Latest News - Page 211

Gamers are patiently waiting to hear more news about Grand Theft Auto 6, which could be the most anticipated game of all time, and now we have a date for when we could expect the GTA publisher Take-Two Interactive to mention the upcoming title.

Take-Two Interactive has scheduled its Q2 2026 earnings call for November 6, which is when the publisher is expected to discuss its upcoming titles, along with the performance of its already released titles. For those who don't know, Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled to launch on May 26, 2026.

Since the second trailer was released, we haven't heard anything significant about the title, aside from a wealth of details about the characters, environments, and locations. The release of the second trailer was five months ago, which means we could hear something regarding GTA 6 during the earnings call.

Not a single human has set foot on the surface of the Moon since December 14, 1972, which was when Apollo 17 astronauts completed their final moonwalk. Since then, only robots have explored the surface of Earth's closest neighbor. However, that is about to change in the coming years.

NASA has announced the date for Artemis II, the mission that will take four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon. Artemis II comes after Artemis I, which was an uncrewed mission that involved the Orion spacecraft being sent on a test journey around the Moon to see how the spacecraft would fare with mission goals and general journey. Artemis I was a success, and now NASA is moving to Artemis II, a crewed mission that will follow a similar path to Artemis I, but this time with humans aboard the Orion spacecraft.

Artemis II will be the foundation of future Artemis missions, with each of the four astronauts undergoing strenuous testing both before and after they return from the journey. For example, blood samples will be taken before the crew leaves and then taken again after they return, as researchers want to know if the human body experiences any significant changes throughout the mission, which, if found to be the case, preventative measures will be made before Artemis III, the mission where humans will walk on the surface of the Moon.

Samsung will be unveiling its new tri-fold smartphone in the coming weeks, which should be called the Galaxy Z TriFold, with new reports suggesting it'll feature not one, not two, but three batteries inside.

The new Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone has been revealed in some new patent images, showing the triple-folding smartphone will feature three batteries, and unfold into an ultra-thin smartphone when it's completely unfolded into a tablet.

GalaxyClub has the new patent images that Samsung filed in South Korea, giving us a look at the innards of the tri-fold smartphone. One of the images shows there are two hinge mechanisms to keep all three pieces of the phone together, while also keeping the foldable smartphone properly folded without leaving a gap between the panels.

Samsung's new Galaxy XR headset has had some juicy leaks ahead of its reveal, with details on the design, specifications, launch details, and more for the Apple Vision Pro competitor.

In a new report from Android Headlines, they've got the scoop on Samsung's new Galaxy XR "Project Moohan" headset ahead of its reveal later this month. Starting with the design of the headset, Samsung's new Galaxy XR looks pretty futuristic and similar to the Apple Vision Pro headset, with a curved front visor, matte metallic frame, and soft-touch interior padding.

The Galaxy XR weighs in at 545g, which makes it lighter than the Vision Pro, and it sports a rear strap dial to adjust the tension for your personal liking. Samsung has also added ventilation slots and detachable light shields, meaning that Samsung has made comfort one of its key highlights of the Galaxy XR.

Intel's new Fab 52 semiconductor facility at its Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, produces the most advanced logic chips on American soil, and is part of the $100 billion that Intel is investing to expand its domestic semiconductor operations.

The company has advanced R&D and production in Oregon, joined by high-volume fabrication in Arizona, as well as packaging operations in New Mexico, providing Intel a unique position to support key national priorities and provide strategic capacity for Intel Foundry customers.

The company says that its Fab 52 facility builds on Intel's vast 56 years of US-based R&D and manufacturing advancement, and marks a major milestone as the company builds a trusted leading-edge US foundry for the AI era.

Intel will be launching its next-generation Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" processors at CES 2026, available inside of new laptops in Q1 2026.

The new Panther Lake CPUs will feature new technologies including new P-Cores, E-Cores, Xe3 GPU cores, and NPU/IPU. Intel is combining all of this technology into a multi-tile solution that will not just be for laptops, but new AI PCs, and other products.

One of the more exciting things about Panther Lake is that the CPU tile is being fabbed in-house on Intel's new 18A process node, while the Xe3 GPU will be fabbed at TSMC on its N3E process node.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox is still on the way according to leaks, with the full specs and even pictures of the custom Magnus APU that will power Xbox Next. Check it out:

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, we're getting full specs and photos of the semi-custom AMD Magnus APU that will power the next-gen Xbox. We have a huge 68 CUs of RDNA 5 GPU power, which means the new Xbox has more RDNA 5 CUs than the PlayStation 6 which reportedly has 52-54 CUs of RDNA 5.

MLID says that Magnus has at least 24MB of L2 cache for the GPU, up to 3 x Zen 6 CPU cores joined by 8 x Zen 6c cores with 12MB of L3 cache. The next-gen Xbox will reportedly have a 192-bit memory bus with up to a whopping 48GB of GDDR7 memory. This is once again more than the PS6 from recent leaks (also from MLID) stating the PS6 would have a 160-bit memory bus and up to 40GB of RAM support.

Laura Fryer, who helped launch the original Xbox console in 2001, shares insight on the current Xbox fiasco and indicates that Microsoft could just be experimenting to see what works.

Xbox isn't very popular right now. After heavy layoffs, project cancellations, and studio closures, Microsoft seems to have burned the other end of the bridge by raising prices on Xbox consoles and Xbox Game Pass. As a result, there's now a modern generation that includes a $800 games console.

Original Xbox founding member Laura Fryer has a particularly interesting take on the situation. She says that it's entirely possible that team Xbox simply doesn't know what they're doing--not in a derogatory way but more of an assessment. The higher-ups at Xbox might be trying everything to see what does and doesn't actually work. After all, Fryer says, no one really knew what they were doing when the original Xbox released decades ago.

Dead Space has made a comeback, but gamers aren't happy about it.

Dead Space is a cult classic franchise beholden to many. It's been dormant for a while: EA's refusal to greenlight a new sequel led original series creator Glen Schofield to make a spiritual successor, The Callisto Protocol, which was ironically hamstrung by EA's own Dead Space remaster. So when Dead Space shows up anywhere, it can be a big deal for fans.

The franchise has popped up in an unlikely location: EA's new Skate game. Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke has been shoehorned into the new free-to-play Skate game as a paid skin. It's not just Skate using Clarke's likeness that has disgruntled fans, but the game's microtransaction conversion scheme means players will pay $35 minimum for the cosmetic bundle.

Project Amethyst is evolving, and it looks like Sony and AMD are creating a runway for the rumored PlayStation 5 handheld.

Today, Sony and AMD revealed three new tech breakthroughs coming to future PlayStation hardware as part of their multi-year Project Amethyst collaboration. The advancements, which are theoretically substantial, have interesting potential to carry over to other devices--not just new consoles like the PS6. Project Amethyst's new tech takes strain off CPU, GPU, and memory in a number of creative ways, which is great for comparatively weaker mobile chips that are used in handhelds.

PlayStation architect Mark Cerny specifically mentioned something that caught my ear during the presentation, affirming that these three technologies in conjunction could lead to "lower power consumption," which is also quite ideal for a handheld device. Maybe like Sony's rumored dedicated PlayStation handheld that's reportedly capable of natively playing PS5 games.

New reports indicate that Ubisoft had cancelled a new, all-original Assassin's Creed game based on the Reconstruction Era that followed the American Civil War in the 1870s.

Ubisoft had been developing a new Assassin's Creed game with a rather unique story. Sources close to the matter tell Game File reporter Stephen Totilo that the new Assassin's Creed would take place during 12-year-long Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. This period, which saw the United States abolish slavery and recognize freedoms, was fraught with violence and brutality.

Five sources reveal the plot of the game, highlighting a cinematic scope for the project. The cancelled AC game would've seen players take control of a black man who had been freed, chronicling his journey as he goes out West, exposing one of the most turbulent times in American history in the process. Eventually, players join the ancient assassin clan and even take on the Ku Klux Klan at one point of the game.

Sony has unveiled a new special edition PS5 controller that is inspired by the blue lighting associated with the PlayStation brand, which was introduced during the PS4 era of the consoles.

The new special edition controller is called the Icon Blue, and as you can probably imagine, the entire controller features different hues of the iconic lighting blue. The controller will be released on October 20 in the United States and Canada, and then it will debut in Mexico and Chile on October 28. Sony has priced the Icon Blue Special Edition at $84.99 USD, CA$109.99, MXN $1,899, and CLP $93,490. As for where you can buy the Icon Blue, the upcoming controller will be sold exclusively at Walmart stores and through Walmart's official website.

The Icon Blue features different shades of the iconic blue hue, with the grips and outer shell of the controller featuring a darker hue, and the inner shell and trackpad featuring a lighter blue. It should be noted that there isn't anything functionally different about the Icon Blue, and that it's simply a new PS5 controller intended to pay homage to the legacy of PlayStation consoles; it still has all of the same features as a standard PS5 controller.

Today, Sony and AMD outlined experimental new technologies in their multi-year Project Amethyst initiative that will be utilized in future PlayStation consoles, including Sony's next-gen PS6.

Sony and AMD have announced three new technologies for next-gen PlayStation hardware: Neural Arrays, Radiance Cores, and Universal Compression. All three features are built specifically for efficiency, optimization, and performance, with emphasis on offloading work from the CPU and GPU via dedicated blocks, smarter features, and drastically improving the rate of speed for data rendering. In short, Sony and AMD have created a trio of features that will supercharge the PS6 and maybe even Sony's rumored PlayStation handheld.

Perhaps the most immediately useful of the three is Universal Compression, which should have a net benefit to all games that are built on the new PlayStation systems, not just those that use ray tracing or machine learning features.

AMD has scored one point over NVIDIA after company CEO Lisa Su confirmed that its next-generation MI450 AI accelerator will be built on a 2nm silicon process, beating NVIDIA's upcoming Vera Rubin architecture built on 3nm silicon.

Su confirmed the nanometer size in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, where she was discussing the recent partnership announcement with ChatGPT-creator OpenAI. For those who don't know, OpenAI and AMD recently announced a new partnership that involves AMD providing OpenAI with its next-generation GPUs until it has completed the agreed-upon 1 gigawatt of power. In exchange, AMD will provide OpenAI with approximately 10% of its company.

During the interview, Su revealed that AMD's upcoming AI accelerator, scheduled for release in 2026, will utilize 2nm technology, which means it will leapfrog over 3nm. Notably, NVIDIA's upcoming next-generation AI GPU architecture, Vera Rubin, will utilize 3nm silicon, giving AMD a competitive edge over Team Green in this regard. Why does the nm matter? Typically, a reduction in silicon process size leads to performance gains in the form of increased efficiency and raw performance.

The 2025 Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit, which kicks off next week, is all about the industry coming together to showcase the latest advancements and share their insights in open-source hardware and software. Taking place at the San Jose Convention Center from October 13 to 15, as an Open Compute Project contributor and inventor of NAND flash memory, KIOXIA will be on hand to showcase its flash storage solutions and optimizations for data centers and AI.

From storage devices built using the company's latest BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory technology with PCIe 5.0 speeds, through to new open-source software optimizations that can improve the lifespan and performance of existing systems. Hardware-wise, the company will present its portfolio at its booth (#A51) with live demonstrations.

This includes KIOXIA's LC9 Series Enterprise SSDs, XD8 E1.S Data Center SSDs, and CD9P Series Data Center SSDs. The LC9 Series will be used to demonstrate fast retrieval of large datasets for AI with high-capacity QLC storage. XD8 E1.S Data Center SSDs will be used to showcase KIOXIA's new open-source RocksDB plug-in that improves the performance and lifespan of SSDs, while CD9P Series Data Center SSDs will showcase power-efficient data center NVMe SSDs.

KIOXIA's new RocksDB plug-in is designed for multi-SSD RAID configurations, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in the era of generative AI, cloud computing, and data centers that store massive datasets. The free and open-source plug-in is designed not only to improve the performance of these modern RAID setups but also to increase and enhance the lifespan of the flash storage being used.

KIOXIA notes that in a 4-drive RAID setup, the RocksDB plug-in reduces the write amplification factor (WAF) by 46% while increasing throughput by 8.22 times compared to MDRAID. Even in a 2-drive RAID setup, WAF is reduced by a third. Write amplification is a common issue with SSDs or Flash Storage, where more data is written than intended; reducing this is a significant win for both performance and SSD health.

RocksDB is also a widely adopted database for both generative AI and cloud applications, so KIOXIA's open-source plug-in seems like a must-have for systems with large amounts of historical data that require high-performance searches.

Apple's new M5 series processors are going to be an interesting change from the current-gen M4, with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips to have a new chip design that separates the CPU and GPU blocks.

This is particularly useful for Apple as it can offer a chip with less CPU cores but maxed-out GPU cores, or vice versa, maxed-out CPU cores and less GPU cores. Apple looks to be using TSMC's new SoIC-MH advanced packaging, as well as fabbing its new M5 series processors on TSMC's new 3nm "N3P" process node, just like its new A19 and A19 Pro chips.

The regular M5 chip won't be using the new SoIC-MH advanced packaging, but the higher-end M5 Pro and M5 Max processors would be using it.

The release of Battlefield 6 is only a matter of hours away, and the technical director has revealed what could be considered the "magic trick" behind Battlefield 6's impressive in-game destruction.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Christian Buhl, the technical director on Battlefield 6, explained that what could be the "only magic trick" behind Battlefield 6's fully destructible environments is that developers weren't required to get the game to run on PS4 and the Xbox One.

Buhl said that by dropping the previous generation consoles, developers were given far more headroom when it comes to memory and CPU speed, essentially raising the performance floor of the game, enabling better performance in general, and giving the developers access to a wider variety of destructible environments.

Discord has responded to the recent reports that an unauthorized party stole 1.5 terabytes worth of age verification images from a third-party customer service provider. The claims were that the group responsible for the hack stole 2 million images of Discord users.

Discord has responded to these reports, with a spokesperson informing Insider Gaming that 2 million age verification images isn't an accurate figure, and that Discord has identified around 70,000 users "that may have had government-ID photos exposed, which our vendor used to review age-related appeals."

Discord also notes that this hack was not a breach of Discord itself, but a breach of a third-party customer service provider that has since been severed from Discord's ticketing process.

Left 4 Dead 2 RTX NTD, created by the Nostalgia Drive Team, is a new RTX Remix project that aims to give the iconic co-op shooter the full ray-tracing or path-tracing treatment, similar to Portal RTX or the still-in-development Half-Life 2 RTX. What makes this project interesting and something that shouldn't take too long to develop is that it focuses on the 'No Mercy' campaign.

This is the iconic first mission from the original Left 4 Dead, and the sort of level or campaign that fans know back to front and back again. The first playable build of the Left 4 Dead 2 RTX NTD project is available now over at Moddb, and although it's incomplete, the new PBR (physically-based rendering) materials, 4K textures, and ray-traced lights, shadows, and reflections, present Valve's iconic shooter in a, well, new light.

Literally, as the developers note that RTX Remix cannot capture native lights, the team has had to manually go in and add lights to every scene and location. In fact, one of the issues with the current work-in-progress build is that some areas are too dark or shadowed, as this process is ongoing.