Microsoft came out and said the Xbox Scarlett will kick the PlayStation 5's next-gen ass, but in development kit form the PS5 has the performance edge over Xbox Scarlett -- for now, that is.

According to a new leak that an insider posted on the Reset Era forums, who said that the PlayStation 5 is the fastest console behind the scenes right now which he says comes down to the "PS5 development hardware and software are in a more advanced state. I fully expect Scarlett to close that gap once they ship more mature dev kits and software".

The leaker added: "It must be said, since software, not hardware, is a traditional Microsoft area of expertise, it's very possible that they could ultimately deliver more advanced DirectX development software, in the end, allowing games to run better on Scarlett even if the hardware is less capable. I don't know this to be the case, but the possibility can't be discounted".

Valve surprised all gamers with the super-surprise announcement and mind blowing trailer to Half-Life: Alyx just a few days ago, but what will you need to run the latest adventure in the Half-Life universe?

First off you're going to need a VR headset as there is no non-VR version of Half-Life: Alyx planned, with Valve building the game for the virtual world of VR. As for the minimum requirements, Valve is asking for an Intel Core i5-7500 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 processor, 12GB of RAM and either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580 with at least 6GB of VRAM.

Half-Life: Alyx is powered by the current Source 2 engine, and sees Valve adding an entire new level of physics that is unparalleled -- as well as including a physical player body. You can freaking pick up individual shot gun shelves off shelves as you rummage for ammo... we're talking next level Half-Life in VR gameplay here.

NVIDIA has been pretty quiet when it comes to multi-GPU rigs with their latest Turing-based GeForce RTX and GeForce RTX SUPER graphics cards, but is all of that about to change? Quite possibly.

The creator of SLI Compatibility Bits, a super-useful tool for SLI and NVLink users, recently spotted that NVIDIA silently added Multi-GPU Checkerboard Rendering in their latest GeForce drivers. You'll need to manually enable this feature inside of the NVIDIA Inspector Profile tool by changing some of the settings including SLI compatibility bits (for DX10, DX11, and DX12) as well as the SLI rendering mode options.

Checkerboard rendering isn't something new as it's a method of rendering that's used in some console games, including the PlayStation 4 Pro and its upgraded 4K graphics in some games. But when we're talking multi-GPU configurations the kinda doors that Checkerboard Rendering can open are extensive -- like multi-GPUs working in DX10, DX11, and DX12 titles even if the game itself doesn't directly support it.

Back in 2016, CD Projekt RED announced an ambitious five-year strategy that called for two games to be shipped by 2021: Cyberpunk 2077, which is on track to release in 2020, and a new unannounced AAA RPG, which has remained quite nebulous. Now CDPR hints the new RPG could be delayed.

CD Projekt RED has been developing an RPG outside of Cyberpunk 2077 for years now, but we don't know how far along the project is. The company hasn't updated its five-year strategy for years now, making the outward appearance that the unannounced AAA RPG is progressing according to plan. We don't know what CDPR is working on, and the company hasn't talked about it too much, but there's reason to believe the unannounced game is set in The Witcher universe.

Now in a recent earnings call, CDPR says it could refresh its strategy sometime next year after Cyberpunk 2077 is shipped.

Want to play The Witcher 3 or even Cyberpunk 2077 in VR? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that probably won't happen.

CD Projekt RED is skeptical on the VR market, at least in terms of overall sales. With such a small install base of headsets, the VR market just isn't big enough to justify the development effort and spending--at least right now. Valve's new VR-exclusive Half-Life game could kick off a big HMD spending spree and expand the userbase. But as it stands right now, CDPR doesn't see much value in adapting its sprawling singleplayer epics like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3 for virtual reality headsets.

In a recent Q3'19 earnings call, CD Projekt RED execs were asked two big VR questions: Are they threatened by Half-Life: Alyx's launch in March, just a month before Cyberpunk 2077, and will they adapt their games for VR headsets? The answer to both is no.

Project xCloud will be powered by Xbox One S server blades when it launches, but Microsoft may eventually beef up its racks with Project Scarlett hardware.

Microsoft's new next-gen Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU-powered Project Scarlett console will power Project xCloud game streaming at some point in the future. Right now each of Project xCloud's server blades are powered by 8 Xbox One S systems, but that could change a few years after Scarlett's on the market.

"We designed Scarlett with the cloud in mind as well, and just as you're going to see our console product family evolve with that next generation, the cloud is going to evolve along with it," Microsoft cloud exec Kareem Choudhry said in a recent interview with Stevivor.

Back in 2018, Intel filed a patent for a video games controller that looks suspiciously like an OnLive controller. Now that patent has been published, giving some clues on the company's foray into cloud gaming.

Intel's controller patent isn't particularly exciting. The patent is maddeningly vague and doesn't give actual details on the device's functionality, which is strange: Most patents have pages and pages detailing how the devices might actually be used. The patent only shows reference designs of the controller's chassis and buttons, strongly indicating it's focused on multimedia as well as gaming. It has a DualShock 4-like touchpad at the top, as well as very OnLine-esque multimedia buttons on the bottom, and doesn't look particularly ergonomic, somewhat resembling the old NVIDIA Shield TV controllers.

Intel currently has no plans to actually make its own game-streaming service (the company is mostly focused on enterprise hardware, not gaming services), but instead will use its potent Xeon and Iris Pro processors to power Tencent's new game-streaming service called Start for the Chinese market.

Way back in 2017, we predicted Cyberpunk 2077 would have an online mode. We also guessed it'd have microtransactions or be monetized in some way. Now CD Projekt RED has confirmed both are true.

Cyberpunk 2077's new "seamless online multiplayer" mode is far from ready. It'll ship after the main game launches in 2020, long after post-release expansions and DLC are out. The project likely being developed with the help of the online gaming experts at DigitalScapes.

But what about monetization? Isn't that why any online game is made? CDPR isn't a stranger to microtransactions anymore--they made Gwent, a free-to-play card game with mTX--and we could see extra in-game purchases pop up in Cyberpunk 2077's online mode. CDPR didn't give any specifics on Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer monetization, but they did say the system will be fair and balanced.

Tesla made waves all around the world with the unveiling of its futuristic Cybertruck, which Elon Musk himself has now tweeted that the company has received 146,000 pre-orders so far.

Musk even provided the split of numbers between potential customers of the Tesla Cybertruck with its single-, dual-, and tri-motor options. Musk said that out of the 146,000 ordered so far 42% of customers chose the dual-motor Cybertruck, while 41% went for the flagship tri-motor model while just 17% went for the single-motor Tesla Cybertruck.

Tesla Motors' own numbers directly from company CEO Elon Musk show that more customers want the higher-end models versus the single-motor Cybertruck. If the calculation of the 146,000 models seeing half of them with the optional Autopilot upgrade that costs $7000, that means Tesla has had over $7.5 billion worth of pre-orders of the Cybertruck already.

Everyone wants to know if we are alone in the universe, or if there was some form of life outside of our moderately-sized blue planet. Perhaps there was, and we already have the photos.

Entomologist, William Romoser gave an extensive presentation on his analysis of NASA's Mars rover images this past Tuesday. Romoser claimed throughout the presentation that through his analysis of the images, he can provide evidence to support that life was once and still is present on our red neighbor. Looking at the above image, Romoser says, "Once a clear image of a given form was identified and described, it was useful in facilitating recognition of other less clear, but none-the-less valid, images of the same basic form."

Romoser claims from the images that reptiles and other insect-like forms of life were once on the red planet, and that NASA's rover images are evidence of that. Romoser also says, "There has been and still is life on Mars. There is apparent diversity among the Martian insect-like fauna which display many features similar to Terran insects that are interpreted as advanced groups - for example, the presence of wings, wing flexion, agile gliding/flight, and variously structured leg elements."