Latest News - Page 258

ASUS's ProArt line-up is all about offering high-performance in a sleek and stylish form for creators, professionals, and enthusiasts. This week, the company has unveiled new ProArt GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards sporting a compact, elegant design that incorporates wood panelling for looks and a USB Type-C display port for versatility and compatibility with a wide range of displays.

It's been a while since we've seen a GeForce RTX GPU that offers DisplayPort output over a USB Type-C connection, so right off the bat, this makes ASUS's new ProArt GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards a fantastic choice for those looking for this specific feature. Of course, this is in addition to getting access to NVIDIA's latest RTX Blackwell architecture for cutting-edge gaming performance and up to 1858 AI TOPS of power for intensive AI workloads.

The flagship ASUS ProArt GeForce RTX 5080 includes 16GB of fast GDDR7 memory for gaming in 4K with DLSS 4 enabled, and running more complex memory-intensive AI models. It also ships in a compact 2.5-slot design and form factor, which ASUS says makes it small enough to fit in compact PC cases. And the thinner design also means access to PCIe x16 expansion slots, which is essential for creators.

KIOXIA's new LC9 Series offers the industry's first 245.76 TB NVMe SSD built for the enterprise data center market and the AI era. With PCIe 5.0 speeds and KIOXIA's advanced 8th Gen BiCS FLASH with CBA (CMOS directly Bonded to Array) technology delivering density, performance, and power efficiency, nearly 250 TB of storage capacity in 2.5-inch and Enterprise and Datacenter Standard Form Factors (EDSFF) is an impressive achievement.

At the FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage event this week, KIOXIA showcased its new high-capacity LC9 Series SSD with a live demonstration as part of a Dell PowerEdge 7715 system. And with attendees getting to see the SSD in action, the KIOXIA LC9 Series 245.76 TB enterprise SSD won the 'Best of Show' award in the 'SSD Technology' category.

With sequential read speeds of up to 12,000 MB/sec and sequential write speeds of up to 3,000 MB/sec, it's a storage solution designed to meet the demands of cutting-edge generative AI systems head-on thanks to its speed and low power consumption. In addition to winning a 'Best of Show' award, KIOXIA has confirmed that it's now sampling KIOXIA LC9 Series SSDs to select customers.

SK hynix has reportedly "drastically" raised next-gen HBM4 supply pricing, as it is at a "war of nerves" with NVIDIA.

In a new report from Chosun picked up by @Jukanrosleve on X, we're hearing that SK hynix has decided to supply its 6th generation HBM (HBM4) 12-Hi stack memory to NVIDIA in the first half of this year at a price approximately 70% higher than its 5th generation HBM (HBM3E).

However, negotiations for additional HBM supply volumes are reportedly progressing slower than expected, presumably because Samsung and Micron are entering the HBM4 supply chain, with both companies delivering their own HBM4 samples. Until now, SK hynix has dominated over 90% of the cutting-edge HBM memory provided to NVIDIA, but starting with next-gen HBM4, Samsung and Micron will be expanding their supply volumes.

Grand Theft Auto 6 could be priced at $100 when it launches, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter just yesterday, but now another analyst has said a $100 price on GTA 6 is a bad idea.

Alinea Analytics' analyst Rhys Elliott has come out reporting on why a $100 base pricing for GTA 6 isn't a good idea, going into a little more detail. His points include GTA Online being the "real cash cow" and that Rockstar moving players from GTA 5 with a higher price on GTA 6 would limit the GTA 5 to GTA 6 player acquisition.

He explained:

Bolt Graphics might not be a brand you've heard of, but it is coming to the GPU market with some surprising features that aren't on its competitors' hardware just yet, like expandable RAM and insane amounts of AI performance.

Bolt Graphics is currently cooking up their Zeus GPU for a 2027 release, with some interesting specifications shared by the company on X recently. Zeus will feature expandable memory with 32GB / 64GB / 128GB soldered + 2x/4x SO-DIMM slots for up to 384GB of memory.

The company claims "massive improvements" to path tracing performance, an ultra-fast 400GbE QSFP-DD port, with built-in high-performance RISC-V CPU cores that are capable of running Linux. All of this is also using the "good old" 8-pin PCIe power connector, which the company quips "is known to not melt". Bolt Graphics says that its Zeus GPU will be in developer kit form in 2026, with mass production planned for 2027.

Battlefield 6 launches into its first public beta over the weekend and there are already thousands of eager gamers filling up the servers now, with 48,000+ players ready to go right now.

According to SteamDB, the PC version of the game has a peak concurrent player count of 24,879 on Steam, with one Reddit user posting a screenshot that showed Battlefield 6's queue system for those trying to get into the BF6 servers hitting close to 50,000 users.

The first Battlefield 6 open beta begins this weekend at 1AM PST on August 9, with the Battlefield 6 Open Beta running through until August 11. The second weekend takes place at 1AM PST August 14, running through until August 16. This means you'll have a few chances to play Battlefield 6 before it officially launches on October 10.

PlayStation 4 is losing one of the most popular free-to-play games in April 2026, possibly indicating an eventual forced migration from the platform.

MiHoYo has confirmed plans to end PS4 support for billion-dollar F2P giant Genshin Impact. The game will be pulled from PS4 in three phases: delisting the game (September 10, 2025), shutting down microtransactions (February 25, 2026), and pulling servers offline (April 8, 2026). After this, Genshin Impact will only be playable via PlayStation 5.

The free-to-play game has had a tremendous impact on PlayStation's service revenues. Genshin Impact was among the 10 games that generated over $10 billion in revenue on the PlayStation Store. To put it another way: These 10 games/franchises made up over half of annual PlayStation Store earnings every year for the past 5 years in a row.

Nintendo is raising the price on a multitude of Switch consoles and accessories, with some products like the Switch OLED seeing a +$50 increase.

On the heels of $80 games and a new $550 console, Nintendo fans will have to adjust to even more sticker shock. The company is raising prices on at least 17 different products ranging from the entire Switch 1 console lineup as well as Joy-Cons, Pro controllers, Amiibo, and even the Switch Online retro controllers. Nintendo is clearly serious about clawing back some of the tens of billions of yen in profit that will be eaten up by global tariffs instigated by the Trump Administration.

The new price hikes are principally centered around the first generation Switch, but the Switch 2 doesn't go unscathed--Joy-Con2's saw a price jump. The largest price increase by dollar amount was the Switch OLED, which was increased by $50 from the original $349.99 price to the new $399.99 baseline. For reference, that's how much a launch PS4 retailed for in 2013.

The age-old FPS war between Battlefield and Call of Duty is on this year, but Activision isn't worried about being knocked off course by Battlefield 6.

Battlefield 6 is on the horizon and EA aims to make a big explosive re-entry into the FPS genre. The competition looks to be fierce, yet new reports say that Activision isn't particularly fazed by DICE's new mayhem-inducing sequel.

Sources tell Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson that Activision believes Call of Duty is "too big to fail," likely referring to the billion-dollar multiplatform net that the franchise casts over the industry. The sources also say that Activision has annual Call of Duty games laid out for the next four years.

Rockstar is adding age verification into GTA Online, and now we have some previews on what that will look like.

Gamers living in certain parts of the world will soon have to prove their age in order to play games online. Video games publishers are re-working their games to comply with the UK's new Online Safety Act, which significantly tightens age restrictions on games and online content. Rockstar Games is one of the many publishers adding new age verification buttons into titles like GTA Online.

Longtime GTA leaker Tez2 recently shared early looks at what these age assurance screens will look like. GTA Online will have a new "verify age" section within the settings menu, and gamers will have to go through the steps in order to even play the mega-popular online mode.

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 will require hardware-based security like Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 in order to play, Activision has confirmed

Battlefield 6 isn't the only new shooter that will require system-level security. Black Ops 7 will require both Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 in order to play, which may require some users to upgrade or change up their hardware/BIOS setups.

"Neither TPM 2.0 nor Secure Boot are required to play currently available Call of Duty titles; however, both will be required when Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 launches in 2025. Keeping these settings enabled ensures a fair and fun experience for all players."

The Battlefield 6 beta is almost here, with EA celebrating the unlocking of the title by posting several early access beta codes to the official Battlefield X account.

The Battlefield 6 beta will be unlocked for those who have obtained an early access key on August 7, while the open beta for the general public will go live on August 9. That beta weekend will run between August 9 and 10, but will be followed by a second weekend between August 14 and August 17. Notably, early access will run between August 7 and August 9.

For those who have obtained an early access key, it will need to be redeemed via EA's website, which requires a user to sign into their EA account and link the code to their preferred platform of choice. At the time of writing, EA is still handing out early access codes by directing people to content creators on Twitch who are streaming Battlefield 6.

NASA has accelerated its plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon's surface, as part of its broader strategy to establish a sustainable lunar presence through a base.

NASA's Artemis program is part of the space agency's effort to establish a lunar base on Earth's closest neighbor by 2030. One of the most critical components of such a base is sustainable power. The nuclear option seems the most viable, as solar won't work due to the Moon's rotation being so slow. There are two-week periods where the Moon is in darkness. Nuclear reactors will enable a round-the-clock energy supply needed to keep bases maintained at healthy operational levels, ensuring human survival.

According to a report from Politico, NASA's interim chief Sean Duffy is set to announce a new ambitious plan in the next week that will involve NASA soliciting industry proposals for a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030, and that within the directive it states the first nation with a Moon reactor could "declare a keep-out zone, which would significantly inhibit the United States." The race for the first lunar-based nuclear reactor is between the US, China, and Russia, who announced a partnership to create their own lunar base.

Mario Kart World is a mega hit on Switch 2, where the game sold over 5.63 million copies in less than a month, representing a massive 96% attach rate.

The Switch 2 has done so well that it has broken two major milestones: not only is it the fastest-selling video games console of all time, but the Switch 2 also had the best-ever launch of all time by units shipped. Nintendo managed to sell over 5.82 million Switch 2 consoles in just 25 days, and Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa recently confirmed the system has reached 6 million sales in 7 weeks.

No console launch is complete without a bevy of new software, and the Switch 2 didn't disappoint; Nintendo sold a total of 8.67 million games during the new console's launch. More than half of these sales were from one singular first-party exclusive: Mario Kart World.

The Battlefield 6 beta is only a matter of hours away, and EA has thrown the public one last bone to unlock early access.

The Battlefield 6 beta begins on August 7 for those who have received an early access code, and for those who haven't, the open beta begins on the weekend of August 9. If you want to get into Battlefield 6 on August 7, you will need an early access code, and to acquire one of them, EA is advising you to watch 30 minutes of any creator streaming Battlefield 6 on Twitch. To acquire a code, previously players had to sign up to Battlefield Labs before July 31, or watch streamers during last week's multiplayer reveal event.

However, that has now changed as a new post on the official Battlefield X account has said anyone with a Twitch account can just open up a stream from any creator streaming Battlefield 6, leave the stream open for 30 minutes, even on mute, and then they will receive a code. Additionally, once a code has been received, it will need to be redeemed via the EA website, where you will need to sign into an EA account and link the code to your preferred platform. Redeem the beta code here.

The Battlefield 6 beta is right around the corner, and one of the biggest points of criticism is the title's Time-to-Kill (TTK) system, which was quickly pointed out by many following the multiplayer reveal event.

For those who are unfamiliar, a TTK system is a common phrase used in shooter games that refers to how long it takes to eliminate an enemy. For example, Call of Duty has a really short TTK. As with most weapons, it takes less than a second for an enemy to die from the moment the first bullet lands.

A notable contrast is Apex Legends, which has a significantly longer TTK compared to Call of Duty, as players are running around with armor. Which is better? Neither. Short TTKs are typically more punishing for new players as they promote fast, twitch-based gameplay, while longer TTKs result in more tactical engagements that last longer durations.

The beta for the highly anticipated Battlefield 6 is right around the corner, and we have just learned that if the servers are empty, which doesn't seem to be very likely at all, considering 12,000 people are currently waiting in queue at the time of writing, the empty player spots in a match will be filled with AI bots.

Battlefield 6's development team confirmed the news during the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event in Hong Kong, with development director Anna Narrevia saying one of the goals of the upcoming Battlefield 6 is to enable as many players to enjoy the title together at any given moment. However, to achieve that goal, whenever there are empty slots in servers, they will be filled with AI bots. This feature isn't totally new for Battlefield 6, as Battlefield 2042 also took the same approach.

Unfortunately, as an avid 2042 player, I noticed a critical downside of the bots sometimes taking over the servers. What happens is that typically a large portion of bots are placed on one team, and the opposing side steamrolls their opposition to a point where they have taken control over many critical spots on a Conquest map. This means that when real players joined the match, they were joining a losing game as the real-life players had already dug in to the various locations that are great for holding down positions.

The early access beta for Battlefield 6 is just hours away. If you've secured an early access code and want to jump into the action, remember not to run DS4Windows when the beta launches, as it simply won't work.

After seeing users reporting that an error message was popping up when DS4Windows was running and the Battlefield 6 beta was launched, I proceeded to test it myself, and I was presented with the above error message. For those who don't know, DS4Windows is a collection of software utilities that enables the use of a PlayStation DualShock 4 controller with a Windows PC. Gamers typically use this software, which is quite popular, when the game they want to play doesn't come with native support for a PS4 controller.

The software works by emulating an Xbox 360 controller and enables the user to remap buttons and inputs on the controller. However, Battlefield's anti-cheat engine detects the software as malicious and will not allow a user to boot into the game if the PC is running the software when the game is launched, or if DS4Windows is launched after the game is already opened (the game will crash).

A couple of months ago there was a proposal from a US lawmaker that would mandate on-chip location verification and boot restrictions for AI chips, aiming to stop NVIDIA AI GPUs from being smuggled into China, and now NVIDIA has directly responded to this.

NVIDIA said in a recent blog post that "NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors" after some pundits and policymakers proposed requiring hardware "kill switches" or built-in controls that could remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and content, with NVIDIA noting "some suspect they might already exist".

The company writes: "NVIDIA has been designing processors for over 30 years. Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology. Established law wisely requires companies to fix vulnerabilities - not create them".

NVIDIA has just confirmed that Battlefield 6 will indeed feature DLSS 4 MFG, DLAA, and Reflex support, and it looks like these technologies will be available in the upcoming open beta which goes live in less than 24 hours.

In a new post on X by Jacob Freeman, GeForce Evangelist at NVIDIA, he simply noted: "The Battlefield 6 Open Beta is available for preload now. Supports DLSS 4 MFG, DLAA and Reflex!" When it comes to the game itself, Freeman noted that he's "really loving the look of BF6 so far, cannot wait. BF3 and BF4 were my favorite of the series. Easily hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours in these 2 games".

Battlefield 6 with DLSS 4 support is going to be a huge deal for GeForce RTX 50 series GPU owners, as we've already seen users running gaming PCs with an AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D + GeForce RTX 5080 combo slicing through the Battlefield 6 beta at 1440p (native) at over 300FPS. That's without DLSS 4, just to be clear, so with DLSS 4 enabled, we should see even better performance.