal backplate and Chrome-capable RGB lighting of course.

CES 2019 - Corsair is getting out ahead of the crowd with its unveiling of a new One Pro i180 Compact Workstation PC, which can now be tricked out with an Intel Core i9-9920X processor with 6C/12T and up to 4.5GHz, as well as NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2080 Ti.

Inside, the Core i9 + RTX 2080 Ti can be configured with 32GB of DDR4 RAM, a 960GB M.2 SSD and 2TB HDD. Corsair is known for its RGB goodness, so the new workstation ships with RGB lighting which looks great, and its iCUE app so that you can control it.

There's not much to say about the latest on EVGA's new tease on the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Kingpin graphics card, with a brief tease in December it has been silence ever since.

The latest is a picture that shows off the gorgeous cooler that EVGA has used on the card, with the company using a combo AIO closed loop liquid cooler, as well as a traditional heat sink and single fan. The liquid closed-loop-cooler (CLC) will be doing most of the work where it will have a pump block over the GPU and take some of the heat and offload it to secondary heat sinks.

EVGA is taking care of the GDDR6 and VRMs on the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Kingpin which will be cooled by a 100mm fan, while copper is used throughout the card especially on its secondary heat sinks. All in all, it looks great so far, and I really want to see what they can do when they're pushed to the limit.

CES 2019 - NVIDIA has just made its new GeForce RTX gaming laptops official, with a record 40 new laptops with a mix of GeForce RTX 2080, RTX 2070, and the newly-announced RTX 2060 inside.

One of the new GeForce RTX 2080 powered gaming laptops will be the MSI GS65 Stealth, which is faster than the GeForce GTX 1080 desktop graphics card, and NVIDIA compared it to having 2x the perofrmance of Sony's best PlayStation 4 Pro console. The new RTX 2080-powered MSI GS65 Stealth is capable of running Battlefield V at 60FPS+ with RTX on, and it can also handle some serious on-the-go video editing power with 6K RED video editing support.

The GeForce RTX 2060 powered Acer Predator Triton 500 is 1.6x the speed of a PS4 Pro, with faster-than GeForce GTX 1070 desktop graphics, and can also run Battlefield V with RTX on at over 60FPS. The GeForce RTX 2060 powered laptops are fine for 4K RED video editing, another big bonus.