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I still remember buying the original Xbox when it came out, and spending hundreds of hours inside of the world of Halo. It was a system seller, and even games like Project Gotham Racing kept me entertained for months and months.

But now the Xbox is dead and buried, with the successor in the Xbox 360 being a phenomenal success - and then into the world of the Xbox One. Microsoft quickly released the Xbox One S with a 4K-capable Blu-ray player, and then just announced the 4K-capable Xbox One X console coming on November 7 for $499. However, Microsoft might have another trick up its sleeve in its dash for complete console domination: Xbox emulation for the PC.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer told PC Gamer: "I want people to be able to play games! [Emulation] is hard. [Xbox] 360 specifically is a PowerPC chip, emulated to x86, which is difficult. It's a little bit easier when you have a fixed spec, when you think about Xbox, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X. And you think of the variable specs of the PC space, so you're taking a fixed-spec PowerPC emulator and then moving it over to run on PC, so there's a lot of work there".

E3 2017 - Ubisoft has confirmed that its new Assassin's Creed: Origins won't have an online multiplayer component, but that doesn't mean it won't have online features.

Ubisoft Montreal's massive sprawling open sandbox set in ancient Egypt won't have an interactive online co-op multiplayer component like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood or Assasssin's Creed: Unity.

"Assassin's Creed: Origins is primarily a singleplayer experience," Ubisoft Montreal game director Ashraf Ismail said in a recent E3 2017 Coliseum panel showcase.

NVIDIA is working on some new crypto-focused graphics cards, with a new GP104-100 and GP106-100 cards that will be offered by NVIDIA's AIB partners, with variations. Note: all of these cards do NOT come with display outputs, so they cannot be used as traditional graphics cards - hence the concentration on cryptomining.

The new GP104-100 card will be a GeForce GTX 1080 for all intents and purposes with 8GB of GDDR5X, with higher efficiency and they're fine tuned for the crazy cryptocurrency phase we're going through. They will ship with different GPU clock speeds with the base model hitting 1607/1733MHz for base/boost, respectively, with 8GB of GDDR5X @ 10Gbps on a 256-bit memory bus.

The upcoming GP104-100 card will have the same single 8-pin PCIe connector and TDP @ 180W, with a price of just $350 - compared to the average price of $470 or so for a GTX 1080. The best bit? These GTX 1080 variants will push a huge 60MH/s, up from the 23MH/s or so that my GTX 1080 is pushing in Ethereum mining right now.

E3 2017 - Ubisoft has gone all out and re-invigorates the franchise with Assassin's Creed: Origins, adding in key action RPG elements with an emphasis on freedom, immersion, dynamism and action. Players will be able to customize Bayek as they see fit with a multitude of weapons and skillsets.

Assassin's Creed: Origins has a much deeper progression system than other Assassin's Creed games, and Ubisoft Montreal has infused the game with huge RPG elements. Not only can gamers collect a wide variety of weapons and armors that all have different properties, attributes, and rarities, but they can customize Bayek's abilities via a diverse and branching hybrid "ability graph" skill tree. Ubisoft opens up on what this ability graph offers, and touches upon the weapons that will be featured in their new ancient Egypt playground.

"This is the ability graph. On one side is the seer aspect of the graph is really about manipulation, manipulating your enemies and animals to get the job done. The center is about being a warrior. On the left side is the hunter path which is really about either being an archer or being a stealthy assassin," Ashraf Ismail, Game Director at Ubisoft Montreal said during the E3 Coliseum event panel.

A week after revealing the Galaxy J7 (2017), Samsung has announced the Galaxy J7 Pro and J7 Max.

The Galaxy J7 Pro is powered by an Exynos 7870 chipset (octa-core A53, Mali-T830) and comes with 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. The device features a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display.

The J7 Pro has a 13MP rear camera and a 13MP front shooter. Other features include a 3,600 mAh battery and a fingerprint sensor.

E3 2017 - Terry Crews' Crackdown 3 trailer cameo wasn't just for fun: you'll actually be able to play as the buff, mayhem-inducing building-smashing Crews within the game.

Sumo Digital has confirmed recent PCMR convert and all-around badass Terry Crews will be a playable character in Crackdown 3.

"Terry Crews is a playable character. I think I'm OK to tell you that. I probably shouldn't say any more," Crackdown 3 design director Garett Wilson told IGN. "He definitely is a playable character, and he's a character in the narrative, so he's in the opening cutscene and things like that."

E3 2017 - Ubisoft has released a giant fact sheet for Assassin's Creed: Origins, detailing oh-so-much info about the new action RPG.

What is Assassin's Creed Origins?

For the last four years, the team behind Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag has been crafting a new beginning for the Assassin's Creed franchise. The action takes place in Ancient Egypt, inviting players to explore the most mysterious place in history, during a crucial period that will shape the world and give rise to the Assassin's Brotherhood. Plunged into a living, systemic and majestic open world, players will discover vibrant ecosystems, made of diverse and exotic landscapes that will provide them with infinite opportunities of pure exploration, adventures and challenges.

LeEco's Le Max 2 was announced more than a year ago, and we are still waiting for its successor. According to sources, the company will announce the Le Max 3 soon, but the exact date hasn't been revealed yet.

However, the first leaks are already out there, and now, the latest one gives us the best look at the phone so far.

The photos show a design similar to the one of the LeEco Max 2, but with one huge difference - the Le Max 3 will feature a dual rear camera setup. According to the leak, the fingerprint sensor will remain on the back of the phone.

E3 2017 - Bethesda will indeed make The Elder Scrolls VI, and the team already has an idea of what they want to do. But the technology isn't here yet, so the studio is working on three new "big and crazy projects" in total, but two of these games will come before Elder Scrolls VI.

A bit ago PC Gamer published an article that made it seem Bethesda Game Studios may not actually make The Elder Scrolls VI. I thought I'd clear things up for people and highlight what Bethesda's Pete Hines said at E3 2017 and match them up with what Todd Howard said last year.

To re-iterate, yes, Bethesda is making The Elder Scrolls VI, but the game isn't currently in active development. Bethesda Game Studios is currently making three "big and crazy projects" that will be "totally unique and totally different" than anything else the studio has done before. One of these projects is Elder Scrolls VI, but the game isn't in active development like the other two games. The projects will also be massive Skyrim-sized juggernauts that span multiple years of development and overlap with one another to make something fresh and interesting.

E3 2017 - Bethesda plans to support Microsoft's new Xbox One X by updating their core games to leverage the new console's high-end hardware.

New and existing Bethesda Softworks games will be updated with enhancements to tap Xbox One X's robust hardware upgrades, Bethesda exec Pete Hines confirmed. Expect to see all of Bethesda's new titles like Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, The Evil Within II, and Dishonored 2's new Death of the Outsider DLC get some sort of optimization upgrades including 4K with beefier frame rates and other enhancements. These upgrades will also come to Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition too.

"We're looking for all of our studios to add a level of support for Xbox One X. We Tweeted out last night that we're working right now to get Skyrim SE and Fallout 4 supported on the X," Hines said in a recent interview with Geoff Keighely.

Some of the first multiplayer gameplay footage from Call of Duty: WWII is here, and boy - does it look like trash. The video is courtesy of YouTuber 'jackfrags', with the gameplay captured on the PS4 version of the game.

First off, it looks alright for a PS4 game - but nothing compared to the Frostbite-powered Battlefield 1 or deliciously beautiful Star Wars Battlefront II. Second, the gameplay looks like recycled garbage from the last few oh-so-meh Call of Duty games. There are multiple game modes in COD: WWII, with War, Domination, and TDM - and a new female character that you can play as well.

Activision needs to retire the Call of Duty franchise before it launches with a truly next-gen engine and some game changing new features, because in its current form, it's only a cash cow for the company with pre-hype in the months before launch far exceeding the online chatter for the game post-launch.

E3 2017 - Capcom is bringing one of its most popular franchises to the cross-platform world of online gaming.

Capcom has announced Monster Hunter World, a huge online RPG experience on PS4, Xbox One and PC that will unify the East and West with online cross-play. Monster Hunter World features "living, breathing ecosystem" that up to four players can explore together via a newly designed drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer system. And one of the biggest surprises is that Monster Hunter World won't release on Nintendo hardware.

Monster Hunter coming to Xbox and PC in the West is a big deal; the console has missed Xbox and PC platforms in the West since its debut, and this kind of cross-platform integration is something that Capcom highlighted in its recent financial earnings call. The publisher promises to revive dormant IP and bring existing key IP to all platforms in an effort to earn more revenues across the globe--and based on the reception from Monster Hunter World, it seems like they've succeeded with this game alone.

Lately, we've heard more and more rumors about Apple's upcoming flagship. While we still don't actually know whether or not Apple will call their new phone the iPhone 7S or iPhone 8, the latest reports claim that it might not be a matter of 'or' but 'and.'

A new leak has appeared showing the upcoming device's front and back panels. According to the report, the first image shows the panels of the iPhone 8, which should feature an almost bezel-less AMOLED display. The rear dual camera is placed vertically on the back of the phone, as previously rumored.

Read also: iPhone 8 rumored size vs other phones

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note8 is expected to make its debut in August, and one of the biggest changes, compared to the last year's model is the introduction of a dual camera.

According to numerous reports, the Galaxy Note8 will feature a dual rear camera, and now, a new leak has appeared on Chinese Weibo. The leak suggests that the camera implemented on the Note8 will be produced by Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

The dual camera setup will reportedly feature two 13MP image sensors. The same leaker claims that Samsung is working on three different dual camera modules, but it is unclear why.

Later this month Nintendo will release the first DLC pack for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with the company announcing the news during their E3 2017 spotlight event.

The second DLC for Breath of the Wild is a story DLC release, which will be 'The Champions' Ballad', sounding like a prequel story to the main game. The June 30 release will see the 'Master Trials' DLC for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with a video on the expansion pass embedded above.

Nintendo explains: "If you own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Expansion Pass grants access to three new treasure chests, DLC Pack 1, "Master Trials," and DLC Pack 2, "The Champions' Ballad," as they are released. DLC Pack 1 "Master Trials" includes: Trial of the Sword, Master Mode, Hero's Path, Travel Medallion, Korok Mask and eight new armors. Master Trials - DLC Pack 1 will be available June 30, 2017".

At number 18 on Fortune 100's list of Fastest Growing Companies, SuperMicro traditionally offers server and datacenter products, but now they are targeting gamers. SuperMicro recently established their gaming brand, SuperO, which is positioned to provide consumers with high quality gaming parts. With slogans such as "Server DNA Infused", you might assume that it is just marketing, but having looked at many of their motherboards I can attest they are not messing around. Server grade components and design practices are very common on their motherboards, and that is good news for people who want an X299 motherboard since Intel's HEDT platform has typically been closely tied to their server platform.

The C7X299-PG features Aquantia's new 5Gbit NIC, Intel Gbit LAN, two U.2 ports, two M.2 ports, four USB 3.1 ports (one type-C), 8 memory DIMMs supporting 128GB of DRR4, XMP 3733MHz+, and the Realtek ALC1220 with a Texas Instruments OPA1612 amplifier. Durability wise, the motherboard uses an 8-layer server-grade PCB, 20K@105C hours rated NIPPON Chemi-Con capacitors (that's very high), fully integrated power stages, and digital PWMs. The motherboard's UEFI is said to be improved over previous generations, and the motherboard offers a new look and theme compared to their previous X99 motherboard. We hope to take a look soon and let you know how it does.

If there needed to be a game made in VR, it would be Mario Kart... right?! Right. Well, Bandai Namco's VR Zone Arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo has revealed Mario Kart Arcade GP VR... and it runs on the HTC Vive headset. Check it out:

There's not much known about it, but it looks like a VR port of a pre-existing arcade game, letting you sit in a real cockpit with a steering wheel - all while experiencing it in VR. This is Nintendo's first VR game, and it is perfect. There's no need to worry about your environment because your hands are attached to a steering wheel, while your vision is filled by the track and sidelines flying past you.

I'm still crying tears of joy at a Mario Kart game in VR... and it now makes me want to visit Tokyo, ASAP.

Remember the fully integrated voltage regulator (FIVR) introduced with Haswell CPUs? Turns out that news of Intel axing the technology was not completely true. Intel's previous FIVR was implemented to reduce motherboard voltage regulator (VR, VRM, or MBVR) complexity, as it fed the CPU a single voltage and the CPU then internally branched off, reduced, and controlled the other voltages needed for other CPU domains (graphics, system agent, cache, IO, etc.).

Traditionally, CPU voltage regulators are fed 12v from your main system power supply, and then they reduce it down to voltages below 2v for the CPU and its different domains. However, as CPUs became more complex they required multiple separate VRs, each with their own controllers (PWM Controller). Adding more external VRs not only increases motherboard costs because of the need for each VR to be individually controlled, but also more importantly, it takes up motherboard real estate which is scarce on a motherboard with eight memory DIMMs surrounding the CPU. Over the past week, Intel quietly made public volume 1 of the Skylake-X datasheet, and you can find it here: Intel Skylake-X Datasheet Volume 1 of 2.

In table 1-1 on page 14 we find that "IVR" will be referenced in the datasheet, and it stands for "Integrated Voltage Regulation (IVR): The processor supports several integrated voltage regulators." Later in the datasheet we find reference to the fact that the IVR is related to the previous FIVR through a signal name called "FIVR_Fault", which "Indicates an internal error has occurred with the integrated voltage regulator. The FIVR_FAULT signal can be sampled any time after 1.5 ms..." We then learn further down about the VCCIN signal, "1.8 V - 1.55 V input to the Integrated Voltage Regulator (IVR) for the processor cores, lowest level caches (LLC), ring interface, PLL, IO, and home agent. It is provided by a VR 13.0 compliant motherboard voltage regulator (MBVR) for each CPU socket.

ARK: Survival Evolved is getting some great press at E3 2017, with some details on the upcoming Xbox One X version of the game, which will be looking and running closer to the PC version of the game.

During an interview, Studio Wildcard co-founder and co-creative director Jesse Rapczak said: "Instead of targeting 30FPS like on the other consoles, we're targeting 60FPS for the Xbox One X. I would say most of the time for PS4 Pro you would be seeing 30FPS on PS4 Pro at 1080P, whereas with the Xbox One X you're going to see double the frame rate at 1080P, 60FPS. We might even allow the frame rate to go higher than 60 FPS, but we're still looking into that. Right now it's actually uncapped but on a TV it's not that useful [because they're locked to 60Hz]".

He added: "Because ours is a multiplayer game, the complexity on the screen can be very unpredictable. Variable resolution is something we introduced this year to try and stabilize the frame rate on lower PCs and consoles so that when people go into a huge base and someone's got a hundred dinosaurs, the resolution scales down but the frame rate stays smooth. We're not targeting 4K resolution or anything like that, instead we're targeting higher quality pixels".

AMD really has the high-end desktop market in a twist with their upcoming Ryzen ThreadRipper CPUs, with a new tease of the Ryzen ThreadRipper 1950X processor, a 16C/32T part with a purported 3.4GHz base clock.

The latest news is comign from a purported engineering sample on the ThreadRipper 1950X processor, which packs a base CPU clock of 3.4GHz and XFR boost clock of up to 3.7/3.8GHz. We should expect a huge 32MB of L3 cache, 8MB of L2 cache, bringing us to a total of 40MB of cache. In some benchmarks, it has been compared to Intel's higher-end Xeon E5-2697A V4 processor that features 16C/32T @ 2.6GHz base and 3.6GHz boost.

The multi-core score of the Xeon processor is 30,450 while the ThreadRipper 1950X hits 24,539... but I'm sure there are plenty of optimizations that AMD will be making just like the normal Ryzen CPUs, and then the motherboard makers will surely optimizations for ThreadRipper and its multi-core performance.