Samsung has officially unveiled its new Galaxy Note 9 smartphone but that wasn't all the South Korean giant unveiled during its NYC-based Unpacked event, with a new standalone smart speaker unveiled.

Galaxy Home is the latest smart speaker to join the ranks dominated by Google, Amazon and others and it looks radically different, but still feels like home. Samsung's new Galaxy Home kind of looks like a mini-BBQ or fireplace, with a mix of a cauldron that a witch would use to make spells to hurt iPhone sales. But don't let its unique looks deceive you, it's what's on the inside that counts.

Inside, Samsung's new Galaxy Home features AKG, full-range speakers and a subwoofer that will give you some great bass. Samsung has designed the Galaxy Home for wherever-you-go music, where it will use SoundSteer to direct the music towards you. For your convenience, Samsung is tapping not just Bixby but Spotify to keep your audio listening experience at its peak.

DICE is set to kick off the second closed alpha of Battlefield V, beginning on August 14 and running "for a limited time". Not everyone can join, which is unfortunate as I'd love to try it out since the hype is wearing off incredibly quick.

The developer isn't inviting everyone in, with "Players eligible to participate in the Battlefield V have been pre-selected from the Battlefield player community and will receive invites to participate". Will anything be different in the second closed alpha? Nope. It'll have everything the first closed beta had, which means we'll see the same modes, weapons, maps, and more that the original Battlefield V closed alpha had.

DICE explains: "We have made some changes that we think will better cater to players across all play styles and skill levels based on how fast players scored points, and how quickly they progressed through the ranks in the first Closed Alpha".

Samsung has finally made its Galaxy Note 9 smartphone official during its annual Unpacked event in New York City, confirming some of the things we already knew, some of the rumors, and a bunch of new exciting things for the Note 9.

First off: let's tackle the Fortnite exclusivity rumors - yes, the Galaxy devices have Fortnite for Android as an exclusive for "a few days" but by the time the Galaxy Note 9 actually hits users hands, that exclusive will be finished. The biggest change with the new Note 9 is that it features a much larger 4000mAh battery (Note 8 rocks a 3300mAh battery) that Samsung promises all-day battery life with, and is the largest battery to be used in a Note smartphone ever.

The display has been upgraded slightly from the Note 8, with the new Note 9 featuring a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a native resolution of 2960x1440. If you pre-order the Note 9 now you'll receive a set of AKG N60 over-ear, noise-canceling headphones that are worth $299. You'll also get a Fortnite Galaxy skin and 15,000 V Bucks ($150 worth of value) - or both that you'll get for $99, a saving of $350 if you purchased them separately.

NVIDIA edges closer to the unveiling of their next-gen graphics cards and one of the craziest rumors of them all have hit: the company will reportedly use a dual-fan, open-air cooler on their purported GeForce GTX 1180/2080 graphics card. Don't forget to enter our GeForce GTX 1180/2080 giveaway! We're giving away not one, but TWO next-gen cards as soon as they launch.

BenchLife is reporting this rumor and if it turns out to be true, we could be looking at the first Founders Edition card with a dual-fan cooler, but it definitely wouldn't be the first NVIDIA graphics card to don a dual-fan cooler. NVIDIA previously used a dual-fan cooler on the high-end GeForce 7900GX2 back in the day, and have not used a dual-fan on a GeForce graphics card since.

Sure, plenty of AIB partners use dual-fan coolers but they're all custom cards so they can do whatever they want. I really can't see NVIDIA using a dual-fan cooler on a new GeForce GTX 1180/2080 but then again, that's only because the company hasn't used a dual-fan cooler in a very long time. The aesthetics of the GTX 10 series FE cards is stuck in my mind after looking at, and using them everyday for over two years now... a dual-fan cooler just sounds strange.

Discord is getting into the game-selling business with its own proprietary storefront on PC.

In an attempt to compete with the likes of Steam and GOG.com, massively popular VoIP app Discord plans to open a game store. Rather than Steam with its sprawling, messy storefront, The Discord Store will be a more targeted endeavor: the company affirms it'll be like a "cozy book shop" instead of, say, a rambling department store.

"We'll be launching a curated game store experience similar to one of those cozy neighborhood book shops with recommendations about the hottest and newest games from us to you," reads the blog post.

The PlayStation line of consoles has crested 500 million sales worldwide, Sony today announced.

Since its original debut in 1994 Sony's PlayStation brand has changed console gaming forever. Generation after generation saw new innovations in both gaming hardware and video game experiences, redefining the industry every step of the way. Now nearly 24 years later the Japanese games-maker reveals its iconic console family has sold over 525.3 million units globally. To celebrate, Sony is releasing a special edition PS4 Pro.

"Today, I'm thrilled to reveal that Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially sold more than 525.3 Million PlayStation systems worldwide! With 500 Million PlayStation systems sold, that means countless adventures into the unknown, courageous stands against evil, and life-long memories of playing with family and friends. Thank you to all our fans for your passionate support over the past 24 years, which made all of this possible," said SIE exec Eric Lempel.

Rockstar's new Red Dead Redemption 2 footage reminds gamers just how expansive the game is, and gives us a taste of what's to come in October.

The more I think about Red Dead Redemption 2 the more I'm excited for it. The story itself is quite intriguing: a bleak future for a band of outlaws who are being hunted down to extinction as the lawless West becomes more civilized, these relics from a past age of blood, and mayhem, on the run and trying to relive past glory in the only way they know how--with the iron on their hip. Apart from the story and the moral dilemma players will face as Arthur Morgan, Rockstar Games has crafted an incredibly vibrant world that looks quite alive...and I really want to explore it.

As promised Rockstar dropped a new RDR2 trailer that's six minutes of in-game goodness, showing off both technical feats as well as a few tidbits like the game's dead eye aiming system and a glimpse of specific areas. The footage is a seamless blend of cinematics and actual gameplay, from quest sequences to brawls, gunfights and robberies, painting a stunning and believable picture of the 1899 American frontier.

The publisher of basketball simulation franchise NBA 2K has released the first gameplay trailer for their upcoming NBA 2K19. The trailer showcases stars such as LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The trailer only lasts about a minute and is played to Jay Rock's hip-hop beat "Win." throughout the trailer we are not only introduced to stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James but we also see numerous other faces, some include: 2018 MVP winner James Harden, Golden State Warriors players Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry and even Toronto Raptors' Kawhi Leonard.

The trailer doesn't reveal any gameplay improvments that are expected when the game when launches in September. It can be expected that 2K Sports will release another trailer sometime soon to reveal what improvements developers Visual Concepts have made. NBA 2K19 is planned for release on September 11th, it will be available on the Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. In other news about NBA 2K, NBA 2K18 has had over 2 billion games played and over 10 million units sold since it's release, check out that story here.

I have decided to delve into some speculation for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate blurred game mode, after doing plenty of reading and research I have pieced together some ideas. I think we could possibly have a storyline game mode on our hands.

Throughout the Smash direct games main select screen was revealed to us, but what was most interesting was the green game mode that was blurred in the bottom left hand corner. The game mode was purposely blurred out, which suggests that it is something of importance, it can be expected that Nintendo will officially announce this game mode at a later date.

Diving into some speculation now, the /r/SmashBros subreddit has broken down the possibilities of what the game mode could be. Twitter user 'l'attarde' took a screenshot of the blurred main screen and then took more screenshots frame by frame, the result is what seems to be the word 'Spirits.' Reddit user Waka-Waka made a photoshoped image that isn't blurred and inputted the 'Spirits' text and also gave a logo based off the blurred pixels.

Just after the completion of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct, Nintendo has revealed a Limited Edition bundle for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The bundle will be released alongside the regular edition on the 7th of December.

The news surfaces from the Nintendo UK VS Twitter page, and from the post we can see that the bundle includes: a standard copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a Super Smash Bros. Edition GameCube Controller and also a Nintendo GameCube Controller Adapter.

At the moment the bundle has only be announced by Nintendo EU so we can expect the same treatment from North America leading into the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. If you are interested in pre-ordering a single Smash Bros. themed GameCube Controller you can do so on Amazon here. In other news about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Simon Belmont has been officially confirmed to join the fighting roster, check out that story here. King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong franchise has also been officially confirmed, check that out here.

Blizzard has had millions of gamers watching the Overwatch League Grand finals over teh weekend, with over 10.8 million viewers in total over the two-day finals.

The huge success of the Overwatch League Grand Finals had a global audience that beat the entire audience numbers of the open week of the 2018 season. There were two matches over the weekend that took place between London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion, with the match going 2-0 to London Spitfire in a best-of-three series in Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.

During the opening week of the Overwatch League Grand Finals, there were 12 matches across 49 total maps in 4 days played. Blizzard says that the estimated live global average minute audience over the Grand Finals hit 861,205 and makes note of the "average minute audience was 605,013. Adding the average minute audience for rebroadcast views of the Grand Finals to the live viewer average, the estimated total global average minute audience across both days exceeds one million".

Battlegrounds launched as a hot mess of a Battle Royale game and while it has definitely, undeniably gotten better... it's far, far from perfect. Even more so when you compare it against something as smooth-running as Fortnite.

Well, PUBG Corp has announced on the Steam community forums that they've got a plan, and it's the form of their new 'Fix PUBG' campaign that has been created for the sheer task of addressing the bad performance of Battlegrounds. The developer said: "Since we released PUBG as an Early Access game last year, the game has grown exponentially, and we've been fortunate enough to have millions of incredibly passionate players like you".

PUBG Corp continued: "However, we haven't always been able to meet your expectations. Simply put, the game still has many unresolved issues...The bottom line is, you're the reason for our success. You've stuck with us, and now it's time for us to deliver the fixes you've been asking for".

I can see the world of consoles completely changing over the next 10 years as we shift to a games as a service model, similar to physical media like DVDs and Blu-rays transferring to streaming media companies like Netflix, Google Play and others.

But consoles inside of TVs? Yeah... I don't know. According to EA's Executive Vice President of Strategic Growth Matt Bilbey, the future of consoles could be systems being built into smart TVs. During an interview with GamesIndustry, Bilbey said: "Distribution of smart TVs is huge. If we're able to put an application on that smart TV, whether its Origin or Access, you buy into that subscription or a la carte--a family offering similar to Netflix in that sense--then we're actually able to use the understanding of how you're playing those games to recommend other games within that portfolio to you, whether that's family games, core games, depending on your age, depending on how you like to play".

He continued, adding: "There's definitely an opportunity we have there that we don't talk about, about how we could create your entertainment experience. I'd like to think as well there's insight we will get out of how those people are playing games, when they're playing, how long they're playing for, who they're playing with, that will arguably write the concept for your next game".

NZXT was the first to market with a Battlegrounds themed PC case and now the company is back with a collaboration with Bethesda for the first officially licensed Fallout case, and it looks awesome.

The upcoming NZXT H700 Nuka-Cola case features atomic flavors, battle-worn aesthetics, and a truly unique look that is being made by NZXT for a limited production for $299.99. There will only be 2000 of the H700 cases made, while there will only be 400 of the N7 covers produced. Each of the H700 Nuka-Cola cases will be uniquely numbered with an awesome limited edition plaque and even a Vault-Tec bobblehead figurine.

Inside, the H700 rocks an all-steel construction, fully-tempered glass side panel, signature PSU shroud and super-easy cable management. NZXT has made sure that watercooling users can get their systems installed quickly, with the top reversible drop-in bracket designed to handle radiators at up to 360mm. There's an integrated reservoir mounting for custom loop systems if that's more your style. There are also 4 x Aer F fans that are included, which means your Fallout-themed gaming PC will stay nice and cool.

AMD has officially launched the new second-gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs which include the flagship Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX but AMD is already teasing consumers and their competitor in Intel with massive price drops to first-gen Threadripper CPUs.

The Ryzen Threadripper 1920X is a 12C/24T processor that debuted for $799, and was temporarily priced at just $249 on Amazon which quickly hit the Amazon Best Sellers list before it sold out. It's back up to $427 at the time of writing but anyone who secured it for $249 would be laughing all the way to 24-thread processor town, and back again.

AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 2920X is the second-gen successor to the 1920X and it's priced at $649... so $249 is quite the discount, representing some truly insane CPU price wars that will happen over the holidays between AMD and Intel.

Gamers should see more singleplayer-driven JRPGS from Square Enix in the near future, as well as more Switch titles.

On the heels of Octopath Traveler's strong sales on Switch, Japanese games-maker Square Enix pledges to develop and release more titles akin to the popular RPG. Nintendo reported that Octopath Traveler's sales and shipments exceeded 1 million units worldwide--a number that surprised Square Enix--and multiple Japanese stores have had trouble keeping physical stock. On the flip side, Octopath Traveler has sold most of its copies digitally on Nintendo's eShop.

Square Enix acknowledged the game's success during a fiscal Q1 earnings conference in Japan. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki, who attended the meeting, the publisher will continue releasing more games on the Switch and more JRPGs in the vein of Octopath Traveler. This development comes at an interesting time in the industry where most games are dominated by live services and online hooks, which is something Square Enix has tried to penetrate.

Gamers will finally get to see Red Dead Redemption 2 in-game footage on the morrow, Rockstar Games today announced.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is gearing up to be one of Rockstar Games' biggest projects yet. Set in 1889, the game will chronicle the eventual downfall of the wild west and its roaming outlaws--something that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said will deliver "incredible emotional depth." Apart from its grim and gritty story and setting, Red Dead Redemption 2 should stand as a superlative technical showcase for the current console generation; the game was, after all, built from the ground up for consoles.

Tomorrow's gameplay reveal should highlight quite a few things including the game's seamless open world, its believable, living NPCs, gunplay and action sequences, and possibly a taste of the storyline. On the more technical side we'll probably see amazing visuals with impressive high-end effects such as lighting, fog, and reflections, alongside more adept physics and everything else in between. We also might get a quick snippet of Red Dead Redemption 2's anticipated online mode, which promises "new ways to play" and should be monetized similar to GTA Online.

Blizzard today re-confirmed that Diablo isn't dead: the publisher is developing several new projects that may be announced sometime this year.

We've known for over two years that Blizzard is making a new Diablo game, and it's likely a big mainline sequel. But today Blizzard community manager Brandy Camel aka Nevalistis confirmed that there's actually several new projects in development, which makes a lot of sense given the company's recent hiring spree.

In a recent video update, Nevalistis affirms that some of the projects will take a while--we predicted Diablo IV wouldn't be ready any time soon--but we could get announcements later this year. When? Probably during BlizzCon 2018 in November.

The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct has just finished and during the last 5 minutes of the livestream Nintendo has revealed that King K. Rool will be joining the fighting roster.

Nintendo has surprised everyone within the last 5 minutes of their Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct with the revealing of the classic Donkey Kong Country villain King K. Rool. King K. Rool has been a highly anticipated character to be added to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, with rumors and speculation beginning before the July rumor.

Now that the Donkey Kong villain has been confirmed for the roster, Super Smash Bros. fans will begin to dissect what other characters could be possible revealed. Here is the official statement confirming King K. Rool: "From the Donkey Kong County series, the Kremling leader King K. Rool comes to Super" For more information regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate visit the official website here.

Nintendo have just conducted their Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct Livestream and have announced a brand new fighter to join the roster, introducing Simon Belmont from Konami's Castlevania series.

Rumors begun of Simon Belmont from back in June from known leaker DasVergeben, who leaked out the information that all of the previous Super Smash Bros fighters would be returning for Ultimate. According to the rumors by Vergeben, Simon Belmont was meant to be revealed alongside Ridley at this years E3. That didn't happen, and resulted in everyone expecting Simon Belmont to be revealed at a later date, what better time than Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct?

Everyone has expected the arrival of Simon Belmont, even the Super Smash Bros. YouTube Channel teased the fighter through some music they released. Throughout the Direct livestream, it is officially confirmed that Simon Belmont will be joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Simon carries his iconic holy whip and is everything you expect him to be from his respective series. For further information regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, visit the official Smash website here.